Here's some food for thought for digimode only ops..... DE NNN0ASA ZUJ CMB06-08: RR NOALL DE NNN0ASA 050 R 292200Z MAY 2008 FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA TO ALNAVMARCORMARS INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ ZEN/CHIEF AIR FORCE MARS SCOTT AFB IL BT UNCLAS SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 06-08 A. DRAFT RADIOTELEGRAPH PROCEDURES 1. WHEN I ASSUMED THE CHIEF, NAVMARCORMARS POSITION IN NOVEMBER, 1997, WE WERE MORE THAN A YEAR INTO THE DOD MANDATED BAN ON CW ON MARS FREQUENCIES. A. SINCE THAT TIME THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HAS, IN STEPS, ELIMINATED THE MORSE CODE REQUIREMENT FOR AN AMATEUR LICENSE. ALL EMERGENCY COMMUNICATORS KNOW THAT WHEN VOICE AND OTHER DIGITAL MODES SLOW TO A CRAWL OR BECOME UNUSABLE, CW CAN STILL BE USED. B. I REMEMBER THE NORTHEAST ICE STORM SHORTLY AFTER I BECAME CHIEF AND THE UNNECESSARILY LENGTHY EFFORT BY ALL OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TO RECEIVE ONE VOICE EEI FROM A NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND MEMBER WHOSE ANTENNA WAS COVERED IN ICE AND LYING ON THE GROUND. IT TOOK OVER AN HOUR WHEN CW COULD HAVE HANDLED IT IN A FEW MINUTES. C. AS MORE AND MORE OF OUR MEMBERS ENTER MARS WITH NO MORSE CODE EXPERIENCE, I AM AFRAID THAT WE WILL SOON LOSE THAT SKILL SET IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING. 2. IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE AND EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, AREA AND REGION DIRECTORS ARE AUTHORIZED TO ESTABLISH CW TRAINING AND TRAFFIC NETS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE AREAS AND REGIONS. ALL STATE DIRECTORS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN CONDUCTING TRAINING IN CW ON THEIR TRAFFIC AND TRAINING NETS. 3. SINCE THE RADIOTELEGRAPH PROCEDURES WERE ELIMINATED BEFORE TEH PUBLICATION OF NTP 8(C), REF A WILL BE POSTED UNDER THE DOCUMENTS TAB ON THE NATIONAL WEB PAGE SOON. USE THESE DRAFT PROCEDURES UNTIL A FINAL TRI-SERVICE MARS PROCEDURE FOR RADIOTELEGRAPH IS DEVELOPED AND PROMULGATED. 4. MARS: TOGETHER WE CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING. BT NNNN
DE NNN0ASA QRU AR (taken from a post by K4OSO on the FISTS reflector) 73 Sholto KE7HPV.
