Radio Training Notes From The Scout Course, by “Mike”

he following is an entry from my personal radio training notes. I keep a file with training notes after every training event I do, even the ones I do by myself, to keep track of lessons learned and take a closer look on how I can improve. I hope some of you can benefit from my experiences.

Learn from the mistakes of others, you cannot possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.”

– IDK, some random motivational poster probably.

20201215

Communicators: Me, anonymous patriots

Transmissions Type: UHF (70cm) SC Voice

Antenna(s): Stock stubbies

Location: G-Camp, woodland environment w/hills

Notes: During NC Scout’s Scout Course, I had several opportunities to use my radio in tactical situations. My rig was a baofeng UV-5R on my Type 81 chest rig with Bowman headset and PTT.

The first, a night raid, I was a team leader communicating with another team to hunt enemy spotters. At one point I was unable to hear the other RTO’s voice, but could hear him key out and I believed that he could hear me. I then told him to communicate by breaking squelch once or twice to answer yes/no questions. This crude method worked for the rest of the exercise. It turned out that my volume knob got rubbed during movement and turned all the way down. Unfortunately, the lack of communications combined with some rash decisions all around led to a friendly-fire incident (with blanks) and we failed the exercise.

We conducted a second night raid to improve on our failures the first time through. This time another student led the team with his radio, and I had mine on as the backup radio operator. During the patrol I occasionally had to relay information to my team leader, who was having difficulty hearing through his Peltor-style headset. At the final assault position, the other team’s radio battery died, and they sent a runner to my team leader and they took his radio. I then assumed the role as the primary RTO for my team leader. Comms were back up and we completed the raid successfully. OpFor noted that they heard us only because the other radio, running as a handheld, squawked occasionally.

On day 3 we conducted a daylight raid, during which I was again a team leader. Comms were good the whole time, the only issue was that the other team leader hot-mic’d a lot. He was using the stock earpiece and lapel mic with the radio clipped onto his belt, no pouch.

Side note, twice I accidentally activated the FM radio mode, rewarding myself with “Smells like Teen Spirit” getting blasted through my headset.

Corrective Measures: I will now use tape on the volume knob of the radio to prevent the volume going down. I will look into disabling the FM radio mode using CHIRP. I will keep an extra radio battery in a ziploc bag in my radio pouch so I don’t have to worry about it dying on me. I will always use a pouch to prevent hot-mic, and I will always use a headset on a patrol to keep noise to a minimum. It is always important to fully test any new communication equipment (I.E., a new headset) to ensure that it is both compatible with your equipment and practical to use.

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

15 Comments

  1. Anonymous December 28, 2020 at 06:11

    5

  2. Mark A Laughlin December 28, 2020 at 08:09

    Excellent learning (from the mistakes of others) opportunity. Parallels why I so much prefer paddle mag release vs button on side arms.

    Did my own little night time test last night communicating back to the mothership’s 8900D. I immediately determined that I did not want the UV5R on my belt with the clip. While I did not experience any negligent button activations, the radio was obviously vulnerable to such. The stock earpiece/mic clip felt flimsy and was awkward in heavy winter clothing. I could see it being susceptible to negligent TX.

    Has anyone used a kydex holster for their radio….this looks promising:
    https://www.mckydex.com/messenger-radio-carrier/

    • NC Scout December 28, 2020 at 08:23

      Hey brother! A guy had one of those in the last RTO course. He likes it.

  3. wwes December 28, 2020 at 08:53

    One other thing that I have heard people mention is the little LED light on UV5R radios accidentally getting turned on. I believe the person who mentioned it said they took a dab of JB weld and covered the LED, and made a little “cap” to go over the buttons that they didn’t want to accidentally push. I think the JB weld is supposed to be able to be peeled off as well, but I’m not sure about that.

    • NC Scout December 28, 2020 at 09:13

      Yeah. You can de-solder it as well.

  4. SOG December 28, 2020 at 09:29

    https://www.evike.com/products/74068/

    https://www.evike.com/products/74085/

    I have considered trying on of these comm set headsets.some reviews have been favorable to using with live ammo. I have peltor set with nato downlead, into a milspec PTT adapted to Bfend or kenwood plugs. of course these are 10x cheaper than peltors comtach III’s and it doesnt hurt to have more than one comm capable ear pro set.

    worst case you end up with another set of electric earpro. i think i may score a set try it on the range and report back

    • NC Scout December 28, 2020 at 09:35

      I can’t speak for those, but I can speak for what was linked.

  5. Johnny Paratrooper December 28, 2020 at 10:48

    I would cover the light on my radio and disable the FM function but I like both of those features. I noticed that when I taped my light, I decided to check it randomly and of course it was turned on. Which I would drain the battery without my knowledge. JB weld would have the same effect.

    I should crack one of these bad boys open and poke around with my electronics tool kit just for fun.

    Mark A. Laughlin’s Kydex solution that is posted here is probably the best of all worlds. And it’s a one time fix. Radio breaks somehow? Slap a new one in and roll out.

  6. D.O.M. December 28, 2020 at 12:14

    For the “ubiquitous” baofeng; there is also this: https://gundoholsters.com/products/rc1-radio-carrier
    Gundo is run by a good guy in Michigan.

    • NC Scout December 28, 2020 at 12:30

      Nice. Thanks for this.

  7. FDC December 28, 2020 at 20:40

    Pull the volume/power knob on off and put a small elastic rubber o ring (ace hardware) on the post. That adds some resistance to the knob spinning.

    Ear piece wise.. a single earbud under ear pro is always an option. Howard Leights with a 3.5mm male to male to a hand mic is another solid option. Adapters for peltors/msa work this way as well, just unplug the mic boom to keep it out of your face.

    Earbuds are definitely a light and fragile enough item where I always carry a spare. Even the “nicer” Harris/Motorola/vertex ear pieces.. No matter how well I routed them, I’d always end up snagging or breaking them for my 148s or work radios.

  8. KC December 28, 2020 at 22:53

    What’s wrong with the old, cheap standby?

    https://www.amazon.com/USGI-Official-Military-Flashbang-Grenade/dp/B00BQKJBJ4/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=grenade+pouch&qid=1609213660&sr=8-14

    Doesn’t work with bigger radios, but fits the Fubang perfectly. Also plays well with smaller GPS units and other miscellanea.

    • NC Scout December 28, 2020 at 23:30

      I actually use an M14 mag pouch.

  9. KC December 28, 2020 at 22:55

    Belt clips are mostly useful for throwing away radios.

  10. A Minuteman January 2, 2021 at 19:05

    On the Baofeng, hold the lock button down to lock the radio so WHEN keys get pushed while the radio is in your pouch it doesn’t change freqs or do something else. Unfortunately that doesn’t prevent the light or the FM mode from being activated, nor does it keep the volume from being changed but I usually haven’t had those problems happen. Electrical tape can be used to keep the volume in place if needed.

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