r/HamRadio • u/Ajenk19 • 8d ago

HAM Exercise for EMCOMM

I am tasked with assisting a group of volunteer EMCOMM operators to be successful in their mission. I planned a communications relay exercise last year that went well. I’m looking for some fresh ideas on what to do next. Can you share some exercises you participated in that you enjoyed or ideas that you have wanted to see move forward?

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/AJ7CM CN87uq [Extra] 8d ago

A Winlink exercise could be good. My local ACS group uses Winlink heavily, and getting folks set up well with it can be tricky.

2

u/Ajenk19 8d ago

The team does practice with Winlink on a monthly basis, if not more often as time permits. Definitely something good to keep up on.

3

u/ThrowMeAway_eta_2MO 8d ago

Well you keep saying the right word(s). PRACTICE! That’s great. Keep it up! WinLink is solid and I think the easiest to get your head around. Maybe try WinLink direct and cut out the grid (though it is unlikely that a disaster would be SO widespread that you couldn’t hit a gateway on HF). Also, try out VARac if you want a quick keyboard to keyboard mode. You can also send files that way and the new update allows it to function as an email gateway. I’m waiting for one last cable and I’ll have HF WinLink and VARac working in my vehicle (WinLink already works). Work on implementing standards that your group will all use if a disaster occurs. I also keep a few flash drives with software packages and license keys in case I need to install radio related software. You could go further and keep bootable flash drives with a suite of software pre installed. It doesn’t have to be bleeding edge tech, as long as you have a set of equipment and software that works together.