The
EM
PHILOSOPHY
One
of
the
fundamentals
of
SEARCH
and
RESCUE
is
to
determine
where
the
missing
person
is
not
-- (a
process
of
elimination).
For
the
last
few
years
we
have
been
attempting
to
define
what
EMCOMM
MONTHLY
and
the
WRRL
...
IS.
There
are a
few who
still
don't
understand
what
we
are
about.
Maybe
they
never
will....or
maybe
they
just
don't
want
to.
Perhaps
it
will help
if
we
define
ourselves
by
stating
what
we
are
not.
We
are
not for
every
ham
radio
operator. (
We
wish
we
were,
but...we
are
realists.)
We
are for
all
licensed
amateurs
who
are
serious
about
public
service
and
learning
and
using proper
operating
and
efficient
procedures.
While
EMCOMM
MONTHLY
is
available
free
to
any
interested
person, one membership
requirement
to
join
the
WRRL is
the
ability
to
accurately
handle
formal
message
traffic
using
the
universal
message
format
in
at
least
one
radio
mode. Plus
(of
course) $5.00
a
year.
We
are
not
about registering
individual
operators who
have
never
worked
together
as
a
team.
We
are
about
TEAMWORK,
and
the
TEAM APPROACH
to
emcomm.
(Try
putting
an
orchestra,
a
football
team,
or
a
ship's
crew
together
sometime...from
a
list
of
individual
players.)
We
are
not
about
using
complicated,
automated
and/or
fragile
weak-link-hybrid
systems
to relay
message
traffic.
(We'll
let
others do
that.)
We
are
about
being
prepared
to
provide
communications
"when
all
else
fails"
or
when
these
systems become
overloaded
during
a
disaster
or
other
incident.
We
are
about
radio
operators
who
know
how
(or
want
to
learn
how)
and
who
love
to
send
and
receive
signals
and
messages
via
the
ether. This
is
whether it
is
across town
or
around
the
world.
We
are
about using
simple,
reliable,
fundamental
and
proven
methods
and
procedures using
100% radio
communications!
We
are
not
about
exclusivity
or
competition
with
other
organizations
or
services.
It
makes
no
difference
what
gender
or
color
their
members are
or
what
cap
they
wear.
We
are
about
improving
all
emcomm
operators'
skills
and
promoting
what
others are
no
longer doing. We
cooperate
with other
groups that are
serious
about
service
to
the
public, and
that
encourage
courteous,
effective
and
good radio
operating
discipline. One
of
our objectives is
to
encourage
and
improve
the
skills
and
capabilities
of
radio
amateurs
everywhere.
We
are
not
about
commercial
interests
or
selling
advertising.
We
have
no
quarrel
with
the
business
approach,
but
that
is
not
what
we
are
about.
We
are
about
a
low-budget
approach
to
emcomm.
There are no
commercial
advertising
displays
or
"pop
ups"
on
our
websites.
We do
offer
a
few emcomm
specialty
items
that
are
not
available
elsewhere,
at
a
nominal
price,
to
help
support
our
mission.
We
are
not
about
big
budgets,
or
getting
someone
else
to
pay
for
our
services
through
corporate
grants
or
trying
to
get
our
hands
into
the
taxpayer's
pockets.
We
are
about
doing
it
ourselves.
Efficient
and
effective
amateur
emergency
communications
can
be
provided
very
inexpensively. All
that
is
needed
is
for
each
operator
to
have
a radio with
a
back-up
emergency
power
supply,
and
know
how
to
communicate.
We are
about the
"can-do"
approach
to
emcomm.
We
encourage
our
readers
to
learn
the
necessary
know-how
and
not
limit
themselves
solely
to
equipment that
comes
ready
to
use out
of a
box. We
encourage scrounging
and
re-cycling
and
getting
the
job
done
--
all
the
while
doing
it on
a
shoestring
budget!
We
are
not
about
half-million-dollar
communication
vans.
These
units
are very
impressive and
could
be
quite
helpful
if
one
were
stationed
near
the
hub
of
a
Type
1
ARCT,
but
they
still
can
only
be
in
one
place
at
a
time.
