[ARRL-OK] Fw: The ARES E-Letter for January 16, 2013

[Mark Conklin]

Subject: The ARES E-Letter for January 16, 2013
 

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January 16,
2013Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
ARES E-Letter Archive
ARES Home
ARRL Home Page 
ARRL January VHF
Contest - Perfect for ARES Practice, Too
The ARRL
has added a new "FM Only" category to ARRL VHF contests, starting with the
January VHF Contest, which begins this Saturday, January 19. The contest
starts at 1900 UTC and runs until Sunday night at 0359 UTC. You'll find lots
of "weak signal" VHF operators using high power and sensitive antennas
working hard to work your station on FM. No special gear, no big expense -- you
can operate in this contest and possibly win a certificate using just the
radios you already own.
It's also a perfect opportunity
for ARES, SKYWARN, RACES and CERT teams to test their ability to
communicate without using a repeater, just as you might have to in an actual
emergency. Want to have even more fun? Drive or hike to a local hilltop and you
can exercise your deployment capabilities -- it's like "Field Day In the
Cold!"
You'll find lots of VHF operators hoping to work
YOU! Try transmitting a "CQ Contest" on the following frequencies: 146.550 MHz
simplex; 146.580 MHz simplex; also 52.525 MHz (6 meters); 223.5 MHz (1.25
meters); and 446.0 MHz (70 cm band). Remember under the new rules, you're
limited to 100 watts or less, but that means you'll be on equal footing with
a lot of small stations. A gain antenna (like a beam or Yagi) can really
help, and a high location is a big plus, too. You'll need to know your "grid
square" as that is part of the exchange of reports with other stations. -
Les Rayburn, N1LF, Birmingham, former Alabama SEC [See more discussion in
this issue, from ARRL Contest Update Editor Ward Silver, N0AX and
from Rayburn. - ed.]
 
	* ARRL January VHF Contest - Perfect for ARES Practice, Too
	* Florida Amateurs to Drill with State in Major
Interoperability Exercise
	* Letters: On the Origins of CERT
	* MMSN Celebrates 45 Years of Service
	* Insight: New FM-Only Category Supports ARES
Interests
	* Letters: TERT Response and Mutual Aid in 911
Dispatch Community
	* K5GM Honored for Nearly 30 Years of Service to NTS,
TCC 
	* National Traffic System: BPL Counts That
"Count"
	* K1CE For a Final
Florida Amateurs to
Drill with State in Major Interoperability Exercise
Florida's Division of Emergency Management is running a statewide
interoperable communications exercise entitled "Operation RADAR II," to be held
early next month. According to the state's lead agency for disaster response,
the multi-day exercise emergency communication teams will utilize mobile
communications units and work from Camp Blanding in northeast Florida to
establish communications networks among one another and county Emergency
Operations Centers (EOC) located throughout the state. This exercise has been
designed to fully integrate multiple communications systems located across
Florida into an effective emergency communications network. Amateur Radio
programs have been invited, and will participate, according to ARRL Northern
Florida Section Manager Paul Eakin, KJ4G.
Exercise
objectives include identification of shortfalls in resources, limits in
capabilities, and conflicts in planning for interoperable communications;
demonstration of the ability to communicate throughout the emergency response
community and establish interoperable voice and data communications between
federal, state, and local first responders; evaluation of response partners'
ability to share necessary, appropriate data in all environments; and
demonstration that all response partners can effectively share information between
communication modes.
Participation is by invitation
only, and entities and individuals must apply for and be registered
accordingly. Eakin reports that the exercise will be like Field Day, with amateurs
bringing "everything we will need to accomplish the tasks we are given,
including antennas, extra coax, connectors, spare radios, computers, wire,
baluns, generators (gensets), tables and chairs, pens, paper, programming
software and cables and the list goes on." "We will have to set up our own
equipment and antennas, build operating stations, operate and tear down."
Eakin said that amateurs will need to have an elaborate
command post up and running prior to the start of the exercise. The exercise
scenario is a hurricane and will be managed under the Incident Command System
(ICS). The Amateur Radio unit will be operating as an "agency unit," Eakin
said. It will be given tasks relating to Amateur Radio, and is shown as
part of the ICS in a Power Point planning guide, which can be found here. HF tasks will be assigned, and digital modes testing
will be enhanced in the tasking, said Eakin.
