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FRS/GMRS Radio Mapping Guide: Difference between revisions
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→Radio Mapping Session: Process
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Modifications to the Radio Coverage Survey Action Plan may be announced at this time. | Modifications to the Radio Coverage Survey Action Plan may be announced at this time. | ||
=== Listening Post and Rover Team Dispatching === | |||
Listening Posts and Rover Teams must perform a radio check with the Command Post before leaving the Command Post area. This radio check ensures that radio equipment is operational and set to the correct channel. The radio channel used for the survey should be the channel specified in the NET Operations Plan. | |||
Rover Teams and Listening Posts should be provided with the mobile phone number for the Command Post for backup communication. | |||
Listening Posts should be dispatched first. Rover Teams should be dispatched after Listening Posts have been set up and checked in with the Command Post. | |||
Each dispatch should be recorded by the Survey Team Leader using the NET Form 3 Team Leader Assignment Tracking Log. | |||
=== End of Survey Session === | |||
Rover Teams should inform the Command Post when they have completed their survey and then return to the Command Post. The Command Post should recall the Listening Posts when all Rover Teams have reported the completion of their surveys. | |||
The Command Post may terminate the survey at any time with a radio message to the Listening Posts and Rover Teams. At this time, Listening Posts and Rover Teams participants should return to the Command Post. If radio communication is lost, the Command Post may use backup mobile phone numbers to recall participants. | |||
The return of each Listening Post and Rover Team should be recorded using the NET Form 3 Team Leader Assignment Tracking Log. | |||
All participants should participate in a “Hot Wash” to share their experiences, what went well, and what could be improved. | |||
Participants will check out at the end of the session using NET Form 2A Personnel Check In. | |||
The Command Post Scribe is responsible for collecting all Rover Team Log and Command/Listening Post Log forms along with NET Form 2a and NET Form 3. | |||
== Processing Radio Mapping Data == | |||
Information collected during the Survey Session is recorded in a Radio Voice Quality Summary Spreadsheet and then plotted using My Google Maps to produce a NET Service Area FRS/GMRS Radio Voice Quality Map. | |||
=== Radio Voice Quality Summary Spreadsheet === | |||
Information from the Log forms used by the Command Post, Listening Posts, and Rover Teams should be transferred to a Summary Spreadsheet before being plotted using My Google Maps. The spreadsheet should include these columns: | |||
* Time – Use military time, (24 hour clock), | |||
* Rover Team Name, | |||
* Survey Location – street intersection, address, or landmark place name, | |||
* Command Post Voice Quality Value – as heard by the Command Post, | |||
* Rover Team Voice Quality Value – as heard by the Rover Team, and | |||
* Listening Post Voice Quality Value – as heard by the Listening Post. One column should be used for each Listening Post. | |||
Organizing this information into these columns permits the sorting of messages by time, team name, location, and Voice Quality Values. The Survey Location is entered into two columns, one for each street at the intersection. | |||
Each row in the spreadsheet represents a report for a single Survey Location. Compare the recorded times and Rover Team Survey Locations to correlate reports across Log forms. | |||
Set the background color of each cell to reflect the Voice Quality Value recorded in that cell. | |||
Each Survey Session should be recorded in a separate spreadsheet or tab in a single spreadsheet. A sample spreadsheet is located here. (add full URL as well as hyperlink) | |||
=== Radio Voice Quality Map Plotting === | |||
Create separate NET Service Area FRS/GMRS Radio Voice Quality Maps for the Command Post and each Listening Post. A guide to using My Google Maps to plot Radio Coverage Survey information is located here. (add full URL as well as hyperlink) | |||
==== Voice quality markers ==== | |||
Add Voice Quality Markers to each map at each Survey Location. Set the color of each marker to reflect the reported Voice Quality Value reported for that Survey Location. If the Command Post or Listening Post and Rover Team report different Voice Quality Values for the same message, use the lower value. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the quality of a conversation can be considered to be only as strong as its weakest message direction. | |||
After all Voice Quality Markers have been added, use a Shape to enclose adjacent markers that share the same color. The Shape color should match the color of the enclosed Markers. | |||
==== Other markers ==== | |||
Other markers may be added to each map to indicate locations for: | |||
* NET Primary Incident Command Post, | |||
* NET Alternate Incident Command Post, | |||
* Listening Posts - BEECN sites, Fire Stations, etc. | |||
* Community Resiliency Pod Assembly Areas, and | |||
* Other satellite locations. | |||
The shape and color of these markers should be chosen to distinguish them from Voice Quality Markers and from each other by type. For example, all BEECN markers should share the same shape and color but differ from all other markers. | |||
=== Radio Voice Quality Map Publishing === | |||
The NET Service Area FRS/GMRS Radio Voice Quality Maps may be published in large-scale and notebook-size formats. | |||
Large-scale printed maps could be used in the Incident Command Post by the Incident Command Leader, Amateur Radio Operator, Neighborhood Radio Operator and their Scribes. | |||
Notebook-size maps may be printed in 8-1/2” by 11” format for use by deployed Strike Teams. The Strike Teams may use these maps to identify locations where they can more likely establish communications with the Incident Command Post. | |||
=== Additional Radio Coverage Survey Sessions === | |||
Additional Survey Sessions may be used to fill in gaps, perform spot checks, or to identify any changes in Radio Voice Quality due to variables that include: | |||
* Radio Type – the difference between FRS and GMRS radios, | |||
* Vegetation Density – changes in the amount of tree foliage, and | |||
* Obstructions – Construction or removal of structures that may affect signal propagation. | |||
== Notes and References == | == Notes and References == | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||