Hello everybody and welcome back to Everything Hamradio! Today we are going to continue our series on the Technician Class License Question Pool! Today we will be talking about Emergencies.
As always, the correct answers will be in bold. I also recommend that you only read the correct answers when studying for your test. If you do this, when you take your test and you see a question, there will be a better chance that the correct answer will jump out at you easier. Some say that this approach is kind of like cheating, but the way that I see it, you will always be learning something in this hobby and you don’t have to know everything there is to know about the hobby to get your license.
If you would like to purchase a copy of the Technician Class study book, written by Gordon West, WB6NOA with Eric P. Nichols, KL7AJ, that this series is loosely based around, below is a link to it.
Let’s move on to the good stuff, shall we?
Â
- Repeat the words SOS three times followed by the call sign of the reporting station
- Press the push-to-talk button three times
- Begin your transmission by saying “Priority” or “Emergency” followed by your call sign
- Play a pre-recorded emergency alert tone followed by your call sign
- Emergency traffic is where there is imminent danger to life
- Priority Traffic is where there is imminent danger to property
- Provided that the frequency is quiet, announce the station call sign and location every 5 minutes
- Move 5 kHz away from the net’s frequency and use high power to ask other hams to keep clear of the net frequency
- Remain on frequency without transmitting until asked to do so by the net control station
- All of the choices are correct
- When operating a RACES station
- When operating under special FEMA rules
- When operating under special ARES rules
- Never, FCC rules always apply
 §97.103 Station licensee responsibilities.
(a) The station licensee is responsible for the proper operation of the station in accordance with the FCC Rules. When the control operator is a different amateur operator than the station licensee, both persons are equally responsible for proper operation of the station.
T2C05Â Which of the following describes the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)?
- A radio service using amateur frequencies for emergency management or civil defense communications
- A radio service using amateur stations for emergency management or civil defense communications
- An emergency service using amateur operators certified by a civil defense organization as being enrolled in that organization
- All of these choices are correct
RACES is an emergency service used for civil defense by the amateur radio community. Check out this post to learn more.
 §97.3 Definitions(a) The definitions of terms used in part 97 are:
 (38) RACES (radio amateur civil emergency service). A radio service using amateur stations for civil defense communications during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies.§97.407 Radio amateur civil emergency service.
(a) No station may transmit in RACES unless it is an FCC-licensed primary, club, or military recreation station and it is certified by a civil defense organization as registered with that organization. No person may be the control operator of an amateur station transmitting in RACES unless that person holds a FCC-issued amateur operator license and is certified by a civil defense organization as enrolled in that organization.
(b) The frequency bands and segments and emissions authorized to the control operator are available to stations transmitting communications in RACES on a shared basis with the amateur service. In the event of an emergency which necessitates invoking the President’s War Emergency Powers under the provisions of section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 606, amateur stations participating in RACES may only transmit on the frequency segments authorized pursuant to part 214 of this chapter.
(c) An amateur station registered with a civil defense organization may only communicate with the following stations upon authorization of the responsible civil defense official for the organization with which the amateur station is registered:
(1) An amateur station registered with the same or another civil defense organization; and
(2) A station in a service regulated by the FCC whenever such communication is authorized by the FCC.
(d) All communications transmitted in RACES must be specifically authorized by the civil defense organization for the area served. Only civil defense communications of the following types may be transmitted:
(1) Messages concerning impending or actual conditions jeopardizing the public safety, or affecting the national defense or security during periods of local, regional, or national civil emergencies;
(2) Messages directly concerning the immediate safety of life of individuals, the immediate protection of property, maintenance of law and order, alleviation of human suffering and need, and the combating of armed attack or sabotage;
(3) Messages directly concerning the accumulation and dissemination of public information or instructions to the civilian population essential to the activities of the civil defense organization or other authorized governmental or relief agencies; and
(4) Communications for RACES training drills and tests necessary to ensure the establishment and maintenance of orderly and efficient operation of the RACES as ordered by the responsible civil defense organization served. Such drills and tests may not exceed a total time of 1 hour per week. With the approval of the chief officer for emergency planning in the applicable State, Commonwealth, District or territory, however, such tests and drills may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours no more than twice in any calendar year.
- Licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service
- Licensed amateurs who are members of the military and who voluntarily agreed to provide message handling services in the case of an emergency
- A training program that provides licensing courses for those interested in obtaining an amateur license to use during emergencies
- A training program that certifies amateur operators for membership in the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
- They represent the two largest ham clubs in the United States
- Both organizations broadcast road and weather information
- Neither may handle emergency traffic supporting public service agencies
- Both organizations may provide communications during emergencies
- No
- Yes, but only when part of a FEMA emergency plan
- Yes, but only when part of a RACES emergency plan
- Yes, but only if necessary in situations involving the immediate safety of human life or protection of property
- The first paragraph of the message text
- The message number
- The priority handling indicator for the message
- The information needed to track the message as it passes through the amateur radio traffic handling system
- Passing messages exactly as received
- Making decisions as to whether or not messages should be relayed or delivered
- Communicating messages to the news media for broadcast outside the disaster area
- All of these choices are correct
- The entire message should be repeated at least four times
- Such messages must be limited to no more than 10 words
- Such words and terms should be spelled out using a standard phonetic alphabet
- All of these choices are correct
- The check is a count of the number of words or word equivalents in the text portion of the message
- The check is the value of a money order attached to the message
- The check is a list of stations that have relayed the message
- The check is a box on the message form that tells you the message was receivedÂ
So that brings us to the end of this section. Next week we will be talking about Weak Signal Propagation! Please share my blog with your friends and if you have not done so already, please subscribe to my email list to get the latest and quickest notifications of any new post that I publish. You can sign up in the box on the sidebar. If you would rather, you can also sign up for my RSS feed. Please Like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and StumbledUpon. Links to all of these can be found under social on the menu.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions or comments about today’s post, please leave them in the comments below or shoot me an email a k5clm@everythinghamradio.com.
Until next time…
73 de Curtis, K5CLM
Creator and Owner of Everything Ham Radio
Owner of 2xC Products at 2xcproducts.com