EmComm Practice

 

Hurricane Ida is raging against SE Louisiana with winds at 145 mph and pressure at 930 mb.  If something like this happened in your area, could you establish and maintain communications?

Too often, we practice but when we practice, we cheat.  EmComm in your back yard is very different than for realz.  I have deployed as a communicator to five hurricane disaster areas.  What you have is what you bring with you.  There is no running back to the house because you forgot something. 

Fortunately, these large-scale events do not happen very often.  On the other hand, they do not happen enough to keep our skills sharp.  The question becomes, how do we prepare and maintain those skills during the in-between times?  I think an excellent way to practice is to do Parks on the Air (POTA) and Summits on the Air (SOTA) activation.  As an activator, you often must rely only upon what you bring with you, including power.  It teaches you how long your batteries last and what voltage level your radio quits working.  It can also give you an idea how much RF power you really need.   For those enamored with digital modes, you can learn how much energy your computers use.  It’s an important consideration since once it is gone, it is gone.  Some of us have adopted solar panels but again, if you are using more power than the panels can produce, you come up short.  If you do an activation as a part of your EmComm training, I recommend going at least 20 miles away from home.  That is typically the point at which it is too far to turn around or go back to the house for something.

One way to efficiently pass traffic is with CW or Morse code.  It requires less power to travel the same distance as voice/SSB and does not require a computer which is an additional drain on your power supply.  For the same reasons, many SOTA activators use CW as their main mode of operation.  Back in the day when I was a Tech+ KC5RKS, I enjoyed CW and that is how I made my first DX contacts.  Life took over and I had to put down CW.  However, I am working at getting my chops back.  I am currently somewhere around 15 wpm.  As a Tech+, I was about 18 wpm. 

CW is not the end all to communications, but when everything else is failing or you’re  running low on power, It would be nice to pull that CW key or paddle out of your back pocket and continue to operate.  73

Hello everyone.  Life on the homestead has been busy as we are preparing for a fall garden.  I have also been doing a lot of comms work with my crew which is my congregation(s).  When it rains…

 I have been invited to the Viking meet-up at Fort Mountain State Park in north Georgia on Sep. 10, 1000 hrs.  The topic will be EmComm.  If you or a member of your crew are interested, please stop by and say hello.  For further information about comms, you can check out my YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/2TAcHW0

 I believe, it was in my last newsletter, I talked about going to a blog format.  I received mixed opinions and for now I will keep the newsletter, but may also post this on the blog: https://canteencup.blogspot.com/

 My goal is to reach as many as I can.  Today, I want to talk about the next level as a or “THE” communications guy for your group.  Hopefully by now you have: gotten your required licenses; set up your communications station; know its range and capabilities; practiced talking to other communicators; practiced running a communications net; helped your group form a communications plan; help non-technical, non-communicators to talk on the radio; and tested your communications plan. 

 If you haven’t gotten this far, maybe stop reading and get caught up.  I still have work to do in some of these fields, but I am making progress in the areas that need it.

 The next level is.  Can you fix, repair, troubleshoot, your communications systems?  Can you reprogram your radios and those in your group?  Can you troubleshoot an antenna system?  Can you repair coax cable?  Can you use an antenna analyzer?  Do you have one for the frequencies that you use.  Can you raise an antenna?  Can you protect it from lightening?

 As the chief communicator for your group, everyone is going to come to you for help.  When I have deployed to disasters, without fail, someone has come up to me with a 15 year old radio in 4 pieces, telling me if I could help him get his radio working, he could then help me.  Please don’t be that person.

 Your skill set doesn’t stop at the microphone, you are the radio guru for your group.  Be ready to help, be ready to fix.

 I have spent over half of my adult life as a mechanic and electrician in aviation an industrial maintenance.  I have a pretty good understanding of electrical and electronic circuits, but to me it isn’t enough.  I have taken it upon myself to take a deeper dive into electronic theory.  A book I found interesting is Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery.  I like it because it is hands on.  You can find it here: https://tinyurl.com/e2s7vkdu

 I am setting up a little workspace for my learning laboratory.  It’s about a 4 foot by 2 foot workspace near my computers and other radio equipment. 

 When things get bad, people will be depending on you and your expertise.  Don’t let them down.

 Scott