[PPRAANet] D-14 PPARES: 2010 Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinners a Success!
Phillip H. Blanton
phillip at n0tan.com
Fri Nov 26 18:19:36 EST 2010
Remember, any hams are welcome to participate in the Salvation Army
Dinner program. You don't have to be an ARES or RACES member to pitch in!
--
Phillip H. Blanton (NøTAN)
Bill,
Very impressive log-keeping. Many of us just handled the situation as
presented and didn't bother to log it. Your log reveals some interesting
information and I'm glad you did it.
Since the SA also plans on running the Christmas operation out of the
Weber facility, I'd like to arrange a packet station at both the Yuma
and Weber sites. That way we could gain proficiency in packet operations
in a real-world scenario.
Anyone interested in setting up two packet stations on Christmas day? I
have a few radios, but no packet stations (I have an Icom IC-7000 and a
PC so maybe I do????). Please advise. If you are willing to help me set
up a couple of packet stations, even if you don't want to spend
Christmas day watching them, I'd appreciate the help.
It seems that this is an awesome opportunity to do a little packet
training. In a real-world emergency, a packet station set up for use by
regular people is a huge benefit. If we can practice this at Christmas
time, that'd be a great training opportunity!
I a willing to spend the money necessary to get a packet station up and
running. If you are a packet expert and are willing to help me set up a
system for the SA for Christmas, I'd LOVE to take the challenge. I will
accept the responsibility to get a station set up at the Weber facility.
If someone else is willing to help get a station set up at the Yuma
facility, then that'd provide most of the packet handling they need.
Seriously, this is a fun mission. You will really enjoy volunteering for
the SA dinners at Christmastime. If you are a packet guy, then you are
welcome to pitch in! If not, you are still seriously invited to PITCH
IN! Maybe you can get some packet training! Even if you don't, you will
still have a good time!
--
Phillip H. Blanton (NøTAN)
719 357-MAGNUM (6246)
On 11/26/10 3:33 PM, Bill Hecker wrote:
> To everyone.
>
> Yesterday was a great success due to everyone's fine efforts. Henry
> truly deserves special recognition for the superb job as he guided
> Main and the rest of us through many challenges.
>
> I had a great time and enjoyed working with the good people at SA HQ:
> Jim Wright & Brenda Adams, receptionist: Jillian, and Chef Tom Schaeffer
>
> * HQ (Yuma) worked well. The SA HQ Leads, the receptionist, the
> chef were briefed so all knew the PPARES support was present and
> where the PPARES member was within the building. It was a good
> team relationship that worked well.
> * HQ (Yuma) passed/received a total of 35 messages between ~0845 and
> ~1445.
> * Equipment:
> o Icom 2710 at 10 watts and Arrow UHF/VHF J-Pole on mast at 15
> feet in a open area about 60 feet from station, connected by
> 100' RG-8. Table, chair, carbon-less two part log book,
> pens, Phil's Op Plan.
> o Operated all day on battery power, consuming ~7Amp-hrs (~40
> Amp-hrs available). 120V was readily available in radio room.
> o Back up: Icom 7000, a 25amp AC power supply, 60' RG-8X, Dual
> band 5/8 wave mag mount, and Yaesu VX-1R HT with Pryme
> VHF/UHF gain whip antenna.
> * Operated on UHF net, monitored VHF net.
> * One particular challenge was passing to Weber (Main) 24 requests
> for delivery of food or the pick up of people by the
> transportation group at Weber.
> o For some years, people needing delivery of meals or a pick
> up have called Salvation Army HQ (Yuma) for this service.
> With the shift of the operating base to Weber, we were
> looked to to relay the information to the transportation
> group at Weber (Main)
> o Sixteen calls came in directly to the receptionist and 8
> more were retrieved from the answering machine. They, each
> neatly hand written, were handed to the HQ (Yuma) radio
> operator for forwarding to Weber (Main).
> + The first concern was the passing of names, addresses,
> and phone numbers on the net; however, Salvation Army
> leaders said to do it, so we did.
> + The second dimension of this challenge was the
> passing of 16 of the 24 by radio. An additional 8
> were passed by telephone when a member of the
> transportation group called the Yuma operator by
> telephone. That was a good call that took the
> laborious task of passing these 8 off the radio net.
> o Either way, the information had to be relayed verbally.
> o Possible alternatives from a HQ (Yuma) perspective for
> dealing with this in the future:
> + Deal with it as we did in real time - passing info
> over the voice net using phonics.
> + Have the HQ receptionist or the PPARES operator pass
> the info directly to the transportation group via
> telephone; however, the transportation group did not
> have a readily available phone. They had to call HQ
> (Yuma) to get the information, once they were alerted.
> + PPARES set up a packet net using Airmail between HQ
> (Yuma) and Weber (Main) in addition to the voice
> net. This gets the information into text form where
> it can be printed on the receiving end for
> distribution while potentially reducing errors. While
> this would have been an additional challenge for a one
> operator node, the voice net traffic was light enough
> (one call to or from Yuma every 5 to 10 minutes) that
> both could have been done.
> + OR, there should be several more not yet thought of.
> o I will leave it to the PPARES leaders and old pros to decide
> what course of action would be best. HQ (Yuma) could not
> assess the impact of these alternatives on Weber (Main). Of
> course, the solution would need to be discussed with the
> Salvation Army folks too.
> * Another challenge was contact with Manitou on the primary UHF net.
> o The alternate frequency 146.76 worked pretty well (Manitou,
> Main, & Yuma), but Manitou access into the repeater was not
> full quieting.
> o While PPARES has probably already tried 144.220 (USB)
> vertical polarization and 146.49 simplex at other times, I,
> as a curious guy, would like to like to learn a little more
> about 2 meters in difficult situations.
> * On manning:
> o It would be great if we could get enough PPARES members to
> sign up so that for each node the day could be broken into
> at least two shifts. It is a challenge for my family to
> support this for the full day.
> o One operator can handle HQ. A HT to monitor the net while
> delivering messages away from the station set up is necessary.
> o A second operator would provide more flexibility but is not
> essential for successful operation.
> * The HQ (Yuma) log book is available for anyone who needs it.
>
> It was a pleasure to support such a good cause here in Colorado Springs.
>
> Thanks
>
> Bill
> KC0ET
> HQ (Yuma) Node
>
>
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--
With Regards,
Phillip H. Blanton
phillip at n0tan.com
(719) 357-MAGNUM (6246)
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