Sorry to add my 3 cents worth. But the best way to deal with this problem or any emergency problem is routine monthly training. The radios your key people use during an emergency should be in the same category as their own radios. We use icom 2820's through our whole ARES/RACES system with no problem. But there again, it all comes down to training and practice and teamwork.
sorry for butting in. ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 6:57 AM Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Off Topic, trying not to re-invent the wheel... At 3/26/2008 06:29, you wrote: >Radios at emergency opperating positions that will be used by Ham people in >an emergency need to be commercial radios that are idiot proof. Sounds like a good idea on the surface, but the lack of VFO mode IMO severely limits its usefulness in an emergency. What if only a handful of repeaters are left on the air & none of them are programmed into the radios? A user-programmable radio like the Kenwood TK-805D is a possibility, but to be effective the user must know how to program it. As I'm sitting here at the keyboard I've already forgotten how to program mine. >We tried the Ham radio in emergency com centers for years and they worked >great but when the E.C. went to the EOC during an activation and could not >figure out how to set the pl because someone fooled with the buttons >between activations the radio was useless and these were very simple single >band radios. IMO anyone who can't figure out how to use their radio shouldn't be volunteering. That is supposedly what distinguishes hams from the general population: our operating expertise. Bob NO6B