And
while
most
of
them
have
amateur
radio
capability,
the
current
focus
seems
to
be
on
commercial
infrastructure based
systems.
We
are
about
skilled
radio
operators
who
can communicate
over long
distances without
a
lot
of
expensive
and
complicated
baggage.
Sophisticated
equipment and
vehicles don't
communicate.
PEOPLE
communicate!
A
skilled
operator/traffic
handler only
needs
a
simple
transceiver,
a
key
or
mic,
an
antenna,
a
battery,
a
pen
and
paper...plus
some
basic skills.
We prefer
and
advocate gear
than
is
relatively
easy
to
trouble-shoot
and/or
easily
repaired
in
the
field.
Most
of
us
own
at
least
one
car,
truck,
motorcycle,
RV,
boat,
bicycle,
or
horse!
And,
those who
don't
can
always
operate
from
their
home station
and
still
serve
very
proudly
as
a
relay
or
net
control
station.
Much
of
emcomm
is
performed
from
home
stations
anyway.
We
are
not
about
political
districts
and/or
other
jurisdictional
boundaries
except
when
and
where
we
are
required
to
be.
We
are
about
"EMCOMM
WITHOUT
BOUNDARIES."
We do
not employ
public
relations
professionals
or
other
staff.
We
are
about
Keeping
it
Simple
(K.I.S.S.).
EMCOMM
MONTHLY
has
a
small
volunteer
editorial
staff,
and
the
WRRL
is
managed
by
a six member
volunteer
Board
of
Directors,
plus a
few
volunteer
net
managers.
This
keeps our
costs
as
low
as
possible.
Therefore,
EM
readers
and
WRRL
members
are
free
to
stay
focused
on keeping
their
operating
skills
at
peak
performance,
and
their
mobile,
portable
and
fixed
stations
ready
and
in
top
operating
condition.
We
are not
a
branch
of
another
organization
or
agency
and
we
do
not
say
that
any
emcomm
operator
must
choose
between
us and
another
group.
Again,
we
are
about
cooperating
with other
emcomm organizations
that
promote
sound
operating
practices
and
effective
emcomm
by
skilled
volunteers.
Many
of
our
readers
and
members belong
to other associations
and/or services.
WRRL
is
an
independent,
direct,
emergency
communications
service
provider,
to
any
agency
or
individual who may
need
emergency
or
auxiliary
communications.
(Including
other
amateur
emcomm
organizations!)
Finally,
EMCOMM
MONTHLY
and
the
WRRL
are
about RADIO
communications.
We are
about
Amateur
Radio
Operators
who
love
RADIO
-- PURE
and
SIMPLE
--
and
we
are
about
deriving
enjoyment
and
a
sense
of
satisfaction from providing
public
service
emergency
communications using
(only) RADIO
when
the
normal
means
of
communications
are
interrupted
or
overloaded.
We
love
RADIO
and
hunkering
down at
a
desk
or
console
at
home,
or
at
a
field
station.
Perhaps in
a
tent
or
camper
or
trailer
or
shed
or
garage
or
boat
cabin,
or
some other
shelter.
Maybe
even
at
an
EOC
(if
invited). If it
is in
an adverse
and/or
challenging
situation...we
love
it
even
more!
∙-∙-∙
SHORT
CIRCUITS
Sometimes
the
older,
simpler,
ways
(and
values)
really
are
the
best...
Did
you
hear
about
the
horses
that
were
trapped
for
3
days
on
a
tiny
piece
of
land
in
wind
and
rain
in
the
Netherlands
last
November?
Apparently
it
had
the
nation
mesmerized,
watching
about
200
horses
huddle
against
the
wind
and
having
to
watch
18
of
them
die.
First
firemen,
then
the
Dutch
Army,
tried
to
rescue
them
-
both
unsuccessfully.
So FOUR
WOMEN
on
horseback
rode
out
to
the
grassroots
rescue.
Here's
a
video
of
the
rescue.
Leave
it
to
the
women.
This
is
RATED
G
and
is
well
worth
the
seven
minutes
it
takes
watch.
Music
by
Vangelis
It is
an
excellent
example
of
LEADERSHIP and
TEAMWORK