[BARC-List] re: FD and EMCOM

[Frank Murphy]

The following are excerpts taken from the
"THE EMCOMMWEST BULLETIN - 8 APRIL 2003 - No. 153"

+ PORTABLE OPERATION - by Ed Ewell, K7DXV
  Associate Editor for Training - ewell2@cvc.net

  Why would I want to leave my comfortable operating chair and my warm cup
of coffee to go out into the rain, or operate from a tent?  This helps to
train me as a radio operator.  It tests my readiness, verifies that my
equipment is operational, and exposes any weak points in my existing
communications.  It is also fun, rewarding, and challenging!
  When country or community ask for emergency communications, we should all
be ready to respond by putting our mobile and portable radio equipment into
service; often using alternatives to commercial power.  Amateurs should
have some way to operate their station without using commercial ac power.
Power lines are often knocked down during a natural disaster such as a
hurricane, tornado, earthquake or ice storm.
  First-response communications in an emergency involving a few people in a
small area are called tactical communications.  This type of communications
are unformatted and hardly ever recorded.  You must keep an accurate log of
times and events, but no written messages are handled.
  Tactical communications are urgent instructions or requests.  Some
examples are =B3send an ambulance=B2, or =B3would some one please bring the
bottled water to tent 2=B2, or =B3the highway has been closed north because
bridge is out=B2.  Tactical call signs, which describe a function, location,
or agency, make tactical communications more efficient.
  Tactical call signs remain the same when operators change shifts or
locations.  Amateurs must also identify their station operation with their
FCC assigned call sign by identifying at the end of the operation and at
intervals not exceeding ten minutes during the operation.
  The above is the most basic type of emergency communications, and if we
do not have portable equipment, know how to use tactical communications
procedures, and know how to keep an event log we should not respond.
You should know tactical call sign use, this is very important when working
with served agencies.  Governments use tactical call signs most of the time
in their normal communications.
 Much of the =B3magic=B2 of ham radio has been lost over time, but to so some
of us it remains just amazing that we can take a small box, hook it to a
wire strung over a tree limb, and talk all over creation.

- Ed Ewell 73 K7DXV

 Previous training bulletins are archived at:
  <www.emcomm.org/svares/training/>

+++++ REFERENCE/RESOURCE SECTION +++++
=80 ARRL FSD-218.  The famous =B3pink card=B2 that contains (almost) =B3everything
you ever needed to know about RADIOGRAMS=B2.  An electronic version of the
FSD-218 is available at: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/#fsd-218
=80 National Traffic System (NTS) Methods and Practices Guidelines
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nts-mpg/
=80 DIGITAL EMCOMM YAHOO GROUP (packet, SSTV, APRS, etc.):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cadigitalemcomm/