NET Simplex test Wed Nov 2 8pm

[Cert Scott]

This information is posted with permission of Michael Schilmoeller

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Monthly Simplex Net for NET Hams

Beginning at 8:00 PM on Wednesday, November 2, we will hold a monthly, one-hour check-in from NET amateur radio operators on the NET-Tac1 channel, 147.580 MHz.  This channel is simplex and corresponds to MC-8 in the Oregon Regional Tactical Interoperable Communications Field Operations Guide (TICFOG) used by other organizations in the state, notably ARES/RACES.  (A concise update is available from Multnomah County ARES.)  In the event that this channel is busy, net control will instruct participants to move to an alternate frequency.

The purpose of this net is to provide NET hams operational experience with radio conditions they would likely face in the event of a disaster, where repeaters are inoperable or have been reserved for life safety emergency communications.  Simplex is the use of a single frequency for direct radio-to-radio communication, without benefit of repeaters or radio links.  The NET-Tac1 and NET-Tac2 are the simplex channels that the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management has reserved for communication with NET teams for logistical coordination.

The protocol for this exercise will be identical that we used for our Wednesday, June 8, 2016 simplex test.  This will be a directed net, and I will be taking check-ins from participating stations.  The information I will be taking from each station will be:

1.  Transmit power
2.  Radio make and model
3.  Antenna configuration (type, elevation, and any other factors that might affect propagation)
4.  Location, if not at the home address you have registered with PBEM NET

Because of the limited range of simplex, relays will be important to gathering this information.  Be alert to situations where net control is not responding to a station that you can hear.  You can serve the pivotal role of forwarding their information.  Indeed, this is normal practice for simplex on this geographic scale, and discovering who can relay for whom is valuable information we also need to collect.

All stations, regardless of whether or not they check into the net, should record the following information:
1.  Stations heard (amateur call sign)
2.  Quality of reception on a 5-point scale:

• 0 - station cannot be heard
• 1 - station transmission barely audible and not intelligible
• 2 - station weak but intelligible
• 3 - station clear and intelligible
• 4 - station very strong (full quieting)

3.  Any other factors that effect the quality of the reception (fading, picket-fencing, hums, audio distortion or over-modulation, etc.)

All participants should gather this information and send it in electronic form to me, AE...@ARRL.net, for collection and summary.  Reporting stations should also include the four items appearing in the first list.  (Transmit power is unnecessary if the station did not participate in the net, but it is still nice to have.)  I would appreciate it if stations that participated in the net reiterated the four items in the first list in their electronic report.  I will post the summary data to a page on PortlandPrepares.org that we have reserved for presenting and discussing the results.

As time permits, net control will give participants the opportunity to contact each other directly.  Pay attention to stations checking in and request direct contacts from net control.  Please make these contacts only long enough to determine the quality of reception between yourselves.

Future plans for this net include:

1.  The following schedule for the next three nets:  Friday Dec 2, 2016; Monday Jan 2, 2017; and Thursday Feb 2, 2017.  After that, we will probably be able to go to a regular schedule, such as the first (or second) day of each month.  Until we are underway, however, I have been asked to serve as net control, and the first few monthly nets reflect my availability.

2.  I will be inviting PBEM ECC to participate in this exercise.  I have not yet coordinated with them, however, so I cannot give any assurances about whether or how frequently PBEM ECC might be available to join us.

3.  I hope to move the weeknight around so that any NET ham who wants to do so will eventually have opportunities to participate.  It is not necessary for all hams to check into every net, but of course participation is always welcome.  The goal, however, is to provide experience as broadly as possible.  This will also help us better understand the challenges certain geographic areas face.

If you have any questions about this exercise, do not hesitate to email me ae...@arrl.net.

73
Michael AE7XP