Challenge

[N9PVW]

Are you worried about the band plans and the future of Ham radio…Do what I did, become a MARS operator. Here’s a chance to give back, also you’re very much needed. #You won’t have any problems on these freg. So take the challenge hams.

[W8FAX]

What is the work load of the current MARS network??? I was an op during the 60's and we were very busy. I listen now on the freqs and all I hear are official notices, practice, and some argueing about protocol. A friend of mine has been in MARS for years and years and says they do little if anything anymore because of modern communication systems. Phone patch is long gone 99.9% of the time, and when I was going to rejoin, he told me he could not recommend it. He is way further up the chain than just an op too by the way.......So, MARS ops.....whats up......just another dieing facet of ham radio, or REALLY a service????????

[ai4ep]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif i read the headline...thought this post would be about the " red planet " being so close to EARTH within the next few days/weeks...mebbe that is why the BLACKOUT occurred .... lil green martians are gonna attack earth and wipe us out with re-runs of "My Favorite Martian " being sent over the airwaves on the satellite tv systems ( over riding the high quality shows we have now...lol )...and they are going to commandere the airwaves, tracking down and killing all the rule offenders ( man, will they be busy for a day or two ) until every one complies with the rules and regulations for that particuler radio service. Then they weill use their "replicators " to make all new " hydrogen gas " vehicles, then vaporize all the current vehicles, while we flood the planet with the clean water output from these new vehicles, while driving on the new "noise less pavement " that is vbeing made now with holes in it to keep the tire noise down ( friction )...so being invaded by the lil green martians wont be so bad, might even create about 500,000 jobs for those 400,000 who are jobless in the usa...after all they just use the old saying " I am here from the government, and I am here to help you " (lol) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[KD7WHQ]

I also thought another discussion might be here.
An alternative EME bounce http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

73

[kc0kvu]

...or even they guy who set up four phased 5' helix antennas on 70cm to purportedly listen to our robots on mars.....

...actually a pretty neat pic and stuff. You'd have to google it, since I don't remember the addy

[n0xas]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (W8FAX @ Aug. 15 2003,15:04)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">So, MARS ops.....whats up......just another dieing facet of ham radio, or REALLY a service?http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif?http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I'll let you know, I'm doing the training (printed version) now. Took over a year of asking to get the packet, and I have yet to hear from anyone since getting it, so they're either REALLY BUSY, or don't care much... at least I'm guessing it's one of those two. Dunno. I'll post what I find out, as soon as I find anything out.

72,
Dale - N0XAS

[ka1kjz]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (n0xas @ Aug. 15 2003,20:52)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'll let you know, I'm doing the training (printed version) now. #Took over a year of asking to get the packet, and I have yet to hear from anyone since getting it, so they're either REALLY BUSY, or don't care much... #at least I'm guessing it's one of those two. #Dunno. #I'll post what I find out, as soon as I find anything out.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Must be Army MARS.

They lost my application.

They took one month to get me the training materials after the state director ironed it out.

I got no communication from anyone, ever.

I offered to help and even GIVE them a repeater (I own 3), ignored.

The training manager doesnt train, he asks questions of increasing difficulty, then yells at you for being unprepared when he finally stumps you, ON THE AIR.

They argue incessantly about protocol, never any real work.


With that in mind, I let my membership lapse.


Seventy Thirds (23.3333)
Ron - KA1KJZ

OUT

[kb9ax]

MARS like Ham Radio is going through an identity crisis. During the last two decades many HF installations have gone unused in both the Military and Aviation. Fixed infrastructures have become very reliable during this same time, so its no wonder we have started to depend on them the way we do. Sept 11th changed this thinking quite a bit, so FEMA, Military and Aviation interest in HF has once again turned completely around. In the MARS system, release of all HF radio gear to the surplus market has been halted temporarily. The entire emergency management system is trying to come to terms with what to do when our infrastructure collapses.

Currently MARS is in the process of seeking out a new mission. We all know that sending messages back and forth to loved ones over HF is not what is needed anymore. Don’t get me wrong, There are many MARS stations that are running both Official and Moral traffic everyday. These people can handle hundreds of phone patches each month, and usually do. Other are learning to send EEI’s. This is a new form of emergency information to allow the government to better understand the scope of a disaster or emergency. But like all things new, we haven’t managed to learn how to use it properly yet. The MARS system is struggling with its new role, like ham radio is. The decision has been made that we DO need to be ready for any infrastructure collapse, so we know the service won’t go away, we just don’t know how to properly train everyone to take advantage of it. This next decade will be an interesting one for all of us.

Emergencies luckily don’t happen very often. When they do, the scope and requirements of each are different, so we can’t take one example like the recent power failure and again try to extrapolate to infinity. MARS would be able to provide information on the scope in a timely manner using EEIs, but really not much more. Aviation communications systems came back up almost without a hitch, along with the military communications systems. Our role would not be extensive. Like most emergency systems we won’t get used a lot, but when we are used, everyone will be glad you are there. We need to take pride in our preparation and readiness.

