WEBVTT 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.460 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:33.399 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:36.140 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:55.179 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:55.179 --> 00:00:59.000 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:59.299 --> 00:01:05.019 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:10.620 pl -259 .com and by The Ham Station. Get your 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:16.540 new radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:48.780 or go to hamstation .com. Hey, good evening, 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:52.000 everyone. This is ham talk live episode number 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.480 20 canine to search and rescue with AJ. We're 00:01:55.480 --> 00:02:00.400 Goosa KC 9 EVU recorded live on Thursday, June 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:06.299 30th, 2016. I'm your host, Neil rap WB nine VP 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:09.139 gene. Thanks for tuning into this episode of 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:12.219 ham talk live. Now, if you're tuning in thinking 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:15.500 that Valerie Holtzfeld in B9L is going to be 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:17.439 here. Well, she was supposed to be here, but 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.800 Unfortunately she came down with a migraine late 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:28.120 this afternoon and this was not up to being up 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.400 let alone on the show. So we're going to reschedule 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:34.800 Valerie. She was going to talk about some of 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.639 her log analysis talk over at Contest University 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.360 and how to work some of those de -expeditions. 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.680 So we'll get her rescheduled just as soon as 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:49.340 we can. Hope and pray that she is, uh, feeling 00:02:49.340 --> 00:02:53.360 better soon. Um, so fortunately over field day, 00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:56.740 um, we finally got arrangements made for a backup. 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:58.699 And so I didn't think I was going to be calling 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:02.939 AJ up, uh, to, uh, step in quite this quickly, 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:08.620 but, uh, tonight, AJ Ragusa, KC9EVU. I was here 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:11.680 to talk about a very special group that's trained 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.479 in search and rescue using dogs and how they 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:18.340 use ham radio to communicate. So we'll take your 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:20.860 calls live in just a few minutes and talk to 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:24.819 him. Last week on the show Sean Kutsko, KX9X 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:28.740 from ARRL was here to talk about field day and 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:31.300 if you missed that you can listen anytime at 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:36.039 hamtalklive .com or on iTunes Stitcher, Google 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.500 Play, TuneIn, SoundCloud, or YouTube. So get 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:42.599 your m -com questions, and your search and rescue 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:45.500 questions, and your dog questions ready to go. 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.680 And after the interview, you can call us on Skype 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:51.280 at the username hamtalklive, or you can call 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.530 us on the old telephone. It's 812 -NET -HAM -1, 00:03:55.590 --> 00:04:01.669 812 -638 -4261. And you can also tweet a question. 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:06.270 Our Twitter handle is at hamtalklive. So next, 00:04:06.469 --> 00:04:09.550 AJ Ragusa, KC9EVU, right after this word from 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:12.599 the ham station. right here on HamTalk Live. 00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:15.300 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:18.779 by the HamStation. For 35 years, the HamStation 00:04:18.779 --> 00:04:21.639 has brought new and used radios, antennas, accessories, 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:24.060 and equipment to the amateur radio community. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:30.639 Give Jeff or Dan a call at 1 -800 -729 -4373 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.560 or order online at hamstation .com. HamStation 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.939 carries all the major brands like Icom, Yezu, 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.160 and Kenwood. Shop from a wide selection of radio 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.620 scanners, MFGA accessories, HileSound products, 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.439 Mirage and Ameritron amplifiers, Cushcraft antennas, 00:04:47.540 --> 00:04:50.759 and more. Easy online shopping and fast shipping 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:54.839 are waiting for you at hamstation .com or call 00:04:54.839 --> 00:05:01.480 1 -800 -729 -4373. The Ham Station, proud to 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.620 sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. The early 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:08.639 bird may get the worm but the second mouse gets 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.439 the cheese. You're listening to Ham Talk Live 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:22.519 with Neil Rapp. Welcome back to HamTalk Live. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.699 The HamStation has you covered for both new and 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:29.660 used equipment. Give Dan or Jeff a call at 800 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:36.240 -729 -4373 or go to HamStation .com. Be sure 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:38.920 to listen. The show every Thursday night at 9 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:41.920 p .m. Eastern Time. Right here on HamTalkLive 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.060 .com. Also check out our Facebook page and Twitter 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:51.310 feed. Just search HamTalk Live. AJ Ragusa, KC9EVU, 00:05:51.569 --> 00:05:53.370 lives right here in Bloomington, Indiana where 00:05:53.370 --> 00:05:56.029 he works in computing for Indiana University. 00:05:56.649 --> 00:05:59.170 After graduating from there, AJ is the Monroe 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:02.209 County, Indiana RACES officer and the assistant 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:06.050 ARIES emergency coordinator. He uses his computing 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:08.910 abilities in ham radio using digital modes including 00:06:08.910 --> 00:06:13.949 IRLP, ECHOLINK, and APRS. AJ is a member of ARGUS, 00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:16.430 which is a canine search and rescue team here 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.100 in Monroe County. and he has trained his dog 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:23.399 Sasha to search for lost people. Argus uses ham 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.279 radio to communicate during search and rescue 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:29.240 events and training exercises. So if you haven't 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:32.120 heard of this mode of MCOM, tonight is your chance 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:34.980 to learn a little bit about it. So AJ, thank 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.199 you so much for stepping in and being on HamTalk 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:39.879 Live tonight. No problem, Neil. Thanks for having 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:42.759 me. Well, we had talked about having you on the 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:44.939 show and we thought, well, that'd make a great 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:49.060 backup. And here we are. not even a week from 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:52.560 when we talked about it and finalized everything. 