- DEFINITION : SIMPLEX
- THE VHF MISSION : PART ONE : MONITORING
- THE VHF MISSION : PART TWO : UTILIZATION
- THE VHF MISSION : PART THREE : PRESERVATION
- THE HF MISSION : GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
- INTERNET
- AMPLIFIERS
- REPEATERS
- MESSAGE TO REPEATER NET CONTROL STATIONS
- CLOSING COMMENTS
THE VHF MISSION : PART TWO : UTILIZATION
This traffic might be relevant only to people in your community. An operator receiving a message might tell a few people in the neighborhood, and the message will then be spread to "friends and family" throughout the community. These people will become conditioned to receiving important community information from Amateur Radio Operators, supplied by other Amateur Radio Operators. The community should not condition themselves to receiving information from repeaters any more than Amateur Radio Operators should.
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Great tip from K9KJM - Be sure to leave a nice LONG pause between transmissions so weak simplex stations have plenty of time to break in to a conversation. We all get caught up in hot discussions about things and tend to key the mic right after the last person so we can make our comments, making it very difficult for weak, distant stations to join the conversation. (Simplex has no "squelch tail beeps" for users to wait for like repeaters)
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During disasters, continue to obtain information and exchange it with other local Amateur Radio Operators. The same citizens who have been conditioned to rely on local hams for "peacetime" information will know who to go to for information in times of trouble. A friend or relative who cannot, due to a storm or other calamity, hear you on a scanner or contact you by e-mail or phone, may be able to drive to your house to find out what you know. That person can then return to their neighborhood to tell their circle of friends.
This informal system serves the general public rather than the "served agencies". We let the regular Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and others work with the "served agencies". Those operators will supply the "served agencies" with the information they request in order to fulfill their mission. There is no guarantee, however, that any of this information will get to the general public.
IMPORTANT: The Simplex Preservation Society definition of "priority traffic" is whatever YOU want it to be. Once Amateur Radio Operators in your community are communicating regularly and reliably on simplex, it is up to YOU what you do with that capability. This organization does NOT have a traditional EMCOMM (Emergency Communications) mission. We are not here to replace, or hinder, traditional Amateur Radio emergency communications programs already in place around the country.
2-Meter FM is the primary mode of choice because it is the most common Amateur Radio type to be found in the United States. Morse Code (CW) is very reliable, but there are too few skilled and/or interested operators for the "saturation" effect needed in this program. High Frequency (HF) is certainly long-haul, but not every Amateur Radio operator has sufficient HF privileges, wants HF privileges, or even owns an HF radio. This is not what we need if we want the maximum number of hams to be capable of receiving AND sending messages in a community. Plus, using widely available scanning receivers, the general public can more easily monitor VHF FM, but not other modes.
With VHF FM Simplex, the trade-off is distance. To compensate for lack of distance we use operator saturation. The saturation already exists. All we need is for those operators in a community to use simplex!
Our mission is important at the local level because repeaters can become inoperative for many reasons. There can be power failure, component failure, and repeaters can lose antennas and even towers during storms. There is also the possibility of non-renewal of a lease or other authority to occupy space on another's property. Our ability to operate effectively should not rely on intermediate equipment, whims, or permissions.
A community needs the maximum number of Amateur Radio operators to be ready when repeaters aren't available. But… just having a 2-Meter FM rig is not enough. You have to have confidence that your simplex station can effectively communicate across town and that there is a capable "support" group of others out there listening.
Due to the nature of VHF FM simplex, these groups will be relatively small in size, and close in proximity. As the number of members grows, the easier it will be to pass important traffic within a local area. Operators on the edges of these local areas can pass the traffic to adjacent communities. While there is usually no need for 100-foot towers or huge amplifiers, a little assistance in these areas may be necessary.
The program plan does not include any type of hierarchy or formal nets. There is no central planning or control. No individuals or groups "in charge" to stifle ideas. There is no plan to have "Station A" contact "Station B", and so on, to pass priority messages. Any such plan is sure to fail as soon as one or two "links" become missing. Instead, eventual success will be achieved by the saturation of populated areas with active members.
Traditional traffic nets require a net control operator. Again, this program does not require any leaders. Priority traffic is passed in a "viral" manner. Decentralization is one of our strong points. Any operator receiving an important message can pass it along to any other operator within range. When enough operators are in place, traffic can be passed from county to county and state to state on a regular basis. When there is no priority traffic, just keep the simplex frequencies active with regular contacts and nets! Don't forget to encourage your non-ham friends to either buy a VHF-UHF scanner or get their Amateur Radio license.
UTILIZATION PLAN B
The above describes a generalized plan of providing information that is able to be monitored by members of the community. Below is a plan which outlines just one method of providing information directly to, and retrieving information directly from, members of the community. For example, families in one part of town wanting to check on the welfare of relatives in another part of town following a disaster. You can come up with other plans that work better for your area and situation.
Before the program is put into place, a public information campaign is conducted with the purpose of informing the community that disaster communications will be available and how they can tune in on it. They will be informed as to how to monitor the day to day fixed and mobile simplex communications of local Amateur Radio operators as well as where, and under what conditions, mobile information centers will be set up, and on what simplex frequencies they will operate.
These communications and information centers should be located on the highest elevation possible. These centers could be in the buildings or parking lots of local churches, schools and businesses. They could also be set up in public parks, rest stops and other open areas. You decide what works best for your operators and the community. Your location may require a temporary push-up mast or you may be able to get by with just your usual mobile arrangement.
Small teams may be needed at each location to actually go into neighborhoods and give and obtain health and welfare information. If small teams are not available, a single unit may have to gather information and send it to other units. Depending on terrain, this could be done from the neighborhood, or you may have to return to your selected communications and information center. This will take the expenditure of some gas, but this is no different than storm spotting, with one exception. The exception is that if you've started or joined a non-traditional club as I outlined in another report, and participated in fundraising activities, you should be RECEIVING money to cover your expenses and even buy equipment.
You might be tempted to say that all of this data that your group will be collecting could best be transferred by digital means. To do so would virtually eliminate the possibility for members of the community to monitor the radio traffic. When the public can freely monitor traffic, they may find the information they were looking for, reducing the need for them to make as many inquiries to your group. Also, since we're not working in a "traditional" EMCOMM capacity, we're probably not going to have "tons" of information to transfer anyway. But, anything is possible! When a communications system is encrypted, or otherwise overly-complicated, it leaves the community out-of-the-loop and destroys the free flow of information that is important in times of disaster.