For those that have the time to participate, MARS can still be a rewarding experience. But like different parts of ham radio, its not for everyone. Those like myself with prior military service, have an easier time dealing with the formality then some. I guess you could say we are more immune to the usual BS, or at least well callused.

Guess I am just throwing my two cents worth in.

Dan KB9AX/AFA1XA

[k3sam]

At one point I was interested after a friend asked me to join. I wanted to listen first to see how I might fit in, but their frequencies are &quot;top secret&quot;, so I never applied. One item pointed out with any net is LISTEN before you just jump in, see how you fit in with the group.

- Sam

[N9PVW]

Very well said &quot;kb9ax&quot;. I'm also ex military.

[ae4tr]

I was going to join, at one time, however, I could not find out what the frequencies are, so just gave up. #What's the big secret anyhow? #How can you listen, if you don't know and can't find out anything about them? #I was told to just search for the freq's Haw!!!!. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[ka5s]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ae4tr @ Aug. 21 2003,04:04)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I was going to join, at one time, however, I could not find out what the frequencies are, so just gave up. #What's the big secret anyhow? #How can you listen, if you don't know and can't find out anything about them? #I was told to just search for the freq's Haw!!!!. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I suggest you tune around near the Amateur bands. Also, Monitoring Times' utility logs often include MARS loggings, and some MARS frequencies are listed on MARS web sites.


Cortland

[kb9ax]

To AE4TR,

Sorry to hear of your dilemma on the frequencies. After 911 there have been many changes in the Military and how communications is handled. For now, the DOD has said that “all MARS frequencies and designators are for official use only”. In Military parlance this means “almost Classified”. Thus the reluctance of many members to give them out. If you would contact your state director he can get authorization of give you a couple frequencies to listen to.

Remember, that &quot;the listen first before you jump in method&quot; is great for ham radio, but its difficult to apply to MARS at the present time. Currently there are nets with little or no traffic going on, and others that can get really busy. So you would need to listen for quite a while to get a feel. Patients is a requirement for anything in the military.

[W8FAX]

They are not &quot;secret&quot; or anything else. They are all over the internet. Go to http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2001/05/12/1/
and follow the links. You can find all you need to know................or not.........

[w0liv]

Had worked with MARS, in fact was an Area Director, for years before, and when I got back in the hobby I sent in an application to the Army MARS program. Got some information sent back to me in a ripped up envelope that had 1/2 of the information promised missing. Took over a month to get the rest of the information. In the meantime, my inbox almost overflowed with email from the coordinator.

Work picked up and I was very busy, and ended up with emails complaining that I had not sent in my monthly activity report (via email). When I responded that I had not been busy, I then got bitched at for not using the proper format for the report IAW some regulation that I didn't have a copy of.

The tone of the email was rude and demanding and frankly as a volunteer, I'm not going to tolerate tha. I felt that it was written by someone with an ego problem, ie &quot;I'm an area coordinator now and that means I'm important.&quot; I'm retired military, and I've never seen anything of that nature during my career. To me, it stunk of a civilian who has never served but thinks he knows what it is all about.

I resigned, with a cc to the chief of Army MARS outling the reasons for my actions. To me, the amount of email that I received demonstrated that there was little or no need for the program.

[kb9ax]

Well, I think you can see why I joined AF MARS instead of Army MARS. I am ex Army, but joined AF because of the state coordinator AFA1QW. I'm not sure about the civilian comparison, since that is speculation, but there are several people like you are speaking of. Hopefully most will be replaced.

Again, sorry to hear of your experience.

Dan KB9AX/AFA1XA

NAVY MARS is divided into Regions. Each region has frequencies.

Usually USB.

For MDC.. try 4013.5, 7371.5, 3390.5 (I maybe off a kHz or two becuase they (Iike Mil/Gov folks use the channel freq/center freq as we now use with our Ham 5 MHz allocated channels)

They have a net that meets at 7pm local (local in Maryland) time.

Their callsigns prefixes are 'NNN0..' (En En En ZERO) with a three character sequence.

The sequences mean nothing.. BUT if you hear a Gxx thenyou know it's amember of the staff.

For example.. NNN0GAW is the Area Coordinator for MDC Navy Mars. the rest have a number (NNN0GAW7) which indicates that they are a part of the MDC Staff. GAW is in charge of repeater systems.

Stations with an 'Axx' are normally OFFICIAL HIGH LEVEL members. Such as NNN0ASA who is in the upper level (call it Excuctive Cabinet) of the MARS Heirarchy.

Stations you'll here

NAV - HQ NAVY MARS, WASHN DC
(has stations with a number that are subunits of the main and at different locatoins)

There is LOTS of info about NAVY MARS.. frequencies and thelike. In fact.. MD DC NAVY MARS has a website that is public domain and accesible to anyone.

I got a lot of my info from that.

73 and enjoy!

Chuck K3FT