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:57.040 But tell everybody a little bit about the purpose 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:01.860 of having a canine search and rescue team and 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:04.899 tell everybody a little bit about what that team 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:10.180 does. So I mean really a canine search and rescue 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:13.000 team is just a search and rescue team. We happen 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.040 to have some additional tools which are the canines 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:18.819 themselves. So what's the purpose of a search 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.259 and rescue team? I mean, that's kind of obvious, 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:25.779 right? Our goal is to go find lost people. And 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:28.819 one of the things we're very clear about for 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:32.120 anybody who's joining or wants to use us, we 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.000 only search for people who potentially want to 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:37.480 be found. So we're not going to go out searching 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:41.279 for somebody who robbed a bank or in some criminal 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.079 situation like that. That's for the police. What 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:48.300 we do is, especially Argus, we are mostly a wilderness 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:50.579 search and rescue team. We have some other resources 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:55.220 too, such as disaster or even urban search and 00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:59.279 rescue, but we mostly focus on wilderness. So 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.160 I'll touch on some of those in a little bit. 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:05.569 But basically the idea is that... You know, if 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:09.889 you get lost and you are wanting to be found, 00:08:10.050 --> 00:08:12.310 i .e. you haven't robbed the bank and have millions 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:13.870 of dollars that you're trying to get away with, 00:08:14.449 --> 00:08:17.490 then we will come and start looking for you. 00:08:17.730 --> 00:08:21.149 And we have a variety of skills that help us 00:08:21.149 --> 00:08:24.470 do that. And with those skills, we have different 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:27.189 resources. I like to call them tools in the tool 00:08:27.189 --> 00:08:32.139 belt. So canines are one of those tools. And 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:34.740 one of the reasons that we use canines is that 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:38.539 sometimes, for example, there might be a hunter 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:41.519 who's lost. Well, maybe he's wearing all camo 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.240 because he was hunting. That could be very hard 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.360 to spot, especially if you're searching at night. 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:50.519 The dog's nose isn't going to be fooled by the 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:54.330 fact that they're wearing camo. And even when 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:56.830 they have all those scent blockers and all those 00:08:56.830 --> 00:09:00.409 other things, they usually don't work all that 00:09:00.409 --> 00:09:03.370 well. And so the dog's nose is very good. And 00:09:03.370 --> 00:09:06.710 so that's why we're using these dogs, is they 00:09:06.710 --> 00:09:10.269 are an additional tool. I mean, obviously, there's 00:09:10.269 --> 00:09:15.379 a team involved, right? But the dog is... Basically 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:19.639 a a multiplier for us. It's a force multiplier 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:23.519 We can search a lot more area a lot quicker with 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.899 a dog than with a bunch of humans And so that's 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:29.899 the reason we're using them. Okay now you use 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:33.059 the example of maybe a hunter is lost would this 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:37.240 be a response to to Like an amber alert or a 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.720 silver alert or something like that? potentially 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:45.629 it depends on the situation and So, you know, 00:09:45.769 --> 00:09:47.490 there have been, there are teams that get called 00:09:47.490 --> 00:09:51.250 out for amber alerts. In Indiana, we have silver 00:09:51.250 --> 00:09:54.309 alerts as well, which are senior citizens who 00:09:54.309 --> 00:09:57.269 maybe have dementia or Alzheimer's or something 00:09:57.269 --> 00:10:02.549 and have wandered off. And so it can be in those 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:06.009 situations. One of the things for our team, for 00:10:06.009 --> 00:10:11.490 example, we will only be called out by an agency 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:15.200 with jurisdiction. In Indiana, most of the time, 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:18.139 that means the sheriff's department. But basically, 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:22.840 any police officers, sheriff's departments, volunteer 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.820 firefighters, where we are in Bloomington, we 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:30.559 have the National Forest Service. So Hoosier 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:34.139 National Forest could call us out, or Indiana 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:39.320 Department of Natural Resources. So those are 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:44.129 the agencies who would call us out. And so yes, 00:10:44.570 --> 00:10:46.629 potentially an amber alert could be one of those 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:48.730 reasons for us getting called out. So it's kind 00:10:48.730 --> 00:10:53.029 of like with RACES, that you don't just hear 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:55.809 about something and go out and do it. You have 00:10:55.809 --> 00:11:00.049 to be requested by the appropriate service before 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:04.429 you activate. Yes. We call it self -deploying. 00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:10.139 Most teams do not self -deploy. they will wait 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:14.100 to be called out by a agency with jurisdiction. 