EMERGENCY FEATURE

EMERGENCY AUTOMATIC ID (EAI) FEATURE

The Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) feature can be used to aid in searching for persons who are incapacitated in disasters like earthquakes, especially search-and-rescue personnel who may have become injured in a debris field. When using the EAI feature, a searcher transmits a unique command (CTCSS tone pair), which will automatically cause the injured party’s radio to transmit, so others may perform direction-finding and effect a res- cue. The incapacitated party may not be able to speak or even press the PTT switch. 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 assist a fallen team member, if neces- sary.

The Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) Feature has two operating modes: (1) Interval mode and (2) Continuous mode.

In the Interval mode (when the VX-8Rreceives the CTCSS tone pair), the radio will automatically transmit a brief (0.5 second) beep tone every 2.5 seconds until the EAI timer expiration.

In the continuous mode, the radio will automatically transmit continuously (with maximum microphone gain), until the EAI timer expiration.

The EIA is activated when the CTCSS tone pair stored in the Receiving Pager Code Memory (configured via Set Mode Item 67: PAGE CODE-RX) is received for 5 seconds on the frequency, which is stored in Memory Channel “EAI”. It is NOT necessary for the incapacitated person to press the PTT switch.

If your call sign is stored in the radio and the CW identifier is enabled via Set Mode Item

21:CW ID, the radio will transmit your callsign on the air when the EAI feature is first activated by the remote page, and every 10 minutes thereafter. 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 transmitted every 10 minutes.

The Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) Feature requires that you (1) store the CTCSS Tone Pair into the Receiving Pager Memory (see page 40 for procedure), and (2) store the desired UHF coordination frequency into Memory Channel “EAI” (see page 47 for proce- dure).

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VX-8R OPERATING MANUAL