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overheard radio traffic

Started by whatevah, July 11, 2005, 01:08:03 AM

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SarDragon

But, but, but.....   If the truckers don't need their HF capability because they have cell phones, computers and AIM, why then should CAP be any different? They use CB for the same reason CAP maintains radio comm capacity - independence from fixed infrastructure.

I fully agree that the 11 meter band has turned into a sewer, and that any effort the FCC makes to clean it up is appreciated but probably futile. That doesn't mean CAP should abandon the frequency, though.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

Jerry

Sometimes when I hear the truckers talking on the 10 meter band (28.085 AM--I CAN tell THAT frequency :D), I just fire up my 750 watt homebrew HF amp right on top of them and start in with rapid fire CQ CQ CQ CQ, DE K4---. They have no right to be there and no expectation of "protection" from the operations of legitimate Amateur operators on that, or any other frequency.

Years ago, we had a mission during which we tried to use a "certain" frequency for flight line and some air/ground work.  But we were stymied by a chicken bander who had turned some crystals around in his Johnson Whiteface to get him a "private" channel. We were absolutely infuriated! I looked for that yokel for 2 weeks but couldn't get a good bearing on him.  One saturday, I took a cadet home from a weekend activity in a nearby town. On the way out of town, I absent-mindedly flipped on our "certain" frequency and was startled out of my skin. This guy was LOUD and right nearby. I think I did one of those Smokey and the Bandit road turns (SKREEEEEEEEEEEEK) whirled around back towards the town. I stopped by
the police station (CB was BIG in the 70's) and asked if they knew the guy.
"Yeah", that's Mutton Chops on such-n-such street"!  GOTCHA!  (I'll fix your wagon, you sorry son(censored) of (censored). (BLEEP BLEEP! >:( ) I called the Wing DOK who got the Feds involved, who showed up a week later and charged him with operating on an illegal frequency, interfering with a LIVE search mission, reckless endangerment (we didn't know if the pilot was deceased), and they FINED him $1000--pretty big 30 years ago--- and seized his equipment. I heard that ole "Mutton Chops" went 10-7 after that!
;D ;D ;D


Jerry

Schmidty06

*SMACK!*  What now?!  Does it still take the feds a week to show up or have they tightened/losened their response times?

Jerry

Quote from: Schmidty06 on August 25, 2005, 01:24:34 AM
*SMACK!*  What now?!  Does it still take the feds a week to show up or have they tightened/losened their response times?

They are not all THAT fast, but they will respond.  CB enforcement was almost non-existent 5 years ago, but thanks to the efforts of a Riley Hollingsworth, an FCC attorney, they have come back to some extent. Some of their equipment has been upgraded in spite of reductions in force, and they have been citing and fining CB shops for selling uncertified "CB" radio---the most notable one was Pilot Truck Stops for $125,000!  *SMACK* ;)

When the truckers started showing up on the 28 MHZ band (10 Meters), the
hams and ARRL raised you-know-what.  And hams started monitoring and reporting these drivers who were yapping on 28 MHZ filing complaints of harmful and illegal (it IS!) interference to licensed communications. Mr Hollingsworth then sent letters to companies such as UPS, FedEx, Superior Carriers, Quality Carriers, Tidewater Transit and a whole bunch of others advising that such operations were illegal and would subject drivers to $10,000 fines and even imprisonment if they didn't quit it! Since these people use illegal transceivers that are often modified to cover from 24 to 32 MHZ, their bootleg operations CAN interfere with CAP on "certain" frequencies.

It's a situation and will be interesting to see how it plays out.


Jerry

(volunter airman and cadet since 1964)

md132

Here is one.  This is from a joint ops that MDDF and MD wing had in 2002.  We were at Ft McHenry and I was doing guard duty for a public function.  The MDDF and CAP had MDDF radios using the same freq.  Then this is what I had:

CAP cadet: "Hello, is anybody there?"
Me: " This is MDDF Towson 1, please identify yourself, over"
CAP Cadet: " This is c/Amn "name hidden"  Where am I suppose to go?"
Me: "Contact your OIC,over"
CAP Cadet: "My WHAT"
Me: "Your Officer in Charge, over"
CAP Cadet: "Oh.  Sorry"
Me: "MDDF Towson 1 out"


Now this cadet is in my squadron and has become c/CC.  I haven't let him forget it and we just laught about it now.  It wasn't funny at the time because the Adjudant General of MD was there listening.  So anytime when we have a mission I told the cadets and seniors to make sure they use proper prowords and messages because you never know who is listening. 
Oh by the way, that story I was a CPL in the MDDF and a brand new SM in CAP

Major_Chuck

Privately I've never been a fan of CB radio.  It brings back too many bad memories of the 1970's (Disco, leisure suits, and Jimmy Carter).

However, in an emergency situation when you need to establish communications for effective command and control you use what is available.   Cell phones, wireless internet, and our VHF/HF radios are great but not everyone has them nor is coverage universal.

A good resourceful leader/team member will use what is available until something better arrives on scene.

Of course folks, I'm just preaching to the choir here...

-Chuck

** Yes this belongs on another topic board.  :)

Chuck Cranford
SGT, TNCO VA OCS
Virginia Army National Guard

lreichardt

Here's one: 

I'm at Encampment in COWG in summer of 'O6.  All the cadets (myself included) are participating in a very rudimentary SARX.  To teach the Basics at the Encampment leadership skills, every single member of the flight staff is removed from command in the middle of the excercise.  The Basics have to organize themselves, pick their team leaders, figure out where they are going, etc.  The Basics also, of course, have to communicate with two other teams and a main headquarters via radio.  Very few have had any radio training...as a result, normal procedures are ignored.  That really wasn't the worst of it, however.