00:11:14.259 --> 00:11:16.340 And there's a few reasons for that. You don't 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:19.139 know if there's criminal activity involved. So, 00:11:19.139 --> 00:11:20.840 you know, in case of an Amber alert, there could 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:24.139 be an abduction. And so you don't want to start 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:26.139 trampling over clues that they might need at 00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:29.659 some point in time. But, you know, also those, 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:31.899 they're the guys who are going to do some of 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:34.340 the initial research. and kind of give us our 00:11:34.340 --> 00:11:36.220 areas to actually start searching in, which is 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.320 an important aspect of search and rescue. Now, 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.000 while we're on the topic, I know it's a little 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:46.139 off topic, but you also deal in EMCOM, in RACES 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:50.100 and ARIES and that kind of thing. So while we 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:52.500 brought it up, let's talk just a little bit about 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:56.980 why you don't want to self -deploy in any kind 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:02.019 of a ham radio situation. Well, I mean, first 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:04.519 off, you don't want to get in the way. I think 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:09.019 that's probably the biggest rule in MCOM is you 00:12:09.019 --> 00:12:11.419 don't want to get in the way, but you want to 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:13.759 provide a service that they're looking for. They're 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.600 going to tell you what they want, and that's 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:20.500 what you want to provide. You don't want to start 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:23.179 essentially taking over, or at least that's what 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:25.740 it'll appear like to them. So in my opinion, 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:29.179 you want to just hang back and wait for them 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:31.519 to request your help. You want them to know you're 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.779 out there. So like with EMCOM, making sure that 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:38.200 as a RACES coordinator, I make sure that Jim 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:40.600 Cumaford, our EMA director in Monroe County, 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:43.120 and I have a good working relationship. Like 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:47.799 you said, I'm the assistant ARIES emergency coordinator 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:52.220 with our ARIES emergency coordinator. So we try 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.960 and work very closely together so that way. We 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.559 know what each other's capabilities are. We know 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.460 how to basically operate together. And so that's 00:13:02.460 --> 00:13:04.620 one of the big important training things I think 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:07.600 here is, you know, you want to provide the services 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.600 that they are and that they want. And you don't 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.860 want to just show up because they're not ready 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.620 for you. Yeah. And a lot of these bigger disasters, 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.399 I think what happens is a lot of people will 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:20.080 show up and say, you know, I can do this. I can 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.159 do that. They will self deploy. rather than let 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:27.600 them know, they show up and they're not ready 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.559 for that yet. They haven't organized everything 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.759 and figured out, you know, where things are and, 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:36.720 and they're just not ready for that yet. And 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.019 you're just going to slow things down by doing 00:13:39.019 --> 00:13:41.279 that. Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, right, 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.779 having people having volunteers, if you have 00:13:44.779 --> 00:13:47.940 a lot of volunteers showing up, that is a lot 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:50.980 of additional resources that you have to deploy, 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:53.139 right? Because all of a sudden now you need some 00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:57.820 way to get them food and water. Maybe you'll 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:01.580 need 50 portagons by the time you get all the 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:05.799 volunteers there. And so they need a chance to 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.620 prep for people to show up. That's why you don't 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:11.259 want to show up early, because that's just going 00:14:11.259 --> 00:14:14.440 to annoy them, I think. You want them to say, 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:16.700 this is what we're looking for. And if you're 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:19.659 a resource that fits that, capability, then you 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:22.980 want to show up. And that's the exact idea with, 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.600 that's the exact protocol that we use, at least 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:29.919 in my team, which is, you know, if we get a call, 00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:33.480 we basically go through a few checks, you know, 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.940 does this person reasonably want to be found? 00:14:37.779 --> 00:14:40.379 And what type of resources are you looking for, 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:43.720 right? If you're looking for a certain type of 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.159 dog that we don't have, then, you know, we'll 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.570 let you know. We don't have that, but we have 00:14:48.570 --> 00:14:52.809 this. Here's what we're capable of. And then 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:56.110 if you want us, you just tell us and here's our 00:14:56.110 --> 00:15:00.049 ETA and here's what we can show up with. Okay, 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:03.149 so we've talked a little about the search and 00:15:03.149 --> 00:15:07.370 rescue, the canines, and the ham radio. So how 00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:10.350 does all of that tie together? How do the canine 00:15:10.350 --> 00:15:15.149 search and rescue teams utilize ham radio to 00:15:15.149 --> 00:15:19.659 carry out that? Roll. Well, you know, let me 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:23.059 start off with a quick story. So, um, when I 00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:27.039 first joined Argus, um, I was, we call them ground 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.080 pounders. I was just a ground pounder, which 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.480 means I was one of the guys who went off in the 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.940 woods to go search for the subject, the missing 00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:39.570 person. You're the guinea pig. Well, there were 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:43.190 a few times I was also the lost person. We purposely 00:15:43.190 --> 00:15:45.549 would hide somebody. So you're purposely the 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:49.529 lost person to be found. So I remember we were 00:15:49.529 --> 00:15:53.029 doing this. So we do these mocks as trainings. 00:15:53.090 --> 00:15:56.889 And we do a big mock with Indiana University. 00:15:57.129 --> 00:15:59.049 There's a class that we have. We usually get 00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:01.830 somewhere between 20 and 30 students. And we 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:04.429 put on this really large mock. And we teach the 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:07.669 students all of these skills required for being 00:16:07.669 --> 00:16:10.700 a search team person, basically a ground pounder. 