Communications/Radios/RadioCheck - Revision history

Caseyd at 01:57, 12 November 2018

2018-11-12T01:57:36Z

Caseyd at 23:37, 19 October 2018

2018-10-19T23:37:16Z

Caseyd at 23:35, 19 October 2018

2018-10-19T23:35:37Z

Caseyd at 00:07, 13 September 2018

2018-09-13T00:07:17Z

Caseyd at 18:00, 11 September 2018

2018-09-11T18:00:25Z

Caseyd: /* Monthly Radio Check */

2018-07-10T04:12:34Z

‎Monthly Radio Check

Caseyd: /* Monthly Radio Check */

2018-07-10T00:05:43Z

‎Monthly Radio Check

Caseyd: /* Monthly Radio Check */

2018-07-10T00:03:47Z

‎Monthly Radio Check

Caseyd: Created page with "== Monthly Radio Check == Bootstrapping BCEC's Radio communications requires that we # become familiar with our radios # know how and where they work in our Canyon To that en..."

2018-06-06T00:41:39Z

Created page with "== Monthly Radio Check == Bootstrapping BCEC's Radio communications requires that we # become familiar with our radios # know how and where they work in our Canyon To that en..."

New page

== Monthly Radio Check ==
Bootstrapping BCEC's Radio communications requires that we
# become familiar with our radios
# know how and where they work in our Canyon

To that end we have a '''radio check''' on the first Saturday of each month, at 9am. Often a reminder email is sent out by Wendy or Catherine.

* '''May 5 2018'''

* '''April 7 2018'''

* '''May 5 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Ken, Jerry, Gate Don. Ken was using his new BF radio with a stock antennae from his house. Casey was using a BaoFang with a large GRMS/MURS antenna on a post in the water tower. Everyone else was using whatever it is they use ( ;). Test went fine, with weak communications from Ken to Don's house near the gate. This was rather intermittent, and it's not clear if Catherine was in on those communications. Interestingly enough Casey with a higher gain antennae couldn't reach Don from his location near the water towers in the cathedral. No doubt his radio waves were being absorbed by the tanks and the trees. Transmissions from Ken's house seem to bounce around the corner and into the main areas pretty well. Wendy's house is clearly in a great position for a repeater of some sort. We need to test at the emergency hut in that same role. Later that morning Jerry, Ken and Casey tested a 900Mhz radio used in tricky situations. However the Canyon foliage defeated those radios.

* '''June 2 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years.

* '''June 4 2018 HAM uplink test''' Catherine and Casey participated in the La Honda ( SC4 http://www.sc4arc.org/ weekly radio check ) with about 25 folks from all over the ridge and hollers aboust us. Casey tested a stock BaoFang radio and the default antennae ( rubber ducky as it's called by the Hams ) to see if and how we can reach the rest of the world from the emergency hut / pool area. The Hams were very helpful as we went through an exercise with different antennas as well. TL;DR - The BaoFangs with the stock anteanne work. Reception is spotty, often cutting off at the end of Ham transmissions if one is walking around. Coverage was OK for entire perimiter of pool and parking lot areas with the BaoFang. ''This is pretty good news.'' The people who suggested these radios were right, they will work the Ham repeater OOTB, and will work better with longer antennas. Casey has programmed a few of the BaoFangs with a channel labeled '''BU UP''' for contact with the repeater in a dire emergency.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:57, 12 November 2018
Line 28:		Line 28:
	*'''October 6 2018''' - Pretty good check in. Don, Wendy, Mitchell, Dallas, Ken, Greg, Casey, Catherine. ( I think there were a few more but my list is over in the garage in the canyon - casey ) Casey was testing a newer antennae and a Btech 'mobile' radio from their garage. (Btech UV-50x3) No complaints! Afterwards did some radio channel refreshing: Bob Spears, Wendy. this brings their radios up to the channel plan on Dallas' radio. Talked more about installing a base station or two at either end of the canon.		*'''October 6 2018''' - Pretty good check in. Don, Wendy, Mitchell, Dallas, Ken, Greg, Casey, Catherine. ( I think there were a few more but my list is over in the garage in the canyon - casey ) Casey was testing a newer antennae and a Btech 'mobile' radio from their garage. (Btech UV-50x3) No complaints! Afterwards did some radio channel refreshing: Bob Spears, Wendy. this brings their radios up to the channel plan on Dallas' radio. Talked more about installing a base station or two at either end of the canon.

