Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Video did not kill the Radio Star!

Sunday, 8 February 2009

Video did not kill the Radio Star!

At 1600 today, all Alpha groups will huddle around their HF90 for the first Radio Raleigh Show of expedition 09A!!

As I have mentioned before our main form of communication with our Alpha groups is via these radios. They radio in twice a day, once to give us what’s called a SITREP (situation report) that lets us know what they have been up to and once to do a radio check and receive or give any messages. All our radio reports follow a set format so that the sender and the receiver are on the same page. Here at field base we have radio speakers around the building that are on all the time and someone sleeps in the radio room should a group need to call in to talk to us.

We all get given radio training about background theory, how to set them up, what frequencies to transmit on and the correct voice procedure, I won’t bore you with all this but it includes things like learning the phonetic alphabet so we can spell words, Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta etc. and using words like Roger, Copy That and I Spell.

In addition to receiving updates on their work it’s also a chance, especially in my case, to have a bit of a chat to the groups!

So back to the important part… each Sunday at 1600 we broadcast Radio Raleigh and with any luck all the Alpha Groups will have their radios on and will be tuned in to hear us! This weekly update includes sports results from around the world (we have around 15 nationalities here so this is a big section), world and entertainment news, fun facts, an update from each Alpha Group and a quiz! I was thinking about having the quiz on New Zealand history as it was Waitangi Day two days ago, but as the only Kiwi in the house this may have been a little unfair!

NB: Luckily the weather has cleared up here, thanks for all the nice comments and sympathy we received from you all!! Unfortunately the snow went as fast as it came so we were unable to get any more photographic evidence for you, you will just have to take our word for it...

5 comments:

Anonymous8 February 2009 at 13:20
Hey Adam,
Looking good fella!! Now get the rest of the barnet cut off!! ha ha. Enjoy! Make the most of it and look out for those snakes!!!
Cath x (Harvey) x
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Anonymous8 February 2009 at 13:52
Hi everyone glad you were back on air - we missed you. Funnily enough it is snowing here again!!! glad your snow has cleared away.......and we were hearing about the kiwis on the london underground celebrating NZ day! Cheers !
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Anonymous9 February 2009 at 11:09
Hi Alpha 4. Hear you have made yourselves a wee home from home in the jungle. Look forward to seeing pictures. Love and hugs to Calum from his family.
Calum's Mum xxx
PS Thanks to the bloggers at fieldbase we almost feel part of the adventure.
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Anonymous10 February 2009 at 07:06
To Hana Damirji
i just wrote you a blog, but not on the most recent one - oops! just so you know to look out for it...eek! i think it was the 1st feb one i wrote it on
love you
emily xxxxxx
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Anonymous10 February 2009 at 07:16
Hello Sean + Alpha 4
We agree with Calum's mum; this is a great blog and I wish I could take part in a similar adventure. Don't worry Sean, I'm not going to up sticks and join you! After we heard you had chocolate supplies, we raided the rest of your Cadburys - we'll replace it in August, honest! Loads of people asking after you. Can't wait for the photos. Fun and fab times to all your group. Deb, Jim, Fin and Lottie xx
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Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”