[Pcraces] Fw: $100,000 ARES Trailer

[Mark Brown]

This has been forwarded a hundred times or better, so I trimmed some header 
info :)  Thought y'all might like to see this.

N9POA

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: KM5FT at aol.com <KM5FT at aol.com>
Date: Apr 24, 2005 5:47 PM
Subject: $100,000 ARES Trailer
To: w5yej at arrl.net, nillkauffman at earthlink.net


Bill,

This was passed via the SM reflector and is forwarded for
your
information.  You might think about passing the word to the
DEC's
and/or ARES personnel in NM.

Bill

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "James F. Boehner, MD" <jboehner01 at yahoo.com>
To: "Section Manager List" <smlist at reflector.arrl.org>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 14:00:43 -0400
Subject: [smlist:2487] Re: $100,000 ARES Trailer
I'm not sure if anyone caught the article in the ARRL letter
last week, but
our county in SC was awarded a $100,000 grant for an ARES
trailer.  I'm
including two articles below, one from the ARRL letter, and
a response by my
ASM project leader that applied for, and worked through the
grant process.

An ARRL news article is here:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/04/01/3/?nc=1

I am reporting this to the SM group just hoping that this
will be a
springboard for other amateur radio grants throughout the
country.  When the
commercial interests such as Motorola price out a system for
an emergency
response agency, you can be sure that the numbers given are
in the multiple
hundred thousands or millions of dollars.  $100,000 may be a
"drop in the
bucket" to funding agencies.  We are fortunate in my county
that the two
Emergency Management Officials are both hams.  We had full
county support
for this grant.

An interesting note is that this was last years "slippage"
money.  This was
money that was previously allocated to another agency, but
not used, and it
was put back in the kitty for reallocation.

As hams, we tend to use all our own equipment, and do what
we can to make
communications happen, with our limited personal resources.
I'm not sure if
any hams have written grants of this magnitude, but I hope
that this will be
one of many in the future.  The Homeland Security Grants
must go through
your county government, at least in our state.

Grants are applied for, and awarded differently in each
state.  I will be
happy to make our grant applications available to the group
if there is an
interest.

'73 de Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
Visit our website: www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/

------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
>From the ARRL Letter, Vol 24, No 15:

==>HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT FUNDS ARES TRAILER IN SOUTH
CAROLINA

The Aiken County, South Carolina, Office of Emergency
Management has
received a $100,000 grant to fund a new Amateur Radio
Emergency Service
(ARES) trailer. The US Department of Homeland Security grant
was distributed
via the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Office of
Homeland
Security Grants Administration. The project will provide a
state-of-the-art
communications vehicle for ARES members to assist served
agencies. ARRL
South Carolina Section Manager Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, says the
project was the
brainchild of several radio amateurs, including ARRL members
and Section
leadership.

"Bob Besley, K4NJN, wrote the grant after participating in a
statewide
homeland security drill in August 2004 and seeing a need for
amateurs to
have equipment that becomes useful in the event of a
large-scale disaster,"
he said. "This trailer is exclusively for Amateur Radio."

The grant will enable the purchase of a new 28-foot
air-conditioned
communications trailer loaded with HF, VHF and UHF radio
gear as well as
packet capability, GPS, wireless Internet, live National
Weather Service
reports, satellite TV and more. Boehner and Besley believe
the grant marks
the first time the Department of Homeland Security has
provided funding of
this magnitude for an Amateur Radio communications facility.

"A portable 2-meter repeater has been secured and will be
available to
provide on-scene communications as needed," Boehner said. In
addition, the
vehicle will be equipped with Winlink 2000 to enable
Internet and e-mail via
HF. The State Emergency Operations Center also will have
Winlink 2000
capability.

Complementing the onboard TV facilities will be an
innovative 3x4-foot
two-way projection screen at the rear of the vehicle. It
will not only be
viewable inside from the six-person conference table but
from outside to aid
in group briefings and video presentations. Separate 17-inch
LCD screens
throughout the unit will have VCR/DVD capability.

Powering the unit will be a 10 kW generator with an onboard
diesel tank to
allow continuous operation for more than 24 hours before
refueling. A
30-foot mast controllable from inside the trailer will
provide antenna
support.

Satellite communication, including high-speed Internet
connections, will be
via an automatic roof-mounted dish antenna. A local area
computer network
and router will complement several laptops at work stations.

While the trailer will primarily be deployed within Aiken
County, emergency
officials in neighboring counties may request its use as
needed. "It is
intended to be a resource for the South Carolina Section,
upon request of
the respective county or state Emergency Management
Department and the
District Emergency Coordinator in that area," Boehner said.

The trailer is now on order and set for delivery in early
July, although
Boehner says it could arrive in time for ARRL Field Day June
25-26. Local
radio amateurs plan to cover the costs of the van's upkeep
through swapfests
and other fundraisers.
------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
From: "Bob Besley" <Aikenpolo at gforcecable.com>
Subject: Re: ARES Trailer

> Thank you for your questions on the new Aiken County South
Carolina ARES
> communications trailer.
>
> I submitted through our own state government a grant for
the trailer. In
> South Carolina, homeland security monies are distributed
through the State
> Law Enforcement Division. Each state is different.
>
> You must first find out who gives out the money in your
state. Second,
> find out when is the application period for submitting
your grants. In
> South Carolina it is done in the month of January.
>
> You must have a good relationship with state and local
government. If you
> think that someone is going to just give out $100,000 to
someone they
> don't know of, you're crazy. Start now by working with
your local and
> state
> Emergency preparness officials. Make sure they know who
ARES is and what
> you have to offer. In our state we assisted in just one
large scale
> practice event and showed how hams could provide
communications between
> hospitals, to make the State boys look at us. It is your
positive
> partnerships that will get you the funding.
>
> I have enclosed several sections of our grant that include
verbage that
> you might be able to use. Don't go over board, and don't
leave anything
> out that might shine positively on you as well.
>
> I also included the most recent drawings of our unit that
is still in
> production.
>
> I will note that I have worked closely with a group from
"NOMAD
> Technologies" located in Montana. These guys are first
class and are
> building our project for us. Call them and ask for Will
Schmautz
> (406-755-1721) who is the President of the company. I can
not over
> emphamzie how good these guys are in designing your
project. They know
> radio!
>
> Check out web site:   www.nomadtechs.com
>
> Hope this has helped.
>
> Bob Besley- K4NJN
> ARRL Asst. Section Manager
> South Carolina Section