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:15.460 And my role was, as we call them, either a safety 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:19.799 or an angel, basically to make sure that if the 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.080 team gets lost, they're not really lost. If something 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:25.279 happens, there's somebody with some experience 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.700 out in the woods to help them through whatever 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:31.820 the situation is and make sure that they don't 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:35.340 do something that they might injure themselves 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:37.899 with, right? So that's part of the reason we're 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.289 there. The other reason is that in Argus, basically 00:16:41.289 --> 00:16:44.350 everybody is a ham radio operator. And if you've 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:49.370 ever been out to Hoosier National Forest, you 00:16:49.370 --> 00:16:51.509 drive for about 10 minutes and all of a sudden 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:54.090 you no longer have cell phone service when you're 00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.330 driving out there. But we drive out about 40 00:16:56.330 --> 00:16:58.909 minutes into the forest. So there's really no 00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:04.509 cell phone service. So we deploy a lot of ham 00:17:04.509 --> 00:17:07.049 radio equipment. So that way we can communicate 00:17:07.049 --> 00:17:11.089 with our teams out in the field. So on this mock 00:17:11.089 --> 00:17:14.970 search that we were doing, I was basically the 00:17:14.970 --> 00:17:19.349 furthest team away from the net control station. 00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:22.730 And not only that, but we were on the other side 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:24.930 of a ridge. And there were a whole bunch of ridges 00:17:24.930 --> 00:17:30.369 in between us and the station. So it turned out 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:32.990 there were four teams deployed, plus then there's 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:35.579 net control. and all four teams had ham radio 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:38.220 operators. Our missions were essentially we were 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:41.359 going in parallel paths along these four ridges. 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.200 The issue was that only one of the teams could 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.799 actually talk directly to net control, because 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:50.579 we don't have a repeater out there. This is in 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:53.519 the middle of Hoosier National Forest. There's 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.940 no power. There's nothing. And we've done the 00:17:56.940 --> 00:18:00.759 best we can. Basically, we've got a portable 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:04.650 push -up pole. that gets us about 40 feet up 00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:07.470 in the air with a really nice two meter vertical 00:18:07.470 --> 00:18:10.329 antenna, 50 watts of power. But that doesn't 00:18:10.329 --> 00:18:13.690 help you when you're in the middle of Hoosier 00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:15.769 National Forest on the other side of a ridge 00:18:15.769 --> 00:18:19.410 in the middle of, I don't remember when it was, 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:21.730 but there was a lot of vegetation and water in 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:25.170 there. So that just limited our signal. What 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:29.230 ended up happening was the team next to me could 00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:31.970 hear me. The team next to them could hear them. 00:18:32.140 --> 00:18:34.559 and the team next to them could hear them, and 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.660 then that team could hear net control. So one 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:40.079 of the coolest things I've ever experienced, 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:44.660 all four of the crews are hiking through the 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:47.880 woods. We're not on trails. We are back country, 00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:51.599 like hiking along a ridge searching for stuff. 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:55.640 And we're able to pretty much flawlessly pass 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:57.980 traffic. Without you know, we're not stopping 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:00.279 to write it down. We're not doing anything But 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.059 it's going four hops to net control and then 00:19:03.059 --> 00:19:07.059 four hops back. I I was that was the most impressive 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:10.480 thing I think I'd ever experienced because I'd 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.180 done a bunch of the MCOM training and but to 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:17.059 actually see it in use it in real time to be 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:20.359 able to know exactly what's happening because 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.559 you can hear you could hear you know the calling 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:24.779 for the other crew and then the other it was 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:28.130 just To me, it was one of the coolest experiences 00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:33.410 to go through that and to be with other guys 00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:36.930 who could basically, while hiking, back country 00:19:36.930 --> 00:19:39.670 in the woods, day two of sleeping outside at 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:43.950 night, and being able to still do this with their 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:47.039 radios, it was an impressive event. And that's 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.339 exactly the point of using our radios. We're 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:52.440 out in the back country where there isn't a lot 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.539 of cell phone service. Um, we had a search just 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:59.339 this week actually, and I showed up, looked at 00:19:59.339 --> 00:20:01.740 my cell phone and sure enough, I didn't have 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:04.559 anything. So what did we use? We used ham radio. 00:20:05.660 --> 00:20:08.720 Very good. And, um, you know, no repeater coverage 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.680 a lot of times too. So that just emphasizes the 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:16.150 point of practicing relays, practicing being 00:20:16.150 --> 00:20:20.569 on Simplex and relaying information down the 00:20:20.569 --> 00:20:24.670 path just exactly as you explained to get it 00:20:24.670 --> 00:20:29.170 back to where it needs to go. So that is pretty 00:20:29.170 --> 00:20:31.509 impressive. So you've talked about some of this 00:20:31.509 --> 00:20:36.009 training. Let's mention some of the training 00:20:36.009 --> 00:20:39.009 for the dogs actually because you've actually 00:20:39.009 --> 00:20:42.470 gotten involved in that now. You've got a dog, 00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:47.190 Sasha, and Sasha went through some of that training. 00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:49.410 So talk about the training for the humans as 00:20:49.410 --> 00:20:52.609 well as the dogs. Well, let's start with the 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:57.529 humans, because that's stuff that people be relatively 00:20:57.529 --> 00:21:02.109 familiar with. And let me also prefix this with 00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:05.549 every search team does it differently. So what 00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:08.349 Argus does doesn't mean that this is the same 00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:12.430 for what your local search team is going to do. 