[TCARC-NTX] ARES letter

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

=================					     
The ARES E-Letter
October 19, 2005
=================					   

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

=================================================
ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial
questions or
comments: <k1ce at arrl.net>
=================================================

+ The View from Flagler County

Hurricane Wilma is a whopping Category Five storm with
record low
barometric pressure, and apparently its travel plans
include the
Florida peninsula. The ARRL-affiliated Flagler
Emergency
Communications Association (FECA) met last night at
the county EOC to
discuss plans for activation of ARES. (FECA assets and
expertise
serve as a platform for ARES planning and operations
here in the
county). 

Last hurricane season, my YL Joanne, W1GUN, and I
grappled with the
decision to evacuate the area, or "shelter in place"
at home. This
time, there will be no decision-making: as an RN, I'll
take Joanne
with me to the hospital in Daytona Beach where I work.
We'll stay
there until it's all over, while I care for
critically-ill patients
on the ICU. Last year, one storm separated a patient's
room from the
exterior of the building, creating a gaping, breezy
hole through
which you could look down five floors to the parking
lot below. 

I received an e-mail message from my old friend Arnie
Coro, CO2KK,
from Havana, Cuba: amateurs there are charging their
batteries and
getting ready for another deployment. 

Is it November 30 yet? - K1CE
 

========================
In this Issue:

+ Rain Event in the Northeast Brings Out ARES
+ Katrina Efforts Winding Down
+ Colorado Team Returns from Hurricane Zones
+ Rhode Island's Finest Cited for Katrina Effort
+ Gwinnett County ARES "Geek Squad" Assists Agency
Center
+ Reflections on Hurricane Jeanne
+ Towards A National Data Base of Amateurs with Skills
+ "Old Technology" 
+ PowerPole Connectors 
+ More on ARES as NGO
+ ARES/RACES Emergency Coordinator Checklist
+ More on FEMA Training Opportunities
+ Happy Birthday: The Big Bend Emergency Net turns 28
+ Clarification: Modification of Amateur Radio
Equipment for Use by
MARS, CAP
+ K1CE for a Final
========================


+ Rain Event in the Northeast Brings Out ARES

The last couple of weeks saw many straight days of
rain in the region
causing major flooding, evacuations, injuries and
deaths. New
Hampshire SEC Dave Colter, WA1ZCN, reported that ARES
worked the
southwestern part of the state, especially around
Alstead and Keene,
supporting Red Cross, the state Bureau of Emergency
Management, and
the City of Keene during the flooding emergency there.
Northern New
Jersey SEC Steve Ostrove, K2SO, said that the Passaic
County
ARES/RACES supported the Office of Emergency
Management there.
Western Massachusetts SM Bill Voedisch, W1UD, reported
that the
Franklin County EOC was activated after flooding in
Greenfield. 

In Rhode Island, the Pawtuxet River started to
overflow its banks in
Cranston and West Warwick. People in Cranston's flood
zone were to be
evacuated, with a shelter opened. The state's EMA
opened its Command
Center and called for an ARES net to be started.
Within one hour, ten
ARES members were on hand, ready for assignment.

In West Warwick, ARES opened the Wakefield School
shelter, equipped
with Amateur Radio gear. The Warwick EMA used ARES and
its repeater
for communication with West Warwick for coordination
of shelter
volunteers. Red Cross HQ had ARES member Ludgerio
Fernandes, K1LAF,
on the repeater for communication with the Smithfield
EMA, Warwick
EMA, West Warwick Shelter, West Greenwich Shelter and
the Rhode
Island SEC Seán Brennan, KE1AB. 

This was the first time in a long time that Amateur
Radio was used in
Rhode Island during a shelter and EMA event. Perhaps
it is due to the
fact that 99% of those operating for the Red Cross and
local EMAs are
members of the recently revitalized Rhode Island ARES.
[Thanks Seán
Brennan, KE1AB, Rhode Island Section Emergency
Coordinator
<ke1ab at arrl.net>]

At press time, in Eastern Massachusetts, ARES has been
activated in
the city of Taunton for the potential collapse of the
Whittenton Pond
Dam on the Mill River. This story made CNN yesterday.
The Taunton EOC
is activated along with one shelter to support
evacuees being asked
to leave an area that would be susceptible to flooding
in the event
of collapse of the dam. Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC
Rob Macedo,
KD1CY, and Region II RACES Radio Officer, Bob Mims,
WA1OEZ are
monitoring the 147.135 MHz Taunton repeater. 

