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Become a Licensed Amateur Radio Operator at the 2015 Preparedness Summit

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KC9WER, Dec 11, 2014.

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  1. KC9WER

    KC9WER Ham Member QRZ Page

    The 2015 Preparedness Summit will take place in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14-17, 2015. Additional information is at: http://preparednesssummit.org/

    Incidents over the past year have once again demonstrated that developing a robust and reliable system for communicating during a disaster continues to be a challenging task. Landlines tend to be one of the first victims of natural and man-made disasters, with cell phone networks generally close behind. During times of disaster, many organizations are turning to amateur radio (ham radio) to maintain communications and ensure continuity of operations.

    Become a Licensed Amateur Radio Operator
    The 2015 Preparedness Summit will be offering the Federal Communication Commission’s amateur radio examination. This examination is required to become a ham radio operator. The examination costs $15 dollars and takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. The test consists of 35 questions, and you must get 26 questions correct to pass the examination.
    Learn About Ham Radio
    NACCHO will be providing a series of resources to assist in your preparations for the examination. Webinars, practice tests, and links to relevant websites will be made available in the months leading up to the Preparedness Summit. In addition, NACCHO is hosting an in-person ‘HAM-Cram’ review session the night before the examination at the Preparedness Summit to ensure your success! If you are interested in participating in the webinars and/or taking the ham radio license exam at the Summit please sign up for more information.

    Read more: http://preparednesssummit.org/become-a-licensed-radio-operator-at-the-2015-preparedness-summit/



    Contact: Andrew Roszak, KC9WER, ARoszak@naccho.org
     
  2. N4EGA

    N4EGA Ham Member QRZ Page

    KC9WER, thanks for the information! Looks like I know where I am going this coming April. Bonus: My in-laws live in ATL.

    I like to see how Amateur Radio gets more main stream exposure like this. I believe that it will do our voluntary service much good. I know that there is a lot of derisive talk about people or groups being prepared but most folks would do a lot of good for themselves and their families to become better informed. I have always been someone who likes to be prepared. I have been that way since I was very young. Listening to my two grandmothers talking about hardships and my parents talking about being poor but had what they needed and had plenty to keep them going for a good while.

    It's too bad folks now make fun of you if you have more than a weeks worth of food in the house. I had many people I know ridicule Wife and I about this. Just seems like common sense. It's like any other kind of insurance. We just happen to have food insurance in the cabinets. Generator and extra gas too. Same for "other" stuff as well.

    As far a communication goes. When for whatever reason the internet or phone lines go down, I hope that I will have the ability to use my radio equipment to talk out and see what is going on. I have full use of the HF spectrum (including CB), VHF/UHF and MURS/FMRS type stuff. Leave no stone unturned.

    One of the bigger issues I see is people practicing. Get out and practice all your stuff you have. Water filtration. Camp Gas. Propane Stoves. All that stuff needs to be used to be understood. Same for Amateur Radio. Having a 'go-bag' won't help when you cannot remember how to use your ChiComm rig when it sits in the corner most of the time. I think the vastly nightly nets help out tremendously with that though. I wonder if it would be helpful to get off the repeaters every once in a while and go simplex with PL tones and whatnot. Mix it up a little. That way you MUST know how to work you radios. I know I get lost in mine if I had not used it in a few weeks.
     
  3. KB2HSH

    KB2HSH Ham Member QRZ Page

    Just what we need...more paranoid preppers, "go-kit" hams, and "hams" with little to no technical skill. Yeah...keep rubber stamping those licenses.

    John KB2HSH
    Springbrook NY
     
  4. NA4IT

    NA4IT Ham Member QRZ Page

    You know, I'm going to have to agree somewhat. A ham license does not make you a ham operator. That being said, I hope the folks getting their license will learn about and explore amateur radio, be on the air, practice their craft, and become good operators.

    Of some of the newer hams I know that are getting it right, the started out listening to see how to communicate, they got active with a group of hams, picked a seasoned ham as an elmer, and began to ask good questions about what they needed to do to set up a good station. And most of them are in fact working their way up the licensing chain through General and on to Extra.

    Here are some ideas I distribute to those new hams who ask me what they should be thinking about:

    AMATEUR RADIO EMCOMM BASICS
    PLANNING TO COMMUNICATE
    This paper is intended to teach hams how to plan to communicate in an emergency. This
    could be an individual ham, or EMCOMM group.

