CAP Communications Radio Operator Authorization Course

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CAP CommunicationsRadio Operator Authorization
Course
Voice of Command Revised 7 Jan 2010
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CAP Radio Operator Authorization
Authorization is done in two phases

• 1. Basic Communications User Training
• 2 - 4 Hour Class on
• a. Standard Operating Procedures
• Local Operating Procedures
• Basic Radio Operations
• Entitles a CAP member to operate a CAP Radio
• Issuance of a CAPF 76, Radio Operator
  Authorization by a Group Communications Officer
• Required for most ES specialties
• 2. Advanced Communications User Training
• 4 - 8 Hour Class
• Hands on Radio Operations and Radio System Setup
• Pass the Advanced Communications User Test, CAPF
  119
• Entitles CAP member to be assigned a call sign
  for their radio
• Required as part of the Communications Specialty
  Track

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CAP Radio Station Licensing

• CAP is a considered a federal agency, thus its
  Radio Stations are authorized by the National
  Telecommunications and Information Administration
  (NTIA)
• Public stations are licensed by the FCC
• Federal agencies are not allowed to use services
  allocated exclusively to the public sector for
  their business.
• This excludes the use of Amateur Radio and
  Citizens Band for CAP business.

The regulation for all CAP Communications is CAPR
100-1
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5 Habits of a Good Radio Operator

• 1. Speak clearly
• 2. Annunciate your words.
• 3. Speak slowly
• 4. Remain calm no matter what happens - Never
  Panic.
• 5. THINK - Use Your Head

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Operator Responsibilities

• LISTEN
• Be Prepared to Assist
• Do NOT Transmit Unless You Have Something to
  Offer or Contact is Requested

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Prohibited Operating Practices

• Transmission of false distress signals
• Violation of Radio Silence
• Personal Conversation
• Transmitting in a Net without permission of NCS
• Lack of identifying call sign
• Excessive tuning and testing
• Use of Amateur Radio or Citizens Band frequencies
  for CAP business, and Vice-Versa.
• Use of 10 codes or Amateur Radio Q Signals
• DO NOT use Profanity
• Violating operational security rules

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PROWORDS
Reference 100-3
Prowords are a special set of words used for
clarity and brevity in communications. Some of
the most commonly used prowords are

• THIS IS Preface to your call sign
• ROGER Last transmission received OK
• OVER Im done, go ahead
• OUT Im done, bye
• WAIT I will be back in a few seconds
• SAY AGAIN Say that again
• CORRECTION Oops! I really meant to say
• WILCO ROGER and I will comply
• AFFIRMATIVE Yes
• Refer to CAPR 100-3, Attachment 1, for the
  complete list

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Phonetic Alphabet
A Alpha B Bravo C Charlie D Delta E Echo F Foxtrot
G Golf H Hotel I India J Juliet K Kilo L Lima M M
ike
N November O Oscar P Papa Q Quebec R Romeo S Sierr
a T Tango U Uniform V Victor W Whiskey X X-Ray Y Y
ankee Z Zulu
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I SPELL / FIGURES / INITIALS

• Use I SPELL for pronounceable words
• PIZZA
• I SPELL PIZZA PAPA INDIA ZULU ZULU ALPHA
  PIZZA
• Use FIGURE(S) AND INITIAL(S) for non-words
• N516F
• INITIAL NOVEMBER FIGURES FIVE ONE SIX INTIAL
  FOXTROT

CORRECTIONS
? Use proword CORRECTION to correct a
mistake Example Turn right at next corner
CORRECTION Turn left at next corner
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Numbers

• Pronunciation
• 1 WUN
• 2 TOO
• 3 TREE
• 4 FO-WER
• 5 FIFE
• 6 SIX
• 7 SEVEN
• 8 ATE
• 9 NINER
• 0 ZERO

When writing the numbers, do not write them down
the way they are pronounced. For example, do
not write one as wun or five as fife.
Write them as 1 and 5.
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Punctuation
Symbol Spoken as
. Day-See-Mal or Full Stop
, Comma
/ Slant
-- ? Hyphen Question Mark Colon
Asterisk
Pound
_at_ At Symbol
Ampersand
Coda
( ) Paren On - Paren Off
Bracket On Bracket Off
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SENDING NUMBERS

