[FLARES] Statewide SET

[Dave Armbrust]

|  > A QNC ("All net stations copy!") went out to all Florida amateurs
|  > October 2 to advise of the SET.
|
| Last time I checked, I was a Florida amateur.  I did NOT receive this
| QNC.  How was this sent?  I need to find where the breakdown
| on my end
| was so I don't miss these in the future.

Let me answer this by first explaining what a QNC is.  Apparently this is
not as clear to all Florida ARES members as it should be.  According to the
FSD-218 an QNC is defined as "All net stations Copy.  I have a message for
all net stations."  All ARES members should have a copy of FSD-218.  This is
available on line at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/fsd218.pdf

On 10/2, 10/3 and 10/4 a QNC was sent addressed TO ALL FLORIDA AMATEURS.
The Thursday QNC was sent by NFL Section Manager, Rudy Hubbard, the Friday
QNC was sent by myself the WCF Section Manager, and the Saturday QNC was
sent by the SFL Section Manager Sherri Brower.

While the QNC was sent to ALL FLORIDA AMATEURS in an ideal world that should
have meant that all Florida Amateurs would have received the QNC.  Each of
the QNCs were first introduced into a State wide NTS traffic net.  It should
have moved automatically from one traffic net to the next until it has been
delivered to all Florida traffic nets.  This would normally takes about 24
hours.  From the traffic nets it should have moved to the local nets
including Club nets and ARES nets until it had been read on all Florida
nets.  It would normally take about a week for an QNC to reach all local
nets.  (Clearly an QNC of this nature may be out of date by the next time
the weekly net rolls around and may be discarded as no longer relevant, but
at a minimum it should be consider for each of these weekly nets.)

While Ron did not state what nets, if any, he check into between 10/2 and
10/4 it really should not matter.  If he monitored at least one net he
should have heard this "Test Priority" QNC read at the very top of the net
when the net asks for any Emergency or Priority traffic.  I am sure several
that are reading this also check into nets during this time period and did
not hear the QNC either.  Why not?  That is a good question.  All nets,
including club nets, should have representatives that bring information from
other nets.  Each local net should have reps from at least some of the
traffic nets, the local ARES net and perhaps from other clubs nets as well.
A QNC address to ALL FLORIDA AMATEURS should move seamlessly from on net to
the next.

So why did Ron not get this QNC?

That is a question he needs to ask of the nets that he did check into.
Where and who are the reps responsible for bring traffic from other nets.
It does little good for an local net to ask at the top of the net for
emergency or priority traffic if it does not have anyone to bring this sort
of traffic to the net!  Clearly all Florida nets need some work in this
regard.

Should a QNC not also be sent via E-mail as well?

The answer to this is clearly "YES IT SHOULD".  All net stations should do
their very best to pass this traffic on to ALL FLORIDA AMATEURS.  This
should includes sending it via E-mail reflectors, club reflectors, personal
E-mail, personal visits and telephone calls as well.  In Pasco County they
did exactly that and used the reverse 911 system for the first time to
inform all Pasco County ARES members of the activation by telephone.  In
fact they used the SET as an excuse to push the county to have the reverse
911 ready for the SET.

In this particular SET we were not interested in testing how well E-mail and
the Internet works.  We were much more interested in how well amateur radio
works and how well the local teams functioned without power.  We also
understood that a State Wide power outage may indeed affect how well servers
could distribute E-mail and how well individuals may be able to pick up
E-mail even if the phone and internet lines remained up.  In the script for
this SET we did agree that FLARES would be down for this exercise and during
this period FLARES was put in a moderated mode and all traffic regarding the
SET, if any, was stopped.  (As a side note during the preparations for this
SET I did personally contact Al Waller to ask how likely it would be that
FLARES would remain up even if there was a power loss at the FLARES server
site.  I am happy to report it is highly likely that FLARES would remain up
and working even in a power outage.  Al Waller states he has a 5KW propane
powered generator with 250 gallons of fuel for about 15 days on emergency
power.)

|  > "Special nets were called and scheduled with check-ins from stations
|  > operating on emergency power."
|
| Must have missed this as well.  I monitored the local repeater for
| several hours, and heard no such net.  (I did hear an Orange
| County net
| in progress on the same repeater frequency.)

Since, for the most part, this was an unannounced drill many groups and
individuals already had plans or were out of town during the drill.  Each
SEC, DEC and EC was informed before the drill but was instructed not to pass
the details on to it the ARES members at large before the timed event.
Since this was a drill and not a real event not all counties took part in
the drill.   It was left up to the local EC as to how his or her county
would take part in the drill.  Some counties took larger roles in the SET
then others as well.  In WCF local ARES nets were called in most counties
and simulated shelter openings also occurred in Highlands county as well.
Hillsborough County had 53 check-ins, all operating on emergency power.
(Hillsborough's score for this contest is 406 points at present.)

