CAP Communications
Orientation Class
Voice of Command
CAP Radio Operator Authorization
Authorization is done in two phases:
• Communications Orientation Class
National Headquarters
Civil Air Patrol
Maxwell AFB AL 36112-6332
RADIO OPERATOR AUTHORIZATION
Name and address of operator:
John Doe
123 Main Street
Montgomery AL 36112
– 1-2 Hour Class on:
» Standard Operating Procedures
» Local Operating Procedures
– Entitles CAP member to operate a CAP Radio
– Issued a CAPF 76, Radio Operator’s Permit by Wing or higher
headquarters
Card #
Expiration:
AL-00123
31 AUG 98
• Advanced Communications User Training
–
–
–
–
4 Hour Class
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
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
Types of Stations &
Tactical Call Signs
ALABAMA WING CALL SIGN EXAMPLES
AIRMOBILE
GROUND
CAPFLIGHT 101
Goldenrod 265
MOBILE
Goldenrod 75
Reference: 100-1
PROWORDS
Prowords are a special set of words used for
clarity and brevity in communications.
Some of the most commonly used prowords are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
THIS IS
ROGER
OVER
OUT
WAIT
SAY AGAIN
CORRECTION
WILCO
AFFIRMATIVE
Preface to your call sign
Last transmission received OK
I’m done, go ahead
I’m done, bye
I will be back in a few seconds
Say that again
Oops! I really meant to say
ROGER and I will comply
Yes
Phonetic Alphabet
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whiskey
X-Ray
Yankee
Zulu
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
“one” and “five.”
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…”
SENDING NUMBERS
• Use Prowords “FIGURES”, “DECIMAL”, “TIME”, “INITIALS”
Digit-by-Digit Not
“Seven Fifty”
750
“FIGURES SEVEN FIVE ZERO”
Niner
Not Nine
849
“FIGURES EIGHT FOUR NINER”
Decimal
Point
14.5
“FIGURES ONE FOUR DECIMAL FIVE”
Z Time
1635Z
“TIME ONE SIX THREE FIVE ZULU”
Initial And
Figures
E21
“INITIAL ECHO FIGURES TWO ONE”
One Figure
and Initial
3-A
“FIGURE THREE DASH INITIAL ALPHA”
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.
Date-Time Group
16 0218Z APR 97
Date
Time
Month
Date and Time in ZULU
Year
Distress and Emergency
Signals
MAYDAY
PAN
SECURITE
Distress
Urgency
Safety
}
Supercedes all
Priority or
Routine Traffic
Operator Responsibility
• LISTEN
• Be Prepared to Assist
• Do NOT Transmit Unless You
Have Something to Offer or
Contact is Requested
Calling Another Station
• To Establish Contact
– “Goldenrod 40 THIS IS Capflight 3421 OVER”
• Response from the Ground Station
– “Capflight 3421 THIS IS Goldenrod 40 OVER”
• No need to use call signs until
communications are complete
• On Closing the Contact
– “… Capflight 3421 OUT”
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.”
Airborne operators:
• Before transmitting, make sure you are
on the correct frequency.
• Before leaving the aircraft at the close
of a mission, make sure the ELT is off.
5 Habits of a Good Radio Operator
•
•
•
•
Speak clearly
Annunciate your words.
Speak slowly
Remain calm no matter what happens Never Panic
• THINK - “Use Your Head”
Prohibited Operating Practices
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
CAP 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.
NTIA Deviation Changes
• Currently, 25Khz channel spacing and 5Khz
deviation
• By January 1, 2008, the NTIA has mandated
the Federal government to use radio
equipment with 12.5kHz channel spacing and
2.5kHz deviation to allow for more channels
and more users.
