Intro to Radio Communications

[jaholder]

A couple of additional comments -

I want to clarify that my statement regarding ARES et al was not intended to be a blanket indictment of all amateur radio organizations. The largest ARES group in my area, for instance, focuses primarily on severe weather reporting and has an excellent relationship with the National Weather Service. They perform that function well, and only a few of them on the fringe get really rabid about things like FEMA certs and radio e-mail for the Red Cross. But things in some groups really get off in the weeds, and as QuietShootr said, many of the guys who are heavily into it aren't all that well-balanced. Some of them seem to feel like amateur radio is just waiting its turn to save the world, and that it's every operator's sacred and noble duty to be prepared for that day. By the way, who's bringing the beer?

My ARES group does a lot of weather spotting, but it doesn't end there. We work directly for the county 911 and built the county's EMCOMM van for cost of materials. We roll it out whenever any county Public Safety agency requests it and even man the radios if the agency requesting it cannot. We've earned the respect of the Public Agencies we serve and don't tolerate the bozo element.

The FEMA certs you mention are probably the IS100,200, 700 and 800 courses. The reason why it's being pushed is because it's being mandated gradually for everyone working an incident, it's mandatory for First Responders and is tied to FEMA funding. Besides, it's good training even for your own personal or family disaster planning.

Unfortunately, the ARRL (the amateur radio equivalent of NRA) seems to be in the same boat of pushing for integration with government services and "served agencies." They've co-opted the "hero" angle (When All Else Fails... AMATEUR RADIO) and gone wrong-headed in an attempt to attract membership. So in general, the amateur radio "party line" about what disaster communication looks like is probably quite different that what most self-reliant preppers would find sensible.

The problem with this is that the ARRL's Media campaign is factually correct: When the public safety and cell phone towers fall, usually it's the geeky guy with all the radios who can cobble together a few pieces of wire and is able to get messages out at least to the other geeky guys in the next town.

Remember the Falklands war? How about the Grenada before we invaded? The only information anyone had about what was going on during both those crises was from ham radio operators on their respective islands. Same thing happened with Katrina. More than a few agencies who thought HF was a dead mode of communication were schooled during Katrina and it was ham radio that demonstrated the fact it still had use in disasters. I've read more than a few after-action reports from Rita and Katrina where it mentions those same screwball hams who set up in the field, on their own, made a big difference.

There can be some value found in being involved with a local club, though. I've been involved several times when a club has been called on to provide communication support for a community effort like a bike race, marathon, or even an SCCA motorsport event. These events can give you a valuable opportunity to prove your equipment and operating practice in a "real-world" tactical communication scenario.

+100

Furthermore, if you can wade through the BS at some of the club meetings, you may find that the quiet older gentleman sitting against the wall is well worth getting to know. If it's communications or electronics you're interested in, some of those guys have truly been there and done that, with an amazing wealth of experience.

So yeah, understand that the culture can be a little weird, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can be friendly, soak up some valuable tools and techniques, and quietly avoid the Kool-Aid table altogether. Then take home your new knowledge and make it work for you and yours.

All I'm going to say is that the parallels between gunowners and hams is uncanny. Everything you've said about hams could generallay be said about the shooting community as a whole. Remember that.

And now for something completely different:

How useful CB is depends on where and when you are. If you're close to major trucking arteries, you'll get a lot of unwanted signal. Additionally, CB operates on a frequency that is capable at certain times of long-distance skywave propagation or "skip." I can remember having a CB walkie-talkie as a kid and not being able to find a clear channel for all the South American operators.

Be wary of "peaked" or "tuned" CB transceivers, as they have often been modified in a way that makes their operation illegal. Yes, illegal operation is widespread on CB now that operator licenses are no longer required - but we want to be above reproach, don't we?

In an area with less interference, you can communicate over a fairly impressive range with a perfectly legal CB - especially if you have transceivers capable of single-sideband (SSB) operation. SSB into elevated horizontal antennas will work even better. And nobody has to take a test or pay a license fee to run one.

fme