[ARRL-OK] The ARES E-Letter for November 20, 2013

[Mark Conklin]

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Subject: The ARES E-Letter for November 20, 2013
 


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November 20,
2013Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
ARES E-Letter Archive
ARES Home
ARRL Home
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In This Issue:
 
	* Philippines Disaster
Update as of November 16
	* Letters: "Localization of Response," CERT on Long
Island
	* Letters: Fiscal Value of Amateur Radio
	* Letters: Los Angeles Fire Department CERT
Administrator Also Champion for Change
	* Letters: Code of Conduct
	* Hospital Press Release Cites Amateurs as Partners
in Emergency Response
	* Linked Ham Radio Repeater System Instrumental in
Hiker Rescue
	* Lake County ARES Supports the 39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle Festival
	* K1CE For a Final
Philippines Disaster
Update as of November 16
More than a week after
being hit by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in one of the worst natural disasters
in recent history, survivors of the central Philippines have basic needs of
food, water and medicine, shelter, evacuation, communication and power.
The Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) and its
Ham Emergency Radio Operation (HERO) network continue providing emergency
communications, and at the request of authorities is starting to expand its
locations and facilities. Ramon Anquilan, DU1UGZ, Vice Chief Operating
Officer of PARA, confirms that HERO stations are continuing to work. He thanks
the world for keeping 7.095 MHz clear for urgent traffic.
Working with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), PARA is
looking at potential sources for needed communications equipment. PARA also
had two representatives present at a meeting chaired by the Commissioner of
NTC, Gamaliel A. Cordoba.
Anquilan said the NTC has
requested that communications coverage from Borongan be expanded to the
adjacent town and further. The idea is to set up an HF station in the farthest
town that can be accessed. "Given the new task that NTC wants us to meet, we
will be needing stations that can be deployed and dismantled at a moment's
notice. On the excellent offer of the ARRL, I have requested it to provide
at least four HF stations and a repeater."
Anquilan said
that the PARA/HERO effort "is going now to the difficult phase. The
operators that are needed should come from the outside because our locals will
not budge from their locations as they have to fend for themselves and their
families - they are victims too of this disaster. There are other willing
radio amateurs but usually they don't have the proper equipment."
Anquilan reported that in one of the worst hit areas of Tacloban
(where 90% of its buildings have been lost), the Negros Oriental Radio
Assistance Dumaguete (NORAD7) team is on its way to provide an additional HF
station. "The team is bringing much needed relief goods along with operators
Rey Boy Manaay, 4D7DSW, and Eric Mite, DW7DTR, who are trained in rescue.
Experienced operator Darwin Torres, 4F1FZE, is joining the efforts at
Tacloban and is expected to improve VHF coverage in the area, and extend HF
coverage as well. Torres is embedded with a relief team from Manila."
The Philippines Amateur Radio Association and its HERO network
have a long road ahead as it slowly gains the necessary resources for its
operations. -- Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster
Communications Committee
Please see also the extensive
coverage of the disaster and response on the ARRL web site: http://www.arrl.org/news-features and especially the latest issue of the ARRL Letter, November
14, 2013.
In other incidents, an outbreak of
tornadoes and high winds on November 17 killed six people in Illinois and injured
hundreds of others, some seriously. ARRL Illinois official Tom Ciciora,
KA9QPN, reported that Peoria County ARES Emergency Coordinator Fritz Bock,
WD9FMB, responded with a team of volunteers to a Central Illinois Division Red
Cross request for emergency communication support between sites in
Washington, Illinois -- a town of approximately 11,000 residents and hardest-hit
by the storm activity -- and the Red Cross office in Peoria. Most of the
injuries occurred in Washington. Full story here. -- from ARRL
Just
posted to the ARRL web site news: MARS 48 Hour
Test Deemed "Unequivocal Success." The MARS station at ARRL's Maxim
Memorial Station, AAN1ARL, took part in the November 3-5 exercise, which, the
Chief of Army MARS said was "designed to test and stress our networks and our
members' ability to process and respond to a variety of message
traffic."
