I touched on this topic at the end of last week's newsletter, but thought it deserved its own story.
As a young Recon Marine, I spent a considerable amount of time training in communications. It didn’t matter how sneaky you were or how close you could get to a target or how much information you could gather if you couldn’t transmit the info back to the people who needed it for planning.
In the days before satellite communication became prevalent, we relied on High-Frequency radios.
With an HF radio, we could communicate over vast distances using homemade antennas crafted from wire cut to a length that resonated with the frequency.
So, when we were on training missions, the team school-trained communicator took the opportunity to teach those of us with a specialty other than communications.
On one occasion, I had meticulously calculated the correct antenna length, positioned the antenna optimally, connected it to the radio, and attempted to establish communications with a distant station using Morse code.
After several failed attempts to contact the receiving station, the team communicator stopped me and asked, “Why weren’t you able to establish comm?”
I replied, “I don’t know.”
“OK, what are you going to do?”
“I guess I’ll try a different antenna.”
He told me something then that I have always tried to remember.
“Setting up the antenna is the most difficult part of the operation, and it may or may not be the problem. When you are troubleshooting, start as far upstream as possible and move downstream.”
He led me through a series of questions.
What is the first thing a radio needs?” “Power”
Does the radio have power? Yes
Is it on the right frequency? Yes
Do you have the correct encryption? Yes
Are the connections on the Morse code key clean and attached properly? No
After I cleaned and tightened the connection, I was able to establish communications and send a very slow message through a series of dits and dahs.
I could have tried a thousand antennas, and none would have worked because the problem was upstream.
When troubleshooting anything in life, from a faulty toaster to a failing relationship, start as far upstream as possible because everything downstream of the source will be impacted by everything before it.
Until next week,
Keep Walking Point
John
If you have any questions or feedback about today's newsletter or if you'd just like to reach out, email me at john@walkingpoint.org. I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as possible.
