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That's tough to answer.... There are 196 house and several outbuildings in the active AO area. Some of the houses are flagged to not enter due to various hazards, so the number will be a few less than that 196 number.

Yes on electricity and running water. They are furnished. Last year ours also had working AC. They are NOT part of the active AO. They are in the closed area. I'll let Rick follow up with you on the cost.

I have it, I use it and yes they are good for use at events.

@deronion - In my recent experience the frequencies used by AMS at events are all within the business itinerant band. The FCC still requires those using these frequencies to have licensed them for use. Whether or not AMS has done this, I do not know. As for FRS/GMRS the UV5R is physically capable of transmitting in this band, but the UV5R is not FCC Part 95 certified for use in those bands because the radio can transmit above the maximum legally specified power for those frequencies. So can you transmit on those frequencies? Yes. Can you do it legally? No, not with the UV5R, again because it's not certified for use on those channels. I've personally never seen enforcement of the FRS/GMRS issue. Basically they would have to catch you in the act, and inspect your equipment to confirm it's not Part 95 certified before anything is done. However transmitting on unlicensed frequencies I have seen. Several times. FCC fines for violations can range from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands. Bottomline, don't interfere with communication of others. If you are licensed to use certain bands or channels, don't, unless someone who is licensed for a specific frequency/location authorizes you to do so. Be responsible with your radio. As I said above the UV5R's are also capable of transmitting in business bands, and these are also widely used for public safety. If you begin transmitting on one of those and interfering, that's going to draw attention and enforcement. Don't be that guy.

Yes.

I've been in several of the night games and SSW's were in full use.

Prepare for bugs. This place is absolutely crawling with ticks. Permethrin treatment on your clothing works very well. Once the roster is released get in touch with your Squad Leader and figure out what his expectations are so you are prepared in that respect.

You will be assigned to a squad and your squad leader will communicate information to you. You will likely also receive an email with the roster, and your SL's contact information just prior to the event.

If he is on site he will need to have waivers filled out and turned in for both AMS and the Playas Training Center. If he enters the field of play, even as only an observer, he will need to have purchased a "Press Pass" ticket, comply with eye protection requirements, and be wearing bright orange or yellow (no red). If he stays in the campground the entire time only the waivers are necessary, not the Press Pass.

Expect to be camping in an open lot. There are portapotties, but you will need to bring your own food, water, etc. Have tent, sleeping bag and other amenities you think you might need. Just be self sufficient. Last year the overnight temperatures were in the in the upper 50's. But it feels cool given how damn hot it was during the day. The averages for that time of the year (according to the NWS) are a Daytime High or 87°F and an Overnight Low of 63°F. Last year a freak (and strong) storm rolled through Friday night and caused some problems, so make sure you stake down your tent really well. The nearest town large enough to have a Walmart is Deming NM, which is about 75 miles away. As for other things to do, it's the desert, there's not a lot out there.

povapp@americanmilsim.com http://americanmilsim.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3626-pov-application/

When the swarm shell is fired, it's fired. That's how you know. I'm not sure what more you're asking with that. If you carry 12, and fire each one once you've reached your compliment and have to rearm at a FOB or MRP. But when it comes down to it, this is a game of honor and integrity. It's hard for AMS to police every little thing in the field and trust is placed in players to play by the rules. In reference to vehicles, I say this as someone who is a part of the cab crew for a technical at these events. When we know we've been hit with a rocket, or other rounds which would take us down, we absolutely call it. With a swarm type of round, we'd need to definitely be able to see it and know that's exactly what we were hit with. Just the sound isn't going to tell us anything because rolling into a firefight and being in the cab it sounds like someone is shaking a can full of rocks with all the noise from BB's bouncing off the body of the truck. If you hit a vehicle with a swarm grenade and they don't call a hit, it's not that they are trying to cheat, they probably didn't see you firing it, and can't tell the difference between that and the barrage of rifle fire hitting the vehicle.

