EMERGENCY FEATURE
EMERGENCY AUTOMATIC ID (EAI) FEATURE
The Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) feature can be used for searching for persons who are incapacitated in disasters like earthquakes, especially search-and-rescue personnel who may have become injured in a debris field. In such cases, if another searcher sends out a unique command (CTCSS tone pair), the radio of the incapacitated party, who may not be able to speak or even press the PTT switch, will automatically cause the injured party’s radio to transmit, so others may perform direction-finding and effect a rescue. The callsign of the incapacitated person will also be transmitted, to assist the rescue team.
If an emergency group is working in a dangerous area, all members should engage the EAI feature on their transceiver, so that others can provide assistance to a fallen team member, if necessary.
The Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) Feature has two operating modes: (1) Interval mode and (2) Continuous mode.
In the Interval mode, when the VX-177receives the CTCSS tone pair which is stored in the Receiving Pager Code Memory (configured via Set Mode Item 18: ECS.CDR) on the frequency which is stored in Memory Channel “200” for more than five seconds, the radio will automatically transmit a brief (0.5 second) beep tone every 2.5 seconds until the EAI timer expiration at the power level stored in that memory channel; it is NOT necessary for the incapacitated person to press the PTT switch.
In the Continuous mode, when the VX-177receives the CTCSS tone pair which is stored in the Receiving Pager Code Memory (configured via Set Mode Item 18: ECS.CDR) on the frequency which is stored in Memory Channel “200” for more than five seconds, the radio will automatically transmit (with maximum microphone gain) continuously, until the EAI timer expiration, at the power level stored in that memory channel; it is NOT necessary for the incapacitated person to press the PTT switch.
Furthermore, if your call sign is stored in the radio via Set Mode Item 11: CW WRT and you have
enabled the CW identifier by Set Mode Item 10: CWID, the radio will transmit your callsign on the air when the EAI feature is first engaged by the remote page, and every 10 minutes thereater.
The “callsign” ID can be changed to any desired sequence of characters, such as a name. After sending the callsign or name, the radio will repeatedly transmit three tones for a user- defined period of time (between 1 and 30 minutes). The callsign or name will be transmit- ted every 10 minutes.