−	*'''~~November~~ 8 2018''' - Ham 'uplink' check. Catherine and Casey participated from the Canyon. Wendy, with her reprogrammed radio, listened in. This is a good idea so we recognize the voices, and see how the Ham 'net' operates.	+	*'''October 8 2018''' - Ham 'uplink' check. Catherine and Casey participated from the Canyon. Wendy, with her reprogrammed radio, listened in. This is a good idea so we recognize the voices, and see how the Ham 'net' operates.
		+
		+	*'''November 3 2018''' - Canyon check was sparse, as we didn't send out a reminder. Wendy's radio had fallen off its charge stand so she didn't hear our adventures. Adventures! We had Mitchell, Jerry, Greg and Mark, and I think at one point Dallas. The excitement was that Jerry, in his stately bathrobe sans glasses, was calling on B0 using a stock GRMS / FRS walkie talkie. There was some kind of alarm going off in the distance! crazy! I heard him as my radio was in scanning mode. Mitchell and my radios had been reprogrammed for Butano 0 but Greg's hadn't and I'm not sure Mark's BaoFeng 888 can be. Jerry, Mitchell and I wandered the canyon looking for the sound and I served as 'relay' to get updates back to Mark and Greg. This is actually good practice - Mitchell and Jerry were on Butano 0 and I switched back and forth. In the process we discovered that one really has to hold the microphone hole close to the mouth to get good sound as people are wandering about. we eventually tracked the sound down to

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:37, 19 October 2018
Line 27:		Line 27:

	*'''October 6 2018''' - Pretty good check in. Don, Wendy, Mitchell, Dallas, Ken, Greg, Casey, Catherine. ( I think there were a few more but my list is over in the garage in the canyon - casey ) Casey was testing a newer antennae and a Btech 'mobile' radio from their garage. (Btech UV-50x3) No complaints! Afterwards did some radio channel refreshing: Bob Spears, Wendy. this brings their radios up to the channel plan on Dallas' radio. Talked more about installing a base station or two at either end of the canon.		*'''October 6 2018''' - Pretty good check in. Don, Wendy, Mitchell, Dallas, Ken, Greg, Casey, Catherine. ( I think there were a few more but my list is over in the garage in the canyon - casey ) Casey was testing a newer antennae and a Btech 'mobile' radio from their garage. (Btech UV-50x3) No complaints! Afterwards did some radio channel refreshing: Bob Spears, Wendy. this brings their radios up to the channel plan on Dallas' radio. Talked more about installing a base station or two at either end of the canon.
		+
		+	*'''November 8 2018''' - Ham 'uplink' check. Catherine and Casey participated from the Canyon. Wendy, with her reprogrammed radio, listened in. This is a good idea so we recognize the voices, and see how the Ham 'net' operates.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:35, 19 October 2018
Line 25:		Line 25:

	*'''September 3 2018''' - Girl Scout [[ Escape_Routes/UpBehindDiningHall\| Exit Route Check ]]. Catherine and Casey took their radios up the Murrellet trail and down the Butano Fire Road. Radio Checks were conducted about every 20 min of the climb. For the most part the connection was surprisingly good at least to Wendy's Corner. Gullies, not so good. The last 1/3rd of the hike the Butano 0-4 channels were not too usable. In fact we started picking up chatter from the campsites in Butano State Park. ( This is one reason we're staying away from regular walkie talkie chanels ) Once we reached the Fire Road we switched to Ham channels and were able to talk to folks very well - the altitude helped a great deal.		*'''September 3 2018''' - Girl Scout [[ Escape_Routes/UpBehindDiningHall\| Exit Route Check ]]. Catherine and Casey took their radios up the Murrellet trail and down the Butano Fire Road. Radio Checks were conducted about every 20 min of the climb. For the most part the connection was surprisingly good at least to Wendy's Corner. Gullies, not so good. The last 1/3rd of the hike the Butano 0-4 channels were not too usable. In fact we started picking up chatter from the campsites in Butano State Park. ( This is one reason we're staying away from regular walkie talkie chanels ) Once we reached the Fire Road we switched to Ham channels and were able to talk to folks very well - the altitude helped a great deal.
		+
		+	*'''October 6 2018''' - Pretty good check in. Don, Wendy, Mitchell, Dallas, Ken, Greg, Casey, Catherine. ( I think there were a few more but my list is over in the garage in the canyon - casey ) Casey was testing a newer antennae and a Btech 'mobile' radio from their garage. (Btech UV-50x3) No complaints! Afterwards did some radio channel refreshing: Bob Spears, Wendy. this brings their radios up to the channel plan on Dallas' radio. Talked more about installing a base station or two at either end of the canon.

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:07, 13 September 2018
Line 24:		Line 24:
	*'''September 1 2018''' - good check. Michael's radio was a bit funky but was able to get recharged. Dallas' new radio was really only operable from the front porch of their house. Wendy ordered a new antennae.		*'''September 1 2018''' - good check. Michael's radio was a bit funky but was able to get recharged. Dallas' new radio was really only operable from the front porch of their house. Wendy ordered a new antennae.

