MRO Instructor Guide - Civil Air Patrol



Mission Radio Operator

Instructor’s Guide

This document is intended to act as an aid to the instructor who is conducting the CAP Emergency Services Mission Radio Operator’s course. It is NOT intended to constitute a “script” for the course, but rather a compilation of ideas and information that are useful to the teaching of this subject. Nothing in it is “secret” or privileged, and students may well desire a copy of it upon completing the course. Corrections, additions and fresh ideas are always welcome. I have found that students respond well to anecdotes and well-told experiences of the instructor, but care must be taken to ensure that the right “lesson” is taught!

Each page is headed with the applicable PowerPoint slide, and the commentary follows the organization of the slides. If changes are made in the class, then this document should be similarly modified.

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The beginning of the MRO class calls for an “inspirational” statement. The Mission Radio Operator is a critical position within the Mission structure, and the performance of this operator can literally “make or break” the mission itself. This is true whether the MRO is at Mission Base, at an outlying “Relay” location, or in the HighBird aircraft. There have been several missions in recent time where an alert radio operator has saved lives of CAP personnel.

In the past, it has become an unfortunate “tradition" for the Mission Radio Operator to be chosen on the basis of “whoever was handy”. The students who are taking this class represent our best hope for reversing this trend – the more skilled and motivated operators we can produce, the better!

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Clearly, power line safety is an important, albeit often overlooked part of operating any electrical equipment. Operators often take for granted the protection afforded by the “third wire” AC ground in equipment cords, even when they themselves have removed its protection by installing an adapter or by using an extension cord with the ground “pin” removed! If the AC power line within CAP electronic equipment “faults” to the case, a serious shock hazard can exist unless this grounding connection is complete. In older buildings, or where old-fashioned ‘two-wire’ outlets exist, operators need to ensure that equipment is properly grounded to a suitable power protection ground. This can be a metallic cold water pipe (make sure it is metal under the ground!), a driven ground rod, grounded equipment or electrical conduits (make sure they’re grounded!), or a grounded metal building. Never use gas piping as a ground! If you are using a generator, make sure the generator frame is connected to the station ground.

Operators often assume that because 12 volts DC isn’t a shock hazard, that safety precautions are unnecessary in a station powered by DC. In actual fact, a number of very hazardous conditions can result from accidental faults and shorts in low voltage wiring. 12 volt power supplies are often capable of producing large electrical currents, and dangerous heating and sparking can result, including the violent rupturing of components and actual welding of metal objects. Overloaded wires may burn and melt instead of “blowing” a fuse, and these can both injure directly or start fires. Operators must take precautions by inspecting DC connections and wiring to ensure that such short circuits do not take place. In addition, in stations where batteries are used, proper fuses or circuit breakers must be employed. One note: small circuit breakers can fail “short” (that is, they fail to open) if they are subjected to extremely large over-currents, such as those easily produced by auto batteries and Nickel Cadmium battery packs. Properly rated fuses are a much better choice for the primary protection of these batteries.

The hazards posed by overhead power lines to antennas are manifest, and every antenna comes packed with warnings and labels. Nonetheless, every year people are injured or killed when the antenna they are erecting comes in contact with an overhead line. BE CAREFUL! Survey EVERY location where you intend to erect an antenna, and BE SURE there are no power lines in the area. As a side benefit, your communications will work better away from power lines as they generally produce copious electrical noise.

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Radio Operators often discount the need for protection from Radio Frequency energy, thinking that this only applies to high-power stations, or to HF installations. The amount of energy radiated by a VHF-FM antenna fed by a 25 watt transmitter is quite capable of inflicting either painful burns or permanently damaging the eyes. Never operate a 25 watt VHF-FM radio with an antenna within 20 horizontal feet or 6 vertical feet of people, or in a location where people can touch the radiating elements. If necessary, install “flagging” or other barriers to keep personnel from getting too close to antennas. If it is necessary to install antennas in close proximity to personnel, do not exceed 5 watts of transmitter power. Antennas mounted on or above metal surfaces such as a vehicle roof are acceptable at closer spacings if the metal roof shields the personnel.

