On The Comms
Communication Tips:
1:Transmit only when necessary. Idle chatter may distract the recieving party. It may compromise his and your position. All communications may and could be monitored. Do NOT discuss the weather, sports, or anything else irrelevant to the mission.
2: Limit transmissions to 5 second intervals. Anything longer than that is almost enough time to find you with even moderate equipment. Insert breaks during longer transmissions.
3: NEVER USE ACTUAL NAMES over the air. Use Fire Team designations.
4:Always speak clearly. Never pause on the air. Know what you are going to say before you key up the mic. Also know what your response is before you key the mic. DO NOT KEY THE MIC UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO SPEAK.
5: Do not step on eachother. Always say "Over" when it is time for the other guy to talk. Always say "Break" when you are not finished, but are keeping the messages short. When 2 people are talking over the radio, DO NOT SPEAK unless you are called. BE SPECIFIC. If it can be misunderstood,it WILL be.
6: Aknowledge the reception of information with a brief repetition of it. Example- "Move your team up 200 meters to the fence line, then go North to the crest and cover the field to your west when you are ready to move." You repeat with, "Up 200, cover from crest, Copy." This lets both parties know that each other understands .
7: Do Not Get Into A Pissing Contest over the airwaves. EVER.
8: Always have an alernative frequency, and a back up to that.Make sure everyone knows these back ups and when to go to them. Use a code word, or a preset time for changing channels/freq's.
9: Change channels occasionally anyway. Even if you are not compromised, you should change channels/freq's at least every 24 hours.
10:LEARN THE MILITARY PHONETIC ALPHABET!
Alpha Lima Whiskey
Bravo Mike X-ray
Charlie November Yankee
Delta Oscar Zulu
Echo Papa
Foxtrot Quebec
Golf Romeo
Hotel Sierra
India Tango
Juliet Uniform
Kilo Victor
11: Use "Affirmitive" for yes, "Negative" for no.
12: Always establish who you are and who you are speaking to.
Example-"Whiskey Bravo 1, this is Whiskey Charlie 2, How Copy? Over" "Whiskey Bravo 1 here, Lima Charlie Whiskey Charlie 2. Over" "Roger that Whiskey Bravo 1, Whiskey Charlie 2, Out"
13: Speak Clearly and Effectively
That is most applicable if you're using simplex equipment although to a lessor degree it applies to duplex.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was commercial fishing in the north and south Pacific we and our intended listener would have a schedule for random channel selection. And at locations where we knew others were listening we would alternate between VHF and CB during a single conversation. Throw in sudden channel changing and no one but the intended parties could keep up. When using SSB we would use a predetermined alphanumeric code or sometimes piggyback on a Japanese AM station but don't tell the FCC that.
As a long time mariner and aircraft pilot (civ only) I wholeheartedly agree with all you have said here.