Local officials have stated that potentially, the dam
could fail at
anytime. See the NWS Taunton Flash Flood Warning
Statement at this
link:
<http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus51.KBOX.html> See
also
<http://ares.ema.arrl.org> for Eastern Massachusetts
ARES information
and sitreps.  [Thanks to SEC Rob Macedo, KD1CY, for
this report].


+ Katrina Efforts Winding Down

[The following was written by Greg Sarratt, W4OZK,
ARRL Alabama
Section Manager. His words express so eloquently the
experience of
ARES leaders and volunteers over the course of the
last couple of
months.]

Today, on the 37th day of Amateur Radio operations at
the Montgomery,
Alabama, American Red Cross center, the radios were
powered down for
a final time. It was a strange feeling packing, saying
goodbye and
then walking out of the old Super K-Mart building
knowing I would not
return tomorrow.
 
It was a pleasure working with the American Red Cross
personnel.  My
job was made easier with their support. The radio
amateurs that
worked on the Montgomery HQ team were all fine,
quality men and
women.	My staff included dedicated amateurs from all
over the United
States and Canada as well as many local operators.  We
developed many
processes, practices and procedures that will make the
next time
easier. 

The volunteers traveled on their own dollar to come do
the right
thing. Using their Amateur Radio skills, they helped
people in great
need.  Many amateurs helped people and served agencies
in other ways
as well. We also supplied amateurs for other agencies
including the
Salvation Army, the Southern Baptists, and many
emergency management
agencies and operating centers.
 
I'm looking forward to visiting ARRL HQ to review this
successful
operation.  We will plan and improve. I appreciate the
League's help,
support and patience. Over the next few days I plan to
review my
notes, ideas, double check the deployed roster and
work on an after
action report.
 
This effort was a success and a huge help to the
people and workers
in the devastated region.  Many non-amateurs now know
what works when
all else fails.  -- Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, ARRL Alabama
Section Manager
___________________

ARRL HQ staffer Steve Ewald, WV1X, conducted the final
scheduled Gulf
Coast teleconference of SMs and SECs, thanking them
for their
Herculean efforts. As busy as these dedicated ARRL
Field Organization
leaders were, they found time to communicate reports
of ARES activity
for the benefit of the rest of us. 

Outside support for Jasper County, Texas, operations
[Jasper is 75
miles north of Beaumont, and has 7500 citizens] was no
longer needed
as the Salvation Army was planning on suspending
operations, and
repeater service has been restored to the area. Local
ARES personnel
can now provide any support needed. Power is becoming
available even
in the smaller communities. Infrastructure has been
largely
rehabilitated. Bill Swan, K5MWC, North Texas SEC
thanked all ARES
operators, including those who had volunteered but
were not called.

The situation had been that without power, repeaters
in the area were
only usable with an on-site generator, constantly
refueled,
presenting a daunting task. Communications were
negatively impacted,
but 40-meters (SSB) was used by amateurs as the sole
viable means of
supporting the Salvation Army (and other
organizations) who were
distributing food. The communications promoted
expediency in food
delivery operations. [From reports by SEC Jerry
Reimer, KK5CA, South
Texas]
_______________

The situation in South Texas is still being evaluated.
As residents
(and radio amateurs) return, the extent of local ARES
capability is
being re-evaluated. The North Texas section remains on
standby to
assist, if required.


+ Colorado Team Returns from Hurricane Zones

The Colorado ARES/RACES Disaster Response Team (DRT)
recently
returned from the Gulf coast after supplying
communications support
there. The Winlink mode proved to be beneficial during
their
operations.

The ARES/RACES DRT is the field deployment amateur
support
communications group of the Colorado Division of
Emergency Management
(CDEM). They provide emergency communication for state
agencies, as
well as county and local emergency management
agencies, and disaster
relief organizations. 

The DRT primarily supports wildland fire operations,
but also gets
called for tornadoes, floods and blizzards -- often in
remote areas
of the Colorado high country. "As a joint ARES/RACES
unit, we are one
of the few Amateur Radio response teams available to
provide
communication support around the country, as we did
during Hurricane
Katrina,"  said Wes Wilson, K0HBZ, the ARES Emergency
Coordinator/RACES Officer for the team. "We can get
called out on a
moment's notice at any time."  See <www.codrt.org>


