Buying a radio

[desert rat]

I have been thinking of buying a mobilr radio for ground team use.  What would be better, VHY, HF, UHF?   Can a personal owned radio be allowed with cap.

[RiverAux]

Your ground team should have, or soon should have, one issued to them.  CAP has been spending millions on radio purchases so I wouldn't spend any of my own money buying one.  If you've got a qualified ground team you should have gotten something.  If not, your squadron commander needs to talk to the Wing Comm Officer to see what the deal is. 

[Eclipse]

I agree with River, you SHOULD be getting some gear issued to you by Wing, a lot of toys have passed down from NHQ lately, and if you have active ES people, they should be on  the list.  Some wings keep the stuff stashed and require units beg…er… request it, others issue based on ES need, etc.  You might be surprised what is available if you ask.

If you plan to buy a radio this year, caveat emptor…

Personally owned radios must be certified and licensed by a certification officer before they are allowed to be used.  They also must be specially programmed with our PL tones in order to "kick" the repeaters.

Only certain radios are certified by the NTIA for use on CAP frequencies, this list is not a "suggestion" it is the only equipment we are allowed to use. It is a short list, and has changed several times in the last year, disallowing equipment previously and recently on it.

You can check the CAP National Technology website, or consult with your Comm officer for the current list.  You'll need his help anyway for the radio certification and license.

Also, in order to possess a CAP radio, whether personally owned, or USAF issued gear, you must posses a valid ROA card of the "A-Cut" flavor.  B-Cut cards are for operators only, who are not allowed to own or be issued equipment.

Also, this year CAP will be switching to narrow-band compliancy, which means a whole cow-load of perfectly serviceable equipment will magically become paperweights (YAY!). This is both literal and regulatory.

Some radios are only wide-band capable, and so therefore won't even work on the new frequencies, but some equipment, like the ubiquitous VX-150,  is capable of being reprogrammed for narrow-band use, but does not meet NTIA specs, and will therefore not be authorized.

This is a long way of saying - wait until next year…

[davedove]

This is a long way of saying - wait until next year...

That is the latest advice I have heard.  Because National is still working to pin down exactly what is needed, anything you buy on your own may be incompatible within a year.