1 WICEN WHAT IS IT?

2 Provides training in Communications for times of Emergency’sWICEN or Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network. Why does it exist? How can it assist communities? How it is organised Provides training in Communications for times of Emergency’s

3 TYPICAL EQUIPMENT LIST FOR FIELD OPERATIONSTransceiver Power supply/batteries plus spare batteries Headphones/Extension speaker Microphone and spare Transceiver handbook Spare fuses Antenna system and mounts Coaxial cables Cable adaptors Clip Boards Paper Pens and pencils Table Suitable seating Some form of sun shade or rain protection Lighting

4 PERSONAL COMFORTS High Visibility Vest (Often provided by car rally organisers) Suitable Clothing to suit climatic conditions Suitable footwear (not thongs or sandals) Large brimmed hats Sunglasses Sunscreen Insect repellent Personal medication Plenty of water (Rather than soft drinks) NO ALCOHOL Sufficient food and snacks for up to possibly 12 hours Small First Aid kit Make sure you mobile devices are charged. However in some areas they can not be relied on to get into a network

5 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONSWhile hand held transceiver are attractive and easy to use they have severe limitations in challenging locations unless you can use external gain antennas, their sensitive microphones also tend to pickup a lot of background noise making it difficult for operators at HQ. When participating in WICEN exercises it is not always possible to have your vehicle close to check points or event officials so be prepared to operate independently of your vehicle. This means independent of vehicle power and antennas. Depending on the event if you can be adjacent to officials (within talking distance) you will find that communications run much more smoothly. It is often handy to have a variety of antennas and mounts to suit you location to get the best results you can. Before the event start call in to HQ to get a radio check and be prepared to make changes in necessary As a general rule WICEN run a travellers net to make sure you are on your way or have arrived back home. PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO CHECK IN TO THE NET WHEN PARTICIPATING IN EVENTS

6 TYPICAL RADIO PROCEDURESAs an operator in the field you should be aware that there may be limited operators in control manning multiple radio frequencies added to this is the requirement to interface with the officials operating the event providing a constant flow of information. It is requested to ensure you do not put control operators under additional pressure by calling and immediately passing information, to avoid mistakes or unnecessary repeats you should follow these recommended calling procedure. 1. Call control (example “control 14 stop” (“14 stop” being the event callsign for your location) THEN Wait to be called or acknowledged by control to send your message 2. When called by control pass your message (example “control 14 stop (car/competitor) number (at time) 1453 end or QSL) Wait for acknowledgement by control. 3. In the event of an emergency use (example “Control 14 stop Urgent message”) Wait for acknowledgement by control to send the message. If an incident occurs other operators should not pass messages until asked to do so by control. Unless the message relates to the incident 4. Often information messages are sent to all stations. Acknowledge receipt of such messages by saying For example Control 14 stop QSL (or acknowledged) The use of the terms Control/Headquarters, QSL/Acknowledge are interchangeable at any time

7 Other considerations It may be necessary at times for operational reasons, for control to poll stations and not allow random traffic. However in an emergency call as step 3 above. Speak slowly and clearly - this makes the message easier to understand and gives the HQ operators time to enter it into the computers. By speak slowly we mean at the speed you would be writing the messages Where there is a message needing to be passed, think through what you are going to say before transmitting it. Better still write it down before sending. Keeping things brief and to the point - refrain from passing extraneous comments and irrelevant information. If you can accurately pass the message in 10 words rather than 30, then do it. Throwing in the odd funny comment is OK, but when things are busy it is not the best idea to send irrelevant remarks. Frequent un-funny funnies get very annoying. If possible transmit at the lowest power that maintains a reliable signal to control. This will extend your battery life. Often when it is wet or dusty Biros and felt tipped pens fail to work properly. always have available a couple of pencils. It is always useful to have spare paper If you need to be away from your radio let control know and report when you are back. You are there on a particular net/frequency don’t allow yourself to be distracted by listening to other frequencies/nets on another radios or scanners with traffic you don’t need to know about.

8 Portable Power SourcesWhen you are out in the field a good source of 12V power is required, generally batteries that can be of many different types. Lead Acid (car battery), Sealed Lead Acid, Nickel Cadmium, Lithium Ion, Nickle Metal Hydride are all suitable depending on the equipment in use. All these batteries have their advantages and disadvantages and unique charging requirements. To avoid potential failure, batteries must be MAINTAINED properly. Allowing a Lead Acid battery to fall below around 75% of its terminal voltage generally means that the battery will be at risk of never fully charging and be able to provide its rated Ampere Hour rating again. A standard Lead Acid battery fully charged should be 12.7V, 75% 12.4V and discharged 11.9V It is a good policy that when you return from an event, put your batteries on charge as soon as possible. This will lengthen the service life of the battery. For equipment transmitting at around 15W a 30AH SLA battery will give you around 10 Hours of use. It is most important that you have a suitably rated fuse in in your battery line this will prevent accidents even if there are fuses in the connected equipment WICEN ACT has adopted the Anderson connector as the standard for battery connections