HF installations have some unique problems, as RF energy can be coupled into equipment chassis even when the antenna is located some distance away, and the equipment is grounded. This is because the ground used for power line (AC) protection may have a high impedance (effective resistance) at the radio frequency in use. If this is a problem, it may be necessary to improve that ground, either by shortening the wire length to the ground connection, or by relocating the antenna.

In either installation, the existence of RF on the chassis (indicated by small shocks or “bites”, or by improper operation of the equipment) can be caused by high standing-waves (improper tuning) of the antenna.

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Lightning safety is a critical issue for both field and base radio operators. Only the HighBird operator is unlikely to be affected by lightning, since his pilot probably won’t let him get close enough to be in danger!

The 7 rules pretty much speak for themselves – note that in rules 3 and 4 we address “unprotected” antennas, radio equipment and power supplies. This is because at certain fixed bases, protective equipment has been installed on antenna leads and on AC and telephone lines. At these locations, equipment should not be disconnected, however, the radio operator will want to shut down all equipment and evacuate the radio “room” in the presence of lightning! Similarly, vehicle-mounted equipment need not be disconnected, but should be shut down and secured when lightning approaches.

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Probably the most important thing about the NTIA rules is that the CAP is NO LONGER under FCC rules!

The NTIA has rather stringent equipment specifications, no doubt most radio operators have at least heard of them. For any operator desiring to purchase equipment for himself or his unit, the relevant specifications and a listing of compliant equipment is located at ntc. .

Operating rules are almost non-existent with the NTIA – there are no regulation regarding callsigns, procedures, or anything else. What they do say is that the agency has complete authority to regulate itself in this regard – this means that CAPR 100-1 IS the law!

Frequency Management is one area where we as the CAP must be extremely careful not to infringe on other government operations. We cannot operate on any frequency we wish. We must obey any and all frequency restrictions placed upon us. For Arizona Wing, the list of restrictions placed in Supplement 1 to CAPR 100-1, along with any changes and updates, is also “law”, and operators must ensure that they do not operate on any frequency without proper authority.

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Reimbursement procedures is not a “big” subject, and students need only to be familiarized with CAPR 173-3 and CAPF 108, both of which are included in their ‘Comm Notebooks’.

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The intent of this block of instruction is not to teach the contents of the various documents cited, but to show the student what they contain and how to use that information. All of these documents are contained in their ‘Comm Notebooks’ , and students should be cautioned to keep them updated.

Probably the only documents that the students will have immediate need for is the Functional Callsign Plan and the Unit Callsign Procedures, as they will need to be familiar with these to conduct operations within their units.

Information on adjacent Wings (primarily repeater info) is supplied as potentially useful information, however, students should be cautioned that they may not be up-to-date.

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Since one of the positions a Mission Radio Operator may be called upon to fulfill is operation of a “field” relay position, students should be able to properly locate such a ‘Comm Site’.

There are several criteria that should be used in the selection of a site.

First, for VHF coverage (either AM or FM), the height of the site and its “view” are critical. Clearly, the highest site available will have the greatest range, if it does not have limiting factors such as existing radio sites on it.

Second, a site should be free of interfering or dangerous nearby objects such as: other radio sites, power lines, machinery, etc. Radio sites are a two-fold problem – their radio emissions can interfere with radio reception, and it is entirely possible that CAP transmissions may interfere with their reception. The adverse publicity associated with interference to a cable-TV receiving site or Sheriff’s Office repeater should be easy to recognize!

Third, the site should have good access for CAP vehicles and personnel. If the road is marginal, the operator should consider whether the site would have to be abandoned if it begins to rain or snow. In addition, high points are particularly vulnerable to lightning, and if thunderstorms are forecast, the site may not be suitable. A potential site must also be evaluated as to ownership – if a site is posted “No Trespassing” or the like, CAP has no inherent right to occupy it. If ownership can be ascertained, then permission should be sought to use the site. If local law enforcement is contacted, they may be able to help with this sort of access problem. Site security is a two-way concern. Clearly, if the public is present on the site (such as a highway rest area), CAP equipment must be secured to prevent loss, and hazardous objects such as generators or antennas must not be allowed to come in contact with the public.

If possible, training exercises can be utilized to explore and verify the performance of potential field relay sites, and records of these exercises should be kept (and passed around!).

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When operating any radio station, the operator should be familiar with the steps to take if communications fails.