Top-of-Page
Letters:
"Localization of Response," CERT on Long Island
Our Town of
Huntington (in northwestern Suffolk County, Long Island, New York)
ARES/RACES group employs some of the aspects you discussed in the October 2013 issue
of the ARES E-Letter. ICS 100/700 classes are mandatory for all of
our members. The EC and some AEC's have taken ICS 200, SKYWARN and CERT
training. The CERT class was a great hands-on course, showing what you can do
to keep yourself and neighbors safe before first responders arrive.
Our deployment protocol for an event is based on the member's
proximity to a key location (fire house, police station, EOC, et cetera).
On an as-needed basis, each member will cover the location closest to their
QTH -- usually less than one mile away. Only the EC and AEC's operate net
control from the EOC. We don't want amateur operators driving around in
hazardous conditions.
Immediately following an event (the
ARRL SET being our last), we debrief and submit an After Action Report
(AAR). The AAR is distributed to all members, so that lessons can be learned.
In regards to NBEMS as discussed in your last issue, our served agency
was impressed with our ability to send ICS forms so easily. We have been
practicing weekly sending MT-63 messages via 2 meter FM repeater and simplex.
Thanks to the VOA radiogram transmissions, our latest venture now is
sending images using MSFK. Our weekly net consists of a 2 meter FM repeater
portion followed by a simplex session that alternates between 2 meter FM simplex
and 10 meter SSB. Finally the net wraps up with a message being sent on
the 2 meter FM repeater with NBEMS.
Having the weekly net
with different frequencies removes the anxiety of "what frequency do I
use?" and "what was your call sign?" Thus, call signs are familiar and don't
need to be repeated. Radios are already pre-programmed with the correct
frequencies. Any coverage and antenna issues have been corrected over time so
that simplex can be relied upon: We are aware of which stations need relays,
and work accordingly. The element of surprise (and link failure) is
eliminated. 
The EC and AEC's meet monthly on Echolink. We work out ideas in
a conference call forum, from the comfort of our homes. We also use Dropbox to keep our latest ARES/RACES files accessible to
all.
We keep all training and activity on one night. Since
we already run a weekly net, we also removed the monthly meeting for the
general membership, and now meet every six months. More members show up when
there are fewer meetings. We make sure to have a demo of some kind, to
keep interest. For example, last month I showed a Power Point presentation and
performed an NBEMS demo. 
We do use text and e-mail to
keep members informed. We use a good old-fashioned phone tree to notify
members of our meetings; it works surprisingly well. -- Steven W. Hines,
N2PQJ, RACES Radio Officer and ARES Emergency Coordinator, Town of
Huntington, Suffolk County - Long Island, New York, Twitter:
@RACESHuntington
Top-of-Page
Letters: Fiscal
Value of Amateur Radio
Regarding your MASH UP article
in the last issue, in addition to the benefits you mention, both the
public and the served agencies need to understand the fiscal value that ham
radio provides. The presentation by Art Goddard, W6XD, (http://youtu.be/xmT1BXyZsy8) could
not spell out the purposes of our amateur license grants any better.
Just as fiscal grant recipients must be held accountable for spending grant
money strictly according to grant guidelines, Amateur Radio must do the
same. As a long-time employee in the commercial wireless industry, I can
assure you that there are many companies licking their chops to bid their
billions for the "underutilized amateur bandwidth."
As an
example of proving the fiscal value of Amateur Radio, recently antenna zoning
regulations came under sharp attack in the City/County of San Diego. When
draconian antenna zoning changes were proposed, the San Diego DX Club
rallied around the cause and clearly illustrated to the City/County the fiscal
value of Amateur Radio: the number of hams in the county; the value of their
equipment; the number of hours dedicated to served agencies, including
them; et cetera. This information was all refined into a simple to understand
figure of something in excess of $2.5 million of demonstrable fiscal
benefit to the City/County. As a direct result of this action, the City/County
backed off the draconian platform and negotiated a more realistic change with
local amateurs.
