The Utah VHF Society
ERC Frequency Usage
Statement
and usage of simplex frequencies by volunteer organizations
One of the most important aspects of amateur
radio is that of community service: This is, in fact, one of
the key justifications for the very existence of amateur radio and
its use of valuable frequency spectrum and such use is spelled out
in the FCC rules in the portion known as the "Basis and Purpose"
and you may have even heard people refer to amateur radio-related
community service as "paying the rent." To aid in this
aspect of amateur radio, there are a number of groups that
organize and provide training for amateur radio operators to serve
in these roles. This nature of these organizations and
training is widely varied, but it almost always includes structure
and technique for effective communications under different and
adverse conditions.
It should come as no surprise that for training and organizational
purposes, many of these groups have certain frequencies on which
they conduct their activities. Often, these groups use a
combination of repeaters (their own or, with permission, existing
repeaters belonging to other groups) as well as simplex
frequencies to facilitate these communications, organizational and
training activities.
It should also be recognized by members - and especially,
organizers of these groups - that the radio spectrum is a very
limited resource and its use requires the careful coordination of
the activities of many diverse groups to avoid conflicts that
might impede the effective communications. Practically
speaking, there are simply not enough frequencies for
each group to have their "own" frequency!
While it might seem to a good idea if each group had its
"own" frequency, this would not necessarily be a
good thing. If the intent of a group is to communicate,
breaking the organization into too-small groups would
unnecessarily complicate the passage of traffic. Conversely,
too-large a group can make the proper prioritization and the
management of the sheer bulk of traffic difficult: Given the
two choices, however, the latter case is arguably easier for
skilled operators to manage, as it is always easier to deal with
what you do know when dealing with the large group
than with what you do not know if you are trying to
deal with many smaller, fragmented groups!
One welcome challenge often faced by organizers of such groups is
there are often individual, energized members, each being willing
to contribute to the betterment of the group as a whole. One
aspect of this challenge includes the absolute need to make sure
that these eager, members do not unnecessarily duplicate efforts -
particularly when those efforts may, when the "big picture" is
considered, actually decrease the overall effectiveness of
the group as a whole.
One request often made of the frequency coordinator is that by a
zealous individual that wishes to have additional frequencies for
their local emergency services group. While this may
sound like a reasonable request, the coordinator must make sure
that such a request is, in fact, one that receives the blessings
of the organizers of the group as a whole and not an isolated
effort by a well-meaning enthusiastic member: You can surely
imagine the chaos that would ensue if each individual took it upon
his/herself to try to obtain the limited spectrum resource without
appropriate regard to the needs of the organization at
large! Without careful management of the spectrum, large
groups can become unintentionally fractured with much duplicated
effort resulting in an overall decrease of communications
effectiveness and efficiency. This is not to mention very
real and practical concerns about unintentional interference
between the many groups that might result if their efforts are not
appropriately coordinated!
To avoid such unnecessary duplication of effort and inefficient
fragmentation, organized groups do not permit
individuals to undertake their own, isolated efforts in such
important matters as frequency coordination and the like.
While not always well-publicized, many of these groups have stated
policies about such efforts, directing their members to work within
the system (and not individually) to maximize both
communications efficacy and organizational efficiency.
ERC's statement about the use of simplex frequencies:
For an example of one such directive,
see the document:
"Emergency
Response Communications (ERC) Simplex Frequency Policy for
the Wasatch Front."
While this document specifically applies to the ERC
group in particular, its stated goals and intentions are generally
applicable to any group that has the need for
amateur radio spectrum use to facilitate their
communications. Taking the ERC group as an example,
individual members should not undertake frequency
assignments on their own, but rather work with the
group to assure the maximum effect of their individual
contributions!
Questions, updates, or comments pertaining
to this web page may be directed to: uvhfs@utahvfs.org
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This page updated 20130418