The first thing to do is PLAN AHEAD! If you have thought through the possibilities and what to do about them, it will be much easier if it actually happens. Tests can be made through all possible repeaters so that an alternate is immediately known if the primary repeater fails, alternate power sources can be identified, potential antenna enhancements are identified, and so on. Even alternate radio equipment and what is required to put it into service can be identified ahead of time.

The first item to check when a failure occurs is your equipment –channels can be mis-set, speakers and microphones can be unplugged, batteries can fail, antennas can fall over or be disconnected. If alternate equipment or antennas are available, try them.

Next, try an alternate repeater – if it was tested before and worked, but fails now, this is a good time to go back to step one! If the alternate repeater works, but does not reach Mission Base, see if a station monitoring it can relay for you (including by telephone), as it is possible that the primary repeater itself has failed and Mission Base will want to give you further instructions.

If conditions at the site were marginal, it is possible that weather conditions have made it unusable (rain & snow block or reduce VHF signals). If a potentially better location is available, try it.

It may be possible to get a relay from another ground station or from an aircraft. A request for relay on Simplex or an alternate repeater may allow you to send a message to Mission Base.

If all else fails, you need to inform mission base by whatever means that you are experiencing a communications failure. This can include cellfones, traveling to a public phone, seeking out assistance from local people, or any other means you can think of, including driving all the way back to base. DO NOT assume that you won’t be missed! If you are airborne, this may mean landing to make a telephone call.

Clearly, if you are in moving vehicle, including an aircraft, it may be expedient to wait until a more favorable position is reached to make a further test. An aircraft can climb or reverse course, and a vehicle can wait until a high point is reached, but at some point, a decision must be made to abort the mission and return to base if communications cannot be restored. Unless you are briefed otherwise, DO NOT continue a mission without communications.

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As experience radio operators, basic radio procedures should be a review for the students. Go over the proword list and Phonetic alphabet/numbers lists, and show the students how to use CAPR 100-1 Vol. 3.

Mission Operational Procedures is first and foremost concerned with the operator properly “handling” the position. Students need to be briefed on filling out the CAPF110, filling out message slips and/or updating the status board. Next the instructor should refer to the “Comm Procedures” pages, and these should be gone over to familiarize the student with them. Note that procedures for mission comm. vary between Wings, and that the students need to be aware of this! Also, Mission Coordinators may change the comm. requirements (and hence the procedures used) at any time, depending on Mission requirements.

The various special requirements of CD and other “special” missions can be briefly covered. For SSTV, refer the students to the instruction sheet in their Notebooks.

Review with the students the requirements of retaining and storing all Mission records. Note that training missions do not require storing of records, but that “lessons learned” are well worth making note of and passing on to other operators. Failures of equipment and unexpected repeater coverage problems should be reported to the Wing Director of Comm.

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Communication Security is a concern during actual missions, since CAP often does not wish to reveal certain events, such as possible finds. The normal method for dealing with this is to use “codewords” to describe these events, and by not using ‘full’ location identifiers.

A note regarding the use of codewords – while this is not actually determined by the radio operator, often the operator will have input into what is used. If code words are used only for significant events such as finds, it is a trivial matter for someone monitoring to figure out what they mean. If code words are used for every event, however, then their meaning is more obscure. It would be worthwhile exploring this with your Mission Coordinators in order to enhance CAP’s communications security.

Encryption is potentially available to CAP, however, at this time we simply do not have the equipment in place to accomplish it. If we wish to implement transmission encryption, it would be necessary to secure permission of at least Region Communications. Encryption is available and used for (landline) computer communications, of course.

Twenty years ago, CAP Comm. performed a great deal of message handling. Today, handling a formal message is not common in a search mission environment. During DR, it is more common, primarily because we are often serving agencies outside of CAP, and formal messaging is the only way to handle their requirements.

Students should be “walked” thru the steps for generating, sending, receiving and handling a formal message. There will be practice during the table net portion, and students should be encouraged to participate in Unit, Wing and Region nets (both VHF and HF) to gain additional experience in message handling.

Message forms are many-fold, since the original CAPF 4 is rather too large to be useful in many Mission Base environments. Students should be shown the most common local forms used, and told to expect others if they travel outside their home area. Fresh ideas are welcome!!