+ Rhode Island's Finest Cited for Katrina Effort

Rhode Island ARES/MARS volunteer Matt Hackman, KB1FUP,
who deployed
to the Gulf disaster region from September 9-25, has
returned safely
home. The city of Warwick, Rhode Island, presented
Hackman with a
city citation for his service. SEC Sean Brennan,
KE1AB, along with
Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, presented Hackman
with two
commendation certificates from ARRL. At the
presentation held in
conjunction with a regular Warwick CERT volunteers
meeting, Matt
spoke informally to the CERT members describing some
of his
experiences. The stories brought a full measure of
reality to the
volunteers' training. His real-life anecdotal comments
cannot be
found in any training guide and were very useful.
Pictures of the
presentation appear on
<http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=RI> 


+ Gwinnett County ARES "Geek Squad" Assists Agency
Center

The Gwinnett County (Georgia) Emergency Management
Agency (EMA) had a
different kind of request for Gwinnett ARES in the
aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. With the Atlanta metro area
receiving thousands of
evacuees, three Joint Resource Recovery Centers were
opened. The
American Red Cross was the cornerstone with additional
resources from
numerous federal, state and local agencies. Gwinnett
ARES was called
to investigate alternatives for Internet connectivity
in the event
that ordered services were not in place when the
center opened. The
EMA Director knew Gwinnett ARES was exploring a
county-wide WiFi
network for emergency support.

ARES members assisted the agencies with installing
their local
networks in anticipation of DSL Internet service. 
This would allow
the agencies to connect to their home-base computer
systems. The
evening before the center opened, the connections were
completed and
as a result of ARES support, all systems were ready to
go live,
immediately. 

For the next three weeks, Gwinnett ARES provided a
"geek squad" that
supported the center's operation, including a
telephone/radio channel
directory, telephone repair, daily distributing and
checking-in 50
GMRS radios, configuring laptop computers for WiFi
access to the
Internet, using their radio voices to make
announcements on the
paging system, and moving telephone terminations as
the situation
changed.  In addition, ARES members helped staff the
command center,
directing visitors and responding to questions posed
by the public.

This one-stop shop proved very successful.  More than
11,000 clients
(or households) were served.  Young evacuees were
enrolled in the
Gwinnett County school system.	The local EMA was
appreciative of the
support provided by Gwinnett ARES.  More than 700
person-hours were
contributed by Gwinnett ARES members. -- Stan Edwards,
WA4DYD,
Gwinnett County EC, <http://www.gwinnettares.org>


+ Reflections on Hurricane Jeanne

After working an ARES post during Hurricane Jeanne in
Florida, I was
forced to reflect on why I was volunteering my time,
effort and
equipment.  Our team had supported City Hall, the
primary Fire
Station, and the EOC. It hadn't occurred to me to
question why we
were there; I just knew as a radio amateur, my job was
to provide
communications in a time of emergency.	I happened to
be assigned to
City Hall.

Citizens could call City Hall to speak to a live
person about the
storm and their situation.    My job was to relay ARES
weather
reports from the field to the City Manager and
personnel conducting
the telephone operation. These reports enabled their
safety and the
public safety. 

After the event, I returned home and found that we had
just lost
power. I was putting my three-year-old son to bed when
he asked me
about the storm and where I had been all day and why. 
I told him
that I was helping people with the storm. After a
series of "whys"
and my patient explanations, he gave me a big hug.  I
not only knew
that I had gotten my message through but I knew he was
proud of me. 
Between searching for the accurate but simple answers
for why I do
what I do along with receiving the approval for being
away from my
young son, I knew that I had made the right choice and
would do it
again in a heartbeat. -- Jim Billings, KB8LXC, Flagler
County
(Florida) ARES <kb8lxc at yahoo.com>


+ Towards A National Data Base of Amateurs with Skills

I believe I have now seen reference to three different
databases of
volunteers for future deployments. The ARES community
should take a
lesson from the Red Cross: the Red Cross volunteers
that I worked
with on the Gulf coast were notified in a timely
manner and requested
to deploy because the Red Cross had a database of
their skills. ARRL
should have one, too. While this is certainly not a
trivial project,
it's not rocket science either.

If the ARRL is really serious about improving Amateur
Radio
assistance in times of disaster, addressing this issue
should be at
the top of the organization's list. Katrina
demonstrated that trying
to gather the information after the fact just isn't
effective. 
Here's a project that is tangible and demonstrates
ARRL's commitment
to making Amateur Radio more relevant in the public
safety
communication arena. -- Steve Bonine, KB9X [The author
provided
disaster relief work at Hattiesburg and Stennis,
Mississippi].


+ "Old Technology"

[The following are responses to the last issue's
"Final Note"
concerning Amateur Radio as old and new technology].

We may be "old technology" but we get the job done
and, as
illustrated during the hurricane response, our folks
saved the day
when new technology proved to be fragile.
 
I heard the term "old technology" in reference to HF
first at a Y2K
conference, from a FEMA guy in 1999. The definition
may be accurate
but fails to denote that "old" technology's
reliability and
capability serves well when coupled with the
commitment and can-do
ethic of the amateur operator. I am proud of all those
who served in
the unprecedented Katrina response and further commend
all those in
the ARRL who for years have served to train, represent
and support
this good work. Thanks for your good comments and your
support of
those who serve. - 73, Pat McPherson, WW9E, SATERN Net
Manager. [The
SATERN net was one of the preeminent on-the-air
services for the
Katrina effort. All of us are proud of your
organization's work, Pat.
- K1CE]

Some feedback regarding your FINAL NOTE in the latest
ARES
newsletter: My response when I am addressed with this
issue of
Amateur Radio's viability is, "IT'S SIMPLE AND IT
WORKS."  When I was
operating at the command center following Hurricane
Charlie, a note
on the white board at the command console had a quote
(with date and
time) from one of the Incident Commanders.  It read:
"Amateur Radio
is the only reliable communications into the affected
area."  The old
KISS principle surely seems to apply here. -- Fred
Kleber, K9VV


+ PowerPole Connectors 

Many ARES E-Letter readers were confused by the offer
of Anderson
PowerPoles being available from the San Francisco
ARES. They are
available now and we expect them to be available into
the indefinite
future.  Over 2000 pairs sold.	Proceeds go to ARES. 
See
<http://www.wcf.com/sfares/fun> -- Dave Gomberg, NE5EE
<gomberg1 at wcf.com>


+ More on ARES as NGO

The American economy is commoditized: each chunk of
the "value chain"
from finding raw material to waste product removal is
undertaken by
purpose-designed organizations whose business it is to
be the best in
their slice of the economy. With service
organizations, those who
would serve must demonstrate more than good intentions
-- they must
demonstrate competency in skill and organization. The
old ways,
collegial, often improvised, and "more heart than
head" are
insufficient -- and ruled out by served agencies
(customers).
 
ARES represents a fine outline of a proven structure. 
But it depends
too much on ad hoc, local circumstances and cannot be
easily
replicated nationally, depending exclusively on the
available
resources of the local amateur community.  There are
varying
standards of performance, skill level, and commitment.
Wouldn't it be
better to treat ARES more like a franchise, locally
owned and
operated, but with national brand identity, purchasing
power, quality
control and organizational control?  

Consider the multifaceted attacks on Amateur Radio
from BPL, wireless
communication interests, the Internet, and we see that
a unified
response to emergency amateur communications becomes
almost a
necessary prerequisite to our survival as a service,
to speak nothing
of what we can offer the American citizenry if
properly organized. 

In short, I too recommend the ARRL move ARES towards
an
institutionalized NGO, an equal player at the table
with the Red
Cross, the Salvation Army, and others who have made
the effort in
time, organization and money to institutionalize their
"value
proposition" such that it need not be recreated with
each local
change in the political wind. Fact is, this is no
longer our
decision: it has been made for us by the powers that
be.  --  Joseph
Ames Jr., W3JY, Delware County (Pennsylvania) AEC
ARES/RACES
<www.delcoares.org>


+ ARES/RACES Emergency Coordinator Checklist

The following EC checklist comes from the West Central
Florida
Section to promote ARES and RACES unification and
better local
emergency management agency cooperation. If your ARES
organization
has a close working relationship with your local
emergency management
agency, you should be able to answer "yes" to a
majority of the
questions.

1. What is the name of your county's Director of
Emergency
Management? Do you have a working relationship with
him or her? If
the two of you passed each other on the street, would
he recognize
you? Would you recognize him?

2. What is the physical street address of your
county's EOC? Do you
have 24/7 access to your county's EOC? When was the
last time you
were there?

3. Does ARES/RACES have a seat assigned at the EOC?
Are your team
members credentialed by the EOC?

4. If a letter was sent to your county's EOC addressed
to ARES/RACES
or Amateur Radio, would you receive it?

5. If a new radio amateur moved into your county and
called the
county EOC asking for information on joining
ARES/RACES, would the
EOC staff know what they were inquiring about? Would
they refer the
caller to you?

6. As the Emergency Coordinator, are you paged or
called to report to
the EOC each time the EOC is activated? Does the EOC
and 911 dispatch
center have your contact information contained in its
list of
essential EOC personnel?