Blaster Dry Lube with Teflon works great for what Alex is describing. We use it in our smoke grenade launcher. Helps keep it from getting all crudded up as we're firing activated smoke grenades out of it. The first time we used the launcher we came back and it had a sticky film inside of it, and had to soak the launcher in degreaser to get it out. Our smokes have to be wrapped in 5 revolutions of duct tape for a good fit. I think the heat of the smoke grenade, combined with the duct tape and chemical release within the smoke is what gummed it up. The dry lube has helped out significantly with performance and reducing the amount of required maintenance.

From my understanding of the rules for the HWS position, you can only re-arm / reload at your spawn point. You can carry up to 12 shells that you loaded at the spawn point, but once you've fired the shell, it's fired, and you would need to wait until you go back to a spawn point (FOB/MRP) before you reload it. You just can reload it in a place other than your spawn point. Rules: http://americanmilsim.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3201-american-milsim-ruleset/ Scroll down to "Heavy Weapons Specialist" for reference. That being said, most people treat those bee hive grenades as a BB strike type of weapon. If you're wanting something that vehicles will recognize that they're being hit with a "rocket" then TAGINN's (particularly the Archangels) are great, but they are expensive, and the type that explodes are single use projectiles (launcher shell is reusable).

That link is 5 years old, and dead now. You could try using Google to find some current info.

If she wants to get off site to go do some things there is a Casino near by, and the town of Miami isn't far off either. As for being in the field, AMS may require a press pass, and at the very least she will need to have a waiver on file for both the location and for AMS, as well as necessary safety equipment on before ever stepping foot into the AO.

Jake, some of these are launchers that use the Tactical Game Innovations (TAGINN) system. There are shells that are loaded with projectiles. Some projectiles explode after 3.5 seconds (Reaper's), some explode on impact (Archangels). Just depends on the type of round. I do believe this company sells smoke for their system as well. All of these projectiles are a little spendy, but man are they cool. And in my experience really freaking loud when they detonate right outside the truck door. Our systems are independent, and are designed to pneumatically launch smoke grenades or foam (non-exploding) rockets. Xtreme Airsoft sells this kind of stuff if you're interested. https://www.xtremeairsoft.com/14-grenades - Xtreme has good people working there and they can help answer questions about these in more detail if you're interested.

Jake, I'm also in Colorado. My team will be heading to Broken Home 6 as well as Copperhead 3 this year. We field both a rocket launcher (for anti-vehicle purposes) as well as a smoke grenade launcher. Both are useful. We also field a vehicle, it will be at both events. It's pretty recognizable. If you're interested in learning more, please feel free to contact us: team@brigademilsim.com You can also see some more of the team on Instagram @brigademilsim --Chris

First off, I have an Amateur Radio License, as well as several channels licensed for business use, so I'm educated on this, and not blowing smoke with my answer. You need an Amateur Radio License (Ham) of Technician or higher to operate on the frequencies within the amateur radio band. The UV-5R is capable of transmitting on frequencies between: VHF: 136-174 MHz UHF: 400-520 MHz Amateur band's in which the UV-5R can reach: VHF: 144-148 MHz UHF: 420-450 MHz (stay off these channels if you don't have a license) Please be aware that these radios are also capable of transmitting and receiving emergency services and other business frequencies. In most cases you can monitor and listen to any of these channels, what is restricted by the FCC is the act of transmitting on a channel you are not authorized to. What channels can you legally transmit on? Multi-Use Radio Service Channels: https://www.fcc.gov/general/multi-use-radio-service-murs Business Channels in which you hold the business license, or are authorized by the business licensee to transmit on. Then comes the issue of FRS/GMRS channels. The FCC presently requires a GMRS license to transmit on any GMRS channels (Bubble-pack channels 15-22). FRS is restricted to 500mw (0.5 watts) of transmitting power. Is this enforced? It can be, but the FCC has pretty much let this go by the wayside. So, I'm not saying you'll be absolutely 100% safe, but I've never seen FCC enforcement of this. - If you play nice, aren't being disruptive, or interfering with others, there is little reason to gain the attention of the FCC. If you are interested in getting a GMRS license: https://www.fcc.gov/general/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs Most airsoft events use the FRS/GMRS channels for communications. Lately it seems that American Milsim's comms matrix has been in the business band, so I'm making an assumption on this next statement, but it appears that American Milsim has licensed a handful of business itinerant frequencies for use at their events. Many people purchase the UV-5R as a budget radio because it can transmit on these channels, as well as others. Is it perfectly 100% legal? Not always, but also the FRS/GMRS enforcement has little to no existence. Bottomline: If it's not a public use channel (meaning the FCC requires you to have a license to transmit on it), or you don't have permission of the licensee to use their licensed channel, stay off of it. Let me know if you have additional questions.

