AUTOMATIC LINK ESTABLISHMENT PRESENTED BY J EDGAR MCDERMOTT A.L.E. AUTOMATIC LINK ESTABLISHMENT PRESENTED BY J EDGAR MCDERMOTT

WHAT IS A.L.E.? SIMPLY PUT, IT IS A METHOD OF WORKING STATIONS, USING PRE-DEFINED FREQUENCIES, ACROSS SEVERAL BANDS. BY UTILIZING A.L.E., YOU CAN ESTABLISH THE “BEST” FREQUENCY IN WHICH TO MAKE CONTACT.

HOW IS THIS ACCOMPLISHED? BY UTILIZING A COMBINATION OF S/N, BER, AND SIGNAL STRENGTH OF THE RECEIVED SIGNALS. IN A.L.E. SYSTEMS, THIS IS USUALLY SHOWN AS LQA OR LINK QUALITY ANALYSIS AND IS DISPLAYED AS A NUMBER FROM 1-99.

CALL MODE? CALL – A DIRECT CALL FROM ONE STATION TO ANOTHER. IF THE LQA DATA IS ZERO, THE RADIO WILL START AT ONE END OF THE FREQUENCY RANGE AND SEARCH TOWARDS THE OTHER. THE FIRST RETURNED SIGNAL (HANDSHAKE) IT RECEIVES, WILL LINK THE TWO RADIOS. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST CHOICE.

BI-DIRECTIONAL MODE IT IS UTILIZED TO BUILD AN LQA TABLE FOR ALL THE FREQUENCIES PROGRAMMED WHILE NOT ESTABLISHING A LINK TO THE DESIRED STATION INITIALLY. ONCE COMPLETED, A CALL CAN BE INITIATED AND THE RADIO WILL AUTOMATICALLY START CALLING ON THE FREQUENCY WHICH RETURNED THE HIGHEST LQA, THEN STEPPING DOWN, IF NO LINK IS ESTABLISHED. THIS ENSURES A LINK ON THE STRONGEST AVAILABLE FREQUENCY.

sounding MODE? THIS IS A GENERAL BROADCAST BY ONE STATION ONLY IN A NETWORK, USUALLY, THE NET CONTROL STATION. IT WILL SOUND THE LISTED FREQUENCIES AT A PREDETERMINED INTERVAL TO UPDATE THE LQA NUMBERS TO ALL STATIONS AUTOMATICALLY. THIS ALLOWS STATIONS IN THE NETWORK TO “CALL” THE NET CONTROL STATION DIRECTLY, ON THE BEST FREQUENCY, WITHOUT HAVING TO RUN A BI-DIRECTIONAL CHECK, THEMSELVES.

HOW DOES IT WORK? IT SAMPLES A SET OF PRE-DEFINED FREQUENCIES FOR A NETWORK AND ANALYZES THOSE RESULTS. IT USES THE RESULTS TO UPDATE THE STORED LQA NUMBERS TO DETERMINE THE BEST FREQUENCY ON WHICH TO OPERATE. LQA READINGS CAN AUTOMATICALLY DEGRADE OVER TIME. THE DEGRADATION TO ZERO CAN BE SET FOR 1, 6, 12, 24 HOURS OR NEVER, IF SO DESIRED. 1 OR 6 HOUR ARE THE BEST SETTINGS WITH CHANGING PROPOGATION.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR US? WITH US DIPPING INTO THE LOWER SUNSPOT NUMBERS, OUR PROPOGATION ON THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES HAS BEEN CURTAILED. AS AN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATOR, THERE ARE SET FREQUENCIES ON WHICH WE OPERATE. BY BEING CONFIGURED FOR ALE, WE CAN PROVIDE A BETTER QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS LINK WHEN REQUIRED.

QUESTIONS? I SUGGEST RESEARCHING ALE RADIO OPERATIONS ON LINE TO GAIN A BROADER VIEW ON THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS.

60 METERS UTILIZATION FOR EMERGENCYS

HOW MANY HERE WORK THE 60M BAND? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE 5 CHANNELS ASSIGNED FOR VOICE AND DATA? CHANNEL 1 VOICE 5330.5 KHZ – DATA 5332.0 KHZ CHANNEL 2 VOICE 5346.5 KHZ – DATA 5348.0 KHZ CHANNEL 3 VOICE 5357.0 KHZ – DATA 5358.5 KHZ CHANNEL 4 VOICE 5371.5 KHZ – DATA 5373.0 KHZ CHANNEL 5 VOICE 5403.5 KHZ – DATA 5405.0 KHZ

WHO HAS PRIORITY? AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS ARE SECONDARY USERS ON ALL OF THOSE CHANNELS. WHEN STATE/FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ARE ACTIVE IN AN EMERGENCY OR RUNNING A SIMULATED EMCOMM, ONE, TWO OR ALL THE CHANNELS MAY BE UTILIZED BY THOSE AUTHORITIES FOR PASSING AND RECEIVING EMERGENCY TRAFFIC ON A PRIORITY BASIS.

WHO MIGHT BE ON THE AIR? OUR LAST EXERCISE IN NOVEMBER INVOLVED ELEMENTS OF THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD COMMUNICATIONS TEAMS BEING DROPPED THROUGHOUT SOUTHER ILLINOIS, WORKING ALONGSIDE IEMA, USAF MARS PERSONNEL, CIVIL AIR PATROL, AND OTHERS IN SIMULATING A COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT, SOUTH OF I-70 DUE TO A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE EVENT. TRAFFIC WAS RELAYED ALONG VARIOUS CHANNELS TO INCLUDE THE 60 METER BAND TO COORDINATE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN FIELD POSITIONS AND LOCAL AREA HOSPITALS.

WHAT AM I HEARING? IF YOU’RE HEARING DIGITAL SIGNALS FROM FEDERAL/SHARES OPERATORS, YOU’RE PROBABLY HEARING MT-63 OR WINLINK BEING TRANSMITTED. ON VOICE, YOU ARE LIKELY TO HEAR TACTICAL CALL SIGNS INSTEAD OF AMATEUR RADIO CALL SIGNS.

CAN I OPERATE THERE? YES. JUST BE AWARE, THAT IF AN EMERGENCY ARISES, YOU MAY BE ASKED TO STOP COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE DURATION OF THE EVENT. IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN EMCOMMS, WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING YOU ON THE CHANNELS TO ASSIST IN TRAFFIC. THANK YOU…