Amateur Radio Training And Examinations

All Burbank Fire Corps and Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) members are encouraged to expand their emergency preparedness and emergency management training. This includes taking courses offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and the American Red Cross.

If you know anyone interested in getting their Technician ham license, all you have to do is pass a 35 question written test. All of the questions on the exam are printed in the license/study manuals and are also available on the internet at QRZ.com's Practice Amateur Radio Exams, or eHam.net Ham Exams, or ARRL's Amateur Radio Question Pools. The General class license question pool was updated in 2007 and the Extra class license question pool was changed June 30, 2008. As of February 2007, there are no more Morse Code requirements! Go UPGRADE your license!!

  • You can find many courses on line concerning emergency training in general at FEMA's Independant Study Program (ISP). All Burbank Fire Corps and ACS members are required to pass FEMA courses that are introductions to the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The courses are: IS-100b, IS-200b, and IS-700a.

  • The ARRL offers excellent courses on Emergency Communications Training (EnComm Training). Fees apply to ARRL courses; discounts available to ARRL members. Go to ARRL EnComm Training for more information.

  • The ARRL offers an excellent book which everyone should consider adding to their ham library. The ARRL Emergency Communications Handbook covers various emergency related topics including: Basic Communications Skills, Introduction to Emergency Nets, Basic Message Handling, Incident Command System, Emergency Activation, Operations and Logistics, Personal Safety, Survival and Health Considerations and other subjects. You can purchase a copy at Ham Radio Outlet (HRO), online at ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook, or you can borrow the ACS copy of this book in the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) ACS Radio Room library.

  • Another excellent resource is City of Los Angeles CERT. There are many downloadable resources including the CERT manual and other references.

  • Make sure your First Aid & CPR cards are current. If not, Burbank Fire Corps will have training in the future. You can also contact the American Red Cross to Take a Class. One class that is incredible, but unfortunately, rarely taught is the Emergency Responder course. This takes over from First Aid & CPR, and adds basic and advanced life support. It is basically everything just short of EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).

For information on ham radio clubs in your area visit the ARRL club page.

PROPER RADIO OPERATIONS PROCEDURES, PROTOCOLS AND GUIDELINES:

At at recent ACS meeting, Joe Dunn spoke of proper radio procedures and protocols. Below is a list of suggestions to improve proper radio operation and communications. Using radios effectively requires awareness of radio discipline, proper radio procedures and professional courtesy.
  1. Listen before you transmit--make sure frequency is clear.

  2. Make sure you are on the correct frequency...many radios scan, and many ham radios have multiple bands/memories ... transmitting on the wrong frequency can be embarrassing and sometimes, illegal.

  3. Create your thoughts before you transmit.

  4. Hold radio upright and speak clearly into front of radio.

  5. If using speaker mike, press & hold PTT (Push To Talk) button and speak clearly across microphone (doing so prevents over deviation and distortion). Make sure to LET GO OF THE PTT to receive!

  6. Keeping your radio on your belt is poor location for antenna ... your body absorbs/blocks much of signal.

  7. If you are using a hand held radio in a car, try to use outdoor (magnetic or similar) antenna. If not possible, hold radio upright so metal car body does not block signal.

  8. On DNet radios, if radio continuously beeps, your battery is low and needs re-charging.

  9. Do not yell into microphone, this causes distortion.

  10. Make sure your message is important enough for others to listen to.

  11. Pay attention to your radio and answer up when called.

  12. Keep volume at a level you can hear, but that it does not annoy others, also some information is confidential and not appropriate for some people (general public) to hear.

  13. A radio is not a play toy and radio communications are on public airwaves; and can be monitored by others, including Fire Dept Administration, studios, etc....(on DNet, etc). i.e...no joking around, etc.

  14. Avoid using cute phrases, 10 codes, etc as your message may become confused.

  15. Become familiar with phonetic alphabet used by Burbank Fire Dept.

  16. Keep transmissions short and specific.

  17. If you have a long message, take breaks to allow others to ask questions or report emergencies, etc. During 4th of July, someone was trying to report a fire, but could not get through on radio because someone else was tying up radio with non- priority traffic.

  18. If working in a noisy area, wear an earphone if possible.

  19. Confidential information should NOT go over radio, use telephone instead.

  20. During net operations, net control op is in charge...if you want to call another station,contact net control first (for clearance on radio), then call your station.

RADIO PROGRAMMING REVIEW AND TRAINING:

During a recent ACS meeting, members reviewed the procedures needed to program a frequency into their radio. Review your radio’s owners manual on the steps to:
  1. Select Band and go to VFO mode.
  2. Enter frequency into VFO.
  3. Enter offset shift if using repeater. (+/- 600 kHz for 2 meters, +/- 5.00 MHz for UHF)
  4. Enter sub-audible tone (PL) if used.
  5. Label channel number or name if desired.
  6. Save into memory.

We may get called out and need to reprogram our own radios in the field with new frequencies, tones, etc. to participate in an event. Being familiar with our own radio is important for success.

Most radio manufacturers have radio manuals on their website for downloading. Download a copy of your radio manual and put it in your ACS notebook. If you don’t have one, make one. Highlight relevant topics where you may need to review.