COLORADO

BLM
Radio Communications

Basic Course 1
 Course Objectives
• Radio Theory
• Terrain Effects
• Antenna Design
• Narrowband

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 Course Objectives

• Infrastructure
• Common Phrases
• Procedures for Repair
• Emergencies
• Familiarization

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BE SAFE!

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 Prepare For Your Trip

• Follow Office Specific Check In/Out

Procedures.
• Visually inspect and check your equipment
for proper operation before leaving for the
field.
• Do a radio check.

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 Know Your Options

• Know what sites cover your intended

work/travel.
• What is their operational status?
• Alternative forms of communications.

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 Radio Theory

• Radio waves are generated by a rapidly

oscillating electric current.

• Frequency is the amount of cycles a radio

wave makes referenced to one second of
time.
• Wave length is the distance the wave
travels to complete one cycle.
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Example: One Wave Traveling at One
Cycle Per Second

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 Radio and Light Waves

• Radio Waves are Electromagnetic Energy.

• Light Waves are Electromagnetic Energy.

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Similar Properties

• Radio waves travel in

much the same way
as light.
• Imagine a light bulb
on top of your
handheld or vehicle.
• The energy is similarly
sent in all directions.
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 More Similarities

• Reflected
• Absorbed
• Diffracted
• Dispersed

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 Handhelds and Mobiles Perform
Differently
• Handhelds Transmit with less power
utilizing a small battery source.
• Mobiles utilize a gain antenna which
effectively doubles the transmit power and
receive sensitivity.
• Handheld antennas tend to be more
obstructed.

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 Batteries are Critical

• Proper care of batteries is essential.

• Batteries are a users responsibility.
• Typically last for 8 hours before charging.
• Radio will not transmit effectively.

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Antenna Comparison

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 Things to Remember

• Height is more advantageous than power.

• Know the location of the site you are trying
to transmit to and what objects or terrain
are in the path.
• A small shift in position can make a big
difference in signal quality.

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Height Matters

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 How Far Can You Communicate
• Typically BLM handhelds can
communicate within a few miles of each
other.
• Typically a BLM vehicle radio to a BLM
mountaintop radio can communicate about
40 miles apart.
• Typically BLM mountaintop radios can
communicate about 100 miles apart.
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 Narrowband

• Narrowband radios are mandated for

BLM use.
• Radios programmed incorrectly will
sound distorted.

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 Base Station

• A means for dispatch to communicate to

users over a large area in the field.
• Radio is installed for optimum
performance.
• Users may not hear both sides of
conversation.

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 Base Station

• Radio is connected to dispatch center and

remotely controlled.
• Radio can be used to access repeaters.
• Radio does not have a squelch tail.

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Base Station

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 Repeater
• They extend the coverage area.
• Received signals are repeated.
• Radio is installed for optimum
performance.
• Users hear both sides of conversation.

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 Repeater

• Operates on two frequencies.

• Squelch tail is present.
• Radio has no physical connection to
dispatch.

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Repeater

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 Repair

• Open a ticket in Remedy

• Document your radio problem symptoms
and what you have done to determine
problem.
• System outage contact Dispatch Office

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 User Responsibility
• Never change your antenna
• Insure you have an antenna
• Battery
• Keeping radio clean

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 Is Anyone Out There

• Your radio must be transmitting on the

same frequency the radio you are trying to
reach is receiving.
• Your radio must be transmitting the same
sub audible tone the radio you are trying to
reach is listening for.
• We don’t typically use receive sub audible
tones on our portables and mobiles.
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 RADIO
• R-elax

• A-djust Volume, Channel

• D-etermine - What your going to say. Is it your time to talk?

• I-nitiate Contact

• O-ver

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 Proper Use

• Hold the radio about an inch away

• Push the PTT button and wait one second
before talking.
• Talk directly into the microphone
• Identify who your calling and then yourself
• Wait for their response then proceed.
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 Use Concise Common Terms

• Affirmative
• Negative
• Disregard
• Clear or Out
• Standby

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 Emergency

• Try to contact any Interagency Dispatch

Center.
• Try to contact any person listening to
radio.
• Use National Law Enforcement
Emergency Channel, (NLEEC) to contact
a law enforcement dispatcher.

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 Banks, Zones, Channels

• Banks contain zones or groups

• Zones and Groups contain individual
channels

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We will now go over the
radios by specific
manufacturer for the
types your group is using
(BK, EF Johnson,
Thales, etc).
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 COLORADO
BLM
This concludes the Radio Communications
Basic Course

For Questions, Comments, Ideas or Errors please contact

your local Telecommunications Specialist.

Spring 2008
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