General
Communications are exchanges of information by two or more parties. The information must be transmitted and received/understood. You must know how to communicate with your leaders and fellow soldiers. You must be able to tell: what you see, what you are doing, what you have done, what you are going to do, what you need.
There are several means of communications. Each has its own capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages. To put these radios to good use, you must first look at some of the things that affect radio communications. To communicate with each other, radios must have a common frequency. They must also be able to transmit and receive the same type signal. Most infantry radios are FM and will not communicate with AM radios. Squelch settings on the radios must also be used correctly.
Factors that affect the range of radio equipment are weather, terrain, antenna, power, and the location of the radio. Trying to communicate near man-made objects such as bridges and buildings may also affect radio transmissions. Interference in the form of static often occurs when you use radios near powerlines or electrical generators. Interference may also come from other radio stations, bad weather, or enemy jamming.
Signal unitsorganic to the airborne force can install air-to-air or air-to-ground communications equipment. There are three communication systems options: a secure communications package that is ultra high frequency (UHF) air-to-air; high frequency (HF) air-to-ground; and satellite communications (SATCOM) air-to-ground and air-to-air. The operator can use a guard receiver to monitor a fixed-frequency channel. The frequency rangeof U.S. Army standard tactical communication systemis 225 MHz to 399.95 MHz and the operator can preset up to 20 channels.