Chosen
applicants will be sent an official e-mail giving instructions on how to register
on the state's exercise web page to receive their credentials. Walk-ons
will not be admitted at Camp Blanding without proper ID from the Florida
state EOC. Eakin said that "it is a precedent set by the FL-EOC to ask Amateur
Radio to come into Operation Radar at this level of responsibility to
participate and assist. The outcome of our performance may very well move
Amateur Radio forward in the eyes of citizens, served agencies, press and
government leaders." Section Manager Eakin is also the Florida State EOC's liaison
for Amateur Radio.
Letters: On the Origins of CERT
I read your
column in the January 2013 issue of QST regarding ARES and CERT. I'd
like to provide a little historical perspective indicating that an ARES/CERT
affiliation existed long before FEMA adopted the concept which, in fact,
was created by local government. In the early 1980's the Coronado
(California) Police Department, where I served as Police Chief, had a very large and
active ARES program and as we were responsible for emergency preparedness in
the city our department also had an active citizen emergency preparedness
program. The nearby city of San Diego, through its fire department,
developed the CERT concept. Indeed I believe they were the originator of it. My
department's Emergency Preparedness coordinator, Sergeant Dick Stolpe,
suggested that we "marry" our ARES program into a CERT approach and we did
exactly that. Sergeant Stolpe's suggestion was soon copied by multiple other
cities in Southern California, which saw the advantages of a citizens emergency
response team having the reliable communications services that only
Amateur Radio could provide. - Jerry Boyd, N7WR, former Chief of Police,
Coronado, California
MMSN Celebrates
45 Years of Service
Thursday, January 3, 2013,
marked the 45th anniversary of the Maritime Mobile Service Network. The need
for the type of volunteer service provided by the network had existed for
many years. The launching of an organization to meet this need was placed on
the drawing board when nine Amateur Radio operators met at the home of
Chaplain Alla Winston Robertson, USN, WB4AKB (now KB5YX), on December 27,
1967. Those meeting with Robertson were: S.C. Rock, WA4YVQ; Mel White, WA4IQS;
D. Freeman, K1YLI; J.G. Kincade, WA4YVX; Art Werner, K3QYQ; H. Bretches,
K4DBR; L.B. Lapman, W4SAW; and G.W. Powell, WA4RRO. This group agreed to
launch the Maritime Mobile Service Network, or MMSN, on January 3, 1968 at 2130
UTC on 14.320 MHz but had to move to 14.317 MHz a few weeks later to avoid
excessive interference. In 1969, when the net moved to 14.313 MHz, it also
established 14.300 MHz as an alternate working frequency and for years
operated on either frequency depending on nearby interference, but, since
before 2000, the net has been operating exclusively on 14.300 MHz.
The original purpose of the MMSN was to "Serve Those Who Serve" in
the United States military during the Vietnam crisis. Since that time, the
network has grown considerably in hours of operation and services provided,
and consisting of a dedicated group of radio amateurs who unselfishly
volunteer their time, equipment, and efforts to serve and assist those in need
of communications from foreign countries and the high seas. Our primary
purpose now is that of handling legal third party traffic from maritime
mobiles, both pleasure and commercial, and overseas-deployed military personnel.
We also help missionaries in foreign countries, and volunteer net control
stations from throughout North America maintain the network. Furthermore,
these stations are assisted by relay stations to ensure total coverage of the
Atlantic ocean, Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, and eastern Pacific
ocean.
The network has been formally recognized for its
work in handling emergency traffic by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, the United States Coast Guard and the National Weather Service.
The Maritime Mobile Service Network has grown in hours of
operation from a five-hour net operating seven days a week to the nine-hour
format today, which is from 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time and until 9:00 PM during standard time. In the early years, phone patch traffic
was heavy, with estimates of over 10,000 pieces of traffic handled each
year from 1968-1977. One of our net control stations, Dave Wagner, WA2DXQ, in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ran well over 1000 phone patches during the
two-year period of 1977-1978, mostly to United States Navy (USN) ships in the
Mediterranean and Red Sea but also to a few missionaries and both private and
commercial vessels. Though the need for phone patch traffic has diminished
considerably over the past 15 to 20 years, the need is still there. If it
hadn't been for a number of our net control stations equipped with a phone
patch, some rescues the net's been involved in would not have been as
successful.
