+ 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 “send an ambulance”, or “would some one please bring the bottled water to tent 2”, or “the highway has been closed north because bridge is out”. 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.
Some say that CW is dying. With the resurgence in popularity of QRP CW I do not agree that CW is dying. Morse is special because it is the only digital mode that can be sent and received without a computer. It can operate with low power and is one mode that could be used in a pinch with a cobbled-up radio.
I have in my desk, an Altoids tin, with a hand key, earphones, 9 volt battery, and small antenna. With that simple CW transceiver, I can provide communications, as long as there is a trained CW operator at the other end to take my messages.
Much of the “magic” 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.
I have just returned from a trip to Sparks Nevada, and I
communicated over 300 miles with my 50 watt SSB radio with a wire antenna from
the Park Marina to the wide area net (JNN). My radio is a Scout 555 TenTec
and the antenna was 7 feet above the ground.
A final question, if you are called to move to the epicenter, are you
ready? I am ready. -
Ed Ewell 73 K7DXV