9 A CHECK LIST You will find a check list very helpful when you a preparing to operate in the field Your vehicle has sufficient fuel for the day Event paper work. Roster or course maps if provided Pens & pencils, spare paper Handbook of the equipment you will be using Main radio , Spare Radio Main antenna plus spare Antenna mounting kit Coax cable and plug socket adaptors Main battery plus spare battery Power cables Headset/Microphone plus spare handheld microphone Extension speaker Tools for emergency repairs to cabling etc. Lighting if required Spare fuses Appropriate clothing Table and seating Food & drink Medication First aid kit Anti boredom material

10 A FEW TRAPS Nothing lit up, check ALL power leads/fuses and connections preferably with a multimeter If you use cigarette lighter plugs to get power from your vehicle make sure the ignition is on and there is not a fuse fitted inside the plug which may have blown. If you don’t appear to getting in to the repeater in use, check you are on the correct frequency, check you have the correct offset programed and Sub tone /CTCSS is activated (if required) The volume control is turned up and the mute is not set to high If you are using a hand microphone make sure it is not in a position that it can be sat on and the transmit activated. Other operators yelling at you to get off your mic won’t help because you are transmitting and you won’t hear them. It is not recommended that you rely totally on you vehicle battery for power. If you are in the field for many hours, it is possible to flatten your battery preventing you from starting your vehicle. This is not uncommon with modern cars and low capacity batteries If you find that your signal deteriorates through the day, check your battery voltage. As the volts drop your transmit power drops before the receive signal is effected.

11 STANDARD WICEN COMMUNICATIONS PROWORDS. (RADIO OPERATION)PROWORDS (professional words to help an operator to understand a message quickly) AFFIRMATIVE * That is Correct, or Yes, or I agree. ALL AFTER/BEFORE Used with SAY AGAIN, DISREGARD etc. AUTHENTIC Msg. following is a real situation (used during an exercise.) ALL STATIONS * Calling on all stations to answer BLOCKS ON/OFF Capital letters begin/ stop BREAK I now stop transmitting for three seconds only CORRECTION An error has been made; the correct version is…. DISREGARD Cancel this message or parts indicated EXERCISE Info/msg. following is NOT genuine (exercise purpose only) FETCH * Bring ---- to the radio for a conversation FIGURES Numerals follow GO AHEAD (SEND) * I am ready to receive your message. <(preferred by Rural Fires & Firecom) I SPELL I will spell the following phonetically. LISTENING Ready and waiting LOCATION (LOCSTAT) The place where someone or something is MESSAGE I wish to send you a written message NEGATIVE * That is Incorrect, or No, or I do NOT agree. OVER * I have finished my transmission and wait for an answer OUT * I have finished transmitting and expect no answer

12 RADIO CHECK How well can you hear me--report signal strengthsREPEAT Armed Services request to `Fire another salvo' (Use Say again) REPORT I have an xxx report to send to you ROGER (ROMEO!) * Message Understood SEND * I am ready to receive your message SPELL. Spell the word, with standard phonetics if needed SPEAK SLOWER You are talking too fast for me to write the msg. STAND BY Please wait. I will call you back. Other stns. may transmit. Stand By * Stop transmitting and wait for my `go ahead’. . <( Rural Fires & Firecom) THIS IS * Identifies station sending by callsign (e.g. Maleny 2 this is Maleny 4 ) TO (e.g. Alpha TO Bravo)Incorrect calling;--Use the `THIS IS' and out’ TO (e.g. Alpha TO Bravo)Incorrect calling;--Use the `THIS IS' WILCO * I understand your message and will comply WORDS TWICE Say each word or phrase twice WORDS BEFORE/ BETWEEN/ AFTER Indicates what to SAY AGAIN, CONFIRM etc. WAIT * I am not ready and will pause a moment before continuing WAIT OUT * I cannot take your msg. now; call again later Good comms can be summed up in two simple rules Rule.1. | Callsigns-Always say the Other station callsign first, Your callsign last. (Standard call is: Alpha THIS IS Bravo, OVER. Rule .2. Call control/HQ and wait for the go ahead to send message ( * These are a Must Know)

13 A TYPICAL WICEN SETUP FROM BUNDEBURG WICEN LDG AUTO TUNER YAESU 857D TRANSCEIVER POWER SUPPLY

14 The Inner platform can be removed and placed on a table or another surfaceUnder the platform storage for extra kit and spares

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16 STANDARD WICEN OPERATOR SIGNWe are frequently asked why to we participate in such events? The reply is easy We like being in the bush We like playing radio And in the case of car rallies don’t mind watching fast cars Above all we are assisting our community