Many mariners in the Caribbean Islands, Central
and South America and the Gulf of Mexico view the network as a resource for
weather information as well as a safety valve and trusted contact point
for essential communications. In 2003, Frank Kelley, N3FK (SK), said "I would
be remiss if I didn't say something about a great lady who used the net to
get assistance with numerous medical problems. She was Ruth Paz, HR2RP,
located in San Pedro Sula, Honduras." Frank was stationed in Panama from
1975-1977, and Ruth was a net control station for the MMSN during that time.
Continuing, he stated "Ruth was a nurse and was the only medical person in
her area. She used the net to get medical advice, medical evacuations and
medicine in and out of Honduras. While I was stationed in the Canal Zone, Ruth
ran many patches to the Gorgas Army Hospital in Panama. She used the
tropical disease section on Gorgas to save and help many people from Honduras,
many of whom were bitten by exotic creatures. At the time Gorgas was the
place for anything tropical." Today, phone patch traffic has subsided, but
there remain some net control stations to help many of the missionaries
and doctors in various locations with phone patching for assistance they
can't otherwise obtain. Since March 2000, the net's been featured in many
publications such as QST, publicizing the help and rescues of people in
life and death situations.
Notable Rescues
There have been two notable rescues effected by MMSN nearly one
year apart: the S/V Hayat on March 27, 2000 off the northeast coast of
Honduras, and the S/V Lorna on March 20, 2001, off the northeast coast of
Venezuela and west of Trinidad. In each case, one passenger was seriously injured
from gun fire from modern day pirates and thankfully both survived.
The Maritime Mobile Service Network has a legacy of service
that will continue due to the selfless volunteer Amateur Radio operators
donating their time to train and be ready to help each and every day. Without
such devotion, the net wouldn't be able to do what it does. As a member, I
want to say a big thank you to all who've served in the past as well as
those serving now. It's been a great 45 years, and may the net last to see
another 45 years and more.
In honor of celebrating our
45th anniversary, the Maritime Mobile Service Network unveiled a new website design as well as
announced our presence on FaceBook. We welcome everyone to visit our new-look
website as well as signing our new "Guest Book" and liking us on FaceBook.
-- Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Brandon, Mississippi
Insight: New FM-Only Category Supports ARES
Interests
The ARRL January VHF Contest offers an
FM-Only category for the first time. The goal is, of course, to encourage new
hams that have never used the "weak signal" modes to do a bit of DXing and
find out what their stations are capable of. Contests are a terrific way to
do just that but communicating with the target audience requires
understanding their needs and expectations. Les Rayburn, N1LF, posted a
thoughtful discussion on this topic to the VHF contesting
reflector - it is food for thought for all of us who participate in both emcomm
and radiosport. Thanks, Les. -- Ward Silver, NØAX, Editor, ARRL
Contest Update, January 2, 2013, issue
_______
As the previous Section Emergency Coordinator for Alabama, I
understood that FM simplex capability translated to a greater level of
capability during an emergency. Amateurs who improved their stations on simplex,
also benefited by being able to reach more distant repeaters, which is a huge
advantage during severe weather. Some "lessons learned" from
cross-promoting FM activity during VHF contests were:
1) Tailor your message to
your audience. I didn't try to pitch it as a "contest" as much as an exercise
when talking to ARES, SKYWARN, and CERT groups. We encouraged them to test
their ability to communicate without the aid of a repeater, as they might
have to do in an emergency. We also encouraged Field Day-type operations
from high locations.
2) Concentrating activity in a three- to five-hour
period is going to be more successful than just putting out the dates and
times for a two-day long contest. Nothing is less interesting than "dead
air" to a non-contester. (It's not all that interesting to a contester,
either - N0AX.)
3) It's vital that weak-signal operators monitor the
FM simplex channels and participate during those concentrated activity
periods. I tried to utilize the afternoon hours on Saturday, when conditions
are poorest---so that operators didn't miss out on a lot of contacts on SSB
and CW but that doesn't work well in June when six meters is liable to be
open.
The point is that weak-signal operators often turn their nose up
at FM - and this hurts the effort. If you give a new operator a taste of
DX, they may become hooked for life. The best way to accomplish this is to
get those "monster signals" active on FM. If your local big gun doesn't 
support FM contesting, then try to change their mind on the topic.
You should hear some of the reactions you get from newcomers when they
discover they can communicate 75-100 miles or more on their FM rig without a
repeater. This is easily possible with a high-performance weak-signal
station on one end of the contact.
