"William" wrote in part ...

If I dial home, and I get Iowa, then my comms failed. You need to have a
goal before you ever switch the radio on.

Our goal was to check the functionality of the HF gear. We made multiple
contacts on multiple bands -- making contacts throughout the day. Those
were the parameters of the test. Test successful. We have written MOAs
with the stations that we intend to contact during the exercise, so they
completely understand the nature of the "no-warning" scenario. We also ran
functionality tests on the VTC/SAT and VOIP equipment. It was a busy day.

As you know, all major exercises have an extensive OPORD that directs us
before anything begins. Ours has been in place for months. All T's
crossed.


Does your military installation have a MARS base support team?

We do not use MARS for multiple reasons. All of our ops are civil service
and FCC Licensed Hams. This gives us much greater latitude in the
equipment, modes, and frequencies available to us. The EM operation is a
completely civilian one. Sorry if I didn't make that clear before. Of
course, we had to clear the frequency use with the folks at the installation
DOIM, but that was just a formality.

Arnie -