• Use Prowords FIGURES, DECIMAL, TIME,
  INITIALS

Digit-by-Digit Not Seven Fifty
750 FIGURES SEVEN FIFE ZERO
Niner Not Nine
849 FIGURES ATE FO-WER NINER
Decimal Point
14.5 FIGURES ONE FO-WER DECIMAL FIFE
Z Time
1635Z TIME ONE SIX TREE FIFE ZULU
Initial And Figures
E21 INITIAL ECHO FIGURES TOO WUN
One Figure and Initial
3-A FIGURE TREE DASH INITIAL ALPHA
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ZULU Time

• AKA Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Coordinated
  Time.
• Refers to the current time in Greenwich, United
  Kingdom.
• Zulu time is a system of timekeeping that refers
  to the same time, no matter what time zone you
  are in.
• Central Standard Time is Zulu 6 Hours

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Types of Stations Tactical Call Signs
TEXAS WING CALL SIGN EXAMPLES
AIRMOBILE
GROUND
CAP 4247
CAP VEHICLES
TEXASCAP 2112
TEXASCAP 6122
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Texas Call Signs

• TEXASCAP 1 TEXASCAP 99 Wing HQ Staff
• -TC1Wing Commander
• -TC2Wing Vice Commander
• -TC3Wing Chief of Staff
• -TC4Wing Director of Communications
• -TC5Wing Chaplain
• -TC6Wing Director of Professional Development
• -TC7Wing Director of Logistics
• -TC8Wing ES Officer
• -TC9Wing Operations Officer
• -TC10Wing Headquarters Station
• -TC11Wing Director of Cadet Programs
• -TC12Wing Director of Personnel
• Assistants and staff officers working under a
  director will be assigned calls signs
  accordingly Wing Communications staff will have
  calls in the 40 to 49 block, Operations staff in
  the 90 to 99 block

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Texas Group call signs

• Wing HQ 1 - 99
• Group 1 HQ 100 - 199 Units 1000 - 1999
• Group 2 HQ 200 - 299 Units 2000 - 2999
• Group 3 HQ 300 - 399 Units 3000 - 3999
• Group 4 HQ 400 - 499 Units 4000 - 4999
• Group 5 HQ 500 - 599 Units 5000 5999
• 42XX block is not assigned to reduce confusion
  with aircraft CAP42xx call signs

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Calling Another Station

• Aircraft To Establish Contact
• TEXASCAP 2550 THIS IS CAP 4247 OVER
• Response from the Ground Station
• CAP 4247 THIS IS TEXASCAP 2550 OVER
• On Closing the Contact
• CAP 4247 OUT
• OR
• TEXASCAP 2550 OUT
• Only the first station to finish must say this.

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Calling Another Station cont

• Always end a transmission with
• OVER or OUT - NOT BOTH!
• Do not use Roger Wilco instead of Wilco.
  Roger Wilco means Last transmission received
  OK last transmission received OK and I will
  comply.

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Radio Net Operation

• A Formal Net is established to control the flow
  of traffic on a single radio channel.
• The Net Control Station (NCS) maintains net
  discipline by controlling who is talking.
• Break Ins to the Net should be done only if you
  have emergency traffic.
• The NCS must be contacted first for permission to
  contact another station.
• Sample Net Check-in (TC2550 is the NCS)
• TEXASCAP 2550, THIS IS TEXASCAP 5181 with no
  traffic, over

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Radio Nets - Contacting another Station
TC2550 NCS
1
TC5181
TC5182
2
3

• All transmissions must receive permission from
  the Net Control Station (NCS)

1 - TEXASCAP 2550, THIS IS TEXASCAP 5181 with
traffic for TEXASCAP 582 OVER
2 -TEXASCAP 581, YOU MAY PASS YOUR TRAFFIC, OUT
3 -TEXASCAP 582, THIS IS TEXASCAP 581, OVER
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NET STATION CHECK-IN EXAMPLES

• Checking into a Net with no traffic during roll
  call
• This is TEXASCAP 5181 with no traffic OVER
• Acknowledgement of check-in
• " I recognize TEXASCAP 5181 with no traffic OUT"

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General Radio Controls Summary
Common Controls Volume Squelch
Channel Selector Mike with Push to Talk
Switch (Release to Listen)
Radio Setup Radio Transceiver (VHF-FM,
HF-SSB, SAR) Power Supply (110 VAC or 12
Volt DC) Antenna (Vertical, Magnetic Mount,
Dipole)
1
Power Supply
V
S
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(No Transcript)
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Civil Air Patrol Communications cont.

