Last
revision: (-) Wednesday, October 5, 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Operational
Guidline contains the foundations of what is
called “tactical” – as opposed to “formal” - radio
communications, used by emergency responders and agencies. Some concepts may be new, and are a change
from the normal manner in which amateur radio operators are used to operating
in their normal daily activity. So,
let’s briefly recap proper radio technique.
If doing so appears at first basic and simplistic, its purpose is to
make sure that we’re all operating “on the same page”!
Here are a few of the most important differences:
* If written messages are sent on an emergency net they
will be recorded on an ARES/ RACES message form; (ICS Form 213), or a
variant. Download a copy of the form
from our web site.
* The formal ARRL Radiogram, limited to 25 words, with
its arcane transmission protocol, is not used. An ICS message is read and
recorded in the same manner as a telephone message.
* All tactical traffic is logged. If the traffic is
not in the form of written messages, the log entry must contain a line-item,
brief, accurate synopsis of the conversation. Predefined abbreviations abound,
and the ability to write quickly is required.
* Parties on an emergency net are not identified by an
FCC call sign; “tactical” call signs, usually with a team identifier, position
title, location or function are used instead.
Refer to Operational Guidelines 06 “Tactical Call Sign Use” located on
this web site.
* Instead of relying on repeater “beeps” or saying
“clear”, on an emergency net only the pro words “over” or “out” are used to
elicit a response or end the conversation, respectively. (“Over and out” are not used together, as
doing so is contradictory, a phrase that no trained operator ever uses!)
Proper
radio technique is the basis from which all other activities are built. If an operator’s technique isn’t solid, it’s
possible to garble, obscure, or misconstrue the clarity of the message.
Listen to
the frequency before you transmit. Be sure that there is not another
contact in progress; make sure that the volume is high enough, and the squelch
open enough, that you can hear any conversation on the frequency.
Think
before you speak. Go over
key points, and mentally rehearse what you need to say.
Pause
slightly before speaking. After you
press the PTT key, wait just a moment before you begin speaking. This allows
your rig’s relays, the repeater’s circuitry, and the receiving station’s
squelch to be working before speech modulation occurs. How many times have you
heard the beginning of someone’s sentence cut off? That’s what happens if you
don’t pause slightly - and in EComms, it wastes time when you must repeat your
traffic.
Talk
across your microphone, not into it. Your voice won’t be
over-modulated, you’ll avoid “popping” and distracting breath sounds and
everyone will hear you more clearly.
Enunciate
clearly. Speak in a
normal conversational tone of voice. Don’t slur and don’t shout! When an emergency happens, it’s all too easy
to start talking quickly and loudly.
This makes it far harder to understand, and far easier to make a mistake
in copying a message. (Don’t overcompensate by speaking too softly, either - be
confident, not loud!)
Wait a
couple of seconds for a previous contact to finish. Don’t jump right in; especially on
a repeater, the timer may not have reset - which may cause an embarrassing
timeout! Furthermore, someone may be
trying to make a priority contact.
Use the
procedural word (proword) “OVER” whenever
you expect the other station to acknowledge or reply to your transmission. It
means, “I am done talking, and I ready to listen to your reply. On repeaters, we’re not accustomed to using
this term; but in EComms, particularly on SSB or FM simplex it’s vital to do
this to ensure that everything necessary has been covered.
Standard
ITU Phonetics While it doesn’t
take much effort to speak into a microphone and listen, it does take some
training and practice to quickly and accurately convey exact information. Speak distinctly at all times. If information is to be
written, pace your speech accordingly.
For critical information, or under noisy conditions, spell words with
standard phonetics. The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) phonetics are the
recognized standard of disaster relief, aviation, maritime and military
services worldwide. They were chosen so
that each word sounds completely different from all others and could be readily
distinguished by non-English
speakers in poor HF voice operating conditions:
Letters: Figures:
A - alfa (AL-fa)
N - november (no-VEM-ber) 1 - one (WON)
B - bravo (BRAH-voh) O -
oscar (OSS-cah) 2 -
two (TOOO)
C - charlie (CHAR-lee) P
- papa (PAH-PAH) 3 -
three (tharr-EE)
D - delta (DELL-tah)
Q -
E - echo (ECK-oh)
R - romeo (ROW-me-oh) 5 - five (
F - foxtrot (FOKS-trot)
S - sierra (SEE-air-rah) 6 - six
(SICKS)
G - golf
(GOLF) T - tango
(TANG-go) 7 -
seven (SEV-ven)
H - hotel
(HOH-tell) U - uniform (YOU-ni-form) 8 - eight
(ATE)
I -
J - juliet (JU-lee-ett)
W - whiskey (WISS-key)
0 – zero
(ZEE-ro)
K - kilo (KEY-loh)
X - x-ray (ECKS-ray)
L - lima (LEE-mah)
Y - yankee (YANG-key)
M - mike (MIKE)
Z - zulu (ZOO-loo)
Numbers
are pronounced as individuals. The number 60 is voiced as “figures six zero”,
not “sixty”. The number 509 is voiced
“figures five zero niner”, not “five hundred nine” and NOT “five oh nine”. Never use the initial OSCAR (Oh) if you mean
the figure ZERO.