From main headquarters: "Cadet, where is your Flight Sergeant?"
Cadet: "Sir, the entire staff is dead!" 

This was heard on about twenty different radios.  (I'm not sure what the technical term is...but the system was just for Encampment--the type of radios you can buy at Wal-Mart.) 

C/2d Lt Reichardt

whatevah

those were (hopefully) the ISR radios, the military version of the FRS radios (that WalMart carries). Pretty much the exact same radios, just with different frequencies programmed in.
Jerry Horn
CAPTalk Co-Admin

voopvoop

We were doing some ELT training and trying to get a handle on Triangulation.  In mid winter (Think REALLY cold) we were standing on an open area up high (Think WINDY) and called out our location and bearing/Azmuth.  Another team replied
"Sir we have a bearing of 275 degrees"   We waited for a while and then called
"XXXX Team where are you?"
*Bearings don't mean anything if you don't know where they are being taken from.

We waited for several minutes and this pimply faced voice responded "We are in our Van sir!"

SIGH........

lreichardt

Quote from: whatevah on October 16, 2005, 06:23:56 PM
those were (hopefully) the ISR radios, the military version of the FRS radios (that WalMart carries). Pretty much the exact same radios, just with different frequencies programmed in.

I don't know, exactly.  It was a closed systedm (!?), so it wasn't as if other people not participating in the excercise could have picked up our communication...which, under the circumstances... :D

C/2d Lt Laura Reichardt

arajca

Those were ISR radios so only DoD and other approved federal agencies could have heard it. Except for possibly scanner junkies.

lreichardt

Quote from: arajca on October 17, 2005, 05:58:59 PM
Those were ISR radios so only DoD and other approved federal agencies could have heard it. Except for possibly scanner junkies.

What does ISR stand for?  I pity the poor confused scanner junkies.  We all got a good laugh out of the incident, though.

arajca


lreichardt


airforcecolors

Quote from: dcpacemaker on July 11, 2005, 01:33:40 AM
At the 2002 LAWG Encampment:

Alpha Flight Commander:
"To all units, this is Alpha Flight Commander. Does anyone know where my flight is? Over."

LAWG Cadet Commander/ Encampment Cadet Commander:
*laughing* "You lost your entire flight?!"

Your wing has a cadet commander??
There are three kinds of people in this world...people that get things, people that watch others get things done, and people that wonder what just happened...WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

BillB

Several Wings have a Cadet Commander, but I have never heard what the C/CC was supposed to do, or what if any authority they have. A Wing Cadet Commander is not listed in CAPR 20-1, but somewhere around the mid-1980's, the position popped up. It appears mainly to be an honorary position with no command authority.
Gil Robb Wilson # 19
Gil Robb Wilson # 104

footballrun21

Ok, I've got one.  We have a balloon festival at Solburg Airport in Readington, New Jersey every sumer.  My squadron was running it this year and there was this one senior member.  He looked like he was about 17, but he had to be over 21 because he was a 2nd. Lt.  He had no clue how to use the radio, or due much else for that matter, but he was good at recruiting so we put him at the recruiting booth.  Now, we had a tent in the bivouac area called "Mission Base," the festival commander we called Alpha (just for easy reference) and asst. commander was Bravo (he was acting like the middle man-made sure everything was going good).  The first day, we were the only squadron there because all the rest couldn't make it, so we had to work like 5 hour shifts.  This is one conversation we heard.

Senior Member: "Recruiting to bravo."
.........
Senior Member: "Recruiting to Bravo."
Asst. commander:  "This is Bravo, go ahead, over."
Senior Member: "I'm hungry"
......
Asst. Commander: "Roger, out"

This guy had no clue what he was doing, just blurted stuff out.  I don't think he even had ROA-B.  He never did get to eat (well, not then anyway).

This was one of those you had to be there events.  We still laugh about it today. :D
C/2d Lt. Stephen Pettit, CAP
New Jersey Wing

NIN

Heard from a CH-47 which just got turned around from penetrating a prohibited zone..

(we're sitting in the refuel point getting gas, can't transmit)

Co-Pilot: "This is Blackcat One Zero, we're low on fuel, can we get into that refuel point?"

(we can't transmit, mind you, as we're still "nozzles in")

Co-Pilot: "Hey, look, we need to get gas, we're very low..."

(still no response from us)

Co-Pilot: (obviously forgot to switch from FM back to intercom) "Can we get some @$#$&@ gas or what?"

I fell down I was laughing so hard.  Someone in another aircraft keyed on that FM freq and was laughing hard.  My pilots were in tears.

Finally:

Pilot: "uuuh, I'd like to apologize for my copilot's words..."

More laughter...

Darin Ninness, Col, CAP
I have no responsibilities whatsoever
I like to have Difficult Adult Conversations™
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c/LTCOLorbust

Not as bad when you are at a real mission and have to deal with with some of these pilots(non-CAP) and they talk like truckers on the radio,

at that point you want to find the guy who said come back good old Buddy.

yeah I feel sorry for High Bird but am glad I didn't have to talk to them.
1Lt. Joshua M. Bergland
Yakima Composite SQ.
WA Wing

PhoenixRisen

Ok, while I was at the MCAS Miramar Airshow a few weeks ago, I was sitting in the bleachers watching the Blue Angels perform, and the commentators had the speakers hooked up so that they could recieve transmissions between what each Blue Angel pilot was saying back and fourth to each other.

This was said right before completeing a maneuver(I forgot the name) where they all turn in one direction, this time, being left):

Blue Angels flight commander: uhhhhhhhhhhhh, ummmmm, LEFT, LEFT LEFT!!!!!