On Mar 25, 2008, at 4:28 PM, Mike Morris WA6ILQ wrote: > (card 1 face) > Operating Instructions using preprogrammed memory channels: > > 1. Turn on radio, adjust volume and squelch
Step 1... Turn off odd-ball rig you've never seen before, and pull the one you're used to using out of your go kit. Hook it to the powerpoles and antenna connection so graciously already provided behind the rig on the desk, and operate. (GRIN) Just kidding Mike -- kinda. Sorry, no cheat sheets for the Yaesu's here. The real confusion for most modern rigs is that they expect people to think in terms of "modes" or "menus" and making up cheat sheets that cover any possible odd-ball menu or mode the rig could get left in, is difficult. An operator can also go into a deep menu somewhere and set a setting that drives everyone else bonkers trying to figure out why the rig is "misbehaving". (A good example would be turning off the ALC on an SSB rig... down in a menu somewhere, and then walking away. Will drive the next op bananas and they'll never find it if they're unfamiliar with the rig, without a menu by menu search for the problem. You might even see a frustrated operator do a soft-reset on the rig, thus blowing away all the memories and other stuff someone worked hard on.) Want some realistic training and some fun? Get some duplicates of all the radio types (even if borrowed) and set them up the same as the rigs currently being used. Hook 'em to power and dummy loads in a training room, then hand people 4 X 5 cards with their tactical callsigns, a message to pass to another stations, and tell them they have to set up a net on a particular frequency and pass the traffic. Go. Randomly assign operators to the radios in the training room, and then start a stopwatch. (GRIN) No cheat sheets, no laminated cards... all you get is the grey matter in your skull and your eyeballs to read the tiny little labels on the buttons on the rig. No matter if you've used that rig before or not. Have an instructor or two monitor over their shoulders who know that rig, to catch them and stop them if they do anything that might damage the rig or otherwise leave it badly misconfigured. As a bonus, you would quickly find out what radio is a complete pain in the ass for the operators, and you can pull it out and mandate it not be installed at any EOC. (BIGGER GRIN) -- Nate Duehr, WY0X [EMAIL PROTECTED]