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Operations at existing “installed” fixed bases are probably the easiest mission bases to operate from, but operators need to be aware of some of the features and limitations of these facilities. Naturally, each facility is different, and operators should endeavor to familiarize themselves with every such base in their Wing. When entering an unfamiliar base comm. facility, an operator will need to determine a number of things:

1. Is the AC power coming into the facility protected against lightning surges?

2. What radios are installed, and are channel lists available for each?

3. Are the antenna feed-in cables marked, properly connected, and protected against lightning?

4. Are there sufficient forms, message slips, etc. available?

5. How will the operator communicate with the rest of the Mission Base? (Runners, intercom, etc.)

For establishing a temporary comm. facility, AZWG portable FCS base equipment (FCS = Field Comm. Station} will often be used. Students can refer to the FCS equipment list in their Comm Notebooks for a list of available equipment. To obtain this equipment, MCs, Commanders or Comm. Officers should contact the Wing DC, Assistant DC, or ES Staff well in advance of any anticipated training. Actual missions take precedence over training activities, of course! Equipment should be returned to Wing Comm. storage as soon as training is completed, so that it is available for other units to use.

When establishing an improvised comm. base, operators should keep three factors in mind:

1. Safety! Installations should be properly grounded, and antennas erected well away from power lines.

2. Location – locate the comm. facility as close to the antennas as possible to minimize cable runs, yet within the area used by the Mission Base staff, so that communications between mission staff and the radio facility are efficient.

3. Comfort – this is NOT just “nice to have” – an radio operator who is uncomfortable because of being too hot, cold, or wet, with bad seating, wobbly tables or insufficient room to do the job will likely not do a good job, and this can affect the entire mission!

Operators cannot be expected to perform significant field repair of their equipment; indeed, the Wing DC would probably prefer that they did not! But operators should be aware of a few items they should be capable of performing.

Cable connections (AC & DC power, antenna, mics and speakers) are vulnerable to many forces, and are subject to opening or becoming intermittent. Operators should check these connections routinely, and tighten or clean any that require it. Vehicular antenna connections are particularly vulnerable to this problem! In addition, field conditions (dirt, corrosion) often result in intermittent contact within some connectors, and operators should be familiar with methods of cleaning these contacts.

Circuit breakers and fuses can fail, and operators should know how to replace or reset them – but if they blow again, replace the equipment (and report the problem to the Wing DC)!

While radio operators are not required to be generator mechanics, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to become familiar with them, as the radio operator may be the only “mechanic” available!

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The Table Net portion of this class is perhaps the most important, as it is here that all of the essential skills of the MRO “come together”. The instructor for this block is essential to its success – this individual must have the experience and the knowledge to properly instruct the students in the nuances of operating a CAP Mission Net correctly.

The Table Net is organized as follows: There are “scripts” for five “Units” and a Base, and these are distributed to students so that everyone is involved. The Base script should go to one individual who is rotated periodically. The Unit scripts can be given to groups of students, who will rotate among themselves. If a very large class is being taught (more than 10-12 people), you may want to arrange for more instructors and classrooms as required.

The session is conducted in ‘time blocks’ – on each script, there is a box shown for each time block, with an activity (such as “You have just entered the grid, you expect to be in the grid for 20 minutes. Report this to Base”). Have students use their own wristwatches for time, and they can use the “Mission Procedure” Sheets, just as they might on a real mission. Full procedure should be used, with all prowords (such as Over and Say Again) just as if they were on the radio. Base is given a CAPF110 and should keep it filled out, along with completing message slips or forms. Note that Base will have items in its activity block as well. When all the activities in the time block are completed, the instructor indicates the next time block, either by writing the number on a blackboard, or some other way. (The number of the current block should be visible to the entire class.)

The instructor (who has a master script) must monitor the activity and can “restart” the time block if needed. He can also interrupt with suggestions or criticisms, and can ask individual participants to repeat their actions as needed. The instructor should also rotate the Base operator at regular intervals to give everyone a chance.

The first time thru will take longer than you think! The second time will go much smoother, and the Base operator will be working harder to keep up. After the first couple times, it may be beneficial to break the group up into smaller groups so that each student gets more time as Base. Instructors are encouraged to modify, update and enhance the scripts to make the class more realistic, and students should be encouraged to do the same in conducting training within their own units.

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