"Sparky" wrote in message
...
Hello, Len

It just might be what a particular operator is familiar with. Back when
(in
the 60s) the military used a lot of HF point to point communications,
they
(the radiomen) were familiar with having to change frequencies, how to
set
crypto gear, and many other things. One thing they were *not* familiar
with
was how to handle a strong signal.

When the communications station attempted to re-establish communications
with Saipan, Hans, K0HB, was sent to Saipan. The communications station
kept telling him he was "loud, but garbled". Big hint - too much signal
for
the local oscillator injection to properly demodulate the ssb. I called
Hans from the hamshack (KG6AAY) and we (the hams) ended up not only
establishing communications but got orders to pass traffic from Saipan to
Commander, Naval Forces Marianas directly.

I also recall whilst aboard ship we lost the "broadcast" - multiplex
signals
for many channels of teletypes. The problem was that we were getting to
close to the station and we were in a skip zone. I suggested to the
chief
that we try LF (low frequency). He didn't think it would work, but said
to
give it a try as everything else was out. On LF, the signal was
overpowering. In a few minutes, the broadcast was back up and running.

In both of these instances, it was the hams that had the proper
experience.

I shan't go much further than to say that one day whilst aboard ship, we
received an SOS on 500 KHz. It turns out that only *two* of us could
actually copy Morse at any reasonable speed. I don't know about the
other
guy, but I was an amateur extra and also had a commercial telegraph
license.
The military radioman were *supposed* to be able to copy 16 words per
minute
to graduate from A school.

Sorry to shoot your "professional" theory down. You aren't totally
wrong,
of course; it is what happens when the *unexpected* happens.


73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA



My gosh, I never knew. It is nothing short of a miracle that the today's
active military forces can still attain any level of readiness, with you
and
Hans no longer on active duty.

73,

Sparky



Down at the legion hall, you see them daily, rear echelon typists and
cooks. After a few beers, they all turn into Green Berets and Navy
SEALS, with more medals than Audie Murphy and Chesty Puller
combined.
ROTFLMAO!