Two Letters Re: Advice on Two-Way Radio Communications

Good Morning Jim,
First, I definitely concur on a BFO award for the horizontally polarized CB antenna idea.

I am a relatively new ham. I got my license two years ago, and can highly recommend that as you say, that everyone [in the US reading this] get their license, because it IS so easy now. One thing that I think needs to be pointed out is that with the removal of the code requirements for any license, a General Class license is really no harder to get than a Technician license. The best way to get your ham license it to find a local club that offers classes. Many clubs have web pages that are listed on the ARRL web site, and will tell you if they do classes. My club, the Edmond Amateur Radio Society (EARS), usually runs both a Technician, and a General class at least once a year, and usually twice, we are not unique in this regard.

If a person lives so far out that they can not conveniently get to a club then I can highly recommend QRZ.com. They are a huge resource for hams with all kinds of technical information on radios, and antennas, as well as forums for asking questions. The most useful thing is that they offer an online practice test program that uses the current question pool for all licenses. So it is possible to practice for Technician, General, and Extra class tests with the live question pool. This is a great learning tool. If you can't get to a class, get a copy of the current book for the license you want/need, and read it cover to cover, then go to QRZ.com and take the test, until you pass it.

When I was taking my Tech class exam , and got to the point that I was passing the QRZ test every time, I decided to try the General test, just for fun. I only missed passing it the first time by just two questions. So I got the General book, read it, and then took [variations of] that test until I was passing it every time. Two weeks later I took both the Tech, and General tests at the same testing session, and passed both. While I'm above average bright, I'm not that much above average, it's just that easy. With a general license almost all of the Amateur radio allocated spectrum is available to you, and all modes are available in one band or another.

After saying all of this I need to point out that while getting you license is not hard, the book only teaches you what you need to pass the test. Being a licensed ham is being part of a community, and there are huge amounts of information, and many skills you will need to have to effectively use anything beyond your Tech license. That's not to say you should avoid getting your General right off the bat, but you will be much happier, and get much more out of your time on the air, if find a local club, or at least get an Elmer (a ham who mentors new hams) to help you learn what you really need to know to be a good ham. You will find that getting the hardware, and getting it up and working is much easier, and will work much better with the skills your Elmer can teach you.
Recommendations:
1) Get your license, and go ahead and try for both your Tech and General tickets, you have nothing to loose.
2) Find a club that offers classes, if you can't find one, get the books and try anyway.
3) Find an Elmer to help you learn the ropes.
Good Luck to all, - Fanderal

Hello Jim
There has been much great "Advice on Two-Way Radio Communications". There are a couple suggestions I would add:

If you are interested in an Amateur Radio License, there are numerous free web-resources to help you prepare for the simple tests. The giant link site AC6V.com links to the vast majority of them. In mentoring students I've suggested they work at the material until they regularly score 90% or better on their on-line or on-computer practice tests. My most recent student went from not having a license to passing all three levels of exams at the same test session using this simple guideline.

I've used the Hamcram free Materials from W9PE.us to assist over 30 students. Their on-line test site, as well as QRZ.com and eHam.net and the audio Podcasts at HamRadioClass.org have been mentioned by students are helpful.

A previous letter mentioned PSK31. There is a very interesting PSK31 modem that avoids the need to use a computer with the radio [available] from http://nue-psk.com/

One concern with transmitting is being DFed. Some simple suggestions to avoid being found are:
* Decide whether your Emergency Communications needs to be Two-Way, Single (Broadcast) or a Broadcast acknowledged other than by return transmission on the same frequency.
* Don't interfere with anyone else on the air, why tip anyone that you are even transmitting?
* Listen first, Listen some more and make sure your frequency is clear before transmitting.
* Avoid calling any attention to your transmissions - no whistle tones, lengthy preambles or other attention grabbers.
* Do not transmit or broadcast on a regular schedule and certainly do not announce a schedule unless it is an emergency. Work out a varying schedule.
* Keep your broadcasts short.
* After you sign-off, don't go back on for at least a few hours later, if not days between transmissions.
* Never respond to an unknown call-in.
* Don't give out any information that helps locate you - even GPS coordinates or landmarks can get your found.
* Maintain tight security, consider Transmitting and Broadcasting to be on a Need to Know basis.
* When possible, broadcast from different locations.
* Consider operating mobile.
* Consider operating "remotely" via a line of sight RF link to your main transmitter.
* Feed Line is Cheap and can save you. Get some distance between your antenna and yourself.
* When you are done transmitting, pack up and get your gear out of there.
* Consider taking down your antennas between uses. Some antennas can be erected just before use, and taken down and hidden away after you are finished, others can be concealed, including changing their electrical resonance when not in use.
* Use a lookout (LP/OP) while broadcasting. If alerted, terminate transmission and put the station into full countermeasures drill.
* Have a stand down drill, full countermeasures drill and evacuation drill planned out. If need be power the station up and let it serve as a decoy for your own safety while moving off.
* If your receiving stations can be so equipped, have them record your transmissions rather than repeating them for lost parts of your message. They should use OPSEC in their handling of the recordings.
* Though digital modes get through RF noise that will blank out many other modes, they are slow. Consider using modes that operate below the noise level (check out a mode called "Olivia" which can put a message through that neither ear or computer screen will show a signal for!).
* Consider minimizing your message to prearranged pass-phrases. Better to type in "Blue Balloon for Baby" four times, which gives the receiving station a very high probability of capturing the whole passphrase which they can look up in their passbook, than rattling off a long list of instructions once.
* In usual use the use of Encryption or Codes will get you in trouble on the Amateur Bands (except very limited special situations such as controlling an Amateur Radio Satellite), but in time of emergency it would be prudent to consider anything transmitted as public. Uninteresting Codes may be useful.
* Consider using antenna designs with RF patterns matching your needs. If a finely focused antenna with little side or back sensitivity or emissions can work, use it.
* Don't forget about DF resistant techniques like Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS). This technique employs antennas which basically shoot straight up and reflect off the ionized layers in a fashion making direct DF difficult [except from very close by, via ground wave DF].
* Only use Radio when simpler, less exposed methods of passing information won't work. I had a long chat with a WWII Homing Pigeon Specialist, who rode a glider in at the battle of the Arne. He pointed out that the use of Pigeons allowed them to maintain absolute radio silence during the launch of the assault. There is so much more to the use of radio in a serious emergency situation. I've written articles on various techniques for using industrial equipment as transmitters.

Be a bit wary of the Amateur Radio "Emcomm" groups. They are training to be part of the government system and in some areas border on paramilitary auxiliary government units. They also tend to never really look at the sort of serious situations we might, nor do they do much for protecting the individual participant, as most require the Emcomm Responder to go unarmed and have SOPs that are basically counter-OPSEC [and counter-COMSEC].

Hope these little bits of information are of use! 73, - Steve W

JWR Replies: Thanks for those suggestions. OBTW, some other COMSEC and OPSEC issues, do-it-yourself cryptography, and counter-DF techniques are described in the "Radio Ranch" chapter of my novel "Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse"