[OFARC] Ham radios for Troop 1377
Ralph
ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net
Sun Feb 12 00:24:33 EST 2017
Greetings Gentlemen,
I have been asked to help with relocation of an antenna and tower for a
scout troop.
Troop 1377 is launching an effort for amateur radio.
They are giving license classes and plan to participate in a state wide
emergency exercise in June.
The troop has been given a tower and needs to move it to their troop
location.
Can you suggest some people to help drop and move the tower?
It will need a large trailer or flatbed truck for transport. It will
not fit on a pickup truck.
Mr. Snyder is also interested in finding out more about the state wide
drill.
Perhaps one of your members can assist ???
I would appreciate any help you can provide.
Feel free to contact Mr. Snyder directly at patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com
(please CC me)
73
Ralph KE5HDF
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: Fw: Ham radios for 1377
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2017 02:15:05 +0000 (UTC)
From: patrick snyder <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: patrick snyder <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com>
To: Ke5hdf Ralph <ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net>
CC: Lester L. Mignerey <oldetown at me.com>
The batteries are from ATT. Exactly what kind and how many I don't know
yet,
but I will let you know as soon as I do.
The Tower is presently installed at a residence in Huffman. It is a
90-foot Tower
that is in three sections nestled inside of each other and are raised
mechanically
by cables. Weighs about 2500-3000 pounds. When compressed is about 28
feet tall. It is on a swivel base which allows it to be lowered to the
ground. The
antenna array on top is about 20 feet by 25 feet and will need to be removed
before the tower can be lowered. I have the technical manuals from the
manufacturer and the Tower requires a 7-foot deep concrete base for mounting
but can be detached for removal. Lonestar has a scissor lift which may
be usable
to remove the antenna array. They also have an 18-foot trailer but it
think
something longer is going to be needed. They also have a forklift
available. Their
18-foot trailer can be used to transport the scissor lift and forklift
to the site but
I think 18 feet is too small to transport the 28-foot tower. Lonestar
has a student
who is a contractor from the Huffman area who will handle the
extraction. We would
appreciate the experience of the Sugarland tower people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Ke5hdf Ralph <ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net>
*To:* patrick snyder <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com>
*Cc:* Lester L. Mignerey <oldetown at me.com>
*Sent:* Saturday, February 11, 2017 7:37 PM
*Subject:* Re: Fw: Ham radios for 1377
Where are the batteries and towers?
How many sections to the tower?
As I recall, the BVARC club in Sugarland has some great tower people.
If we can find a 3/4 ton pickup with full size bed we can carry tower
sections in turn or perhaps someone has a trailer.
A 1/2 ton truck can carry auxiliary tower pieces or batteries.
Regarding batteries, commercial UPS systems use large capacity batteries
and change the out when their capacity drops to 70-80%. That leaves
plenty for a radio backup.
Regards,
Ralph Phillips
On Feb 11, 2017 6:36 PM, patrick snyder <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
FYI, any input on transportation issues would be appreciated.
----- Forwarded Message -----
*From:* patrick snyder <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com>
*To:* Therivel <therivel at earthlink.net>; "fctrujillo at hotmail.com"
<fctrujillo at hotmail.com>
*Cc:* Bill Young <b-young1 at comcast.net>
*Sent:* Thursday, February 9, 2017 11:11 PM
*Subject:* Re: Ham radios for 1377
You must have been reading my mind. Much has developed in a very
short time.
As a matter of fact, I am in the process of doing an update to send
to all parties.
Tonight was our monthly District Leaders Meeting where I had to
bring them up to
date within the committee before disseminating this information to
others.
Lonestar Community College has just allocated $5,000 to fund the
relocation of
the 90 foot Davis Tower. I was out there this afternoon taking
detailed photos
of the Tower and antenna as well as the access areas for a truck,
trailer, and scissor
lift necessary to remove the antenna (25 feet) before removing and
relocating the
Tower.
Troop 1377 has scheduled a training class for ham radio licensing
specifically
for this donation of Bill Young's cousin's radios. We will be
opening the class
to interested Scouts from other Troops within the District as well.
The class will
also be open to interested Scout Leaders.
I have been networking with the Community Response Task Force tasked
with
preparing the 59 corridor from Beltway 8 to Cleveland for hurricane
preparedness.
In networking with the Kingwood Medical Center, it has come to light
that in June
of this year, they will be participating in a state wide mass
casualty training exercise.
Although the exact nature of the exercise has not been finalized, it
is expected to be
a simulation of a hurricane. Since we were planning our own mass
casualty exercise,
I am in discussions with them to have the Flaming Arrow District act
in a supporting
role to enhance their exercise from one that is usually a table top
exercise into one that
is a real-world training opportunity for all stake holders. This
will allow us to integrate
our capabilities into the established first response networks. This
will also integrate
the ham community as a communication tool to deliver simulated
casualties to
medical sites designated by the police, fire department, state and
local jurisdictions.
Many of our current Scout leadership are already Cert trained. This
will also give our
Scouting organizations some real world experience in delivering mass
casualty services.
We will also be exploring employment opportunities for summer jobs
and internships
for our Eagle Scouts.
An additional issue is that we may have a corporate supporter who
has a supply of
batteries which they are willing to donate. No details yet, but
there may be opportunities
for the ham community to acquire some of these batteries for battery
banks during
those times when the power may be out so they can sustain operations.
I will be coming out to pick up the donated radios and meet and
greet with the Scout
leaders in his area. As soon as I know the details about the
batteries, I will check to see
if he wants any and I can bring them with me. Since this event in
June is state wide,
the Scouts in their area may want to participate.
When you start talking about a mass casualty event that fills every
hospital bed in Texas,
it gets real serious real quick.
The Good News is that the expected La Nina has fizzled and only
lasted 4 months. Right
now we are in a neutral zone designation meaning we've gotten lucky.
The expectation
for this next season is now "little activity". This gives us more
time to get our network
up and running and get more of our people trained for a hurricane event.
I will be following up with everyone in more detail. I will be
forwarding some of the photos
and would like to get feedback from everyone with experience in
these technical issues.
The Tower is in incredibly good condition. There are also several
other smaller towers
looking for a home. I think it is very reasonable to expect that we
can set up a viable and
functional emergency radio network to serve our community as a
response asset during
such an imminent disaster. As well as developing into a support
resource for evacuation
and recovery efforts.
Thank you all for your assistance. More to follow.
Patrick Snyder
Hurrican Coordinator
Flaming Arrow District
281-216-3406
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Therivel <therivel at earthlink.net>
*To:* fctrujillo at hotmail.com
*Cc:* 'patrick snyder' <patricksnyder1 at yahoo.com>; Bill Young
<b-young1 at comcast.net>
*Sent:* Thursday, February 9, 2017 9:58 PM
*Subject:* Ham radios for 1377
Hi Felix,
I had a call today from Bill Young, whose cousin is donating 2
radios to the troop (as I understand). They haven’t heard from you
or anybody else, when and how the radios are going to be picked up.
I see that the troop is planning a ham radio training in September
and these radios would come in mighty handy, I guess.
Were you the one who was in contact for this, and could you do
something about it, please?
I am copying Patrick Snyder and Bill Young to keep everybody informed.
Thanks, Felix.
Brigitte
Brigitte Therivel
3415 Sandy Forks Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339
281-358-9697 (H)
281-507-5946 (cell)
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