• Telephones - Landline and cellular telephones can
  be used in addition to radio communications.
• INTERNET - E-mail communications, information web
  pages, internet phone and other methods of
  communication over the internet.
• GOAL - To have a readily available and
  comprehensive communications network using a
  variety of assets.

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Civil Air Patrol Communications Cont.

• Intersquad Radio (ISR)
• Military Ultra High Frequency channels
• Very short range
• Not CAP frequencies, may have to share with other
  Military users.
• May not be used in flight.
• 14 channels, named ISR 1 to ISR 14
• Use standard CAP or ICS callsigns.
• Texas CAP numbers will be issued for these radios
  to support communications training.
• Use of ICS call sign (Ground Team 2) etc is also
  permitted during operations.

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Voice Operating Modes
Single Frequency - One Station at a Time
SIMPLEX
SAME FREQ
REPEATER
Two Frequencies - One Station at a Time
R
T
OUTPUT FREQ
INPUT FREQ
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Repeater Operation
INPUT FREQ
OUTPUT FREQ
Repeater increases the range of mobile stations
due to its high profile location
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Inside the Repeater
Repeater will only turn on its transmitter if it
hears the one site tone
OUTPUT FREQ
Voice
Receiver
Transmitter
INPUT FREQ
123.1 Hz Tone
PTT
123.1 Hz Tone
123.1 Hz Tone Decoder
Mike Button
The Tone Decoder listens for the specific site
tone on the incoming signal
The Tone Decoder presses the Push To Talk (PTT)
button to turn on the transmitter. When the
specific tone is received
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CAP Operational Security

• All CAP frequencies are FOUO For Official Use
  Only
• Do not publicly release CAP radio frequencies.
• Do not release CAP radio frequencies over the
  air.
• Frequencies may be referred to by their
  designators
• Example, one of the Southwest Region High
  Frequencies is called WB, or Whiskey Bravo.
• THE DESIGNATORS WILL BE USED ON THE AIR TO
  DIRECT STATIONS TO ANOTHER FREQUENCY, SUCH AS
  ALL STATIONS CHANGE FREQUENCY TO WHISKEY
  CHARLIE, OUT
• NEVER TRANSMIT THE DESIGNATOR OF THE FREQUENCY
  YOU ARE CURRENTLY ON!!!!

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Extract from CAP/CC Memorandum of 20 Jan 2006

• 3. In addition, all documents containing
  frequencies will be marked UNCLASSIFIED // FOR
  OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO) at the top and bottom
  of each page. And, the following statement should
  be clearly displayed on the front page of any
  document containing FOUO information
• UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
• Frequency information contained in this document
  is designated by the Department of Defense (DoD)
  as For Official Use Only (FOUO) and may not be
  released to anyone without the prior permission
  of the NHQ DOK and CAP-USAF.

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CAP HF Radio Frequencies

• HF-SSB DESIGNATORS USE
• -- AD National Calling Frequency
• AE National Calling Frequency
• WA Southwest Region HF
• WB Southwest Region HF
• WBS Southwest Region HF Secondary
• WC Southwest Region HF
  Primary

• Each Region has a group of HF frequencies
  assigned.
• Southwest Region has a total of 12 assigned HF
  freqs

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CAP VHF Radio ChannelsEF Johnson Mobile
Handheld

• VHF-FM -- Analog
• Radio channel Designator Use
• ZONE1 CH. 1 CC1 Primary Command
• ZONE1 CH. 2 CC2 Alternate Command
• ZONE1 CH. 3 Air 1 Aircraft to aircraft
• ZONE1 CH. 4 Air 2 Aircraft to aircraft
• Zone 1 CH. 5 TAC 1 Ground Teams
• VHF-FM -- Digital
• Radio channel Designator Use
• ZONE16 CH. 1 CC 1P Primary Command
• ZONE16 CH. 2 CC 2P Alternate Command
• ZONE16 CH. 3 Air 1P Aircraft to aircraft
• ZONE16 CH. 4 Air 2P Aircraft to aircraft
• Zone 16 CH. 5 TAC 1P Ground Teams

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TDFM-136 Aircraft Radio
Indentifier Channel Position Indentifier Channel Position Indentifier Channel Position
AIR 1 003 AIR 1P 019 TXLAW1 050
AIR 2 004 AIR 2P 017 TXLAW2 051
CC1 001 CC1P 014 TXLAW3 052
CC2 002 CC2P 015 TXFIRE1 053
TAC 005 TAC 1P 019 TXFIRE2 054
Guard 1 GD1 Guard 1P 018 TXFIRE3 055
R63 010 R63P 024 TXMED1 056
R64 011 R64P 025 TXAIR2 057
R67 006 R67P 020 USCG 6 090
R68 007 R68P 021 USCG16 091
R69 008 R69P 022 USCG 21A 092
R70 009 R70P 023 USCG22A 093
VCALL10 058 USCG 23A 094
VFIRE21 060 USCG 81A 095
VLAW31 062 USCG 82A 096
VMED28 061 USCG 83A 097
VTAC11 059
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Repeater Channels

