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Military experts say radio amateurs "highly knowledgeable asset in HF communication"

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W0PV, Oct 11, 2020.

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  1. K9CTB

    K9CTB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Well, they're on-point IMHO. Trouble is, not enough hams actually hone that skillset. We have to be careful with things like ALE and automated methods, that we don't lose sight of the basics of HF (and other parts of the spectrum) communications phenomena. I'm not *against* ALE - in fact, it's pretty cool the way Dr. Brain made it work with soundcards ... but if DOD thinks we're experts, we oughtta try to *be* experts. :D Speaking for myself, if it wasn't for the military, I might not have my ham license today.
     
    AA1BG likes this.
  2. K9CTB

    K9CTB Ham Member QRZ Page

    It *used* to be that military (at least naval) communications training was much more in-depth than what the ARRL license manual teaches. And the requirements for passing a naval electronic communications course were a lot more detailed and difficult than the 50-question test for an amateur license. But maybe things have changed since I was in "A" school <garble> years ago. If amateurs are considered "experts" compared with military communicators, maybe I've missed several boats since then. Oh, and on CW? I loved my Ameco tapes, but CW training in the navy was orders-of-magnitude tougher .... If any brethren out there remember.
     
  3. K9CTB

    K9CTB Ham Member QRZ Page

    One more thought, not to try hijacking a great story (thanks QRZ) .... but I've been reading a lot of the stuff DOD has been releasing for us and it makes me wonder: Are our DOD cyber and communications people actually training for a real-world major cyber attack that will cripple US infrastructure? I mean, more so than a military (guns and stuff) attack? I've been thinking about what "Stuxnet" did to the Iranian nuke effort, and this idea has me more concerned than I used to be!
     
    WQ4G likes this.
  4. K3FHP

    K3FHP XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    It is, since they are operating ALE circuits usually with encryption.
     
    N0TZU likes this.
  5. WN1MB

    WN1MB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Most modern day hams think "ALE circuits" means barhopping an area's breweries.
     
    2E0CIT likes this.
  6. VE3VXO

    VE3VXO Guest

    Make love, not war.
     
    AJ6KZ and W1FVB like this.
  7. W0PV

    W0PV Ham Member QRZ Page

    Helpful and knowledgeable comments indeed :)

    I interpret the suggestion of using non-NVIS propagation as a method to thwart intentional jamming of the active NVIS spectrum from within the theater of battle. So then shift tactical HF comm to longer propagated "skywave" frequencies, more immune to that QRM, outside of ground-wave and within the regional "skip (over) zone". MARS stations are traditionally set up to function for such DX and would be called upon to assist as relays. That may sacrifice some LPI benefit, and the method would be low on the list of fallbacks, but still realistic, low cost, and worthwhile to redevelop and maintain.

    As he has recently done on another similar QRZ thread, perhaps co-author @KJ5HY will stop by and elaborate further.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2020
  8. KJ6ZOL

    KJ6ZOL Ham Member QRZ Page

    The PLA has the capability to shoot down deployed satellites with earth-to-space ICBM's. We know this because they have demonstrated it. It is possible that in a Chinese-USA conflict that the Chinese would take out all our satellites. Also, there is the possibility that the PLA could destroy our IC-dependent military hardware with tactical EMP weapons, another capability they have admitted to be working on if not have achieved. VHF/UHF comms rely heavily on IC-dependent equipment, and of course without satellites such things as GPS systems would be useless. In the event of an enemy attack on such modes of comms, HF would be the fallback.

    Also, it seems as if most everybody has forgotten the role that HF played in the Proxy Wars portion (about 1965-90) of the larger Cold War, especially as a means of demoralizing the enemy and creating a favorable view of America in subject populations (much later dubbed "winning hearts and minds"). Radio counterinsurgency was a huge part of Nixon's SE Asia war strategy, with Kissinger orchestrating clandestine and counterclandestine ("black clandestine") broadcasting to oppose Soviet-controlled and Soviet-allied propaganda broadcasts. Due to the scattering effects of HF the broadcasts were easily receivable in the western US, inspiring a generation of hams who became electronics engineers during the birth of modern computing in the 1970s.
     
    KJ5HY likes this.
  9. N1IPU

    N1IPU Ham Member QRZ Page

    As far as my understanding goes ALE requires precise timing too. I may be wrong as I looked into a long time ago. I used to do MARS before it came in. Anyways, if its timing that's needed in a hot situation it may be hard or impossible to acquire. I will Stick with JS8 as it doesn't require timing to work.
     
  10. KJ6ZOL

    KJ6ZOL Ham Member QRZ Page

    Reading the Abstract for the Suwalki Gap paper, I am once again reminded of the use of radio in the Proxy Wars. Russian jamming of VHF/UHF data and voice comms might be accompanied by use of superpowerful (1 MW + ) AM BCB transmitters to target American civilian populations with Russian propaganda. This could possibly be done in conjunction with Russian jamming of civilian-allocated VHF/UHF freqs (meaning 2m and 70cm ham bands, although 70cm primary user is the US military, so that would be jammed anyway) and of cellular telephone freq allocations, making communication between American civilians nearly impossible and thus leaving them open to considering as fact the Russian propaganda now blanketing the country via tx's in the Russian Far East. If this could be accompanied with conventional bomb strikes on the US homeland using Russian long range bombers, the US military would be put in a very tough position of disadvantage. (This of course would be accompanied with the destruction of the internet via "logic bombs".)
     
  11. SA1CKE

    SA1CKE Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I have actually seen NVIS not working and when people couldn't figure it out I just grabbed one end of the antenna and moved it a meter and then they got contact. They had accidentally hit the "dip" in signal strength between the spots.

    You never know what causes a failure and sometimes the really simple things can fix the problem, all it takes is to have some knowledge about interference effects and other stuff.
     
    W4KYR, KJ5HY and W1YW like this.
  12. KQ1V

    KQ1V Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    BEADWINDOW!!!
     
  13. KK4HPY

    KK4HPY Ham Member QRZ Page

    JS8 does require precise timing. Here is the documentation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/...C9wd4CuWnetN68O9U/edit#heading=h.d3bgd6gz6p0x

    "Your clock being off greater than 2 seconds from UTC can cause messages to not decode at your station."
     
  14. K4VOV

    K4VOV Ham Member QRZ Page

    Great Article!
     
  15. KJ7WT

    KJ7WT XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Thank you for a reasoned and well-noted reply. I've been a ham since 1969, and also spent a few years in the USCG. Back in those prehistoric times, our radios covered 500 KHz (which was a maritime distress frequency) up through VHF (at least , on the ships/bases where I was stationed). Radiomen could communicate via CW, voice, and RTTY. As a tech licensee at the time, I used CW on the HF bands and eventually got my speed up high enough to pass the General CW test, but I never used CW again. Maybe it's time for me to dust off that skill! However - the snide comments about "100 watts and a wire" are either from trolls who just want to irritate other folks, or those who truly believe that anything more than an 807 and a regen receiver is just tomfoolery, in which case, I'd like to invite them into the 21st century and realize that military comms are much more than discussing gall bladder operations or how their lawn needs more fertilizer. There are good communication protocols that work on HF, and require computers to generate and decode the information, and military radios are NOT ham rigs, so having the correct software and drivers IS important to the success of the mission. I hope that our soldiers, sailors, and airmen will have whatever equipment and training is necessary to defend our country and our allies if the need arises. If HF radio is part of that equation, then so much the better!
     
    AA1BG and KD2LFG like this.

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