This product support page is designed to provide additional information to assist you with the use of The ARRL Digital Technology for Emergency Communications Course.

We’ll use this page to post any updates or corrections to the content presented in the course, as well as FAQs link to file or suggestions on using the course.

This course on CD is a new release and a new media for instruction. In this course, we will introduce you to all the ways Amateur Radio operators are using digital technology as a valuable emergency communications tool.

You need not have an Internet connection to run the course, but you will need a browser. (The system requirements are described below.) There are many Web references included in the course that provide supplementary information. You can access these references in situations in which you are connected to the Internet, but this information is not essential to the course.

Using Your Course CD

To run the course:

1) Open your browser and place the disc in your CD-ROM drive. This course is optimized for Internet Explorer 6.0, but will run using Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Apple Safari 3.0 or later versions.

2) The course should open to the introductory window. If not, use your browser “file”, “open” to locate the file on your CD drive called, “default.html.”

3) The course is optimized for a monitor screen resolution setting of 1024 x 768. You may need to adjust your screen display to these settings.

4) Close extra toolbars in your browser to permit a full view of the course window and access to all navigational controls.

5) If you are running the course with an Internet connection, you can click on the URLs within the course to navigate to that site. Depending on your individual browser settings, the links will respond in different ways.

• If you are using IE 7 or Mozilla Firefox with the tab option activated, the sites will open a new tab in your browser. To return to the course, simply click on the course tab. Be careful when closing the window for the linked site. Be sure that you close the tab and not the browser.
• If you are using a browser that does not support tabbed windows or have this option disabled, a new window will open when you click on one of the links within the course. This new window may be full screen and the BACK button will be disabled. To return to the course, simply close the window with the new site in it and the course should be in a separate window still open in the background.

6) Since the course is not designed to write to a CD or to your hard drive, your progress in the course will not be tracked from one session to another. You will need to make note of your location in the course when you exit so you know where to start the next time you begin work with the course.

Note: For those who may be using assistive technology, this content has been tailored for the JAWS screen reading program. Please refer to users manuals for specific questions regarding use of JAWS or other assistive programs. We have made every effort to ensure all content is accessible. In instances where content is redundant (i.e., presented in both text and graphic formats), it is possible that only one format is accessible.

Before starting the course, be sure to conduct the systems tests that are provided in the Systems Requirements users guide in the course. These tests will determine that you have all of the applications installed on your computer that are necessary to access all of the course features.

After you’ve completed the course, the exam feature will allow you to check your understanding of the course content. You can print a certificate to document your success.

Good luck with your studies!

For a list of Course System Requirements, click here.