ACWN Juneau Amateur Radio Club, Inc. |
By Ed Trump, AL7N (reprinted here with permission) Any and all interested Radio Amateurs in Alaska. Something to think about....Pass this along. Providing emergency communications when regular communications facilities are unavailable for any reason is one of the prime reasons for the existence of the Amateur Radio Service. ARES operations require well-trained radio operators who should be able to operate with any available mode and any available equipment in an emergency scenario. Amateur Operators who only use VHF FM or HFSSB can not be considered fully trained and capable in all situations, since suitable equipment may not always be available in an emergency. Any of the newer digital modes have all of the advantages listed below, except No.s 1 and 2, but again, this kind of equipment may not be available where it is immediately needed, especially during some kind of emergency. ARES activity in a real emergency situation needs the K.I.S.S. principle to be applied to minimize the opportunity of things going wrong. This is one place where CW shines particularly bright. For this reason, well-trained ARES operators should have a good working ability with CW mode. This means being capable of effective use of the mode, not just passing an FCC license examination once. CW is a mode that has been shown to be highly useful in performing emergency communications but demands a modicum of operator skill in order to be effective. Advantages of using CW for emergency communications: 1. Simple equipment, or more complex equipment that can be operated in a simpler mode such as turning carrier on and off, can be used effectively in an emergency. 2. Computers, CRT screens, printers and/or other complex and/or power consuming pieces of equipment are not required to encode/decode and produce readable hard copy. All you need is your ears, pencil and paper. 3. Due to the character-by-character transmission of CW, it is much less prone to garbling or misunderstanding and does not require use of phonetic codes or other encoding schemes. Many words sound alike on SSB or even FM. There is no question on CW. . 4. CW offers basic encryption.. CW is probably not readable by the average media or casual intercept, and for this reason, it provides a certain level of security. 5. Low RF power output levels and simple antennas can be useful for communications over considerable distances, even when band condition/propagation is uncooperative. 6. Even at fairly low code speeds (around 10-12 WPM), CW can move written traffic rapidly, usually about two to three times as fast as SSB or FM over comparable circuits. 7. Experience has shown that CW has certain advantages over the voice modes when the radio operating position is located in a noisy environment at one or both ends (such as an EOC, headquarters or disaster shelter area). Use of headphones blocks out ambient background noise during receiving, and telegraph keys cannot pick up high levels of ambient background noise which can easily overpower the operator's voice during transmission on FM or SSB. 8. CW can be effectively used with other modes, CW one direction, SSB or FM in the other direction (split, or duplex) or even on different bands (crossband) if necessary. 9. It's fun, once you learn how. Making effective use of the above advantages requires a certain level of skill on the part of the operators involved. Personnel engaged in ARES activity must be able to handle written record message traffic effectively and accurately, using any and all modes. Regular use of CW for handling traffic will provide message traffic proficiency in general and proficiency in the use of this mode in particular. Any operator who has once attained good CW capability never forgets it. It is like learning to swim or to drive a stick-shift car.... once you know how, you never really will forget. If proper traffic procedures are learned and followed correctly, errors in transmission or reception are extremely rare. The problem is getting to the point of proficiency in CW operating, where it becomes second nature, sort of a "second language". Unless CW is used enough to become like a second language, the skill tends to fade over time. Once the skill is developed sufficiently, operators who have been away from using CW, even for decades, usually will have no trouble getting right back into it. Those who never properly learned in the first place will have to start all over. Additionally, the recent changes in the FCC licensing examinations which reduce Morse Code requirements to ridiculously slow speed levels has seriously affected general amateur proficiency in the CW mode among newer licensees. Today, we have lots of Extra class licensees whom cannot operate CW at all! The Alaska ARES organization badly needs more trained and capable radio operators, including operators proficient in the use of CW for handling written record traffic. How can we help to accomplish this? The ACWN or Alaska CW Net has been started with this need in mind, and it is hoped it will be of some benefit in case a serious communications emergency occurs for any reason. We have begun to invite checkins to the ACWN on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 730 PM and 930 PM Alaska Time at slow (approximately 7 to 8 wpm) code speeds. The CQ call to ACWN is automatically keyed on the hour and approximately each 15 minutes thereafter during the two-hour period. It is sent on both the 80 and 40 meter frequencies of 3534 and 7042 KHz, and the receivers are always on at AL7N. The only way this activity will be beneficial is for Alaska amateur stations to call into ACWN and BRING some formal TRAFFIC along to send. It does not matter where the traffic is destined for. It can be to points outside Alaska, or other points within Alaska, or it can be sent to the Net Manager, AL7N in Fairbanks, Alaska SCM, SEC, EC, or to anyone else you desire. ACWN is an "open" pair of frequencies intended for amateurs to use for third party formal message work, so let's take advantage of it. You may set your own schedules on the ACWN frequencies if you so desire for station-to-station work. Learning to accurately receive such traffic is just as, if not more so, important as learning to send it. That is what the network is for. There is only one rule in ACWN: Send your messages in proper message format, using proper procedures, and properly acknowledge receipt. Anyone who needs information on message handling procedures, email AL7N and information will be supplied via return email. This is an OPPORTUNITY for any interested Alaskan amateur to gain proficiency in CW traffic work. Those who wish to work at slower speeds can call into the ACWN on Tuesday and Thursday evenings on 3534 or 7042 KHZ. Those who wish to utilize higher CW speeds can call in any other time. Effort is made to "guard" the 3534 and 7042 frequencies, plus 14050 KHz in the 20 meter band, as continuously as possible between the hours of 730 PM in the evening until about 1000 AM the following morning, Alaska time, every day. There is no "Net Control" station. If no activity is heard, Call CQ ACWN and see who you might find listening. A regular schedule is maintained with a station outside Alaska which takes traffic to and from the ARRL NTS network in the lower 48. Pass any such traffic to KL5T in Eagle River, or AL7N in Fairbanks. The ACWN should be thought of as a valuable training resource. We need to use it before we lose it. Dig out your key and headphones and join us....it can be lots of fun as well as good training. Thanks
Ed Trump |
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