    Most emergency communication events are LOCAL. What is LOCAL? Your city, county, &
    state. Keep this in mind. This alone may determine what antennas and frequencies you use.
    Does your local ham radio group have a communications plan with listed frequencies? That's
    a good place to start in emergency communications planning. Make sure you can
    communicate on those frequencies. How about your state plan? Can you communicate
    across your state on HF?

    VHF / UHF Voice Communications:
    You need to be able to communicate on every 2M or 70CM frequency in your county, and the
    counties adjacent to your county. Does this mean have everything programmed into your HT?
    Well, maybe. Your HT is a good tool, but limited on what it can do. You need a mobile rig,
    capable of 35 – 50 watts, with a good mobile antenna (for mobile) or good base antenna (for
    base). If a base antenna, it should not be the highest antenna on your farm. It should be
    placed to reduce the possibility of being hit by lightning.

    HF Voice Communications:
    You need to be able to communicate LOCALLY on HF. That means from the next county, to
    500 miles away. Your wiz bang DX antennas are probably NOT going to work. They are
    designed for 500 miles or greater communications. So, what do you need for an antenna?
    There is a concept called “NVIS” or “Near Vertical Incidence Skywave”. Basically, this refers
    to an antenna that radiates almost straight up. Huh? Yep. DX antennas radiate outward
    toward the horizon, and bounce signals far away off the ionosphere. NVIS antennas make
    use of very short hops off the ionosphere. What is an NVIS antenna? A dipole placed 0.1 –
    0.25 wavelength off the ground. It can be a multi band dipole, such as a trapped or “fan”
    dipole. A 40 / 80M trap dipole will work well on 20, 40, and 80 meters (which happens to be
    where all emergency communications take place). A multi element “fan” dipole with legs for
    20, 40, and 80 meters will also work. It can be built as a fan, or with the legs hanging under
    each other. You will need a “good” antenna tuner.

    You can also increase the effectiveness of an NVIS dipole by placing a wire on the ground
    under the dipole. This makes it act more like a beam antenna, providing a reflector for the
    “driven” element, the dipole.

    Why do emergency communications on HF happen on 20, 40, and 80 meters? Two reasons:
    propagation and established frequencies. Propagation on each of these bands serves
    different purposes. 80 meters works well for short range HF, say state wide. 40 meter works
    well region wide, say 4 or 5 states. 20 meter works well for longer range communications.

    Digital Communications:
    Does your local group have some type of digital communications system? Great. If you plan
    to utilize it, you have to do two things. Learn how to use it, then USE IT! If you go through
    training to use the system, then plan to wait until you need it to use it, then don't bother
    training. Seriously. You need to be fluent in digital communications to be an effective
    communicator.

    WINLINK:
    There are a lot of hams that put down and berate WINLINK. WINLINK is a digital email
    communications system. Why do you need it? Say your internet at your home, or in your area
    goes down. Say cellphone networks go down. WINLINK utilizes Radio Message Servers
    across the US, Canada, and other countries. Simply put, you send an email formatted
    message using digital modes with your HF radio to a RMS station in another location where
    the internet is working, and your message sent via HF radio gets delivered via the email to it
    recipient. That recipient can also reply back to you, and you pick up the message via radio.
    Here again, this is a system you will have to train on and use to be proficient enough to rely
    on it when you need it.

    Sounds like you are going to have to spend a lot of money to do emergency communications.
    NOT SO! You can build HF antennas. You do not need to BUY them! A good fiberglass VHF /
    UHF antenna can be had for $50. Every digital communications system has FREE software.
    You might need to buy an interface for your radio, at no more cost that $125. You can build
    that if you wish.

    Knowing the basics presented here should be the basis you use to set up your emergency
    communications system. However, knowing HOW TO COMMUNICATE will take training and
    practice. On the air operating is key to learning how to communicate. One thing to remember
    about communication... You have two ears and one mouth. You were designed to listen twice
    as much as you talk (at least). Keep that in mind... listen much, talk little.
    Having a backup power source:

    Your backup power source can be one or more of several things, depending on your
    perceived need. If you live in an area where power outages are frequent and extended, by all
    means, consider a generator. But for some, having a back up battery to power equipment
    may be all you need. Practice good safety in your installation. Look for sealed batteries, and
    power supply / chargers designed to do what you need. Install generators according to
    electric codes.

