Jungle said:Interesting discussion... if you don't mind an Infantry Soldier joining, from my experience on my last tour we definitely need HF. In East Timor I was a Recce section comder, and the 77-set was useless at anything more than 500m. So the Recce sections carried the 138 on patrols. We had to stop every 2 hours, set up the antenna (NVIS ?) and report to the CP. Not ideal, but better than no comms...
If I remember correctly, we were the first ones to use the 138 on ops.
Navalsnipr said:HF is definitely not a field friendly set up if you are constantly on the move.
I always wondered if DND should go out a purchase some cell phone towers that we could possibly employ while deployed and have our own private cell phone service. Think about it, if we had a fleet of ships working together, or a unit on the ground in a foreign country that had no infrastructure, this could be set up and communications could be maintained at a good distance (as long as the tower can be located in a high area).
I'm sure that anyone that has been deployed would agree that HF comms must be maintained.
HF comms can be encrypted easily with a 99, 84 or 194a. As long as the settings are the same, no problems. Thats why we have SOPs.Bert said:Due to the frequencies used, the propagation effects and the topology of the comms network,
the frequency band (HF, VHF, UHF, SHF, and beyond) has it own uses, draw-backs and capabilities.
You wouldn't want to replace a "cell" network with a VHF system.
HF is hard to keep secure. The frequency band used and propagaton effects doesn't lend itself well to
high bandwidth digital encoding/decoding, encryption, or managable mobile antenna systems. Yet,
for reasonably low power transmission, unsecure voice comms can travel a good distance that doesn't
have to be near "line of sight" like other bands. Cost of equipment is lower than radio systems at other
bands and can be easily modified in the field. HF certainly has its place.
Luck881 said:There was supposed to be a cell system in TCCCS, it was one of the options we didn't buy. SCRA, I think it was called... you remember that RadOp?
Thanks for the clarification; yes we used it in manpack, we carried it around on our backs and on ATVs. We used the 77-set for very-short range foot patrols, or when manning refugee arrival points, all within 500m of the camp.Radop said:The first one to use the 138 was the mission to Rwanda/Zaire/Uganda in '96. You might of been the first to use it in the man pack varriant.
The whip didn't work, and we didn't try the longwire. Comms were very problematic over there... so was the GPS for that matter.NVIS = Near Verticle Incedent System (or skywave as we say). The whip wouldn't work? Did you try a longwire?
I knew them, but not personally... I believe one was from outside Valcartier, but I think the NRL guys were mostly from 5 CMBG HQ & Sigs.Did you know any of the NRL guys who deployed with you? (satallite guys)
The NRL guys would have been from Kingston. They had a satillite dish at one site and had BT2s at the other site. They operated the commcen.Jungle said:I knew them, but not personally... I believe one was from outside Valcartier, but I think the NRL guys were mostly from 5 CMBG HQ & Sigs.
OK, the NRL guys were in Dili with the NCE. We never saw them... The BT2s were either at Suai (NSE co-located with NZ Batt SVC Coy) or Zumalai (CDN Coy main camp). I spent most of the tour in patrol bases, away from the main camps.Radop said:The NRL guys would have been from Kingston. They had a satillite dish at one site and had BT2s at the other site. They operated the commcen.
291er said:As for the discussion regarding the security of cell phones......no matter what the companies come up with for encryption or security, someone's usually figured out a way to intercept and decode it before it even hits the commercial market. And the STU-III cells are useless, they're known far and wide as the "cone of silence". IP phones are fairly secure and fast becoming the new fad in secure comms.
Even if you put a piece of string between two cans, somehow we'll manage to tie a third string onto it and listen in without you knowing >
291er said:Toucher Radop Toucher
However, if I can't break it, I am sure my secret squirrel brothers down south sure can hehehehe.