• All Repeaters Have a Rxx Designator
• Fixed Repeater Designators Are R01 Through R62
• Portable/Airborne Repeaters Designators Are R63,
  R64, and R67 Through R70
• Digital Channels Have a P Following The
  Designator (e.g. R11P)
• Analog Channels
• EF Johnson Radios Use Zone 8 11
• TDFM-136 (Aircraft) Radios Use Channels 101 164
• Digital Channels
• EF Johnson Radios Use Zone 12 16
• TDFM-136 (Aircraft) Radios Do Not Have Digital
  Capability
• Except R63P, R64P, R67P- R70P and 6 simplex
  channels
• Channels 014 - 025

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Operational Repeaters in Texas as of 1 Jan 2010
Location Designator EF Johnson Analog EF Johnson Digital TDFM-136 Analog Only
Amarillo R35 Z10,CH3 Z14, CH3 135
Brownsville R09 Z8, CH9 Z12, CH9 109
Dallas North R11 Z8, CH11 Z12, CH11 111
Decatur R44 Z10, CH12 Z14, CH12 144
Granbury R01 Z8, CH1 Z12, CH 1 101
Houston North R14 Z8, CH14 Z12, CH14 114
Kerrville R50 Z11, CH2 Z15, CH 2 150
King Mountain R52 Z11, CH 4 Z15, CH4 152
San Antonio N R26 Z9, CH10 Z13, CH10 126
San Antonio S R57 Z11, CH 9 Z15, CH9 157
Sulphur Springs R60 Z11, CH12 Z15, CH12 160
Tyler R07 Z8, CH7 Z12, CH7 107
Victoria R27 Z9, CH11 Z13, CH11 127
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Portable/Airborne Repeaters

• Field Installable or Aircraft Mounted (In
  Repeater Configured Aircraft)
• Limited Power
• 10 Watts Airborne
• 20 Watts Ground Mounted

Designator EF Johnson Analog EF Johnson Digital TDFM-136 Analog TDFM-136 Digital
R63 R63P Z1,CH7 Z16, CH13 135 024
R64 R64P Z1, CH8 \ Z16, CH14 109 025
R67 R67P Z1, CH9 Z16, CH9 111 020
R68 R68P Z1, CH10 Z16, CH10 144 021
R69 R69P Z1, CH11 Z16,CH11 101 022
R70 R70P Z1, CH12 Z16,CH12 114 023
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Aeronautical SAR Stations

• Aeronautical Search And Rescue Stations (SAR)
  Operate on two Aircraft Frequencies
• 122.9 MHz - TRAINING Only
• 123.1 MHz - ACTUAL Missions Only
• Contact ground teams by using VHF-FM
• Air 1 or Air 2 - Air-to-Ground Simplex
• Base Call Signs assigned by geographical location
• THIS IS Spinks Mission Base OVER

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USE OF NON CAP FREQUENCIES

• CAP MAY USE STATE OF TEXAS INTEROPERABILITY
  FREQUENCIES WHEN SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED BY A
  STATE AGENCY TO DO SO. THESE FREQUENCIES ARE
  PROGRAMMED INTO JOHNSON AND NEW AIRCRAFT FM
  RADIOS.
• MARINE BAND 8 MARINE BAND FREQUENCIES ARE
  PROGRAMMED FOR USE WITH COAST GUARD OR OTHER
  AGENCIES.
• THESE FREQUENCIES SHOULD BE USED ONLY FOR
  INTERAGENCY COMMUNICATIONS WITH STATE, COUNTY OR
  LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR AGENCIES. CAP WILL USE CAP
  CALL SIGNS AND STANDARD CAP PROCEDURE.

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Narrow Band Transition

• VHF Narrow Band Transition Completed 31 Dec 2009
• Use of Wide Band Frequencies Is No Longer
  Authorized
• Designators V1, V2, V3, V4 and Any Repeater
  Designator Beginning With a P are NOT To Be Used
  For Any CAP Operations

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Questions?
?