Introduction to Our Emergency Communications System and Radio Equipment Compare Book Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Section 2.1

Why Are We Asking For Your Help?  Our Purpose – Assist with Priesthood Leader Communications needed to serve each other during disasters We can’t ask God to give complete disaster plans and need alerts to leaders when we take no thought Disasters often disrupt regular communications  Phone Systems very dependent on switching and relay stations + physical lines Our selective loss during wind and winter storms 2007  Many people use cordless phones – don’t work without power 90% of St. Louis Stakes lost phone contact during Ameren Outages Have at least one old fashion direct jack wall phone

Other Systems  Cell Phones Bunkers have duplicate equipment, cooling, generators and back-up batteries Towers are not duplicate – very limited range need a lot for a network Use Cable Lines for tower linkages Very limited capacity  Back-up Systems Such as Satellite Phones and very expensive – need regular maintenance – usually only in a few places Also do poorly under humid conditions (Katrina 101)

What We Have Going For Us  Priesthood leaders regularly deal with peoples physical and spiritual problems They are not trained and then forget because they don’t use  Amateur Radio Equipment widely dispersed among members Used for hobby or practice so we know it works Does not depend on complex networks  Radio to radio (simplex) Its hard to “get us all”

What We Are About  We are about communications – not amateur radio If a phone line works then use it  Family First Check your families needs ahead of communication Don’t go in debt to be a radio operator

What Do We Ask?  Get an Amateur (Ham) Radio License Pay a $14 fee to take a test Get 26 out of 35 questions on a multiple choice exam  Study (prayer is not cheating – just don’t do an Oliver Cowdry) (your license is good for 10 years with free renewals for the rest of your life)  Get a radio set-up (mobiles suggested) In your budget and works are most important traits  Participate in weekly practice nets / help in annual emergency drills  Seek additional emergency training as your time and circumstances allow

How We Are Organized Stake Presidency Stake Net Manager Phil Nash AC0IB Stake Trainer Bishops and Branch Presidents Ward Branch Net Control Manager Ward or Branch AROs High Counselor Advisor Jackie Calbert SLAP-N St. Louis Bishops Storehouse – Chris Pixton Stake Organizations

How to Pass A Test  All Questions are from a standard pool that is available for study Questions are 4 choice multiple choice or true and false They can change which answer is A, B, C, or D, but they cannot change the words  Ways to attack Get a copy of the question pool and highlight the question and the text of the answer  Took me about 3 – 4 hours reading carefully as I went Use internet web sites to take practice tests Come to class – listen – ask questions Prayer is legal

How Do I Get A Copy of the Question Pool?  Get an electronic file from the instructor Print it out and highlight Do it all on screen and save your printing and copying money  Libraries often have public computer terminals  Buy a Book which has the question pool at the back We have them at $23 each but we do not require you to buy one  They are good references but we understand money limits

There Are 10 Subject Areas  #1 FCC rules and licenses 4 questions  #2 Radio Operator Duties 4 questions  #3 Radio Operating Practices 4 questions  #4 Radio Electronics (a geek unit) 5 questions  #5 Setting up and running radio equipment 4 questions  #6 How Radios Code Signals (a geek unit) 3 questions  #7 Radio Contests and Satellite contacts 2 questions  #8 Emergency Communications 3 questions  #9 How Radio Waves Travel (a geek unit) 3 questions  #10 Safety with Electricity and Radio Waves 3 questions

Pool Lets You See How Many Questions in Each Area  Area 4 has 4 Questions on the test Questions labeled 4A01, 4A02, 4A03 etc. 4B01, 4B02 etc. One of the 4A questions, one of the 4B and one of the 4C and one of the 4D questions will appear  Some subject areas may not click for you as well as others You don’t need a perfect score – be willing to miss a few questions if a particular subject just won’t click for you

Using the Book and Our Presentations  Book Chapters do not match the question pool sections Book does tell you which questions to look at after reading  My slides also give question answers The Text that answers a test pool question is in bold red (Right After that is small finer print red text that gives the question number that was just answered)  The Question Pool also tells you the answer T4C05 (A) When you see the A it means that the text below for choice A is the right answer Remember to underline the text of the answer – just because it was A in the pool doesn’t mean the text will be under A on the test

Radio Services  Amateur or Ham Radio  FCC divies up different parts of the “radio spectrum” for different purposes Broadcast TV Broadcast FM Radio Service  Some Radio Services are for Citizen use – most powerful needs a license Amateur Radio Service is issued a license (T1D01) Don’t need a license for CB radio or a little Family radio service radio from Walmart (of course only going to get about ½ mile to 4 miles)

Equipment for Amateur Radio  Radio waves travel through air – invisible wave or electricity and magnetic fields (electromagnetic radiation)  To code your voice into radio waves and then send it you need a Transmitter (T4C02) T4C02 “What is used to convert sounds from your voice into radio signals”  A. Transmitter  B. Receiver  C. Speaker  D. Amplifier Question will have (A) written by it to tell you the correct answer is A = transmitter

More Equipment  To convert radio waves back into sound you need a Receiver (T4C01)  Today we usually pack both a transmitter and a receiver into one box and call it a Transceiver (T4C03)  Talk into a microphone – microphone will connect to a transmitter (T5A01) Trick talk across the mike so you don’t sound breathy  Receivers create sound using a speaker  If the room is noisy may want to use Headphones (T5A04)

To Power a Radio  Most Radios are designed for battery power Same as a car battery (because radios are intended to go in cars a lot of the time) Household wall outlet electricity has a lot more punch than a car battery To convert wall outlet power to be like battery power you use a Power Supply (T4C04)

How to Increase Radio Range  Tim Taylor Solution – More Power To increase the power of your radio you use an Amplifier (T4C05)  Put the Antenna on higher point I’m not sure about a 30 foot antenna tower on my car.  A Repeater (T5C01) Put a receiver part way between and have it read a signal and then retransmit it Called “Duplex” Especially useful for increasing range or cars or HTs