Yes, Amateur Radio is cool. Yes,
technology is cool. But we have to remember that the fabric (spectrum) of
wireless communications is extremely valuable, and becoming more so each day. In
order to preserve it for generations of amateurs to come, our fraternity
absolutely must put our business hats on and make sure we know how to swim in
the tank with the "business sharks," or we'll end up being a mashed up
mess. - Fred Kleber, K9VV, Section Manager and Section Emergency
Coordinator, US Virgin Islands
Top-of-Page
Letters:
Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Administrator Also Champion for
Change
In re your lead editorial in last month's issue,
Captain Stacy Gerlich, KJ6EPQ, Administrator of the Los Angeles Fire Department
CERT Program, was also honored in the Champions for Change program and
event. Capt. Gerlich was unable to attend the event and her award was picked up
by Capt. Christopher Cooper, Administrator of the LAFD Disaster
Preparedness Unit. As you may be aware, the LAFD originated the CERT Program and
Capt. Gerlich was a tireless promoter for CERT -- first as an LAFD CERT
Trainer, then as Program Administrator. Capt. Gerlich suggested we add Amateur
Radio to the LAFD CERT Program several years ago, so we did. I wrote the
Communications Plan with Capt. Kevin Nida, LA City Radio Officer. Capt. Gerlich
received her amateur license several years ago. Information on the LAFD
CERT Communications Plan is available here. -- Jonathan Zimmerman, K6JGZ,
LAFD CERT Liaison, Battalion 14 Comm Unit Leader, jgzimmerman at sbcglobal.net
Top-of-Page
Letters: Code of
Conduct
The Code of Conduct reproduced in the October
2013 issue, ARES E-Letter, is the one we drafted and implemented
four years ago in Flagler County, Florida, which you reported in an older ARES E-Letter. This was an original work by myself on behalf of the
Flagler County ARES group, and the Code has been on the back of our ARES
The Tour de Cure -- a multiple bicycle ride conducted by volunteers in
the Colorado Pikes Peak region to raise money for the American Diabetes
Association was supported by ARES with great appreciation expressed by the ADA
leadership. L to r is Rob Roller, N7LV, past Emergency Coordinator and
OES; Dr Richard Russel, AC0UB, current EC of Pikes Peak ARES Region 2,
District 2; and Jerry VerDuft, AD0A, Assistant Section Manager and OES. (photo
courtesy Jerry VerDuft, AD0A) 
application form since its inception. Perhaps the Code is not even the
story -- but the sad fact that such common sense statements need to even be
made -- that some Amateurs lack the common sense and respect to conduct
themselves in such a manner. Fortunately, those numbers are few, but they are
significant enough that such statements were necessary. 
While I'm flattered that they've adopted it, they are not the only ones, as
we have had requests by over a dozen groups around the country to send
them our Code. The Code is a bold statement and emphasizes the high standards
to which we wish to hold ourselves accountable, both individually and as a
group. I'm happy that others are beginning to feel likewise. Perhaps
another story is that the processes in even small county ARES groups like Flagler
can still act as best practices elsewhere - that innovation has no
exclusive domain, but can be found everywhere. -- Mike Lee, AA6ML, Section
Emergency Coordinator, Northern Florida Section
Top-of-Page
Hospital Press Release Cites Amateurs as Partners in Emergency
Response
[Editor's note: Here is a great example
of a hospital's press release on support by and for Amateur Radio that I
particularly enjoyed - K1CE].
FMC PREPARES FOR THE
UNEXPECTED BY PARTNERING WITH LANCASTER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
LANCASTER, Ohio (November 12, 2013) - For more than a decade,
Fairfield Medical Center has partnered with the Lancaster and Fairfield County
(Ohio) Amateur Radio Club to prepare for the unexpected.
