Encampment Special Event Station

[Michael]

For all CAP hams out there...

Is the idea of a special event station on an amateur frequency feasible for encampment?

I'm playing with the idea of doing that, should I get the corresponding position.

[W3ZR]

I would try to work you if you did get it set up !

[Eclipse]

As an encampment commander, the question I would ask is:

Which part of the required curriculum for an encampment, ES training, or other CAP related mission is served by setting up a HAM station?

[isuhawkeye]

We run KC0CAP durring field day. 

[Nathan]

Which part of the required curriculum for an encampment, ES training, or other CAP related mission is served by setting up a HAM station?

The same that would be fulfilled with a rappelling tower, shooting range, or swimming pool, I suppose.

[BillB]

Eclipse,  there is no difference in setting up a ES Mission radio station and a Ham radio station. They both need an operator, radio, transmission line and antenna. In fact probably a good percentage of member owned radios are also ham band capable.
In setting up a ham radio at an encampment, cadets get the experience of setting it up which applies also to CAP mission radio stations.
Only problem, you can't transmit CAP traffic on ham bands.

[Eclipse]

Which part of the required curriculum for an encampment, ES training, or other CAP related mission is served by setting up a HAM station?

The same that would be fulfilled with a rappelling tower, shooting range, or swimming pool, I suppose.

Not necessarily - all the above could easily fall into military life (shooting), or PT hours.

[Nathan]

Which part of the required curriculum for an encampment, ES training, or other CAP related mission is served by setting up a HAM station?

The same that would be fulfilled with a rappelling tower, shooting range, or swimming pool, I suppose.

Not necessarily - all the above could easily fall into military life (shooting), or PT hours.

Yeah, but as always, it's a justification, not actuality. I wouldn't venture to say that time at a swimming pool (unless they're swimming laps) or time at a rappelling tower could be really believed to be more PT than just fun time. And I wouldn't say that shooting .22's for NRA qualifications could viably be considered military orientation, though I could certainly justify it as such.

I would say that if we wanted to justify, then I would certainly say that we could use the HAM station to practice communication procedures in CAP.

[dwb]

A problem I could see is a lack of licensed operators at the encampment.

Use of amateur radio equipment doesn't satisfy any particular element of the encampment curriculum that I can see.  You could maybe squeeze it in under Emergency Services (part of the Civil Air Patrol Fundamentals section), but I think that would be a stretch.  I wouldn't want to be the one trying to argue that.

It sounds like promoting radio communications is your underlying goal here, rather than just promoting interest in amateur radio specifically.  If that is the case, maybe you could round up some HF equipment and check in to the Wing Net, or something like that.

Even then, if you plan to involve the in-flight cadets, it all comes down to meeting the requirements in 52-16.  There are activities that don't map directly to the requirements, but those activities can only be done if we are assured we meet the mandates first.  Sending cadets home without encampment credit would be a very bad thing.

P.S. Nathan -- you're not on the same page, bud.  Yes, every activity at encampment is "justified", but we always look to CAPR 52-16 Figure 5-1 for that justification.  Amateur radio doesn't fit anywhere in there.  Rapelling does.

[Michael]

I would be trying to promote radio communications in general.

Thanks for the feedback, and again, I'm just playing with the idea.

[Nathan]

P.S. Nathan -- you're not on the same page, bud.  Yes, every activity at encampment is "justified", but we always look to CAPR 52-16 Figure 5-1 for that justification.  Amateur radio doesn't fit anywhere in there.  Rapelling does.

This is probably due to my inexperience to anything having to do with amateur radio, but if it's radio (communications), I don't see how that wouldn't fit in under some sort of ES criteria. I've used radios at a ton of activities: airshows, encampments, just using a CAP van... Like I said, there's probably an aspect I'm missing to amateur radio that would differ it drastically to any other radio, but communication procedures are always useful for any CAP member to know.

[dwb]

Mostly because amateur communicatons procedures are not the same as CAP communications procedures, and you can't use amateur radio to conduct official CAP business.

That, and in order to operate amateur radio unsupervised, you have to be licensed.  The technician license isn't difficult to get (even I passed!), but it is an obstacle.

(Of course, CAP comms has its own drawbacks)

Finally, the encampment curriculum is pretty clear in what it is emphasizing, and putting too much focus on one curriculum element may leave you short on time to complete the rest.

I've worked with three different revisions of required curriculum for encampments, and I'm not sure amateur radio has a fit; at least, it is a less desirable alternative to just teaching CAP communications.

[NIN]

My guess is that the Special Event Station might be setup in the (manned) comm shack anyway, and it would merely serve as an add-on to whats already going on in comm for the encampment anyway.

Might make an interesting PR thing, or call some attention to CAP among hams.

And that would be a good thing.

But as a part of the curriculum?  Nah, not really.

Which, if I read this correctly, is not what is being suggested.

[Michael]

Yes sir, absolutely, it would be operated in the regular comm shack.

It's not being suggested as part of the curriculum, simply a technological brainstorm that I'm throwing around.

Most of the engineering practice in amateur radio carries over to CAP communications.  However, some of the major differences include operating procedures, frequency allocations, and operating modes.