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:17.250 Now there are some national standards, and that 00:21:17.250 --> 00:21:21.529 is what Argus tries to go by. So let me talk 00:21:21.529 --> 00:21:23.509 about that first. So there's this organization 00:21:23.509 --> 00:21:26.170 called NASAR, which is kind of like the ARRL 00:21:26.170 --> 00:21:30.329 of search and rescue for the United States. NASAR 00:21:30.329 --> 00:21:32.609 stands for National Association for Search and 00:21:32.609 --> 00:21:36.829 Rescue. And they have a credentialing standard, 00:21:37.049 --> 00:21:40.150 which funny, it has basically three levels to 00:21:40.150 --> 00:21:43.170 it. It's called the StarTech. And so there's 00:21:43.170 --> 00:21:46.009 StarTech 3, 2, and 1. So if you're a StarTech 00:21:46.009 --> 00:21:49.029 3, you basically have some basic search awareness. 00:21:49.349 --> 00:21:54.049 StarTech 2 is essentially field -ready. And StarTech 00:21:54.049 --> 00:21:58.690 1 is advanced. So it's kind of like an extra 00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:02.910 class license. Now, you know, those may or may 00:22:02.910 --> 00:22:06.670 not be required by your state or by your team 00:22:06.670 --> 00:22:09.890 or whatever it is, but they do exist. So that's 00:22:09.890 --> 00:22:12.589 one of the things that Argus works towards. So 00:22:12.589 --> 00:22:16.009 I have a SARTech II certification for myself. 00:22:17.029 --> 00:22:20.869 And with that is some things like I know how 00:22:20.869 --> 00:22:24.630 to use a grid reader and a topographical map. 00:22:25.589 --> 00:22:30.039 So I can basically show you where I am and Without 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:33.039 a GPS, I can give you coordinates within about 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:41.839 a 10 -meter area. So basically, there are these 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:46.440 squares set up in 1 -kilometer dimensions. And 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:51.359 then inside of there, they have 10 -meter lines. 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:54.460 And so you can use that to basically give somebody 00:22:54.460 --> 00:22:59.450 a position within about 10 meters. Um, so it's 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:02.369 kind of like the old grid square thing. It is 00:23:02.369 --> 00:23:04.769 the grid square thing. Yeah. So they, well, if 00:23:04.769 --> 00:23:06.829 you're talking to ham radio grid square, yeah, 00:23:06.890 --> 00:23:11.509 kind of like that. Um, so with more precision, 00:23:11.890 --> 00:23:14.450 with more precision. Yeah. So the idea is that 00:23:14.450 --> 00:23:16.849 without a GPS or anything like that, I can give 00:23:16.849 --> 00:23:19.589 you a coordinate and you can go and find the 00:23:19.589 --> 00:23:22.769 same item that I found because it's that close. 00:23:23.589 --> 00:23:26.740 Um, Obviously, we have some GPS training. I use 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:29.940 a GPS all the time because, well, it makes life 00:23:29.940 --> 00:23:32.880 easier. But the idea is we don't have to rely 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.869 on it. We also have some basic search skills. 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:42.150 So with that, there's a test. I want to say it's 00:23:42.150 --> 00:23:45.970 120 question tests. And so you have to complete 00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:48.910 this 120 question test. There's actually a course 00:23:48.910 --> 00:23:51.329 called FunSAR, which is what we do this big mock 00:23:51.329 --> 00:23:54.170 for, which prepares you to take your SAR Tech 00:23:54.170 --> 00:23:56.869 II. So if you pass a FunSAR course, you should 00:23:56.869 --> 00:23:59.430 be relatively well prepared to take the SAR Tech 00:23:59.430 --> 00:24:04.019 II exam. And so then there's some rope skills, 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:06.759 like being able to tie an improvised harness, 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:10.380 being able to tie an array of different types 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:18.180 of knots. There's navigation. There's... And 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:20.619 then there's these search skills. So basically, 00:24:20.980 --> 00:24:24.839 they hide playing cards out in the woods, and 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:27.960 you have to go and find them. But you have to 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.319 walk into a certain area to find them, and you 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.150 have to find, I think it's... like seven out 00:24:33.150 --> 00:24:36.210 of ten cards. And I know it sounds really easy, 00:24:37.130 --> 00:24:40.730 but it's really not. It's actually kind of difficult. 00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:45.029 So that's what's involved for the humans. Also 00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:46.670 along with that, you know, there's first aid, 00:24:46.930 --> 00:24:49.609 CPR, some of the basic first responder types 00:24:49.609 --> 00:24:53.750 of skills that you need. Okay, and so then tell 00:24:53.750 --> 00:24:59.130 us about Sasha. Yeah, so there's an array of 00:24:59.130 --> 00:25:04.099 different types of dogs. And I'll say, you know, 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:08.180 any dog is capable of being trained to do this. 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.779 Now, it takes the right type of dog with the 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:14.660 right type of drive, and I'll talk about drive 00:25:14.660 --> 00:25:19.920 in a second, to actually, to be good at it. So, 00:25:20.099 --> 00:25:22.940 let me start with the types of dogs. Sasha, my 00:25:22.940 --> 00:25:26.019 dog, is what we call an area or wilderness area 00:25:26.019 --> 00:25:30.519 dog. She is not set specific. Her job is to find 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:35.880 any human in the area. So basically, if you're 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:38.420 lost and we have no idea where you are, we have 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:43.180 no real direction of travel, we call it, or a 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:45.380 place last seen or anything like that, but we 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:48.339 have a relatively good idea that you are in some 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:52.460 area, that is when we will use a dog like Sasha. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.700 And her job is to go and basically search this 00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:02.579 whole big area and tell me, the handler, that 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:08.819 she's found them. So that's her job. So that's 00:26:08.819 --> 00:26:12.579 what we call an area dog. Then we have tracking 00:26:12.579 --> 00:26:14.960 trailing dogs. These are the types of dogs that 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.200 most people probably think of. These are dogs 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:22.140 that are trained to basically follow a scent 00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:25.509 trail. So if you have, let's say, Let's say that 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:28.609 you were out and you got lost and you accidentally 00:26:28.609 --> 00:26:31.769 left a glove behind. We would use that glove 00:26:31.769 --> 00:26:35.069 as the scent article, and the dog is going to 00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:40.309 follow that individual scent trail to the subject. 