Comm Training Cadets

[Garibaldi]

I took ALORD's advice and went to take the online General test. It's not easy, but some of the questions are familiar. 35 multiple choice, and I've taken it about 10 times, and failed 10 times, but the scores keep going up. I think I'll surprise my Dad by getting it by his next birthday. He's the one who had been goading me into getting my license since I was a kid.

[EMT-83]

HamStudy.org is a better choice for test study. They have flash cards that explain the questions and answers, so you understand the material instead of memorizing answers.

I used them for my Tech and General, and I'm currently studying for my Extra. BTW, it's free.

[ALORD]

A lot of people complain that Ham Radio is dying, but in fact, eliminating the code requirement has made licensing sky rocket! Ham radio is growing faster than ever, and about half of all licensee's are Tech Class ( The last time I checked) I find most people get into Ham Radio for very specific reasons. If that means that bunch of them buy a $30.00 Baofeng handheld radio to talk on the local repeater, do (NON-CAP) SAR volunteer work, support Bicycle Rides or other fund-raisers, I am totally happy with that, but a good number of them migrate into newer areas and occasionally, that requires a higher class license. The Tech Class has operating privileges that will make almost everyone happy, and Amateur's tend to generate the new ideas that later become commercial. More power to Tech's! ( And all 27 of you Tech + operators out there too!  )

[Holding Pattern]

It's worth mentioning that my local library has all the ARRL books, making it a good choice for really diving into radio theory and test study.

Check there before shelling out money for their books.

[Brad]

I'm a General myself, and my county ARES EC and Skywarn AEC.

With regards to CAP, to the member(s) that said their Wing doesn't do a comm-ex, i find that concerning as it is a requirement of CAPR 100-1 and the Compliance Inspection to do an annual exercise.

One thing that works well for Cadets is to use ISR radios to run small-scale nets among the students. It has been done repeatedly at NESA and is a great learning experience.

[Garibaldi]

My mistake. I thought when I wrote about my dad, I was wrong. He had been General most all his time, he just got Extra not too long ago. I just told him about trying for General.

I've not really been into Comm as much as he was. I was always fascinated by the radios he had, and the stuff he knew. One of my favorite moments was having him explain skip-wave propagation when I was about 11 or 12. I got into Comm as a cadet because it meant I could stay at base in the comm box (we inherited a comm box or two, the ones that sat on the back of a 1 1/4 ton pickup, from the NG in the mid 80s) instead of humping the NOGA mountains. Until we got PRC-77s and others figured out my game. Then I was back on the trails, with a 30 pound radio on my back in addition to my field gear. I called nets, I ran comm at SAREXes, raised antennae, taught basic classes. Kept it up as a SM, but lost interest when everything went to NTIA. I don't use my amateur radio much at all, but I renew my license dutifully every 10 years. I know enough to turn on and use the EFJ units and I constantly get on cadets who say "over and out" or "roger dodger" or use 10 codes.

[THRAWN]

Love the discussion on family links here. For a while, I was the contingency and emergency comms guy for a 3 letter federal agency in the Philly area. During our monthly field drills, my son would join us as we set up the unit and did our thing. He was 2 or 3 at the time (6 now), but he actually brings up "going to the park and playing radios with my friends" from time to time. I make sure he is around when I use my personal radios and he seems interested in getting his license. His eyes get really big when we go to a fest or meet and he sees the mountains of "stuff"...

[gcreager]

re: ham tests on-line, what I strongly recommend (and I have an astronaut or two who can attest the method works, for the Tech/General testing, get a good study guide and work through it. I like both ARRL and W5YI, but it doesn't matter. Spend a small amount of time on it daily. I recommended the astronauts (preparing for NASA's on version of SAREX, the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) spend 15 min/day studying and take at least one, but no more than two, tests daily. When you're consistently getting scores of 85 or more, go take the test. There are things to learn for Amateur Radio: Rules and Regs so you don't crash-land with the FCC, and customs, so you don't get lynched by the local club. But, like the private pilot's license, it's a license to learn.

