Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Don't be afraid to ask for assistance if you need it.
If you don't know how to complete an assigned task, state
that you don't know how to do it rather than mess it up and
potentially put life in danger.
- When arriving at an incident site where the AuxComm team can
provide support in any way, AuxComm team members shall wear the
approved safety green vest, shirt, jacket, or coat, as
appropriate. The membership badge shall be displayed in
plain view on the outside of the outermost garment. The
approved safety green hat is optional. This is your
uniform.
- If your approved AuxComm uniform is not available for any
reason, wear an ANSI approved vest, safety green in color,
which has reflective properties.
- Anderson Powerpoles are the standard power connector to
use for Auxilliary Communications. If we all use Powerpoles,
everyone's equipment will be able to be connected to others'
power sources and vice versa.
Powerpole video tutorials can be found here.
- Create a go kit. Some recommended items to put into your
ARES go kit include but are not limited to: LED flashlight
with spare batteries, rain poncho, hand-held radio with spare
battery pack and charger, pocket knife, safety glasses,
leather work gloves or mechanics gloves.
- UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever provide any
information as to the victim names, condition of the
individuals, or gravity of the situation over the radio or to
the media.
- Keep transmissions as short as possible without losing
message clarity.
- Using the phrases "negative contact" and/or "clear and
monitoring" is not necessary. Neither is required by the FCC
or anybody else. If you call another amateur using standard
calling procedure - giving his/her call sign followed by your
own call sign - and that person does not answer, it is not
necessary to advise that you did not complete your contact
nor that you are "clear." You have already identified your
station, and any other identification is superfluous and a
waste of valuable time.
- Your Amateur call sign serves one, and only
one, purpose - it is only for identification. You never need
to say the words "for identification" after your call sign
since that is the only purpose of your call sign.
- Use tactical call signs when appropriate. Tactical call
signs make identification of various personnel much easier
on the air. Tactical calls also relieve you of the necessity
of remembering others' legal FCC call signs. You are never
responsible for the call sign of another station. When using
tactical calls, be sure you identify your station once during
each 10-minute period and when you've finished your series of
communications, according to the FCC rules.
- Wait before speaking. When using a repeater, be sure to
leave a little extra time between pressing the microphone's
push-to-talk key and beginning to speak. Usually a count of
"one, one thousand" is adequate. Failure to do this is
probably the most common voice communication mistake that we
all make. A variety of delays can occur within a radio
system that will cause the first few words of your
transmission to be lost if you begin talking too soon.
Providing this extra time will ensure that all of your
message is heard. If you start speaking too soon, the
receiving station will have to ask you to repeat the first
part of your last transmission, wasting valuable time.
- For all voice operation, use only plain English and standard
"prowords" (procedural words). "Q" signals are only for CW;
never speak "Q" signals.
- Speak slowly and clearly with a calm, normal tone - not a
monotone. Speak with confidence, even if you are nervous.
- Acknowledge requests promptly and specifically.
- When requested to "stand by," the proper response is
silence. If you feel that you must acknowledge, just
say your call sign and then wait. Say absolutely nothing
else to the station who told you to stand by.
- Read your radio's owner's manual and know your radio before
an emergency occurs. Random fumbling with the knobs wastes
valuable time and is very unprofessional.
- Know how to use your microphone. Have another station
advise you on the best distance and angle from your mouth
to the microphone, and the proper mic gain setting. You
may have to adjust your mic technique to compensate for
increased background noise - talking louder will likely
cause overmodulation or distortion. Articulate, don't slur.
- When operating in a noisy environment, you do not have
to be able to hear yourself talking. If you shout into the
microphone loud enough to hear yourself, you are distorting
the signal so badly that the person on the other end may not
be able to hear or understand you. Instead, speak into the
microphone in a normal volume.
- NEVER think out loud. If you need a moment to
consider what to do next, say something like "stand by" or
"please wait" and unkey your microphone while you think.
- NEVER speak to, shout, or yell at others near you
NOT on the radio while your microphone key is pressed. If
you need a moment to talk to someone not on the air, unkey
your microphone while you communicate with someone near you
who is not on the radio.
- Transmit only facts. If there is a real need to
make an educated guess or to speculate, make it clear to
others that it is only speculation and not fact.
- In an emergency, refer event status questions to the
Public Information Officer (PIO) or to your AuxComm
Coordinator (ACC). Avoid casual discussions about the
served agencies' response efforts on the air, since the
press or the general public might be listening and take
information out of context.
- When necessary, use standard ITU phonetics. Send
all numbers as individual numbers, e.g., 334 is "three three
four" not "three hundred thirty four."
- If a repeater is being used for communications, in the
event the repeater goes off the air, stations are directed
to meet on the repeater output frequency in SIMPLEX mode.
- more to come