00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:48.309 And it's usually fairly close to the actual path 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:51.089 traversed. I mean, depending on wind and other 00:26:51.089 --> 00:26:54.460 conditions like that. It can go several, you 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:57.900 know, even hundred feet off, but generally we 00:26:57.900 --> 00:27:01.359 want them following as close as possible to the 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:06.240 trail. Then we have another type of dog, which 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:09.920 is human remains detection. This is obviously 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:13.789 looking for somebody who's been deceased. And 00:27:13.789 --> 00:27:16.630 so, you know, maybe day two or three of a search 00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:19.470 is when you start, we'll start using this type 00:27:19.470 --> 00:27:22.529 of dog. And obviously their goal is to find, 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:27.910 you know, a deceased person. And then there's 00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:30.789 also a disaster dog. And these disaster dogs 00:27:30.789 --> 00:27:35.049 are what you think of for, essentially, FEMA. 00:27:36.029 --> 00:27:39.990 They... are collapsed structures. These are the 00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:44.549 types of dogs that were used during 9 -11. So 00:27:44.549 --> 00:27:47.609 they're basically trained to be able to safely 00:27:47.609 --> 00:27:51.730 navigate rubble piles and locate buried subjects 00:27:51.730 --> 00:27:54.970 who are still alive in the rubble piles. So those 00:27:54.970 --> 00:27:57.589 are the four types of dogs. And as you can imagine, 00:27:57.869 --> 00:28:01.349 the training for those types of dogs can vary 00:28:01.349 --> 00:28:05.720 quite a bit. There's a few key aspects though 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:08.859 that you that we kind of are looking at though. 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:14.160 First is drive and drive is if you've ever seen 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:18.740 a lab who just will not stop bringing you the 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:21.480 ball. That's what we're looking for. We're looking 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:26.339 for a dog who will do anything to play with the 00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:31.180 ball with you. You can throw the ball into a 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:35.460 big field and the dog will spend 30 minutes until 00:28:35.460 --> 00:28:38.559 it actually finds that ball and come back and 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.799 say, throw it again. So we're looking for what 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.200 we call drive. So in my case, Sasha's drive is 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.500 very much food based. If you want a backflip, 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:53.019 you just hold food up long enough and eventually 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:57.680 she's going to do a backflip for you. And so 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:02.119 we used food for Sasha. When she finds a subject 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:06.079 at practice, she gets a treat. And usually I 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.319 make them really, really good treats. Treats 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:11.539 that we only get at practice because otherwise, 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:14.140 if she gets it every day, then it's not quite 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:16.920 the same. And it's the same way for the other 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.200 dogs. So a lot of dogs that people use today 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:25.539 are either German Shepherds, Malinois, Labs, 00:29:26.339 --> 00:29:30.599 and these dogs, are very much into what we call 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.160 tugging. They want a tug. They've got these tug 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.039 toys and basically you hold this tug toy and 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:41.039 even these little tiny dogs can pull me around 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:46.000 and it's very cool and it can be very intense. 00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:50.420 So basically we're using this drive though to 00:29:50.420 --> 00:29:54.779 get them to do what we want. So let's take the 00:29:54.779 --> 00:29:58.819 area dog like Sasha really quick. We start off 00:29:58.819 --> 00:30:01.960 with very simple games, right? We teach come. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.960 So that way, every time I say come, Sasha comes 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:08.339 right to me and sits right in front of me. That's 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:13.000 what we teach. And then we start turning it into 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:17.140 a little game of, let's say, come back and forth, 00:30:17.579 --> 00:30:19.980 where she'll come to me, she'll come to somebody 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:22.059 else, she comes back to me, she gets a treat. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:26.720 So that's kind of the process. And then... Eventually 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:29.740 we make we start taking out the commands and 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.599 we just say so then it starts off with just Go 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:35.019 find and then there's person just standing out 00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:37.619 in the field. She goes to that person comes back 00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:42.480 to me Does her what we call alert and then she 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:46.480 gets her reward And so we kind of build this 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:50.420 process until it becomes, you know 30 minutes 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:53.440 the person's been hidden for 30 minutes out in 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.380 a 20 acre field And now Sasha has to go find 00:30:57.380 --> 00:30:59.980 them, and it takes 30 minutes for her to actually 00:30:59.980 --> 00:31:03.000 find the person. So that's how we kind of grow 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:05.319 it. And then there's this last part which I kind 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.940 of mentioned, which is the alert. And this is 00:31:07.940 --> 00:31:10.440 probably the most critical part to the dog training. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:16.000 Dogs will naturally be able to find anything 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.799 in the woods, right? If they know that they're 00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:22.819 going to get their reward, they will very easily 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:28.019 find you know, a human or a deer or a duck. The 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:30.960 training is basically it's hunt. We want them 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.920 to hunt for the person. That just comes basically 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:37.519 naturally to the dogs. But the part that doesn't 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:40.940 is what we call the alert. And this is the most 00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:43.380 probably critical part in their training, which 00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:47.660 is to get the dog to do some behavior that indicates 00:31:47.660 --> 00:31:49.819 that they have found the person. And there's 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:53.450 a whole lot of different alerts involved. So, 00:31:53.490 --> 00:31:59.529 for example, with area dogs, there are two big 00:31:59.529 --> 00:32:03.450 ones that I know about. The refine, which is 00:32:03.450 --> 00:32:06.190 what Sasha does. So, when she finds the subject, 00:32:06.490 --> 00:32:09.630 she runs back to me, barks at me, and then when 00:32:09.630 --> 00:32:13.869 I say, show me, she runs back to the subject 00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:18.430 and barks at them. Another type is called a bark 00:32:18.430 --> 00:32:21.029 and hold, and this is exactly like it sounds. 