[MarinTeams] Monday Evening CERT On-Air Practice Tonight

Thu Jun 26 16:42:11 EDT 2008

Hi Elisabeth,

First of all, I would like to commend you in your interest in CERT and
communications and the energy committed to both the community and Amateur
Radio in your volunteer support of athletic events in Marin.  It is
delightful that you find the ARRL Public Service protocol so well suited to
your public service events.

Emergency communications involve a number of issues, and as you infer,
coordination is near the top of the list.  You mention a documentation
effort regarding a variant of NTS for Marin RACES/ACS.  Along with
correcting what appear to be misunderstandings regarding CERT Radio,
cooperation will fast-track the development of the resource we all agree is
so needed.

However, several of the seventy-active members of this Marin Teams email
reflector have only expressed interest in what we develop.  They are not
interested in discourse and have requested we find another venue.

I will be contacting you by separate email to address issues you have
raised, and, perhaps our members can work in a subcommittee of the Marin
County CERT Coalition, or at weekly CERT Radio meetings toward the larger
picture.  From all indications there are only minor issues to resolve.

In the meantime, please spread the word that the discussion here should be
limited to what we have and can accomplish together.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Bill, AB6MT
hbco2 at sbcglobal.net
415-456-4481

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elisabeth T-M" <elistm at pacbell.net>
To: <marinteams at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:41 PM
Subject: [MarinTeams] Monday Evening CERT On-Air Practice Tonight

> Fellow CERTs and hams, many radio protocols exist, tailored to different
> uses.  CERT teams in Marin have not adopted any countywide standard.
>
> With UHF/VHF communications, sound quality is usually so good that one can
> often recognize a familiar operator by voice alone.  FCC knows this and
> requires us to ID only at the end of a series of transmissions, or every
10
> minutes, whichever comes first (§97.119 Station identification):
> http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/onepage.html
>
> HF communications (allowed with FCC General Class license and above) are
> often marred by distortions that make people sound like aliens from Planet
> X, and signals can travel hundreds or thousands of miles.  So, with HF
> radio, it may be useful to state one's call sign with each transmission,
> even during casual conversation.
>
> Now, as I understand it, Bill AB6MT has adapted a military radio protocol
> called the Joint Forces APC125 (f) and advocates its use by
CERT-affiliated
> hams within San Rafael.  It was originally designed to obscure
> communications, to protect soldiers from attack or information theft.  It
> may be used on HF bandwidth.
>
> On the other hand, Marin Amateur Radio Society (MARS--non-Navy) uses ARRL
> Public Service Protocol, during the athletic events at which we serve:
> http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nts-mpg/pdf/MPG904A.pdf
>
> It is designed for open communications among civilian radio amateurs on
> UHF/VHF.  As with Bill's adapted protocol, the ARRL Public Service
Protocol
> lets all operators overhear the same information, while the Net Control
> operator coordinates their efforts.  In either case, net discipline is
key.
>
> One difference between the two is that the ARRL Public Service Protocol
> prescribes a "tactical" net, meaning that each station identifies itself
on
> air primarily by the name assigned to the location.  For instance, at the
> Double Dipsea foot race last weekend, I was stationed at Cardiac Hill.  My
> tactical call sign was therefore "Cardiac."  The operator who helped me,
at
> one point, used the same tactical call sign.  In a tactical net, the
> important thing is where you are, not who you are.  We use our personal
call
> signs sparingly, and only as required by FCC.
>
> For example, when hailing Net Control, I would say: "Net Control,
Cardiac."
> I would wait to be acknowledged: "Cardiac, go ahead."  Without further ID,
I
> would state my message:  "Red Cross requests that all aid stations stop
> adding ice to the drinking water, because it is making overheated racers
> sick."  I would wait for acknowledgement:  "Roger, Cardiac--we will relay
> that information to all aid stations:  'Stop adding ice to the drinking
> water.' "  If I had no corrections and nothing further to add, I would
> signify that I was finished by saying, "Cardiac, KI6IMV."  It's short and
> efficient.
>
> We practice our skills in support of various organized sports events in
> Marin, throughout each summer.  We pass a great deal of health & welfare
> traffic concerning injured, lost, or exhausted racers--even the occasional
> racer who dies.  These are the skills we will use, if we are needed to
help
> in a regional disaster.
>
> Any licensed ham who wants to gain some experience using this protocol is
> more than welcome to join us.  These events always need volunteers!  Just
go
> to the "Public Service" page of the MARS club website:
> http://www.w6sg.net/PublicService.HTM
> The next event we're covering is the Marin Century / Mt. Tam Double bike
> ride on August 2.
>
> Meanwhile, Marin RACES/ACS uses a variant of NTS Emergency Communications
> protocol.  We are in the process of formalizing it in writing--a project
> that's overdue for us (but then, we're all volunteers).  This protocol
also
> makes use of a tactical net, with minimal use of personal call signs.  We
> practice it during weekly regional and countywide nets.  The countywide
net
> takes place every Tuesday at 19:30 hours on 147.330, which has four
repeater
> inputs.  These inputs and their PLs are announced during the net.  We also
> participate in a drill organized each October by Marin Operational Area
> Office of Emergency Services (MOA OES).
>
> ARRL has some thoughtful comments on striking a balance between formality
> and flexibility with radio protocols, at:
> http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nts-mpg/
>
> Personally, I like ARRL Public Service Protocol, because it's streamlined
> and intuitive.  Rank beginners (as I was, not so long ago) can learn
quickly
> and gain valuable radio network experience by serving at real events near
> home.  It's fun, sometimes harrowing, and we enjoy the free T-shirts!  The
> skills are readily transferable to FRS ("family") radio, used by some CERT
> teams in Southern Marin.  MARS welcomes all hams to volunteer with us and
> add this style of operating to their skills.
>
> 73,
>
> Elisabeth Thomas-Matej KI6IMV
> Southern Marin CERT member
> Hamilton Wireless member
> MARS Secretary
> RACES/ACS Southern Area Leader
>
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