as Go!! pointed out, most people can pick up and figure out a 138 set with a little bit of fooling around, as it's all text based menus."
I'm calling BS on this one
to set up a channel in the scratch pad of a 138 is almost the identical process as the 522, second, the 138 in HF freqs needs ALE to be effective for use, which is a time consuming repetitive process full of mystery variables. Yes you can get a Crypto and hopping card for the 138, however hopping on HF is not as useful as VHF true it has overlapping bandwidth, but there are much fewer channels available on the 138 compared to the 522, and the fact that the crypto card is designed for civvies, and is way under secure for our purposes.
Yes it's nice to read that the setting it's asking you to confirm is bandwidth offset in KHz or interleaving is on but that's pretty useless to an infanteer who just wants to dial in a freq and talk isn't it?
the 138 does not make comms easier, and the 77 set was no more simple than the 522 to put in a freq and talk
The 522 however is not a simple piece of kit, or one that can be figured out without either a manual, an instructor, or cheat sheets.
77 set
1) turn it on
2) dial in your freq
3) push to talk
4) hope there is no problems and you get comms
522
1) select CH 1 and PT
2) turn it on
3) punch in your freq
4) if no error alarms you should can talk
oh, and now you have the option of med power in man pack configuration, and high in vehicle (or if you know a friendly tech, manpack too) which you didn't with the 77 set
you can also load your crypto into the same box, instead of loading it into another box that also uses more batteries and a wad of sketchy cables
oh, and if you take the time you can program in hopping which was not possible with 77 sets and for large deployment of hopping use the DTD... that sets the Channels up as virtual channels that hop, with crypto even!
if you need an RRB all you need is a little coaxial cable, with the 77 sets we didn't bother doing this because the kit was veh mounted only.
Sure the main goal in the end is to talk, just like with the 77 set, however it's pretty hard to do that when the enemy has intercepted and or DFed your position and is lobbing HE at you, since the equipment to do that is a lot more readily available these days than the days of the 77 set.
But that being said, that user interface should be designed to make the programming/setup functions as simple and streamlined as possible. The user interface needs to be designed from a task-oriented perspective, not an internal-machine-state perspective.
I agree and I am PRO redesign the interface, however asking that we bin the system and buy an inadequate off the shelf system that is not as secure, nor does anything more than we can now, and most cases less and pretty much say that the millions spent on the project was wasted (I'm pretty sure the Canadians requesting these capabilities spurred the modernization of CNR as the TCCCS project started in the 70s), is not going to happen, an I say lets focus on making what we have work, which is going to accept that it takes more the 5 minutes to teach everything about the 522, but it is simpler to use than for example setting up an internet router.
A simple UI redesign could greatly reduce the setup/configure/use complexity that everybody talks about, without compromising the feature set of the radio.
I'd like to see a simpler interface that does everything the current one does without subjecting you to endless text based menus like the 138, maybe the endless text messages are better for novice users, but I hate them, I know what I want to do and I want to do it now, not in 20 minutes of pressing up and enter.
Your unit doesn't use any more or less of the features then anyone else. Get over it.
so let me get this straight... everyone says the radio doesn't work, is to hard, and has to many unused features, I point out that we use them all, and we don't find it hard, and you guys reply that it's easy to use, and you guys use all the features.... right... pick a stance please.
Didn't you say above that a weekend crash course isn't enough time to teach the radios? Make up your mind.
More to the point, courtesy of skill-fade, and how rapidly it seems to happen with the TCCCS gear, I'd be curious how many of those you taught the comms course to could still do the same a month later.
bingo give the guy a prize please, in a weekend I can teach a bunch of people how to get basic comms and trouble shoot the radio and I bet 50 bucks they all still know how to use basic comms and trouble shoot, however none of them is going to remember how to program TOD or hoping because they don't use it... the solution is not an easier (HAH) interface, the solution is to always use the kit to it's fullest, combatting skill fade, the same reason you do range practice and field exercises.
You've got an infanteer, one of the primary end users of the manpack configured radios, telling you that it's no good as a manpack radio, and you're arguing with him. This is some of the same logic that produced the tac-vest and keeps us with chest pockets instead of sleeve pockets. Think about it.
no I've got an infanteer crying cause he has to let go of his emotional attachment to an ancient piece of kit who states the replacement is too hard to use, and full of extra unneeded features who then tells me it's easy to use and they use all the features.
Many of the arguments he's using were heard when we went from the FN to the C7. Every piece of kit we have is going to have problems, the key is to improve the kit, not abandon it in another futile search of a better off the shelf solution that will come with a completely new set of problems who someone else will complain and recommend binning for another set of off the shelf.... and on and on.
