Ron Wright wrote: > Nate, > > Wish it were that easy. In about all my rigs to set the freq is easy, turn > the tuning knob. Most have standard offset and hope the repeater you are > going to does also. As for CTCSS most all my rigs require multiple setting > and menus. One to set the freq, one to set rx or tx, etc.
The point is that you just demonstrated that you know some things there that a LOT of volunteer hams don't! You know about rigs with and without standard offsets. You know why there's that "RPT" button on rigs. You know you need a CTCSS tone, and what it does. You learned that somewhere. Someone had to TRAIN you, or you had to TRAIN yourself. For those volunteer who REFUSE to self-train, they must be SHOWN and TESTED. How many hams even know that some modern rigs (finally) HAVE different CTCSS tones for TX/RX? (Which is actually fairly rare in Amateur rigs, but common in all commercial rigs for over a decade now.) You do. But for you to run around programming their radios for them, is ultimately a "job that never ends" -- you need to TRAIN them about what you know about HOW the rigs work, not how to spin the pre-programmed dial some "radio guru" set up for them. In the end, they're USELESS operators if you do that work and effort for them. > Then comes the 2 years later when it must be done again. I don't care if it > is 3 months later many will not be able to set some of the items in a rig > they have been trained on. Well, if you go back to my Aviation analogy, there are recurrency requirements in Aviation also for that reason. *REAL* Emergency communications and Aviation share a common theme... lives are on the line. Aviation's had 100 years to come up with the bare minimum rules/regulations to keep people from dying as much as reasonably possible. It's not a bad model to emulate. Written test. Practical test. Logs that show you're current and safe before you can carry passengers. Specific time and safety-related reviews with an instructor required every so often. Of course, I'll certainly point out that hams RARELY are doing real *Emergency* communications. In all but the utterly devastating largest scale events, we're passing traffic about how many donuts are left at the shelter. Nothing life-threatening, and most of the traffic won't be delayed too badly by poor radio discipline, not knowing how to run the radio, etc. (In other words, we're the communications "dumping ground" for crap the real emergency responders don't want to do. And we get all excited and think we're adding great value when we do it, so ... that's fine... but it's why I don't bother to volunteer. I figure my skillset will be more badly needed to drive my dumb butt up to a site and get repeaters back on the air... or deploy portables for others to use... so I limit my EmComm activity to that.) > Pre-program what you need then if there are 5 freq/tone/offsets in a system > just quickly turn the knob. Yes, but ham rigs have memories. Use them, but also leave the VFO knob available. Don't switch to radios that have no flexibility, or you take away things a GOOD operator can use. > If the approach of no training then no operation then lots of people will be > left without EmComm and this is not an option. Lots of people will be left without *BAD* EmComm, which isn't a loss for them OR outsider's view of the hobby. > Really sounds as if so many are planning a weekend bike run and not the real > thing. I saw the need for someone not trained to do a commo job immediately > in the military and the "no training no do" was not an option. Thus why military systems are set up to be operated by any monkey. That's not the focus of Amateur Radio -- we're a pool of TRAINED operators, according to Part 97. Not PTT-monkeys. Trained operators can fill both the important roles of flexible, knowledgeable, radio operator and also the PTT-monkey shoes, as required. Untrained operators, can't. > I do encourage all to train as much as they can. It is valuable, but often > helps less then some think. Where it helps is in getting people FAMILIAR with the different rig configurations and possibilities. Teach 'em to use your memory channels, sure... but also teach 'em how to THINK and how the rigs WORK and they'll be more effective in a very short period of time. If we give up and don't train/teach/mentor/Elmer people -- and just accept all volunteers with no requirement to learn -- we get what we deserve in this hobby today. Nate WY0X