−	*'''September 3 2018''' - Girl Scout [[ Escape_Routes/UpBehindDiningHall\| Exit Route Check ]]. Catherine and Casey took their radios up the Murrellet trail and down the Butano Fire Road. Radio Checks were conducted about every 20 min of the climb. For the most part the connection was surprisingly good at least to Wendy's Corner. The last 1/3rd of the hike the Butano 0-4 channels were not too usable. In fact we started picking up chatter from the campsites in Butano State Park.	+	*'''September 3 2018''' - Girl Scout [[ Escape_Routes/UpBehindDiningHall\| Exit Route Check ]]. Catherine and Casey took their radios up the Murrellet trail and down the Butano Fire Road. Radio Checks were conducted about every 20 min of the climb. For the most part the connection was surprisingly good at least to Wendy's Corner. Gullies, not so good. The last 1/3rd of the hike the Butano 0-4 channels were not too usable. In fact we started picking up chatter from the campsites in Butano State Park. ( This is one reason we're staying away from regular walkie talkie chanels ) Once we reached the Fire Road we switched to Ham channels and were able to talk to folks very well - the altitude helped a great deal.
−	Once we reached the Fire Road we switched to Ham channels and were able to talk to folks very well - the altitude helped a great deal.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:00, 11 September 2018
Line 18:		Line 18:
	* '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )		* '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )

−	*'''July 9 Ham Uplink test''' Catherine participated and Casey tried to from the distant fringes of the Repeater's guesstimated range - Sheep Trail in San Mateo, above 280 / Filoli. Casey was able to hear Catherine, and Pat later describing something about grizzly bears, and little bits of the sort of doing-the-net chatter that is ~~manditory~~ but that was about it. This was a test with BaoFangs and Yaesu walkie-talkies. The BaoFangs weven with good ~~antennaes~~ weren't able to draw any sensible voice out of the background noise. The Yaesus were a bit better but ~~shakey~~. Probably that kind of ~~connnection~~ needs a more powerful radio and a directional antennae.	+	*'''July 9 Ham Uplink test''' Catherine participated and Casey tried to from the distant fringes of the Repeater's guesstimated range - Sheep Trail in San Mateo, above 280 / Filoli. Casey was able to hear Catherine, and Pat later describing something about grizzly bears, and little bits of the sort of doing-the-net chatter that is mandatory but that was about it. This was a test with BaoFangs and Yaesu walkie-talkies. The BaoFangs weven with good antennas weren't able to draw any sensible voice out of the background noise. The Yaesus were a bit better but shaky. Probably that kind of connection needs a more powerful radio and a directional antennae.
		+
		+	*'''August 6 2018''' - looking for notes
		+
		+	*'''September 1 2018''' - good check. Michael's radio was a bit funky but was able to get recharged. Dallas' new radio was really only operable from the front porch of their house. Wendy ordered a new antennae.
		+
		+	*'''September 3 2018''' - Girl Scout [[ Escape_Routes/UpBehindDiningHall\| Exit Route Check ]]. Catherine and Casey took their radios up the Murrellet trail and down the Butano Fire Road. Radio Checks were conducted about every 20 min of the climb. For the most part the connection was surprisingly good at least to Wendy's Corner. The last 1/3rd of the hike the Butano 0-4 channels were not too usable. In fact we started picking up chatter from the campsites in Butano State Park.
		+	Once we reached the Fire Road we switched to Ham channels and were able to talk to folks very well - the altitude helped a great deal.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:12, 10 July 2018
Line 17:		Line 17:

