[KYHAM] Amateur Power

Tue Oct 25 09:36:37 EDT 2005

NOTE:  The following article was found in the Fire
Service publication of Fire Chief.  

Amateur Power

By Grady E. McCright

Sep 1, 2005 12:00 PM

Until digital communications systems are fully
implemented, look to an already-available back-up
system: ham radios.

A lot of media coverage has been devoted to the poor
service offered by the new communication systems being
purchased by many departments: 800MHz digital systems,
trunking systems and narrow-band FM systems. Some of
these troubles come with updating archaic repeaters,
obsolete antennae, outmoded feedlines, and other
system components that are simply worn out or in ill
repair. Granted, we are spending a huge sum of money
to bring in the advanced communication systems, but
the new technology is not without serious growing
pains.

Dead spots that develop where previously there were
none can certainly present hazards to firefighters.
Other problems that become apparent when any unproven
communications system is installed include talk
between channels, weird noises on the system and even
repeater echoes. I've even heard of firefighters
carrying personal cell phones to ensure that they have
an adequate communications link with the department.
Relying on a cell phone on the fireground is a serious
indictment of the existing radio communications
system. It's a frustrating problem that may place
interior teams or others in perilous circumstances.

Will there ever be a solution to these problems?
Certainly, once public works has spent thousands more
dollars to continue to modify, enhance and redesign
the systems until they hit on the correct
configuration that satisfies the needs of local
firefighters. But what are we to do in the meantime?

In virtually every community across America, a
high-quality radio repeater system already exists and
is just awaiting discovery by emergency crews. It may
come as a surprise to fire departments that this
system is available and can be put to use almost
immediately for very little money compared to the
costs of a commercial system designed for emergency
services. My department is currently using this system
as a backup emergency communications system: the
amateur radio service.

Immediate solution

Ham radio operators all across this country have
installed high-quality 2-meter and higher frequency
repeater systems. These transceivers are available and
encouraged for emergency communications. Local amateur
owners willingly support such use, as it is one of the
basic tenets of amateur radio. Emergency services
shouldn't use these amateur radio systems for routine,
day-to-day fire department traffic, but when an
emergency exists, the hams of this nation will
relinquish the use of these repeaters for emergency
traffic.

As a rural volunteer fire department in the New Mexico
mountain country, we experienced poor to non-existent
communications on two large wildfires over the past
two years. The Lincoln National Forest wildfires
resulted in the complete destruction of more than
20,000 acres and scores of homes. As any firefighter
who combats forest fires knows, expected fire
behavior, weather forecasts, crew location, fire
status, and air drop times and location are extremely
important. I could not reliably obtain this
information.

The first use that the James Canyon Volunteer Fire
Department is making of this existing system is to
cover the rampant dead spots in this county. The
current fire service radio repeaters are outdated, and
the antennae and lead-in coaxial cables are in
disrepair. Many of the repeaters designed for 100
watts are radiating only 15. There also are many
locations, such as deep canyons and outlying areas
that are not covered by the county fire repeater
system. And while cell phones may provide dependable
communications in a large city, cell phone coverage in
our district varies, and I doubt if 50% of our
district even has coverage.

The department certainly can't afford to replace all
the county repeaters, feedlines and antennae, and the
county does not seem to be prepared for the task, so
we sought other avenues. We found the solution to this
dangerous situation in ham radio. Local amateurs heard
of our concerns and came to our aid.

The second use of this system is to conduct
administrative tasks such as ordering water for
firefighter rehab or vehicle replacement parts, or to
pass along health and welfare information to
firefighter families or the status of the property of
those displaced by fire. Almost all the dozen or so
county repeaters transmit on the same frequency, and
when the conflagration is large and widespread, such
as in a wildfire, that frequency becomes bogged down
from heavy emergency traffic. We can unload that
burden by handling our department's non-emergency
traffic on this standby communication system.

Equipment options

The department now has five engines and a command
vehicle equipped with 2-meter mobiles. We also have
eight handheld radios and one base station. In times
of crisis, both the county and amateur base stations
are staffed by a staging officer who helps keep up
with engine and crew placement, arranges for relief
crews, assembles meals and water, obtains vehicle or
firefighter equipment or replacement parts, and places
telephone calls for those of us in the field to the
sheriff's office dispatcher or the National Forest
Service.

Speaking of telephone calls, many ham repeaters around
the country are equipped with auto patches that allow
a one-way or simplex telephone call to be placed. In
that way, a licensed amateur can converse with someone
via the radio link to a landline. Unfortunately, when
you push-to-talk from the radio, the other party can
only talk when the radio operator is not pushing the
mike key, but it's far better than no link to a phone
line.

Six of our transceivers are dual-band — capable,
meaning that if we are in a deep canyon and unable to
pick up a repeater with a handheld unit, we can set up
one of these dual-band mobiles as a cross-band
repeater. When activated, this 50-watt unit will
repeat on another band whatever transmissions we make
with 5-watt handheld units. The reverse also happens,
so we will hear distant transmissions on the band we
are working. It is like having a mobile repeater in
your vehicle.

The audio quality far surpasses that of the county
radio system, and the cost of these amateur radios is
20- to 50% (depending on options and single band
versus dual band) of what we spend for county radios.
The repeaters in populated areas are already
installed, and local hams graciously installed two
additional repeaters in the area and plan on
installing a couple more repeaters to provide
continuous coverage in our district as well as in our
contiguous areas of mutual aid. Even in our remote
area, there were about five existing repeaters that we
could activate from different locations before any
expansion.

Licensing, other successes

Operating these amateur radio service radios requires
that each control operator hold a Federal
Communications Commission station license, but don't
let that requirement scare you off. A no-code
technician class amateur operator permit can be
obtained by passing a 35-question exam with no Morse
code requirement. The questions are taken from a pool
of 250 questions covering the salient aspects of
operating a radio station. It is surprisingly easy to
pass and allows one to operate on the VHF/UHF amateur
bands, which are located very near where we are
already.

After only three classes and three examination
sessions, our department of approximately 35 active
firefighters and EMS personnel had 14 licensed
firefighters and 10 licensed staging officers. Luckily
2005 has been a wet year and the fires have been
minimal, but the dry and windy springs will come again
and we will be ready with adequate communications.

Last year, we had one Type-6 brush truck and crew
deployed to the county north of our district for five
days. The crew was sleeping in tents about 60 miles
north of our main station. My only way to communicate
with them was via 146.610MHz ham radio repeater
located on Capitan Peak. County radios wouldn't reach
their location and cell phones were out of the
question, but I was able to communicate with them at
will. They requested spare parts and supplies for the
truck and clean clothes for the crew, and I relayed
welfare messages to and from their families each day.
We arranged for a crew change-out, all by ham radio.

Had it not been for the amateur radio repeater system
in the area, I wouldn't have been able to communicate
with the crew at all unless they drove a number of
miles to a public service telephone and, maybe more
importantly, neither would their families. This
investment in firefighter time to prepare for the
license testing and the monetary investment in radios
has been well worth the costs. Even those were
defrayed by the generous donations of communication
equipment from a local supporter and ham. Another
local amateur and former fire chief provided the
training to firefighters necessary for them to pass
the exam. Several other amateur operators in the area
provided equipment, encouragement, repeaters and
support. One even climbed the towers and installed
repeater equipment.

Open options

The key to success in such an endeavor is to obtain
the assistance and support of the local amateurs in
your area. From my experience, they will be willing to
make existing repeaters available for emergency
transmissions; help with the training; administer the
examinations; provide technical advice; install
additional repeaters, if required; and assist in the
acquisition of the necessary base stations, handhelds
and mobiles.

Even if your existing government-provided radio
communication system works well, who's to say when the
repeater you need desperately might fail. If it's the
only one you can activate from that location, the
amateur repeaters are standing by for use in any
emergency. Is your department equipped with licensed
operators, training and amateur equipment to take
advantage of this blessing? Mine is and I'm proud of
that fact.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grady McCright is chief of the James Canyon Volunteer
Fire Department, Cloudcroft, N.M. He is the author of
the non-fiction book Jessie Evans: Lincoln County
Badman and of five fiction books.

Where to Go

Once you decide to investigate an emergency backup
communication system, the first step is to contact
local amateurs. How do you find them?

Chances are high that someone in your department
either is a licensed ham or knows someone who is an
active amateur radio operator. If not, contact the
American Radio Relay League (www.arrl.org) and ask
them for an amateur radio club in your area. Most
active hams will gladly steer you in the right
direction for training, testing and equipment. They
also will be glad to answer any questions you might
have about the amateur service.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service consists of
licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered
their qualifications and equipment for communications
duty in the public service when disaster strikes. The
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service is a similar
collection of licensed hams who are in the business of
providing emergency communications services in time of
national or local need. These organizations would be
most happy to assist your department in developing an
emergency backup communications system. Local
information concerning these organizations can also be
obtained from the ARRL Web site.

Radio equipment can be purchased from various
manufactures such as ICOM, Kenwood, Alinco and Yaesu.
Ham radio vendors include Ham Radio Outlet
(www.hamradio.com), Amateur Equipment Supply
(www.aesham.com) or Gigaparts (www.gigaparts.com).
These distributors also supply all the necessary
accessories.

Tim Wright 
Member: Wurtland Fire Department Station 90 90-17 
Greenup Fire Department Station 70 722 

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