DT News interview: MCpl Bilodeau on exercise NOBLE SKYWAVE

Video / November 25, 2020

Transcript

(Shelley) Exercise NOBLE SKYWAVE brought together 119 teams from 9 countries to establish voice and data communications between one another via high frequency skywaves.

The CAF had three teams from 2nd Canadian Division and they rocked the competition placing 2nd, 3rd, and 5th, respectively.

During the competition, we spoke to Master Corporal Samuel Bilodeau of the 35 Signal Regiment, who was in the Rock Forest sector in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

(MCpl Bilodeau) Since it’s a joint competition, participants are mainly units from various NATO-member countries. There are also Canadian and American ham radio operators of the C4 program who are participating. Most participants, however, are military members in other countries.

There are different ways to score points using either voice or data. The exercise began in September, when members started to design antennas using design software. We then went on an exercise, our first exercise, when we developed and built them. After that we tuned and tweaked them to perfection. Then we started the NOBLE SKYWAVE exercise; we assembled and then pooled them. We now have about a dozen finished antennas.

There has been active participation at the regimental level for four years. We’ve really come to understand that this competition enables us to hone our skills and become better communicators. High-frequency (HF) communications are very difficult and complex. We need to understand a wide range of parameters. Good, experienced operators know how to manage those parameters. They can distinguish between parameters they know they can interfere with and those they can’t interference with. Simply understanding all these parameters makes you a good operator.

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