4) Talk up the event on your local FM
nets, club meetings, etc. Tailor the message to the crowd. A DX club isn't
going to respond to the same "pitch" as your local ARES team.
5) Poll
your club and see who has 222 MHz FM capability. I always make it a point to
schedule contacts with those operators on 223.5 MHz simplex.
6) In
the last few days before the contest, make a lot of calls on 146.52 MHz and
talk to operators there about the contest. They understand the concept of
simplex and use it often. They're your best candidates for participation in
the contest. Nothing in the rules forbids promoting the contest on 146.52 prior to the event!
7) Don't get discouraged by the naysayers.
The FM-Only category is a great idea, but it needs the active support of
the weak signal community to work! -- Les Rayburn, N1LF, reprinted from the
January 2, 2013, issue of the ARRL Contest Update
Letters: TERT Response and Mutual Aid in 911
Dispatch Community
You might find this article from
APCO of interest. It's about the deployment (and the process) of additional
personnel from unaffected 911 call centers to areas affected by storm
Sandy. http://psc.apcointl.org/2012/12/20/ny-tert-response-to-hurricane-sandy/ -- Robert Bauer, KC4HM, ARRL Life Member, kc4hm at arrl.net
K5GM Honored for Nearly
30 Years of Service to NTS, TCC 
Pete Jordahl,
K5GM, of Austin, Texas, who recently retired as the ARRL National Traffic
System, Cycle 4, Transcontinental Corps Director in the Central Area, was
honored recently by the ARRL NTS Central Area Staff and ARRL Headquarters for
his 29 plus years of service as a TCC Director.
The
duties of this position include assuring that Transcontinental Corps stations
are available seven days a week to make schedules with TCC stations in
other parts of the United States and Canada to facilitate the movement of third
party messages in service to the public. Pete has been a faithful and
reliable member of the staff, and he made sure these positions were covered
every day. He often covered positions himself when operator power was short.
Pete retired from his position on August 1, 2012. 
Jordahl received a plaque for his diligent and reliable service to ARRL and the
public. Thank you, Pete! -- Richard Webb, NF5B, Chair, NTS Central Area
Staff
National Traffic System:
BPL Counts That "Count"
The Counting
Basics. From its inception, the intent of the Brass Pounders League (BPL) monthly
award has been to recognize individual operator dedication in "handling" a
significant amount of messages in proper radiogram format. An operator's
monthly BPL count is self-reported - without verification -- to the Section
Manager (or Section Traffic Manager) who issues award certificates and
reports operator results to ARRL Headquarters. Summary results are published in QST. BPL awardee-operators attaining three (3) monthly BPL awards
are eligible for the coveted medallion issued by League HQ. This article
restates the long-standing policy on the proper BPL counting to be used in
submitting monthly counts for the award.
The BPL award is
given for each operator reporting at least 500 messages each month (total
of received, sent, delivered and originated), or at least 100 originated
messages, and is based on counting "points" for particular categories of
message-handling:
Received - One point for each
message in proper format received by the operator over the air. This point is
earned whether received for relaying (sending) or for delivery to a third
party (not including the receiving operator) addressee. A message received by
the operator addressed to that operator counts as a received point.
Sent - One point for each properly formatted message
sent by the operator over the air to another operator. This point is earned
either when the operator is relaying a message, or sending an originated
message (see below). A message that the operator initiates and sends only
counts as a sent message point.
Delivered - One
point for each message in proper format delivered by the operator to a third
party addressee. This point is counted as an "off-the-air" function. If the
message is addressed to the receiving station, it only counts as a received
message, not also a delivered message.
Originated - Extra credit of one point is given for each message from a third party
for sending by the operator over the air in the proper format. Originated
messages earning the extra point are an "off-the-air" function in
recognition of the public service value. BPL counts should not include the
originated extra point for messages created by the sending operator (not a third
party).