FMC uses an amateur radio repeater along with an antenna to communicate to
other operators on a frequent basis. These operators are better known among
each other as "hams." These ham operators are called upon to give assistance
in the event of an emergency through the Emergency Management Agency of
Fairfield County.
FMC is not the only hospital that
partners with ham operators. The Central Ohio Trauma System (COTS) serves 27
hospitals and has purchased 22 ham radios in 2009 to equip 22 central region
hospitals.
"Emergency management is a very important
topic today and the relationship FMC has formed with other ham radio operators
is key to meeting the needs of our community during a potential disaster,"
said Cynthia Pearsall, FMC chief nursing officer.
Communication with emergency responders and the public in general is imperative
when a disaster occurs. If landline telephones, cell phone towers or the
Internet become inoperable, an alternate mode of communication is needed.
That's when amateur radio can become the main means of communication, serving
as a backup to emergency responders.
"We partner with
our local amateur radio club during many events through the year," said
Steve Anderson, FMC Center Police chief. "Whether it be a table top emergency
exercise to the Lancaster Festival, the Lancaster Amateur Radio Club is a
great asset to us. As a ham operator myself, I see the benefit firsthand."
Amateur radio is the first mode of wireless
communication before cell phones and requires an amateur radio operator license from
the Federal Communications Commission. Before receiving a license, you must
pass an examination.
"Our club appreciates the close
relationship we have formed with FMC, Fairfield County representatives, and
the city in general," noted John Hilliard, trustee of the Lancaster and
Fairfield County Amateur Radio Club. For questions or more information on how to
become involved with the Lancaster and Fairfield County Amateur Radio
Club, go to k8qik.org or contact Mark Urbine, K8QIK Club spokesman.
Top-of-Page
Linked Ham Radio Repeater System
Instrumental in Hiker Rescue
A hiker in distress in Nevada
is thankful that he had his hand-held transceiver along when he found
himself stranded in the hills near Henderson. Western Intertie Network (WIN) System member
Jim Frederick, KF6QBW, in Arizona reports he was monitoring the system
November 3 around midday when he heard, "Mayday, Mayday. Hiker in distress!" from
his WIN System repeater.
"I grabbed a charged battery
for my VX-5, and the call came over the radio again," Frederick says. He
responded, and the hiker on the other end, Nathan Rischling, KDØHFM,
of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, told him he'd misread the elevation on
his topographical map, had ended up on a very steep and rough area, had
stuck his hand on a cactus, and could find no safe way out of his situation. He
had a GPS, however, and was able to provide Frederick with his precise
coordinates. Rischling said he had a day's worth of food and water but needed
help getting off the mountain, as he would not get back to his starting
point before sundown and didn't think his GPS battery would last out the
trip.
"KDØHFM stated that he did not take a
conventional trail and was using a topographical map and GPS for guidance,"
Frederick explained. Frederick said he knew from experience that a call to the Las
Vegas search and rescue would expedite the process, so he put out a call on
the WIN System for any Las Vegas station that could make the call. James
Freeman, KG7EWP, promptly came back, and Frederick handed off the emergency
traffic. Freeman called 911 and spoke with search and rescue, and stood by
until the situation was resolved. Within 15 minutes a rescue helicopter was
on the way.
Frederick kept his ear to the radio until
the event was resolved, in case someone needed more information from him,
and a few hours later, he overheard Rischling thank KG7EWP for helping "and
everyone else on the WIN System for standing by."
The
WIN System is a series of 90 linked, or inter-tied repeaters -- most on UHF
(70 centimeters) -- that cover a substantial portion of California, 16
other states, and four countries around the world. It is owned and operated by
Shorty Stouffer, K6JSI. KF6QBW is an affiliated repeater station with the
WIN System.