Correct, the Midland LXT1800 and other "bubble pack" types of radios can not be manually programmed with different frequencies.

I have a set of these, and have hooked them up to a radio similar to what you have shown in the picture. To start with, most radios and speaker mics use a mono-output, so you may end up only hearing the radio audio in one ear in the headset. If you're ok with that, then you're good to go. If you want to hear it in stereo (both ears) you will need to get a mono to stereo cable... However... I've found that only seems to work with some speaker mics, for whatever reason it doesn't always turn it into a stereo output. I don't have any experience with the AnyTone version in the picture. The audio quality (for radio chatter) is ok, seems a little poppy and lacks low end at times. Honestly I prefer my MSA Sordin Dual Comm headset, but what you have pictured is a much more economical option. I will caution you that the headset connection on mine grips the connector pretty tightly, which can be a good thing, but if you snag on something you run the risk of destroying the cable as opposed to just having it come unplugged.

First off, I would recommend just getting the correct type of equipment, I know it's more expensive and that isn't always appealing, but I say this given the construction of the radio and I'll get into that more in a minute. I don't know of a direct Midland to Kenwood adapter, but if you're feeling adventurous you could try this... Get a F to M adapter for each the mic and speaker points. Basically you would run two independent wires. Of course you could always heat shrink them together. You would need a Male 2.5mm to 2,5mm Female cable. You would also need a Male 3.5mm (mono) to Female 3.5mm (mono) cable. The smaller the housing around the plug heads the better off you would be with getting them to fit next to each other in the plugs. Be careful with doing this while carrying it in a pouch. I have opened up and worked on a couple of the PX-888's and PX-777's and the Audio/Speaker jacks aren't very strongly attached to the circuit board in the radio. Just typical Chinese quality with how it is all soldered together. If these break off, they can be re-attached if you have the tools to break open the radio, and the skills to solder it back on.

JP, For CCW I typically carry a Glock 27 .40 S&W, using the clipdraw and saftblok, or appi-clip. I carry the gun with a 2733 base plate for extra finger support and the +1 round (total of 10 in the mag, 1 in the pipe.) The gun has TruGlo TFO sights. This is the same weapon I've carried for years as a backup weapon when on patrol. I carry 180 grain Winchester Ranger Bonded (RA40B) ammunition. Out of the 27 it chrono's at around 950 FPS - 360 FPE Occasionally I will carry a Glock 19 or 23 as concealed, but the 27 is by far my prefered carry weapon.

Baofeng, Puxing and many other Chinese radios have a mono-audio output, and with many headsets you will only get radio audio in one of the two ears of your headset. I would recommend borrowing and testing a pair to make sure you are ok with that, and to see if your radio only does mono, before jumping in and making the purchase. I have been able to convert the mono to stereo using adapters, but they aren't the strongest and it's not something I would trust in the field.

As for civilian uniform, the street clothes aspect is clear. The civies are going to be running multiple vehicles this year, and for safety purposes helmets may be desired in those situations. Are the civilians going to need to have a specific color for the helmet they are using, or will the street clothes aspect be clear enough that they are civilians even if wearing a tan or green helmet?