radio use

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Dougr

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Some people and my self have started a fire watch group in our area. We have a radio system with repeater that covers 90% of the area we are watching. We are now buying and handing radios out the problem where have now is the proper use and terms used on the radio. We are not using codes as it’s to confusing to most. So if there are any of you out there that have info on radio terms and use of radio that you would like to share that would great or any web sites you think I should check out.
 

Raven95150

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I would make sure everyone is aware of proper radio etiquette like not using any profanity or potentially offensive language, making sure the channel is not busy before transmitting, and giving priority to emergency traffic. Codes are not needed, many public safety agencies are abandoning codes in favor of plain English. I would make sure everyone is aware of how to use phonetic alphabets for spelling street names, etc. Another thing that may be helpful is to assign an ID number to each member to use on the air.
 

car2back

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Raven pretty much hit the nail on the head: Definitely make sure you're using plain speech, and no codes. It's too easy to get confused when not everyone knows the right ones. :wink: Assign your people designators; I've found that using people's names on the air usually promotes chit-chat. Also, teach them all to key the mike and take a second long pause before speaking.
 

n4voxgill

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what type of license do you have for your system, as there are different station idenfitication requirements for public or private licensed systems.
 

kb2vxa

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Hi all,

"What type of license do you have for your system, as there are different station identification requirements for public or private licensed systems."

Just for general information, since a repeater is in use the FCC ID is transmitted automatically at the required interval by the repeater controller or in some cases manually by the dispatcher. The responsibility of conforming with FCC rules according to the requirements of the service is that of the repeater owner or dispatcher as the case may be. The units only need ID themselves with their assigned designators which can be just about anything they want.
 

Dougr

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Yes we are licensed with the FCC here is the info IG: Industrial/Business Pool - Private Conventional Notes: PROVIDES VOLUNTEER FIRE WATCH FOR HIGH FIRE DANGER AREAS. This what I have so far if you guys can think of any thing else to add

Radio Rules

1. When you are calling someone else announce the call sign of the person you’re calling then your call sign. When calling someone else it may take 2 or 3 tries before they pick so don’t give after the first try
2. When chatting on the radio remember to leave a 1 second gape between transmissions so that if the is an emergency some one can break in to announce their emergency.
3. Remember when you key up to talk on the radio wait about 1 second before talking so all the radios scanning will stop scanning.
4. Keep your transmissions down to about 1 minute so if there is an emergency the station can break in to report there emergency.
5. No profanity is to be used on the radios
6. Remember do not say any thing over the radio that you don’t want 10,000 other people hearing
P.S we have Mostly BK, Icom and Vertex radios most of these are hand held we have some mobiles and 3 base stations.

and one last thing we have a pre recored idinifer on the repeater that goes off every hour
 
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Don_Burke

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That looks very good.

You may want to standardize some of the terminology to avoid confusion. Places can have similar names and sending firefighters to the wrong place can waste valuable time. Some places do not have that problem, so I am just bringing it up as something to think about.

If your system has any simplex capability, your people will need to ID with the licensed callsign when using that.

Dougr said:
Yes we are licensed with the FCC here is the info IG: Industrial/Business Pool - Private Conventional Notes: PROVIDES VOLUNTEER FIRE WATCH FOR HIGH FIRE DANGER AREAS. This what I have so far if you guys can think of any thing else to add

Radio Rules

1. When you are calling someone else announce the call sign of the person you’re calling then your call sign. When calling someone else it may take 2 or 3 tries before they pick so don’t give after the first try
2. When chatting on the radio remember to leave a 1 second gape between transmissions so that if the is an emergency some one can break in to announce their emergency.
3. Remember when you key up to talk on the radio wait about 1 second before talking so all the radios scanning will stop scanning.
4. Keep your transmissions down to about 1 minute so if there is an emergency the station can break in to report there emergency.
5. No profanity is to be used on the radios
6. Remember do not say any thing over the radio that you don’t want 10,000 other people hearing
P.S we have Mostly BK, Icom and Vertex radios most of these are hand held we have some mobiles and 3 base stations.

and one last thing we have a pre recored idinifer on the repeater that goes off every hour
 

Alarms50

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Ossining, NY
You may want to look into having your members take some National Incident Management System training online.

Website can be found at http://www.nimsonline.com/ and http://www.nimsonline.com/nims_training/index.htm. Minimum should be IS700-National Incident Management System and IS100-Introduction to Incident Command System. This training will provide insight into what NIMS functions are and better coordinate your group with emergency responders.
 

n4voxgill

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Better check FCC Part 90 rules, one hour will not cut it, here are part of the rules:

§ 90.425 Station identification.
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Link to an amendment published at 72 FR 35199, June 27, 2007.

Stations licensed under this part shall transmit identification in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) Identification procedure. Except as provided for in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, each station or system shall be identified by the transmission of the assigned call sign during each transmission or exchange of transmissions, or once each 15 minutes (30 minutes in the Public Safety Pool) during periods of continuous operation. The call sign shall be transmitted by voice in the English language or by International Morse Code in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. If the station is employing either analog or digital voice scrambling, or non-voice emission, transmission of the required identification shall be in the unscrambled mode using A3E, F3E or G3E emission, or International Morse, with all encoding disabled. Permissible alternative identification procedures are as follows:
 

kb2vxa

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Hi again,

Just one thing to add;

4. Keep your transmissions down to about 1 minute so if there is an emergency the station can break in to report there emergency.

When making a long transmission such as a general announcement occasionally say "break" and pause for a second or two before continuing. End the announcement with your unit ID and the word "out" to indicate you are standing by for any further traffic.

Since you're using plain language rather than a 10 code or other signal code you should be aware that an "out" is the same as 10-10 for standing by or 10-8 available while "clear" indicates 10-7 or unit out of service, leaving the air.

OH! Just one more thing, the Morse CWID sending speed must not exceed 20WPM. Aside from the FCC requirement, disabling the PL tone during the ID interval has the advantage of the field units not hearing the annoyance and lowering the volume thereby increasing the possibility of missed calls. The CWID is automatically disabled (cut short and/or delayed) by voice transmission in compliance with the rule, it then resumes during a quiet period of sufficient length, usually 15 seconds or so.
 
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