00:32:21.509 --> 00:32:23.789 Basically, when the dog finds a subject, they 00:32:23.789 --> 00:32:26.329 sit there and bark at them. And even if the human 00:32:26.329 --> 00:32:28.410 keeps moving, the dog just keeps following him, 00:32:28.490 --> 00:32:31.630 barking at them, and the bark basically brings 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:35.609 the rest of the team in. Now, for other types 00:32:35.609 --> 00:32:39.710 of dogs, let's say HRD or a tracking trailing 00:32:39.710 --> 00:32:42.329 dog, the alert could be something else, such 00:32:42.329 --> 00:32:47.410 as sitting down, laying down. It could be a bark. 00:32:48.360 --> 00:32:51.680 Could even be a touch. So any number of things 00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:56.059 can be the alert for any of these dogs. But it's 00:32:56.059 --> 00:32:59.700 really critical to have that alert be a very 00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:05.559 consistent and well done thing. I think that 00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:09.819 a lot of time needs to be spent in training that 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:13.400 alert and getting that alert to be just so natural 00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:17.990 that the dog doesn't even think about it. That's 00:33:17.990 --> 00:33:22.190 really great. I'm really impressed with all that 00:33:22.190 --> 00:33:26.509 you've been able to do with that. Right now, 00:33:26.730 --> 00:33:30.029 it's time for us to pay some of the bills, but 00:33:30.029 --> 00:33:32.690 we're going to come back and talk a little more 00:33:32.690 --> 00:33:35.410 with AJ and take your calls right after this 00:33:35.410 --> 00:33:38.150 message from Tower Electronics right here on 00:33:38.150 --> 00:33:41.019 HamTalk Live. This episode of HamTalk Live is 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:44.259 brought to you by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:47.599 has been the Ham's dime store since 1978, bringing 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.200 connectors, antennas, cables, and other parts 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:52.859 to the world. Scott and Jill travel the country 00:33:52.859 --> 00:33:55.339 bringing their store to you at HamFest, but you 00:33:55.339 --> 00:34:00.980 can also order online at pl -259 .com or by calling 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:08.159 920 -435 -2973. 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We'd like to thank 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.519 Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring 00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:57.280 the show tonight and every night so we can bring 00:34:57.280 --> 00:35:03.880 you HamTalk Live. Call 920 -435 -2973. or you 00:35:03.880 --> 00:35:08.639 can visit their website at PL -259 .com and be 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:10.840 sure to listen every Thursday night at 9 p .m. 00:35:11.059 --> 00:35:14.639 Eastern Time right here on HamTalkLive .com and 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.440 if you missed the show you can download the podcast 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:20.500 from the website and most popular podcasting 00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:23.219 websites. So you've heard a little bit about 00:35:23.219 --> 00:35:27.639 the search and rescue and the MCOM stuff and 00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:31.210 the canines. So it's now time for your call. 00:35:31.289 --> 00:35:33.210 So if you have a question that you want to ask 00:35:33.210 --> 00:35:35.670 AJ about any of this stuff we've been talking 00:35:35.670 --> 00:35:38.570 about tonight, give us an audio call on Skype. 00:35:38.849 --> 00:35:42.650 It's HamTalkLive is the username. Or you can 00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:47.570 call us by telephone. It's 812 -NET -HAM -1. 00:35:48.670 --> 00:35:57.190 812 -NET -HAM -1. 812 -638 -4261. And ask a question 00:35:57.190 --> 00:36:01.090 about some of the training that Argus is involved 00:36:01.090 --> 00:36:05.070 in and some of these search and rescue teams. 00:36:05.809 --> 00:36:09.670 And before I forget, AJ, can you give us the 00:36:09.670 --> 00:36:13.969 web addresses of some places that if people want 00:36:13.969 --> 00:36:17.510 to get some more information about some of these 00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:21.909 national organizations as well as local ones, 00:36:22.150 --> 00:36:24.210 can you give us those web addresses real quick? 00:36:24.539 --> 00:36:29.519 Yeah, so Nasar is the big one, so that is National 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:32.420 Association for Search and Rescue, and they are 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:37.900 NASAR .org. That's NASAR .org, N -A -S -A -R 00:36:37.900 --> 00:36:43.400 .org. And really that is probably the best place 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:48.659 to go and find local search teams. Now, granted, 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:51.239 you can probably Google and find, you know, a 00:36:51.239 --> 00:37:00.599 search team in your area. So you can go check 00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:03.260 out our website there, Sasha's pictures up there 00:37:03.260 --> 00:37:06.460 along with mine. And you can also find Argus 00:37:06.460 --> 00:37:08.820 on Facebook, so go ahead and like us on Facebook 00:37:08.820 --> 00:37:12.780 if you want. And I try and post regular pictures 00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:15.940 and updates on the team and you can see when 00:37:15.940 --> 00:37:20.900 the dogs are, even though it's been 95 with 100 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:24.039 % relative humidity, we're still out practicing 00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:26.460 because you never know when you're gonna get 00:37:26.460 --> 00:37:30.269 called to a search. Yeah, always be prepared 00:37:30.269 --> 00:37:33.829 and that's a good thing. So thanks for those 00:37:33.829 --> 00:37:40.369 links and if you're interested in More about 00:37:40.369 --> 00:37:43.530 this search and rescue team thing. Why check 00:37:43.530 --> 00:37:47.269 those out now One of the things that I wanted 00:37:47.269 --> 00:37:50.070 to ask is, you know, if someone does not have 00:37:50.070 --> 00:37:54.969 a dog And just wants to get involved in search 00:37:54.969 --> 00:37:59.019 and rescue What are some ways that people can 00:37:59.019 --> 00:38:03.079 volunteer to help the search and rescue teams 00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:09.380 either in training or in a real event? Well, 00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:13.980 so obviously, like I said, ground pounders are 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:17.280 just as important as the canine handlers. Without 00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:20.980 the ground pounders, the canine handlers are 00:38:20.980 --> 00:38:24.940 a lot less effective. And I call them ground 00:38:24.940 --> 00:38:28.780 pounders lovingly because what I always say is 00:38:28.780 --> 00:38:32.760 everybody who gets deployed on a search is a 00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:36.420 ground pounder first. Even if I get called to 00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:39.480 a search and they don't need a live find area 00:38:39.480 --> 00:38:43.920 dog like Sasha, I am then just a ground pounder. 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:47.719 And truthfully, I love just walking through the 00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:54.510 woods. So if you like that kind of stuff, then 00:38:54.510 --> 00:38:56.230 you can become just a ground pounder. You don't 00:38:56.230 --> 00:39:01.849 need a dog. You can find a NASAR class near you. 00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:06.170 So the FunSAR class is, in my experience, the 00:39:06.170 --> 00:39:09.110 NASAR class that I help with here in Bloomington 00:39:09.110 --> 00:39:12.690 is a lot of fun. I met a lot of friends through 00:39:12.690 --> 00:39:17.500 it. It's just a great class in general. And even 00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:19.199 if you don't, even if you're not interested in 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:20.679 search and rescue, but you like the outdoors, 00:39:21.099 --> 00:39:23.579 it's still a fun class. You get to sleep outside, 00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:25.880 you get to go hike through the woods during the 00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:28.639 day, at night. Some stuff that you might not 00:39:28.639 --> 00:39:32.239 normally do, so it's a lot of fun. And if you 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:34.599 like to go play hide and seek. And if you like, 00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:38.019 you know, when we do practice, we say that search 00:39:38.019 --> 00:39:40.719 and rescue is really just hide and seek for adults. 