"Without Shorty, K6JSI (my Elmer), and the
WIN System and its members, I would not have known what to do, let alone
been able to help, as I was just a link in this chain of events," Frederick
said. -- Thanks to Chuck Baer, W4ROA; Jim Frederick, KF6QBW; Shorty
Stouffer, K6JSI, and Sean Kutzko, KX9X
Top-of-Page
Lake County ARES Supports the 39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle
Festival
The Lake County (Florida) ARES provided
radio communications to support a three day bicycle event in Mount Dora,
Florida from October 11 through October 13, 2013. The event was the
39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle Festival sponsored by the Mount Dora Area
Chamber of Commerce. Sunny weather prevailed for the three days with moderate
temperatures and reasonable humidity so there were no reports of heat
exhaustion. There were 703 bicycle riders registered this year -- a slight
increase over the past year. Most of the riders were from Florida but there
were some from various places in the United States. This is not a competitive
race but a series of 15 separate bicycle tours through Lake County,
Florida's country side. The county has 1400 named lakes and is considered to be
Central Florida's hill country. This combination provides scenic background
and significant challenges for the riders which brings them back year after
year.
The longest ride is 100 miles and the shortest is
two miles. One of the most popular is the Yalaha Bakery ride which is a 55
mile round trip. This includes a stop at a German bakery that serves
elegant pastries, lunch, assorted drinks and musical entertainment. Another ride
ends at a farm that provides the riders a chance to get lost in a large
corn maze.
The ARES group had 20 radio operators helping
to keep track of the bicycle riders, man rest areas, provide SAG wagons and
radio equipped mobile patrol vehicles. The ARES volunteers provided 255
man hours of service over the three days. All vehicles were directed by the
net control station N4FLA which had its mobile command trailer set up in the
parking lot of the Mount Dora Chamber of Commerce. A repeater provided by
K4AUS was used on a frequency of 147.390 MHz. An APRS station and operators
kept tabs on the three SAG wagons using the 27 inch video monitor mounted
in the trailer. This video system can also be used to monitor weather
conditions during any event.
A total of nine riders were
transported back to the Mount Dora staging area due to mechanical issues or
just getting tired out. We had one report of a rider down with what appeared
to be serious injuries when he fell from his bicycle. EMS was called and he
was transported by air to a local hospital for evaluation. Later we
received a report that he was not seriously hurt and was released from the
hospital.
The Lake Area Radio Association has been providing
on course radio communications for the Mount Dora Bicycle Festival for over
20 years. They use events of this type to train their members to be ready
to provide emergency radio communications for disaster situations such as
hurricanes and tornados which are not uncommon in this part of Florida.
Members volunteer their time, radio equipment and vehicles as a public service
to the community.
For more information about Amateur
Radio activity in Lake County, Florida you may go to the following web sites. www.n4fla.org or www.k4fc.org -- Ted
Luebbers, K1AYZ, Lake County ARES PIO
Top-of-Page
K1CE For a Final
Season's greetings from
your editor! I get the impression sometimes that readers are under the
impression that I must have to sort through thousands of contributions of pages
of after action reports, exercise lessons learned, opinions, criticisms and
compliments, brickbats and bouquets to come up with each month's issue of
this newsletter. That is not the case. As I work through the course of the
month to draft a new issue, it is usually a job of searching for and pulling
relevant material from various sources on the Internet. I look at the ARRL
and IARU web sites, the ITU resources, FEMA training and CERT information,
and ARRL Section and ARES web sites. The point is, I could use a lot more
material directly from you, the reader. Chances are, if you have a solid
opinion or report and you write it up fairly well, I will use it in the
newsletter! So take a chance at gaining your 15 minutes of fame as 37,000
readers will see your story and call sign! Write for the ARES E-Letter!
73, Rick Palm, K1CE, Daytona Beach, Florida, the "World's Most
Famous Beach"
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