While I'd love to see everyone in the hobby proficient in electronic theory and construction practices, it just ain't gonna happen. What I can appreciate is adding another communicator who brings something unique and useful to that hobby. And, over time, most will learn other useful things related, somehow to communications, and all the neat technologies we employ.

What I brought into the squadron was decades of communications... and emergency communicator... experience, since I was first licensed at age 13, and have been a geek ever since. I speak fluent antenna, HF ops and VHF ops, repeater, and digital. While we have others in the Wing with similar experience, there's Just Not Enough to train everyone up right. Now, what I'm facing, is soem SMs who want to do comms, but don't want to learn how to do it safely, or correctly, because they think it's "easy". I'm trying to get them to let me help 'em but some are a bit stubborn.

[C/SrA Ravlin]

Another good practice would be (I dont know if this has been posted yet or not as I got this from another thread...) that if you can get onto an airport have some cadets with a handheld sitting near the airport with mono/binoculars and have them record the tail numbers and send them to another station in a separate location to relay to a final base station who will record the numbers, as will the other stations, and you can compare them at the end to see if your little game of "telephone" was successful. Maybe even see if you can use HF to relay to another station in your state or outside of your state and have them do the same... PM me with any questions as I would be happy to help you set it up.     

[Garibaldi]

Another good practice would be (I dont know if this has been posted yet or not as I got this from another thread...) that if you can get onto an airport have some cadets with a handheld sitting near the airport with mono/binoculars and have them record the tail numbers and send them to another station in a separate location to relay to a final base station who will record the numbers, as will the other stations, and you can compare them at the end to see if your little game of "telephone" was successful. Maybe even see if you can use HF to relay to another station in your state or outside of your state and have them do the same... PM me with any questions as I would be happy to help you set it up.     

Errrrmmmmm...that's kinda what they do in Wisconsin, at Fond du Lac airport, which handles all the overflow and visitor traffic for EAA. Except it's a little more organized.

[Theodore]

Im trying to get some cadets in my squadron to embrace Comms more. Lately, I brought some small, basic FRS radio from Wal-Mart and have started there, and worked them up into the squadron's radio equipment.

[Garibaldi]

Im trying to get some cadets in my squadron to embrace Comms more. Lately, I brought some small, basic FRS radio from Wal-Mart and have started there, and worked them up into the squadron's radio equipment.

Not going to say you're wrong on this, but as long as you don't use them for actual CAP radio traffic I'd say you're OK. I often used CAP issued ISRs to get cadets used to passing simulated message traffic.

Just don't use them on any CAP activity and you're fine.

[SarDragon]

Im trying to get some cadets in my squadron to embrace Comms more. Lately, I brought some small, basic FRS radio from Wal-Mart and have started there, and worked them up into the squadron's radio equipment.

Not going to say you're wrong on this, but as long as you don't use them for actual CAP radio traffic I'd say you're OK. I often used CAP issued ISRs to get cadets used to passing simulated message traffic.

Just don't use them on any CAP activity and you're fine.

Not necessarily true.

9-10. Intra-Squad Radios (ISR). The primary use of ISR radios is for ground team members to communicate among themselves when away from their vehicles, as well as other short-range ground communications. However, ISR radios are authorized for all CAP units and activities, except that they must NOT be utilized in flight and may not conflict with other federal users. Only radios specifically manufactured for the ISR service are authorized and they will not be modified in any way, including the addition of external antennas or amplifiers. Because these radios operate only on federal frequencies, use of ISR radios for personal communications is prohibited.

9-13. FRS/ISR Procedures. Operations with either ISR or FRS radios should use normal CAP operating procedures, including call signs. To operate either FRS or ISR without supervision, operators must be qualified as a radio operator under paragraph 5-2 of this regulation.

The usage restrictions for ISRs have been loosed up, and there is some allowable FRS usage now.

9-11. Family Radio Service (FRS). While use of ISR is preferred, the use of FRS radios is authorized IAW NTIA Regulations section 7.5.8. FRS radios are authorized for all CAP units and activities not directly supporting Emergency Services (actual missions and training). Emergency/disaster response, medical communications, and command and control communications are examples of emergency services functions which are prohibited from using FRS.

We've been using them for airshow for years.

[Theodore]

I used those radio strictly from training purposes only.