The SET weekend was also announced in QST.  In the past Florida has not
taken part at the State level before as stated in the ARRL letter and I am
sure many thought there would not be a State wide activation this year
either.  (Next year I do hope that more stations note the SET weekend
announcement in QST and are prepared to take part if asked to do so.)

|  > Armbrust said he was impressed by the number of stations that had
|  > emergency power capability. "A large number had generators
| and large
|  > quantities of fuel on hand," he said.
|
| I'm still curious to know just how many counties were active (from my
| initial post, only one cared to respond) and how many amateurs
| participated.  From my personal experience, it sounds like this story
| was slightly exaggerated (and it's not the first one I've read like
| that) to give more credit than actually deserved ... and
| that's wrong.
| Claiming you can do more than you can actually deliver, will
| only cause
| us trouble and make us look bad when it's time to back it up.

Ron, I can assure you that everything that appeared in the ARRL letter
regarding the Florida SET was accurate and not exaggerated and I am
surprised that you would suggest otherwise.

It has also been written on this reflector "Yeah, the silence IS deafening
isn't it?" regarding the SET."  Let me also assure you that nothing could be
further from the truth.  All three Section Managers and the three SEC have
been actively involved in the planning and post event review of the SET.
Comments regarding the SET are still being circulated as I write this.  All
three SMs have sent a report to the other two Section Managers regarding
their thoughts and review of the SET.  Each Section Manager has or will
share this with their membership however they see fit.

Did every thing go perfectly and as expected?  Certainly not.  We have
several problems that were identified and certainly the flow of the QNCs is
one of them.  The problems and lessons learned will be shared with ARES ECs
and consequently with their ARES members in each section.

My comments will be posted to the WCFARES@yahoogroups.com reflector and will
be passed on from here to other ARES reflectors as well.  There will also be
mention of this in WCF Section E-news as well.

While it was not a perfect drill, no one expected it to be.  That is why we
have drills to find and identify problems.  Still, overall I was pleased
with the first State Wide SET we conducted.  I was pleased that we did the
State wide drill at all and my comments to the other Section Managers
suggest that we need to do more of this in the future.  The ARES groups and
individuals that took part in the SET gained valuable experience and had a
good time with it as well.  I hope that more groups and individuals take
part in the future.  I am confident that all that took part were glad that
they did so.

Below is the full comments I sent to ARRL Newington regarding the SET:

ARES members across the State of Florida participated in a State Wide
Simulated Emergency Test October 2nd through October 4th.  The simulated
emergency was an State wide three day Power outage.  A QNC to all Florida
amateurs was send on October 2nd advising them of the Simulated Emergency.
Also sent was a request from the Florida State Warning point for status
information from all Red Cross Chapters in the State of Florida.

With no advanced warning as to the nature of the emergency, amateurs across
the State quickly responded to the requests.  Special ARES nets were called
and scheduled with check-in from stations operating on emergency power.

After listening to the State wide check-in to various nets ARRL West Central
Florida Section Manager Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, states "I was very impressed
with the number of stations that did seem to have good emergency power
capabilities.  A large number had generators and large quantities of fuel on
hand.  There is no questions in my mind that if we had a State wide power
outage it would not mean that amateurs radio would be off the air.  Clearly
many amateurs across the State realize how essential it is that they are
able to communicate when conventional power fails.  They have, at great
expense to themselves, without the aid of grants or other provided funds,
set up an station that will remain on the air in all but the most extreme of
circumstances.  Clearly these operators must be commemorated for preparing
for the worst case.  They do so, not for personal comfort, but to be there
when we need them the most.  Faced with a State wide power outage I feel, if
anything, our bands would be more active then they are on an average day."

This is the first State wide amateur radio simulated emergency test
conducted in the State of Florida.  The drill required that all three ARRL
Sections be activated simultaneously.  Armbrust reports "We had exceptional
cooperation between all three ARRL Section and we clearly proved that all
ARES and NTS members in the State can work together as a single large team
if a State wide disaster would require us to do so."

73,
Dave Armbrust, AE4MR
ARRL WCF Section Manager
3024 Salem Ave
Sarasota, FL 34232-5120
Tel: 941-685-2081
Internet: ae4mr@arrl.org
Web: http://www.wcfarrl.org

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