00:39:41.739 --> 00:39:43.900 That's the best way to describe it because... 00:39:43.900 --> 00:39:46.860 Literally, we say, okay, I want you to go in 00:39:46.860 --> 00:39:50.219 this area and don't tell me where you are because 00:39:50.219 --> 00:39:54.079 the dog is going to go find you. And so one of 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:56.460 the things that, so if you, let's say that you 00:39:56.460 --> 00:39:59.780 don't have time or you don't want to be called 00:39:59.780 --> 00:40:03.880 out to an actual search, that's fine. Especially 00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:05.820 for canine teams, one of the things that they 00:40:05.820 --> 00:40:10.639 always need is people to volunteer to be their 00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:13.659 lost subjects. Now that doesn't mean go get lost 00:40:13.659 --> 00:40:15.239 and call the search and rescue team and say I'm 00:40:15.239 --> 00:40:18.820 a lost subject. That means contact your local 00:40:18.820 --> 00:40:22.079 search and rescue team, say I'd like to come 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.239 out and be a lost subject for you, and then they 00:40:25.239 --> 00:40:29.739 will assist you in getting lost. So don't go 00:40:29.739 --> 00:40:32.340 out there and just self -deploy getting lost. 00:40:33.239 --> 00:40:36.860 Yes, we will specific, because when the dogs 00:40:36.860 --> 00:40:39.159 are at different levels in their training, we 00:40:39.159 --> 00:40:42.440 want different things. We like, you know, so 00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:45.079 a young dog isn't going to go search a 30 acre 00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:48.159 field. A young dog is going to search a really 00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:51.760 small field to, you know, get that experience 00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:54.219 and to get the whole alert and all that kind 00:40:54.219 --> 00:40:56.760 of stuff down. So, you know, the team is going 00:40:56.760 --> 00:41:00.320 to have very specific requests of you. But they 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:02.099 should teach you everything you need to know 00:41:02.099 --> 00:41:05.059 to just be a subject. That should be a relatively 00:41:05.059 --> 00:41:07.539 quick process to show you. This is what the dog 00:41:07.539 --> 00:41:10.800 does, this is what to expect when you're out 00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:14.820 there. So yeah, if you're wanting to help, you 00:41:14.820 --> 00:41:20.000 can do that. During a real incident, I recommend 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.679 just kind of staying out of the way unless the 00:41:22.679 --> 00:41:25.940 team requests something, right? If you get a 00:41:25.940 --> 00:41:30.539 request for, you know, kind of need pizza or 00:41:30.539 --> 00:41:33.619 sandwiches or something, okay, that's where it 00:41:33.619 --> 00:41:38.190 can get useful. One of the reasons why we don't 00:41:38.190 --> 00:41:41.670 have just regular hams helping us out most of 00:41:41.670 --> 00:41:44.989 the time is that with search and rescue, there's 00:41:44.989 --> 00:41:48.510 a very specific language that we speak. And so 00:41:48.510 --> 00:41:51.210 we really want people who know how to speak that 00:41:51.210 --> 00:41:53.969 same language as us. And so that's why we kind 00:41:53.969 --> 00:41:56.489 of, so you know, while there might be a lot of 00:41:56.489 --> 00:41:58.889 hams in the area, we really don't invite them 00:41:58.889 --> 00:42:01.510 to come and help us during a search because we 00:42:01.510 --> 00:42:03.550 need you to be able to speak this very specific 00:42:03.550 --> 00:42:08.400 language that we speak. Very good 812 net ham 00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:11.880 1 812 net ham 1 we do have just a couple of minutes 00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:14.280 left If you have a question or you can tweet 00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:19.480 us at ham talk live If you want to ask a question 00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:25.780 about the canine search and rescue so Got just 00:42:25.780 --> 00:42:31.619 about a minute here So your training exercises 00:42:31.619 --> 00:42:37.460 How long do those usually go Well, I think the 00:42:37.460 --> 00:42:39.900 first thing to say is we usually practice two 00:42:39.900 --> 00:42:42.679 to three times a week Or at least my team does 00:42:42.679 --> 00:42:45.539 I I don't really know what others are doing But 00:42:45.539 --> 00:42:47.599 my team usually practices two to three times 00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:51.139 a week Usually we're practicing from about six 00:42:51.139 --> 00:42:54.579 thirty in the evening till about nine o 'clock 00:42:54.579 --> 00:42:57.860 so throughout the year that gives us an array 00:42:57.860 --> 00:43:00.940 of Basically, right now, it's sunny the whole 00:43:00.940 --> 00:43:04.260 time. It'll be, you know, in the middle of winter. 00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:09.639 It's already blackout by about 5 .30, so, you 00:43:09.639 --> 00:43:11.400 know, the entire practice will be in the dark 00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:15.199 at that point. But usually practice is somewhere 00:43:15.199 --> 00:43:18.559 between, depending on, it really depends on the 00:43:18.559 --> 00:43:21.440 number of dogs and humans that show up. So we 00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:25.000 actually try and do... So we have practice for 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:27.880 the dogs two to three times a week. We try and 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:32.380 also do a practice for human stuff once a month, 00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:34.519 maybe once every other month, depending on how 00:43:34.519 --> 00:43:36.900 busy we are. And that's just to keep the human 00:43:36.900 --> 00:43:40.739 skills up to snuff as well. Now, our dog practices 00:43:40.739 --> 00:43:45.099 basically rotate through dogs. We will hide a 00:43:45.099 --> 00:43:48.320 subject, we will hide some sources, which is 00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:51.780 what the HRD dogs alert on, and we will maybe 00:43:51.780 --> 00:43:55.119 lay a track or two for Attracting trailing dog 00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:57.880 and we kind of go through and we will we work 00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:00.480 basically one dog at a time because we don't 00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:04.039 have that many dogs and so we go through and 00:44:04.039 --> 00:44:07.400 we try and give each dog basically two or three 00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:10.300 problems and Some of those problems are going 00:44:10.300 --> 00:44:13.710 to be 30 seconds where they're just Hey, this 00:44:13.710 --> 00:44:15.989 is what we're doing now. Remember, this is what 00:44:15.989 --> 00:44:18.269 we're doing for the dog. And then we'll do a 00:44:18.269 --> 00:44:21.710 long problem. So for Sasha, that's generally 00:44:21.710 --> 00:44:24.170 what we'll do. We'll do something really easy 00:44:24.170 --> 00:44:27.730 just to get her brain into the right mode. Very 00:44:27.730 --> 00:44:31.590 good. Yeah, that might be something just like, 00:44:31.710 --> 00:44:34.369 you know, it's a 50 foot problem with somebody 00:44:34.369 --> 00:44:37.440 hiding behind a rock. And then we'll do long 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:39.880 problem where okay now we're searching this 10 00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:42.960 acre field and They might not even be in this 00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:45.179 10 acre field So you have to the Sandler has 00:44:45.179 --> 00:44:48.579 to actually call a blank and say my dog has searched 00:44:48.579 --> 00:44:51.639 this there's nobody here We are out of time, 00:44:51.659 --> 00:44:53.480 but tune in next week. We're going to be talking 00:44:53.480 --> 00:44:57.340 about scouting So seven three seven five and 00:44:57.340 --> 00:44:59.539 may the good DX be yours