I agree the Tac Vest is not as good as it could be, but I don't want to go back to webbing, just give me a detachable butt pack for my rain gear, and modular mag pouches which is not that hard for them to retro fit and I'll be happy, and the tac vest will be much better than the webbing ever was. The problem is not the kit, the problem is the people who are controlling how the kit is used, another tac vest is not going to help that we still have chest pockets, we need to alter the thinking of people who think chest pockets are crucial in winning the battle, and get them to realize that how we look has no bearing on our success (on the same note I would love to be able to have my belt pouches mounted on my left strap, but can't because of the mentality of persons who outrank me)
it's got text based scroll through menus. Nice and simple.
I beg to differ the 138 is a prime example of engineers showing off each feature without thought to the end user, just try to set up ALE and that should be appearant, the only reason it's "easier" is you get to read text and scroll through the settings which is set up WORSE than the CI.
Not really sure what you're talking about when you say adding the components to make our legacy kit do what a 522 does, as none of our other kit does what the 522 does.
you can add a Vinson box to the 77 set but it's an external module, and no you can't hop with the 77 set.
btw Vinson is old tech and on it's way out.
Don't know about your computer, but mine has a very nice point and click interface with pretty pictures and words describing what said pictures mean. No need to remember bizzare number combinations. Most kindergarten students can figure out how to use a PC with minimal instruction. Shall we give them a 522 to see if we achieve the same result?
Actually To configure my computer to talk to other computers I have to know:
1) How am I connecting to the internet, directly, through a large network, through a gateway or through a Router
2) Should I have a Dynamically set IP or a static, if so what Gateway address should I use, whats my subnet mask, what DNS Servers am I using, how do I set these, do I have to set my card to 10 MB/S or can I leave it at auto sensing.
3) For protection, how to I set up my firewall, what if I have other computers behind me, how do I set them up for the firewall, each firewall is different and there are 100s to choose from.
4) do I go with wired Ethernet and if so what flavour cat3, cat 5, cat5e or cat 6?
5) do I go with WiFi, if so B or G? What Encryption should I use? none, WEP, WPA, if WPA - open or shared?
which is a lot harder than even with the point and click interface than:
1) select CH 1 and PT
2) turn it on
3) punch in your freq
4) if no error alarms you should can talk
I have no time for someone who can get onto the internet but complains that the 522 is too hard to use. We are living in an electronic age and you have to keep up or get left behind.
The entire TCCCS system however needs to eventually be binned in favor of something better
like what? all TCCCS needs is a face lift, modify the UI to be a bit more friendly and we'd have the best system out there bar none.
You just jumped out of a plane with a 110lb rucksack, which contains a radio. You landed alright, found your unit, are slightly concussed, and it is dark, minus 40 and snowing. You fire up the 522 and get a few error messages and a crypto alarm. Without standing up, or using a flashlight, and with your numb fingers, fix your radio - the OC needs to give orders! NOW!!!
I have watched experienced jimmies screw this up under these conditions, so while the medic on DZ coverage just becomes the master, switches channels and configures the headsets so they can talk to each other with the intercom, the guy in the field is under totally different conditions.
1) your radio should have been programmed and had a full bit test before you even boarded the craft. If it was, turning it off then on again should solve the problem.
2) the 77 set used to just stop working on it's own too... true the solution was usually to slam the darn thing against the nearest stationary object, but a slightly concussed Jimmie in either instance might not understand what the problem is.
The 138 has exactly what each button and dial does written on it, they are backlit, or glow in the dark, and as a result, is much easier to use.
BS in that situation I guarantee the 138 requiring a total reprogram as when they fail they ususally loose their programming, would take 4 - 5 times longer just because you have to scroll through all the darn menus and can't skip redundant and default settings.
A 522 only needs a translucent keypad and an led linked to the display to have back lit keys... don't think that justifies binning the whole thing... nevermind that that would blow your light discipline all to hell
This is also the time when the backup radio operator should be trying to get comms, in fact your secondary operator should have a 138 and a small bag of spare parts and what not.
Just because we have a piece of kit, and you happen to know how to use it, does not make it the best item for us, you must always look for the next, greatest thing, because, as the saying goes, standing still means you are falling further behind.
sure, but we are in the CF, I doubt we will ever get the best piece of kit available, and if we do it will never be the best build of the equipment, we can't afford to wait for a better piece of kit that will never come, we have to learn how to effectively employ what we have now. That is what we excel at.
I have nostalgia for the old 77 and 46 sets too, love telling the SOP to fix a crystallized handset on the old kit to the new guys, but I know that the new kit is better and keeps us safer from those that do us harm...
just because our current enemy doesn't attack us this way yet, doesn't mean it won't happen, there is a reason the Russians are worried about comm sec and making their radios look like other equipment.