• If you purchase your own equipment, be sure
that the equipment has the new 2.5 kHz
deviation and that it is capable of the new
channel plan. Make sure that the receiver will
be selective enough to ignore stations that
are 12.5 kHz away
Voice Operating Modes
SIMPLEX
Single Frequency - One Station at a Time
Channel 3 or 4
REPEATER
Two Frequencies - One Station at a Time
R
T
Repeater Operation
100.0 Hz Tone
Universal Access Tone
used by low power stations
only
Note: All CAP Repeaters
respond to the 100.0 Hz tone
Repeater increases the range of mobile
stations due to its high profile location
Inside the Repeater
Repeater will only turn on its transmitter if it hears one of two tones:
1) Universal access tone (100.0 Hz) or
2) Repeater site specific tone (123.0 Hz for the Montgomery Repeater)
Transmit
Frequency
123.0 Hz Tone
Receiver
100.0 & 123.0 Hz
Tone Decoder
The Tone Decoder “listens”
for either of the two tones on
the incoming signal
Voice
PTT
Receive
Frequency
Transmitter
“Mike Button”
The Tone Decoder “presses”
the Push To Talk (PTT) button
to turn on the transmitter.
Airmobile use of Repeaters
• Primary mode of operation should be simplex.
• Only use the repeater if simplex is not possible.
• Selectively use a repeater through use of its
assigned access tone
• Use of 100 Hz tone is prohibited since this will
bring up multiple repeaters
• The key is to limit use to a single repeater
CAP Radio Frequencies
• CAP Radio Frequencies are For Official Use
Only (FOUO). Listings are available in CAPR
100-1 Vol. 1
Aeronautical SAR Stations
• Aeronautical Search And Rescue Stations
(SAR) Operate on two Aircraft Frequencies (see
CAPR 100-1 Vol. 1 for frequencies).
• Contact ground teams by using VHF-FM
– Air-to-Ground Simplex
• Base Call Signs assigned by geographical
location
– “THIS IS Montgomery Mission Base OVER”
Radio Operation 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
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 (GR10 is the NCS):
– “Goldenrod 10, THIS IS Goldenrod 404 with no traffic,
over”
Radio Nets - Contacting another Station
GR 10
NCS
1
GR 401
2
3
GR404
• All transmissions must receive permission from
the Net Control Station (NCS)
1 - “Goldenrod 10, THIS IS Goldenrod 401 with traffic for Goldenrod 404 OVER”
2 - “Goldenrod 401, Contact Goldenrod 404 with your traffic, OUT”
3 - “Goldenrod 404, THIS IS Goldenrod 401, OVER”
NET STATION CHECK IN AND
OPERATING EXAMPLES
• Checking into a Net with no traffic during roll call:
“This is <YOUR CALL SIGN> with no traffic OVER"
• Requesting permission from NCS to send a
message:
" <NCS CALL SIGN> this is <YOUR CALL SIGN> with a <PRIORITY>
message for <ADDRESSEE CALL SIGN> OVER"
• Acknowledging readiness to receive traffic:
"This is <ADDRESSEE CALL SIGN>, go ahead with your traffic
OVER"
• Acknowledging receipt of a message:
"This is <ADDRESSEE CALL SIGN>, roger your message OUT"
Levels of Precedence
• FLASH - Not used in CAP Messages
– HIGHEST PRIORITY
– HANDLED AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, AHEAD OF
OTHER MESSAGES
• IMMEDIATE
– MESSAGES RELATED TO SITUATIONS GRAVELY
AFFECTING THE SECURITY OF THE NATION.
– REQUIRES IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
• PRIORITY
– USED FOR MESSAGES WHERE “ROUTINE” ISN’T FAST
ENOUGH
– PROCESSED AHEAD OF ROUTINE MESSAGES
• ROUTINE
– MOST USED. DELIVERED IN ORDER RECEIVED.
Message Construction
• MESSAGE HEADING
–
–
–
–
The Originator (From)
The Addressee (To)
Precedence (Urgency)
Date and Time Group
• TEXT
– Information being sent.
– Separated from the heading and ending by the
proword “BREAK” (may not be part of the text
being passed)
• ENDING
– Reserved for the Radio Operator’s Notes