[MRCA] PRC-74 ... Now CAP

[Peter Gottlieb]

When I was in last a few years ago then left I knew the HF frequencies and tried 
to listen in.  I heard almost no voice, just ALE moving around.  When I looked 
with an ALE program it was just stations automatically pinging each other.  
Evening nets were basically gone.

My early experience in CAP was that each region had an evening net schedule.  
Some nights of the week I would run the net.  No traffic to move, just keeping 
track of who was on and helping those with radio or antenna problems to get it 
sorted out.  There would be a lot of voice traffic whenever there was any sort 
of exercise or sometimes if a search got "real" and across a wide area.

After the CAP radio changes the evening nets went away and all that was left 
were SAREXes (exercises) where the different bases would message each other 
using ALE.  It is an appliance where the operator doesn't have to know anything 
at all about radio to send and receive messages but it had the most awful and 
awkward user interface imaginable (the training was all about the steps used to 
operate the appliance).  I can't imagine what a hassle those things would be to 
use in a real wide-scale emergency situation where it took that much time to 
send and receive extremely short messages.

Peter

On 3/25/2018 6:24 PM, Robert Nickels wrote:
> On 3/25/2018 3:22 PM, Mike Morrow wrote:
>> I was active in CAP, Arkansas Wing (1968-1972).  My main interest was 
>> communications because the flying part was too expensive.
>
> I became aware of CAP a couple of years earlier than that, as a rival in high 
> school was involved in CAP and I'd just got my ham license, and we'd each 
> insist their particular hobby was superior ;-)  My interest was mostly on the 
> communications side as well.
>
> This was in Nebraska where World Radio Labs in Council Bluffs IA was the only 
> ham store withing driving distance for most of the state and thus where most 
> hams bought and traded their gear.    I remember this kid had a WRL Globe CB 
> in his car for the 26.620 Mhz CAP frequency with the 8 foot whip and all, 
> which I was highly envious of (both the radio and the fact that he had his own 
> car!) but the thing I remember clearly is their base station at the airport.   
> It was the first and only time I'd seen a WRL Meteor SB-175 transmitter until 
> I found one of my own 30+ years later. Even though it was one of the two 
> commercial double sideband transmitters  ever sold,  the CAP nets were in the 
> AM mode at that time and that's how the transmitter was used, screen modulated 
> with a crystal for 4585 KHz.   I can't remember what their receiver was, but I 
> memorized the frequency and would listen to the nightly state net operations 
> from home.
>
> If there were standards or approved equipment lists for radio equipment, it's 
> hard to believe an obscure rig like the WRL Meteor would be on it!   I suspect 
> there weren't and wings were allowed to buy and use whatever they wanted, 
> which in my area meant they did their radio shopping in Council Bluffs just 
> like most of the hams did.
>
> I know the hobby magazines and online sources still show lists of HF 
> frequencies for various regions - are they still in operation?   If so are 
> they still just using single frequencies or have they gone to ALE?   It would 
> be fun to listen in again if there's anything to listen to.
>
> 73, Bob W9RAN
>
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