RACES Notes 02/22/06 News and Announcements 1) Upcoming Events Feb 25-26 SAR Academy Feb 27-Mar 3 DICE-06 Mar 11 - Scottsdale Hamfest Apr 29-30 - La Vuelta de Bisbee Bike Race 2) Search and Rescue Academy - Cochise County will host the annual SAR academy at the Sierra Vista Sheriff's Sub Station in Willcox at 450 S. Haskell on Feb. 25th and 26th. This is a one time requirement. If you have been to one there is no requirement to attend it again. You may attend more than once if you would like to have a refresher. It is a great opportunity to learn the theory, basis in law the Sheriff's responsibilities as well as the common vocabulary of Search and Rescue. All RACES members are encouraged to attend the SAR academy at least once. As one of our more typical support missions, it is good to attend the academy to familiarize yourself with the typical operations of the SAR team. The subjects covered include: Legal Aspects of Search and Rescue Search Theory and Management Communications Operational Tactics Personal Safety Map and Compass Techniques Tracking and Clue Awareness Just a reminder that the SAR Academy is considered to be one of the core proficiencies that all RACES members should attend. I recommend carpooling up from Sierra Vista by being at the Sierra Vista Sheriff's substation by 7:00. They will probably leave no later than 7:15. The classes are on both days until about 15:30 or 16:00. If you plan to attend, please let me know so I can pass the information on to the instructors to ensure we have enough manuals available. 3) ERV Status - The old ERV has been turned into Fleet. I flew out to Tampa Florida a week ago Monday and had a tour of the factory to see how they are built and do the "acceptance check" of the new truck. After a 2000 mile cross country trip, I returned with the new truck on last Friday. We are in the process of building out the new ERV at Fleet in Bisbee. We started the transfer of equipment yesterday. Training: On our last net we reviewed the various types of radio nets that might be operational and their purposes. Tonight we will discuss net protocols including proper net check-in and net check-out procedures for the various types of nets. Net Check-in Procedures - The procedures will vary somewhat based on the type of net being conducted. For example, the weekly CARA net and twice monthly RACES net are not generally considered "Traffic" nets or "Operational" nets so the procedures are somewhat relaxed. The most common check-in procedure is to simply identify yourself when called by saying: "THIS IS , NO TRAFFIC". Of course if you do have an announcement your check-in would be: "THIS IS , INFORMATION FOR THE NET" or "INFORMATION FOR N7INK" or whomever your information pertains to. The CARA net is broken into specific segments: Short comments on check-in, News and Announcements, Swap Section, and Technical Section. If you do have something pertaining to a specific segment it is proper to advise the Net Control Station that you have:" ONE ITEM FOR NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS" or "TWO ITEMS FOR SWAP SECTION" or whatever your particular information pertains to. The NCS will then log that and call you for your information during that segment. On RACES nets I will first go down a roster of recent check-ins. During the check-in process, members will identify if they have any RACES specific items or announcements. If it is an announcement, that will generally be covered first along with any News and Announcements brought to the net by the NCS. The second segment is Training. A training subject pertaining to RACES operations will be covered. Normally that will not exceed 20 minutes. Once training is completed, the NCS will go down the roster for comments. Comments from RACES net participants should pertain to RACES oriented information such as issues or information contained in the training segment. Please use the Thursday evening CARA net for general social type information or other non-RACES related information. When a net is called to support an incident or event, the proper check-in would simply identify your availability to support the event or any information relating to the event. We do not need a discussion as to why you are unable to support a specific event. Simply state:" THIS IS , AVAILABLE (or UNAVAILABLE) TO ASSIST THIS MISSION." If there is a specific time that you will be available, please provide that information to the NCS. We generally start planning for the second or third work period as soon as we have the first work period covered so this information will help in the planning. If you come up on the frequency and hear that a mission is in operation, please keep any non mission pertinent information to yourself so as to not interfere with the ongoing event. Consider going to a different frequency for personal conversations. Leaving a net - Please do not leave an emergency net without advising the NCS or Alternate NCS first. Although this is not critical to club or social nets such as the CARA net, where it is polite to check in and show your support for this type of frequency use, it is still polite to announce that you are leaving the frequency or check out before pulling the plug. Potential reasons for leaving a net early: 1. The location where you are working is closing. If the NCS or location supervisor has given you directions to secure (close your location), simply identify with your FCC callsign, the location tactical callsign and the phrase: "CLOSING STATION" or "STATION SECURED". A more complete example might be: "THIS IS , COPPER QUEEN HOSPITAL CLOSING STATION". If the local primary point of contact is giving the order, you may wish to identify who that authority is. 2. You need a break and there is no relief operator available. Please notify the NCS that "THIS IS WILL BE AWAY FROM THE RADIO FOR X NUMBER OF MINUTES". 3. You are turning over the location to another to another operator. You will normally need to tell the NCS that you are being relieved by another operator and the callsign of the replacement operator. 4. Net Closed and Secured. This implicitly releases all remaining stations on the net. In some incidents, the NCS will excuse stations individually as different locations complete assignments. Don't Over Identify - There is nothing that will expend more time, needlessly than over identification. The FCC tells us that you need only to identify at ten minute intervals during a conversation and/or your last transmission. If you end each exchange with your call sign, that is telling everyone that you are of the opinion the exchange is complete and you're fulfilling all FCC requirements. It is also not necessary to just say your callsign and add "FOR ID". Example, "THIS IS N7INK FOR ID". We know that is why you are giving your callsign. There is no other reason to say your callsign except for ID. Bob Robert L Hollister