Digital Station Counting
Beginning in the late 80s and early 90s, digital-mode store-and-forward
operations (packet BBS and HF MBO stations) emerged as an effective method for
rapidly relaying messages. Auto-forwarding of messages posted on such stations
typically involves no operator intervention in actually "handling" the
relay of each message. An initial NTS policy position on the proper BPL
counting by auto-receiving/forwarded stations was published by HQ staff in the
August 1990 issue of QST (at page 68), providing, in part: "The award
is limited to those who actively, manually perform relay functions using
their key, paddle, mike or keyboard. It is not for managers of automated
stations where traffic introduced by others passes automatically with no
operator intervention." (See also the ARRL Public Service Communications
Manual, Section 10.2; and the ARRL Operating Manual for Radio
Amateurs, 10th ed., at page 5-17.) This position was validated by the ARRL Board
standing committee having jurisdiction over the National Traffic System.
In the March 1991 issue of QST (at page 70),
additional guidelines sought to clarify the issue, adding, in part: "Installing
and maintaining a voice repeater is a big job, as is maintaining a packet,
AMTOR or other type of BBS. But it's the message handling itself, not the
provision of the medium that we recognize with the BPL. BBS System Operators
(SysOps) are not excluded from BPL recognition . . . A SysOp who manually
transfers a radiogram from an NTS net . . . into his BBS files for
autoforwarding, earns two BPL points: one for receiving it on the net and the second
for "sending" it to the BBS for further relay down the road. When a
radiogram is posted on the BBS and the SysOp takes it for delivery or relay to a
local net, he may count one point for receiving the message over Amateur
Radio and one point for the delivery . . . or for sending, if he transmits it
to another amateur manually, not automatically. If the SysOp has to
manually modify a radiogram posted by a user (to edit an improperly constructed
header, for instance), we allow two BPL points - one for receiving it and one
for sending it. The key is manual intervention, which we reward with BPL
credits." Parallel articles emphasizing this policy guidance appeared in
several additional League publications that same year.
Counts Need to "Count"
For the BPL award (and the
Medallion) to retain its distinguished character, it is important that volunteer
report integrity remain true to the award's intent by proper and consistent
counting. It is hoped that this restatement will help serve that end. This
guidance will be added to the next edition of the Public Service
Communications Manual. - Rob Griffin, K6YR, Chairman, Pacific Area Staff, National
Traffic System and Santa Barbara Section Manager; and Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL
Headquarters
The Indian River
County (Florida) Amateur Radio Emergency Service® held their annual
holiday party on December 12, 2012 -- 12/12/12. When it was learned that
members Eric Larabell, KF4UJO, and Lisa Lindner, KK4CIE, were being married
earlier that day the party turned into a surprise wedding reception, complete
with wedding cake and champagne toast! - Sherri Brower, W4STB, Southern
Florida Section Manager  
K1CE For a Final
I almost
hate to bring this up after such a devastating 2012 hurricane season - the
loss of life and property was of epic proportions - but NOW is the peacetime
to prepare for this year's season, which runs from June 30 to November 30.
The National Hurricane Conference (March 25-28, New Orleans) and the
Governor's Hurricane Conference (Florida, May 5-10, Ft. Lauderdale) will once
again be good venues for learning and training, planning and networking.
Meeting details to come. Attendees can count on a robust Amateur Radio presence,
which is sure to include major related forums and coffee klatches, exhibits
and presentations. And, of course, get your stations ready, and prepare
your household and neighborhood disaster response and survival kits and
plans. Now is the time to start a CERT team in your neighborhood - see January QST's Public Service column on that topic for ideas.
______
Last but not least, remember our friends and
colleagues in other hurricane-prone areas of Region 2 - Bermuda, Bahamas,
the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico - as you plan and prepare your
hurricane response capability for this season coming up. I just returned
from a week of touring several Caribbean island-nations, and listened to their
residents talk of more severe weather and storms from climate change,
destruction and lives lost from previous storms and how they count on the
United States for aid and assistance following such calamities. They are poorer
than us, and do not have the response planning and resources that we have
here in the U.S. Be prepared to assist on nets such as the Hurricane Watch
Net, VoIP Hurricane Net, and the network operations of WX4NHC, the famous
group of operators at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida,
whether it is relaying transmissions and messages or standing by and conveying
situation reports from affected stations to the media to make the public
aware of the plights of our fellow radio amateurs and the residents of other
affected countries. But, always bear in mind perhaps the Number One tenet in
disaster response and emergency communications: Never transmit unless
instructed to do so by net control or stations in the affected areas. Listen
more, transmit only if truly necessary.
_______
Hope to see some of you at the upcoming hurricane conferences
this spring. Happy New Year! 73, Rick K1CE
________
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