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Radio
In particular for safety's sake, it is hoped to rent/hire hand-held, line of sight radios. These will be issued one per Fire along with sufficient spare batteries. They will only be used for communication between Base Camp and the CL and/or DCL wherever they may be located. They will be for the transmission of the necessary management, administration and control and for emergency use. Battery life
(normal in everyday dry alkaline cells) will be short and so will not allow for communication with neighbouring Fires, except in emergency.
EPIRBs
For REAL life-threatening emergencies, each FIRE will have an EPIRB, a gizmo which connects to a satellite. Upon activation this calls up the local or national emergency services and tells them to get out to the beamed location 'pronto'. There is no two-way communication so the reason for setting off the device MUST be life threatening – a broken leg may or may not be life threatening, it will depend upon the context, being lost is not life threatening, neither is being hungry! The cost to BSES of an emergency call by an EPIRB is VERY considerable, running into £1000s. BSES is covered by insurance in the event of a real emergency, but if it is proved unnecessary, that cost will be passed on totally to those who set off the gizmo. You have been warned!
Satphones
To communicate with the outside world it is planned the CL will have access to a Satphone which will lock into a satellite passing over head and connect into national and international phone networks. This will be for emergency use only as it is VERY expensive – "A" level and Higher results are not considered an emergency.
Surface mail
I am unsure at this point about inward or outward mail. It may be sensible to assume you will be out of contact. It is likely there will be a poste restante address to which friends, parents etc. can write for a single distribution, possibly on "Chaos Day" (see draft programme). This will be before external examination results – post takes up to 10 days from UK to AK. Somehow postcards and letters will be sent out to loved ones and sponsors (important), they will be collected at pre-determined times and posted for you. NB: the CL is not a post office. Expedition post cards will be sold to you before departure and will include US postage; any other letters or cards will have to be accompanied by appropriate postal rates (plus carriage?). I suggest you buy all you need NOW.
Wo/Man with stick
Technology doesn't always work. And in Alaska because of dust, rain and abuse, it often doesn't! Mountains get in the way of line of sight so hikes to the tops of mountains may be necessary or sending a wo/man with a message in a stick may be a last resort. A running man gets to places a radio can't! Never send wo/man with a verbal message, always write a message and go with a friend at least.
Computer
It may be CL will have computing facilities for the official log and regular email communication. The problem of a power source may be solved by emergency expedition transport batter power or a kind Alaskan, and access to a 'phone network through the BLM. This would not be for general use.
Meetings
There will be a variety of meetings at all levels, some formal, some informal, some regular, and others once only. If representatives / leaders attend, it is important they write down any information to share with their Fire. In fact always attend any meeting with paper and pencil. The information given will always be of importance and probably require immediate action – failure to comply could have serious consequences,
like missing the 'bus, or aeroplane, or not collecting food or equipment etc.
Radio Procedure
Learn the proper Phonetic Alphabet. Spell difficult words, use numbers as well as their word equivalent e.g. one five, not only fifteen. Be clear in your speech, slower than normal, keep it simple, never swear, repeat message if reception is poor. Know what you are going to say BEFORE you begin. Standard Radio Messages Listen to all the messages to all the Fires, their message may affect you. Answer in alphabetic order. Be ready for the routine radio calls, times to be established in the field, probably 0900 and 2030, or a listening watch for five minutes at these times, or every hour on the hour.
Someone out there will be monitoring our calls. If it is abused we will be told off and our licence revoked!