The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-11-18
FOREST SERVICE
USES RADIOS
Superior National Forest Well
Served by Radios for Fire
and Other Reporting.

A total of forty radio sets are now
in use on the Superior National Forest.
These tranSreceivers are used by fire
guards and small crews for reporting
| fire conditions to the rangers dis
patching office. They are also used by
small isolated trail and portage crews
in the wilderness areas of the forest.
When large fires are burning, the
radios are used in the fire camps and
small portable sets are used on the
| different sectors of the fire line so that
constant communication is maintained
with the fire boss, and he is well in
formed of burning conditions and of
the progress which is being made in
suppression. They have proved in
valuable for this purpose and enable
quick shifting of men and equipment
to meet emergency conditions on diff
ferent sectors of the fire.
One set is maintained in a plane at
Ely which is used for patrol purposes.
As soon as fire is discovered by the
patrol ship, the message is radioed back
to the dispatcher's Office, and a crew
is sent out Immediately. When the
plane takes off at Ely for fire patrol,
the radio sets throughout the forest
from Grand Marais to Ely are tuned in
to catch the observers message.
| The radio sets used are of two general
frequencies. The Superior Forest has
two frequencies assigned in the 5000
kilocycle band. These are 1905 Kc and
1895 Kc, and each side of the forest
has its own frequency to avoid inter
ference. The larger types in this me-
dunn frequency range have 40 watt
output, and it is these sets which are
placed in the rangers office for long
distance communication.
Tests were run during the past sum-
mer to establish scheduled communica-
ton with the Canadian Forest Service
working to Port Arthur and Fort
Francis.
The isolated camps are equipped with
the smaller portable sets of this fire.
quency.
A second type of set which has come
into general use in the past two years
is called the ultra-high The fire.
quency of these sets varies from u to
10 meters, and they have the advantage
of not being susceptible to atmos-
pheric conditions. When static con-
ditions are so bad as to render the
medium frequency sets useless, the
ultra high frequency sets work through
with little interference. They have the
disadvantage, however, of only being
effective over intravisible or nearly in
traviSible paths. For this reason, at
least one of the sets is located at the
top of a 100 foot tower and works to
similar set in an adjacent tower or
| to portable set on the ground
An example of the use of the ultra
high equipment is in the Kekokabic
Lookout Tower in the wilderness area
north of Ely. This tower is IS miles
from the end of the nearest road at
Fernberg, and depends entirely on radio
communication with the Fernberg
tower The sets in these towers are
on different frequencies so that two
way conversation can be carried on as
with telephone; receiving on one fire.
quency and transmitting on the other.
A hookup is also in use on these towers
whereby the ranger at Ely talks over
the telephone 20 miles to Fernberg, and
a telephone to radio hookup is made at
Fernberg, enabling the ranger at Ely
to communicate directly with the Ke-
Kekabic lookout The small portable
"ultra-high' sets weigh only Z pounds
and are carried by the rangers and fire
guards on inspection trips through the
wilderness areas.
CCC boys are trained as operators
of the various types of sets for fire
duty.
Several instances have occurred in
which the radios have contributed to
the saving of human lives by radioing
out emergency messages for a plane to
come in and pick up the victims of
accidents in the interior country. One
such case was that of a CCC fire
fighter who fractured his skull in a
fall from cliff on fire at Rose Lake,
north of Grand Marais. Another case
was that of member of an acquisition
crew north of Ely who incurred severe
ly frozen feet and legs during an I'M
usually cold spell in the middle of the
winter
The use of radio on National Forests
marks another milestone in the per-
lection of fire detection and suppression
technique. In no other phase of forest
administration is quick and reliable
communication so essential and the
U. S. Forest Service is depending more
than ever upon radio in its fight to cut