7. Is your ARES/RACES organization written into your
county's
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP)?

8. Are you using the county EOC to hold ARES/RACES
meetings and
training activities for your members?

9. How many of your county's paid EOC staff are
Amateur Radio
operators? Have you approached them about becoming
hams and offered
them training?

10. Does the EOC have county owned Amateur Radio
equipment
permanently 
installed in the EOC or do you bring your own
equipment when
reporting to the EOC?

If you answered negatively to several of these
questions, it may be
time to reevaluate and strengthen the relationship
between your
ARES/RACES organization and your local county
emergency management
agency. - Gary Sessums, KC5QCN, RACES Officer/ARES
Emergency
Coordinator, Hillsborough County, Florida


+ More on FEMA Training Opportunities

For information about the FEMA course on Amateur Radio
Resources,
please see: 
<http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/STCourses/crsdesc/G250_6.html>

This course is designed to train government employees
about the
mission of Amateur Radio operations. - Carl Zellich,
AA4MI, ARRL
Assistant Director, Southeastern Division,
<aa4mi at arrl.net>


+ Happy Birthday: The Big Bend Emergency Net turns 28

In the mid '70s, shortly after the Big Bend (Texas)
Amateur Radio
Club was formed, radio amateurs were called to search
for a missing
girl. Communication was provided for the Texas
Rangers. The event led
to the founding of the Big Bend Emergency Net. The net
meets every
Sunday at 8:30 A.M. Central Time, and has been on the
air since
September 18, 1977. By 1978, the net had 20 members.
The net now has
111 members, with an average of 35 check-ins each
session.

The net has been activated many times over the years.
The biggest
event covered was the Saragosa, Texas, tornado of May
1987. The net
was on the air within an hour after the tornado
struck. Communication
with the state EOC was established, the sole link
until the next day
when a single phone line was connected to the Big Bend
ARC emergency
van on site in Saragosa.

The Big Bend Emergency Net could not have continued
without the
faithful participation of its many members over the
years. I would
like to thank all of those that have checked in. - Bob
Ward, WA5ROE,
Net Manager


+ Clarification: Modification of Amateur Radio
Equipment for Use by
MARS, CAP

MARS and CAP operators may (and frequently do) legally
modify Amateur
Radio equipment for their use in the MARS and CAP
frequency bands,
which are deliberately near amateur allocations for
exactly this
purpose. Indeed, neither MARS or CAP require
certificated equipment,
precisely so that modified ham equipment can be used.
We regret any
confusion stemming from a related item published in a
previous issue.
- K1CE


+ K1CE for a Final

I received the following e-mail from Tennessee radio
amateur Richard
Skelton, KI4EMJ, that, frankly, made my day: "Thanks
for this
newsletter--it makes me even more proud to be a ham
than I already
was!" You're welcome, Richard. (Hey, good first name,
too!)

======================================================================
The ARES E-Letter is published on the third Wednesday
of each month
by the American Radio Relay League--The National
Association For
Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel
860-594-0200;
fax 860-594-0259; <http://www.arrl.org/>. Jim Haynie,
W5JBP,
President.

The ARES E-Letter is an e-mail digest of news and
information of
interest to active members of the ARRL Amateur Radio
Emergency
Service (ARES). 

Material from The ARES E-Letter may be republished or
reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without additional
permission. Credit
must be given to The ARES E-Letter and The American
Radio Relay
League.

Editorial questions or comments: Rick Palm, K1CE,
k1ce at arrl.net
Delivery problems (ARRL direct delivery only!):
ares-el-dlvy at arrl.org

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your address for
e-mail delivery:
ARRL members first must register on the Members Only
Web Site,
http://www.arrl.org/members/. You'll have an
opportunity during
registration to sign up for e-mail delivery of the The
ARES E-Letter,
W1AW bulletins, and other material. ARRL members may
subscribe to The
ARES E-Letter by going to the Member Data Page at:
http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html?modify=1

Note that you must be logged in to the site to access
this page.
Scroll down to the section "Which of the following
would you like
to receive automatically via email from ARRL?" Check
the box for
"ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency
communications
news)" and you're all set. 

Past issues of The ARES E-Letter are available at
http://www.arrl.org/ares-el/. Issues are posted to
this page after
publication.
======================================================================



--- automatic signature follows...

David Johnson
MCP,MCSE,MCSD,MCDBA,CWS
david at justcalldavid.com
kb5ylg at yahoo.com

---

Emergency and public service communications,
a hobby of myriad facets, an enhancement to any
other hobby:  The Amateur Radio Service.

Find out more at http://www.arrl.org


		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Music Unlimited 
Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.
http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/