Announcement:
A one-day technician class will be held at the Sheriff’s Office this coming Saturday, October 22. Class instruction begins at 8:00 AM with a test session at 3:00. If you know someone who is interested in obtaining a license, refer them to barconline.org/licensing/technician to sign up for the class.
Training:
For our training I referenced the ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications course and will focus on two of the skills discussed in Section 2, Topic 5:
First, Plain Language:
As ham radio operators, we use a great deal of jargon (technical slang) and specialized terminology in our daily conversations. Most of us understand each other when we do, and if we do not on occasion it usually makes little difference. In an emergency, however, the results can be much different. A misunderstood message could be costly.
Not everyone involved in an emergency communication situation will understand our slang and technical jargon. Even terms used by ham radio operators vary from one region to another, and non-hams or new hams will have no knowledge of most of our terminology. Ham radio operators assisting from another region might understand certain jargon very differently from local ones.
For these reasons, all messages and communications during an emergency should be in plain language. “Q” signals (except in CW communication), 10 codes, and similar jargon should be avoided. The one exception to this is the list of standard “prowords” (often called “prosigns”) used in amateur traffic nets, such as “clear,” “say again all after,” and so on.
Avoid words or phrases that carry strong emotions. Most emergency situations are emotionally charged already, and you do not need to add to the problem. For instance, instead of saying, “horrific damage and people torn to bits,” you might say “significant physical damage and serious personal injuries.” And please watch the speed at which you speak. It should be at a normal rate. Many times, emergency operators get too excited and talk very fast, making it hard for receiving stations to understand them.
The second topic is Phonetics:
In the course of sending and receiving messages, certain words in a message may not be immediately understood. This might be the case with an unusual place name, or an unusual last name. The best way to be sure it is understood correctly is to spell it. The trouble is, if you just spell the word using letters, it might still be misunderstood, because many letters sound alike at the other end of a radio circuit. “Z” and “C” are two good examples. For that reason, radio communicators often use phonetics. These are specific words that begin with the letter being sent.
To reduce requests to repeat words, use phonetics any time a word has an unusual or difficult
spelling, or may be easily misunderstood. Do not spell common words unless the receiving
station asks you to. In some cases, they may ask for the phonetic spelling of a common word to
clear up confusion over what has been received. Standard practice is to first say the word, say “I
spell,” and then spell the word phonetically. This lets the receiving station know you are about to
spell the word they just heard.
Several different phonetic alphabets are in common use, but most ham radio operators and public safety agencies use the ITU Phonetic Alphabet, and others use military alphabets. Many ham radio operators like to make up their own phonetics, especially as a memory aid for call signs, and often with humorous results. This may not be good practice in emergency communications, as in poor conditions, unusual phonetic words might also be misunderstood. We need to be sure that what we say is always interpreted exactly as intended.
The ITU Phonetic Alphabet:
