[NevadaARES] Southern NV ARES DEC Report - November 2003

[Glenn Hale]

November 2003 - Southern NV ARES DEC Report

This past month I visited Lincoln Co., NV and met for
the first time Lee Hone K7NKH, Lincoln Co. EC.  Lee
and I took a trip around the local Pioche, NV area
where he showed us some of the areas where he grew up.
 The weather was quite cold, low over cast, with
scattered rain and snow showers. We discussed his
interest in finding a repeater site in the Caliente
area to help improve coverage. The LVRA Highland Peak
repeater has great coverage over most of Lincoln Co.
except for a few isolated areas shadowed by mountains.
 Lee uses a mobile base station to reach the Highland
Peak repeater in Pioche, NV.  The repeater is linked
to the Red Mountain repeater in Boulder City, NV. 

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Scott
KD7SIX as a new Official Emergency Station for the
Southern NV ARES District. Scott will help to provide
HF coverage for the southern end of the State. Scott
will help to relay ARES traffic messages throughout
the NV Section where needed. Charlie AA5QJ, Jack N8RRL
and Art K7ZE have also received OES appointments. Jack
and Art will be assisting Charlie with Clark County
ARES duties.

STM, Matt N7TOD and I have been exchanging ideas on
how to improve packet messaging forwarding and
implementing a Statewide IRLP network. Reno/Sparks and
Las Vegas have already run some communications tests
and we hope to soon have other parts of the State on
IRLP. We are still working out the details on setting
up a net time.  Kent W7AOR has offered his assistance
to help set up new IRLP sites, nodes and operational
channels for use in NV Section.

Clark County EC Report by Charlie AA5QJ

ARES/RACES meeting and after-action critique was held
Sat Nov 8th. Each AEC has been asked to put together a
Procedure Manual for their area of responsibility,
plus Dudley KK7IF and Bob WA3PAD for EOC. Members who
wish to go the extra mile are encouraged to apply for
appointment as Official Emergency Stations. 

After-action findings: More practice in message
handling is needed. 
Need to identify all exercise traffic as Exercise.
Recommend all members have earphone or headset. Good
participation by members. 
Red Cross and hospitals appreciated our support.

The LVRAC Communications trailer was displayed at the
Boulder City Emergency Preparedness Meeting on Nov 6
staffed by Charlie Kunz AA5QJ, Vern Garman K0EGA and
Gary Hartman KK7LV. Members of the Las Vegas Repeater
Association also demonstrated various aspects of
Amateur Radio including APRS.

Charlie AA5QJ represented Clark County ARES/RACES at
the Citizens Corps Council meeting on Nov 25. 

We are looking for a member to be the Public
Information Officer for ARES/RACES, particularly
someone that could be available during exercises and
emergency operations to be in the Joint Information
Center. Please contact Charlie AA5QJ for more
information.

Upcoming events:
SKYWARN Recognition Day Sat Dec 6th
Las Vegas Marathon Sun Jan 25th.
'Moving Target' Exercise April 04


Southern Nye Co. EC Report by Dick AC7EL

This is a report of activities in October, which I
wasn't able to give then because I had a family
emergency trip out of town. 
 
On the weekend of October 2 to 5, about a dozen local
Pahrump amateurs, mostly ARES members, provided
communications for Pahrump's annual Fall Festival
celebration.  We supported two aspects of the
festival: communications for the parade on Saturday
morning, which we have done for several years and
communications in the park where all the vendors were
located, which was new for us this year. 
 
In May, I joined the Town's Parade Sub-Committee,
helping to plan the parade.  I became responsible for
the parade marshals who help to keep the marchers and
spectators orderly and the parade moving. Some
marshals help out in the staging area, and the
remainder are stationed the route.  There were about
20 marshals, of whom six were radio amateurs.  Some of
the others had FRS radios, and cell phones.  Jim
Tully, my AEC, rode in a Sheriff's Deputy's car to
provide communications to the authorities.  I used
amateur radio, FRS radio and cell phone to communicate
with the marshals. 
 
In the park, amateurs provided communications for the
Vendors Sub-Committee over a four-day period. We had a
minimum of 2 hams on duty in shifts from 8 AM to about
8 PM from Thursday (set-up day) until Sunday.  One was
on duty in the Festival command center, and the others
roamed around the park, relaying questions from
vendors and communicating with sub-committee members
inspecting booths.  John Berg KD7POE, president of our
ARES corporation, headed up this project.  Jerry Fuge
KD6ILH worked most of the weekend, in the park and in
the parade. 
 
In exchange, the Festival committee granted us booth
space free of charge. Foster Paulis W4HCX, President
of the Pahrump Amateur Radio Repeater Association and
an ARES member, headed up the booth.  He and a few
other hams informed the public about what amateur
radio is all about. Festival officials thanked us for
our help. 




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