    I hope this will help some new hams, and give those at the conference something to talk about.

    For the new hams, keep upgrading, and keep learning!
     
  5. N4EGA

    N4EGA Ham Member QRZ Page

    "Most emergency communication events are LOCAL. What is LOCAL? Your city, county, &
    state. Keep this in mind. This alone may determine what antennas and frequencies you use."

    I cannot agree more with this single statement. Most, if not all emergencies are local.

    Local is sort of a mix of distance though. My neighbor is local compared to my parents, but even they are one county over. But my in-laws in ATl are local compared to my friend in NY. Point being, I like to work LX as compared to DX. Sure, it's "easy" but it still requires practice. The local nets help a lot and I try to check into them as often as I can.

    I think the bigger issue though is that when communication lines are being established, as witnessed from the inclement weather nets here, is that people ONLY transmit pertinent communication. I heard one guy check in during a severe weather warning net here just to ask another guy to call him on his cell phone/ regular phone. Come on, that is just wasting time in order to talk on your radio. Everyone gets real excited, I know I do, but the most important thing to do is monitor. Check in to say you are there, just in case. But don't do silly stuff just to be heard.

    This also brings me to rumors. I hear them all the time on the air when folks are just rag chewing. Lot's off bad info out there. Don't know if it is people just trolling or passing along info they heard somewhere else. For me, info is real if 1) I see and hear it in the first person, or 2) I can verify it with at least two independent sources. Don't gossip during real emergencies. Don't inflate bad news either. Bad news is already bad news without trying to make it worse.
     
  6. W0LPQ

    W0LPQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yep ... get them "preppers" ready to save the world..!
    What the hell is LX?? Must be an 11M import ... in over 50 years of this stuff ... never heard the term.
     
  7. N4EGA

    N4EGA Ham Member QRZ Page

    LX is a tongue in cheek term that I use on occasion to describe local contact as opposed to Distance (DX).

    By the way, I see here at your qrz.com page that you were done with qrz.com due smart ass answers. http://www.qrz.com/db/W0LPQ

    So aren't you just perpetuating the problem by posting comments such as yours?

    Nothing wrong with being prepared. I say you are a fool if you don't. Lots of folks will be glad to help you out when you are banging on their door looking for help. I won't be one of them.

    People mention "prepper" and all of a sudden shrieks of like minded individuals begin about how "preppers" are end of the world type folks. No, we are not. You need to educate yourself.

    House fire, car breaks down, blizzards, tornadoes, CMEs, wide spread power outages, stuff like that is what people prepare for. Yep, you have some on the extreme side, just like all things. Do you paint everyone with such a broad brush?

    Anyway, back to the topic on hand. I look forward to seeing new faces (SSTV?) come into the HOBBY of Amateur Radio for whatever your reason is. Hit me up if you have any questions. I don't have all the answers, but I can help if you would like.
     
  8. W0LPQ

    W0LPQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did I say "preppers" were the end of the world? Nope. You did. Where did I say I paint things with a broad brush.. nope .... didn't.
    If you do't like my comments, feel free to put me on your ignore list. Won't bother me one bit.
    The times I have been here are few and far betweeen. I have been involved with many "emergency" things in the past. These were actual call the PD things ..
    I've never looked you up on QRZ so have at it.
     
  9. N5UBZ

    N5UBZ Ham Member QRZ Page

    John, I signed up just to reply. I agree 100%. I worked so hard to get my ticket and made it to General—it was hard work. I fell inactive for a few years and during that time the no-code changes took place. I went to a local club meeting and I didn't see a single guy from the old days, all were "new" hams walking around with Extra class license after taking a couple exams. I never went back...The only thing I saw was a large group of test takers with Extra class license that was clueless about the technical aspects of the hobby.
    Dave in Texas...
     
  10. K9XR

    K9XR XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I wonder who will teach the code. Oh wait! They don't need no stinkin' code.
     
  11. K9XR

    K9XR XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Dave, you are absolutely right. About the only ones who benefited from this no-code crap was the ARRL and the manufacturers. They will try to tell you that Quantity is better than Quality for ham radio. What a crock!


     
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