Through written evaluation the applicant will identify:
The proper position of the antenna for best transmission and reception

    Look around any search scene and you will see vehicles bristling with antennas.  Well, okay the car in the picture is a tad extreme.  (To be kind, though, maybe he is a tree trimmer.  Yeah, right!   Seriously though, the one thing all those vehicles -- and our tree trimmer friend -- have in common is that all of their antenna are mounted in a vertical position.

    The choice for a vertical mounting is obvious in a vehicle.  Can you imaging our tree trimmer friend with horizontal antennas.  What would he be then -- a pedestrian trimmer?

So the choice of a vertical antenna on a vehicle is a no-brainer.   Where does that leave us -- the groundpounder with a handheld strapped to our waist or slung over our shoulder?

It leaves us with no choice but to have our antennas in a vertical position. 

Communication between two radios ---- one with a vertical antenna and one with a horizontal antenna --- is a disaster.

In radio jargon there is about 10db of loss inserted in the signal between the two mismatched antenna.  Not to get too technical, but for every 3 db of loss there is a halving of power.  Do the math!!  A 5 watt signal is halved to 2.5 watt in the first 3db of loss.  The 2.5 watt signal is halved again in the second 3db of loss to 1.25 watts.  And the 1.25 watts drops to 0.625 watts in that third 3db of loss.  Kick in that spare 1 db of loss and you're receiving a half watt of signal from that full five watt transmitted signal.

Do I have your attention?? A handheld radio riding on a Groundpounder's belt with the antenna in a horizontal position is not going to get the job done.

Even having the antenna at a 45 degree angle creates a proportional loss.

So be aware of the position of your radio.  Wear it on an appropriate wide heavy-duty belt.  Some Groundpounders have taken to wearing Sam Browne belts.
Those are the belts developed by the British Army to tote those heavy 45 caliber automatics around on.  The Sam Browne belts are also the white over-the-shoulder and around-the-waist belts worn by young school crossing guards.

Others have taken to wearing the across-the-chest pack favored by ATV riders.

Whatever your choice, let's keep those antenna in a vertical position.  Don't have Base Camp calling you to no avail because you weren't on the up and up.

By Joe Doman N8SAR
Coos county Search and Rescue