[PBARC] Amateur Power

[WOLF, EARNEST G]

Overall - a good article but there are some statements that need some
rewording.

Hey note the praise of the autopatch!!!!

-glenn



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 <http://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 <http://www.hamradio.com/> ), Amateur Equipment Supply
(www.aesham.com) or Gigaparts (www.gigaparts.com <http://www.gigaparts.com/>
). These distributors also supply all the necessary accessories.