The answer is: by simplex

Unfortunately, St. Louis County has innumerable hills, valleys, buildings, bumps, nooks and crannies. We have already discovered that we cannot communicate from one end of the County to the other via simplex. We know that we will have to subdivide the County into operational zones, areas in which simplex will work reasonably well.

The purpose of this exercise is to determine how many operational zones we will need. Ideally, we would need no more than two zones. Realistically, though, we may need three zones, or perhaps even four. We have devised three models, one for each of these cases. This exercise will give us a good idea of how effectively we can communicate using each model.

Instructions
Maps of the different simplex zone models will be distributed (or you can click on the maps about and download them). Each map shows the boundaries of the zones and the 2 meter FM simplex frequency to use in each zone. The zone boundaries are the edges of the County and various major highways. You should have no difficulty determining in which zone you are located. Participants situated outside of St. Louis County are asked to check in to the zone nearest to their location at the time of the exercise.

The exercise will start at 1:00 PM local time using the 4 Zone Model. There will be a Net Control operator in each zone on that zone's unique simplex frequency. Participants are asked to look at the 4 Zone Map, determine their current zone, and tune to that zone's frequency. Listen for the Net Controller's instructions. If you do not hear a Net Controller, listen for other stations that are participating and ask one of them to relay your check-in to the Net Controller. If you hear no one, try calling. If you still hear no one, please switch to the 146.850 (-) (141.3 Hz) repeater and contact the Exercise Director. Inform him that you were unable to make contact. Be sure to give him your location, which Zone Map you were using, the frequency you used, and what time you tried to make contact. 'No contact' reports are just as important, and often more important than 'contact' reports.

At 1:20 PM* all participants should switch to the 3 Zone Map. Some operators will be in the same zones as they were in earlier, while others will find themselves in new zones. Those who find themselves in a different zone should switch to the new zone's simplex frequency. As before, listen for the Net Controller's instructions. Check in when asked, even if you already contacted the same Net Controller while operating under the 4 Zone Model. Be alert for participants who are unable to reach the Net Control operator and relay contact information for them if you can. The Exercise Director will still be standing by on the 146.850 repeater should you be unable to contact anyone.

At 1:40 PM* all participants should switch to the 2 Zone Map. Change frequencies if you find yourself in a new zone. Listen for the Net Controller's instructions. Be mindful that there may now be a number of operators who need their contact information relayed. Help out when you can.

Please try to keep a log. The most important things to note are who, when, where, and how well. (Use the RST reporting format rather than 'bars' or '20 over S9'.) In voice communications, the 'T' (tone) is not used. R = readability (how well you can understand the person, from 0 = nothing to 5 = perfect, while 'S' = signal strength, from 0 = nothing to 9 = perfect signal ' full quieting).

*The zone Net Controllers will inform the Exercise Director when they receive no more contacts. The Exercise Director may, at his discretion, decide to move the exercise forward to the next Zone Map ahead of time.

Debriefing (** NEW New time **)
The debriefing is an integral part of every exercise. A debriefing meeting will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 1:00 PM. It will be held at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital (private dining room at the rear of the downstairs cafeteria). Please try to attend. If you cannot make the debriefing, then please send your report/log/comments to the Exercise Director, Steve Wooten, at kc0qmu@arrl.net.

(Click here to see the minutes from the debriefing.)

Miscellaneous
This is more than just an exercise, it is a quest to determine how best to organize county-wide simplex operations. We urge all amateur radio operators to participate. You do not have to go anywhere special. Just check in from your present location. If you are mobile and your location changes during the exercise, that's fine. Just be sure to look at the active Zone Map and note in which zone you are currently located.

Please set your transceiver to transmit a CTCSS tone of 100 Hz while in simplex mode. This is not vital, but we are trying to get ARES^® operators used to doing this, per the recommendation of the Missouri Section ARES^® Interoperability Plan. (Be sure to use a CTCSS tone of 141.3 Hz when using the 146.850 repeater.)

Don't have a map? Here are the zone boundaries -

4 Zone Model
Starts at 1:00 PM local time
NORTH of I-70 is the North Zone, 147.510
SOUTH of I-70 and NORTH of I-64/US-40 is the East Zone, 146.420
SOUTH of I-64/US-40 and NORTH of I-44 is the West Zone, 146.470
SOUTH of I-44 is the South Zone, 147.490, except -
* SOUTH of I-44 but WEST of Eureka, Missouri is in the West Zone, 146.470

3 Zone Model
Starts at 1:20 PM (or earlier if the Exercise Director moves up the schedule)
NORTH of Olive Blvd is the North Zone, 147.510
SOUTH of Olive Blvd and NORTH of Manchester Road (MO-100) is the West Zone, 146.470
SOUTH of Manchester Road (MO-100) is the South Zone, 147.490

2 Zone Model
Starts at 1:40 PM (or earlier if the Exercise Director moves up the schedule)
NORTH of I-64/US-40 is the North Zone, 147.510
SOUTH of I-64/US-40 is the South Zone, 147.490

Located in Illinois?
NORTH of the Gateway Arch, check-in to the North Zone, 147.510
SOUTH of the Gateway Arch, check-in to the South Zone, 147.490

Revision 4, final - 2008-02-26

© 2010 St. Louis County ARES^®

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