Initial operations were on the W0SRC repeater (146.850). The latter portion of the Test took place on a 2 meter simplex frequency. Pre-written formal messages were passed. Veterans Administration observers were present at the three clinics.

The debriefing for the S.E.T. was held on Monday, November 13, 2006. It was presided over by Craig Hirsh, K0CMH, the Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Planning and Development.

• There were sixteen participants. This was enough to run the two-hour Test comfortably. If emergency communications had been needed for a couple of days, many more operators would have been needed.
• Most of the field stations used J-pole antennas. The typical mast height was about fifteen feet.
• Craig said that from his perspective at Net Control, everything went fine. He said that all stations were able to reach the repeater. He said that once operations switched to simplex, the St. Charles and Belleville stations seemed to have the most difficulty making contact. St. Charles was only able to work through the North Relay Station, which was in Olivette. Operators at the St. Charles station said that they were surrounded by power lines, which may have affected radio propagation.

  The Belleville station could often be heard, but could not hear other stations. There were two field stations in Belleville, one using a fifteen foot high mast and the other using a twenty foot high mast. The extra five feet made the difference between hearing on simplex and not hearing on simplex. Even with the twenty foot mast, reception on simplex was sporadic.

• Two stations reported handing out brochures, but mainly to the V.A. observers.
• All stations reported that the wind made operating difficult.
• All stations said that the use of headsets was vital.
• One operator said that it was a good idea to have two of everything, and cited several instances of one item or piece of equipment failing.
• One operator noted that it was impossible to chat with the observer and operate the radio. There were at least two operators at every station, and he recommended that one of them stay totally focussed on the radio at all time. Craig said that the other operator should "run interference" for the person on the radio.
• All operators admitted failing to keep their logs up to date. Clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
• Three operators rotated duty as the Net Control station. One of them noted that having several operators available to handle Net Control was critical.
• One operator pleaded with the rest to please stick with the ITU phonetic alphabet.
• Some operators felt that their field stations needed improvements, and all agreed that it was a continual process.
• All parties felt that the exercise had gone well. All of the messages were passed, the V.A. observers seemed pleased, nothing terrible happened, and everyone felt that they had learned a lot.

© 2008 St. Louis County ARES^®

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