Basic NBEMS Exercise
How to Conduct our Basic NBEMS Exercise
Conducting a Basic NBEMS Exercise
Required: You should be comfortable working the Basic and Advanced NBEMS Exercises, and have sufficient signal to cover the net.
INTRODUCTION
Basic NBEMS Exercises conducted by Guest/NCS use standard ORCA Exercise format. Content will be News stories relevant to radio, digital operating strategies, tactics, and tips, or station redundancy. Exercise files should be +/- 2min/MFSK-32. Summarize the topic and provide URL/Reference. Exercises are designed to practice key traffic-handling tasks briskly: content is secondary, it mainly adds realism.
Guest/NCS will initially have 8 participants. Those stations are easy to identify in the Roster. There are no spaces before their CALLSIGN and no *, ie: CALLSIGN*. CALL* Ops do not participate. QNX stations have two spaces before their CALLSIGN. Your focus is up to 8 Active Ops ONLY.
BEFORE NET
Choose: Topic, Name file in sequence, ie: ‘ex123B_URCALL.txt’
Choose: 3 Modes based on condx. PSK-250R, THOR-50×1, & MFSK-32/22 are good beginning modes.
Load: Have Macro file ready, ‘ORCAbasicEx.mdf’
Edit: Add 3 Modes to ‘NBEMS EX’ Macro
Prepare: pencil/paper grid to log Fill Blocks*
In FLAMP
Add: Exercise file to TX screen, ‘Transmit Queue’
Change: ‘Send to’: from QST to ORCA DIGITAL NET
Set: ‘Blk size’ to 64
Set: ‘Hdr Rpt’ to: 2
Check: ‘Comp’ OFF
*Prepare pencil/paper grid to record missing blocks & CONFIRMED stations
Paper grid has 4 columns, CALLSIGN,Mode1,Mode2,Mode3, and 8 rows participant rows.
Track station Reports with these characters:
Missing blocks = 1,2,3, etc
CONFIRMED = horizontal line
No Copy = NC
No Reply = NR
DURING NET
After ANNOUNCEMENTS, NCS will introduce you as NCS for the Basic NBEMS Exercise. You are Net Control.
-SEND BASIC EXERCISE FILE, MODE#1-
Click Macro: ‘NBEMS EX’
Set: FLDIGI to 1st Mode
Click; FLDIGI Macro: ‘TxIDx2’
Click: FLAMP/TX screen Button, ‘Xmit’
-TAKE REPORTS-
Click: FLDIGI Macro ‘REPORT’
Copy 1st Active CALLSIGN from Roster to FLDIGI ‘Call’ window
Click: ‘THEM STOP’, record missing Blocks or CONFIRMED
Copy: 2nd CALLSIGN from Roster to FLDIGI ‘CALL’ window
Click: ‘THEM STOP’, record missing Blocks or CONFIRMED
Repeat: for all Active station.
-SEND FULL FILE, MODE#2
Set: FLDIGI to 2nd Mode
Click; FLDIGI Macro: ‘TxIDx2’
Click: FLAMP/TX screen Button ‘Xmit’
-TAKE REPORTS-
Repeat REPORT routine for UNCONFIRMED stations
-SEND FULL FILE, MODE#3
Set: FLDIGI to 3rd Mode
Click; FLDIGI Macro: ‘TxIDx2’
Click: FLAMP/TX screen Button ‘Xmit’
-TAKE REPORTS-
Repeat REPORT routine for UNCONFIRMED stations
If you can’t CONFIRM a station, try a 4th pass, time permitting, or have them wait for Monitor’s Session.
Wait only 25-30sec for Report Replies. Circle back for No-Reply stations. When a station doesn’t Reply to Report#1 & 2, skip them for Report #3.
Exercise ends. Return net to NCS w/BTN.