	* '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )		* '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )
		+
		+	*'''July 9 Ham Uplink test''' Catherine participated and Casey tried to from the distant fringes of the Repeater's guesstimated range - Sheep Trail in San Mateo, above 280 / Filoli. Casey was able to hear Catherine, and Pat later describing something about grizzly bears, and little bits of the sort of doing-the-net chatter that is manditory but that was about it. This was a test with BaoFangs and Yaesu walkie-talkies. The BaoFangs weven with good antennaes weren't able to draw any sensible voice out of the background noise. The Yaesus were a bit better but shakey. Probably that kind of connnection needs a more powerful radio and a directional antennae.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 * '''May 5 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Ken, Jerry, Gate Don. Ken was using his new BF radio with a stock antennae from his house. Casey was using a BaoFang with a large GRMS/MURS antenna on a post in the water tower. Everyone else was using whatever it is they use ( ;). Test went fine, with weak communications from Ken to Don's house near the gate. This was rather intermittent, and it's not clear if Catherine was in on those communications. Interestingly enough Casey with a higher gain antennae couldn't reach Don from his location near the water towers in the cathedral. No doubt his radio waves were being absorbed by the tanks and the trees. Transmissions from Ken's house seem to bounce around the corner and into the main areas pretty well. Wendy's house is clearly in a great position for a repeater of some sort. We need to test at the emergency hut in that same role. Later that morning Jerry, Ken and Casey tested a 900Mhz radio used in tricky situations. However the Canyon foliage defeated those radios.
-* '''June 2 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years.
+* '''June 2 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years. Mitchell's radio was laying flat, which meant that the antennae was polarized 90 degrees to any other radio being held in the hand. this means the incoming signals were very weak. So hold / stand your radio with the antenna up!
 * '''June 4 2018 HAM uplink test''' Catherine and Casey participated in the La Honda ( SC4 http://www.sc4arc.org/ weekly radio check ) with about 25 folks from all over the ridge and hollers aboust us. Casey tested a stock BaoFang radio and the default antennae ( rubber ducky as it's called by the Hams ) to see if and how we can reach the rest of the world from the emergency hut / pool area. The Hams were very helpful as we went through an exercise with different antennas as well. TL;DR - The BaoFangs with the stock anteanne work. Reception is spotty, often cutting off at the end of Ham transmissions if one is walking around. Coverage was OK for entire perimeter of pool and parking lot areas with the BaoFang. ''This is pretty good news.'' The people who suggested these radios were right, they will work the Ham repeater OOTB, and will work better with longer antennas. Casey has programmed a few of the BaoFangs with a channel labeled '''BU UP''' for contact with the repeater in a dire emergency.
 * '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:03, 10 July 2018
Line 14:		Line 14:
	* '''June 2 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years.		* '''June 2 2018''' Catherine, Greg, Wendy, Casey, Mark. (Mitchell was around but not answering until later. see below ) Pretty straightforward check, this time with Casey and a GRMS/MURS antennae over by the big gate. Gate to Mark and Greg went ok, a bit faint with Greg's setup. (Greg, next time go outside or away from computer monitors / LCD displays? I'm thinking ( Casey here ) that there was some 'digital hash' in the signal. Afterwords checked another location for the PVC GRMS/MURS setup; the big tree just over Spruce bridge where Catherine had a wireless relay for a few years.

−	* '''June 4 2018 HAM uplink test''' Catherine and Casey participated in the La Honda ( SC4 http://www.sc4arc.org/ weekly radio check ) with about 25 folks from all over the ridge and hollers aboust us. Casey tested a stock BaoFang radio and the default antennae ( rubber ducky as it's called by the Hams ) to see if and how we can reach the rest of the world from the emergency hut / pool area. The Hams were very helpful as we went through an exercise with different antennas as well. TL;DR - The BaoFangs with the stock anteanne work. Reception is spotty, often cutting off at the end of Ham transmissions if one is walking around. Coverage was OK for entire ~~perimiter~~ of pool and parking lot areas with the BaoFang. ''This is pretty good news.'' The people who suggested these radios were right, they will work the Ham repeater OOTB, and will work better with longer antennas. Casey has programmed a few of the BaoFangs with a channel labeled '''BU UP''' for contact with the repeater in a dire emergency.	+	* '''June 4 2018 HAM uplink test''' Catherine and Casey participated in the La Honda ( SC4 http://www.sc4arc.org/ weekly radio check ) with about 25 folks from all over the ridge and hollers aboust us. Casey tested a stock BaoFang radio and the default antennae ( rubber ducky as it's called by the Hams ) to see if and how we can reach the rest of the world from the emergency hut / pool area. The Hams were very helpful as we went through an exercise with different antennas as well. TL;DR - The BaoFangs with the stock anteanne work. Reception is spotty, often cutting off at the end of Ham transmissions if one is walking around. Coverage was OK for entire perimeter of pool and parking lot areas with the BaoFang. ''This is pretty good news.'' The people who suggested these radios were right, they will work the Ham repeater OOTB, and will work better with longer antennas. Casey has programmed a few of the BaoFangs with a channel labeled '''BU UP''' for contact with the repeater in a dire emergency.
		+
		+	* '''July 7 2018''' Catherine, Lisa, DonG, MitchellB, Casey, Wendy, Michael, who else? Wendy's radio didn't fire up immediately for some reason, and Michael's radio was locked. ( Michael was there but not for long ) We had good coverage for GateBurg to Country Club it seemed. Casey had been applying the Butano Zero patch to some radios (Lisa, Catherine, Mitchell, Michael ) but messed something up which he fixed later that day (The Yaesu worked, but the BaoFangs didn't. weird) . That afternoon he applied the fix to DonG and BillC's radios, after testing with Mitchell's BaoFang. We didn't try channel shifting between 1-4 this time. Additionally Casey has a BaoFang patch which will make it so radio users can't accidentally 'block/step-on' First Responders. This will mean we can listen but not talk without messing with the buttons on the radio. ( Leaving the radio 'hot' for Ham operators most likely )