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Subj: ARES E-Letter March 24, 2010
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The ARES E-Letter March 24, 2010
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
The View from Flagler County
----------------------------
The ARES renewal effort here is humming along. Registration for ARES in
the East Coast District, with emphasis on Flagler County is now underway
with a new registration form available: It requests typical data on license
and station capabilities, and Driver's License Number, which is required for
inter-county deployment when requested by the Florida state EOC. This is
not optional if you wish to be deployed outside of your county of residence.
The registration form also requests the applicant's signature, which
indicates that he/she will comply with an ARES Code of Conduct listed on
the back side of the form. I was very pleased to submit my application for
membership.
Eddie Cail, KJ4LRB, a relatively new licensee, has been appointed to the
position of Assistant DEC for Membership and Administration. Cail will keep
membership and training/certification records in order. To ensure
continuity and proper succession planning, we will be continually
forwarding our records to the Northern Florida Section Manager and Section
Emergency Coordinator.
We are accepting nominations for the Emergency Coordinator (EC) position for
Flagler County. A few very good nominations have already been received, and
candidates will be interviewed after March 22. The ideal candidate should
have thick skin and a bias to action. There is no lack of projects,
communication and coordination that needs to be performed both within
Flagler County and with our partners in Volusia and St. Johns counties, and
surrounding areas.
ARES operators are being encouraged to complete the FEMA classes IS-100,
IS-200, IS-700 and IS-800, which are now required by all county EOCs. All of
these classes are available online and are FREE. Start with IS-100 at the
following URL: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100A.asp. Certificates
of successful completion will be forwarded to local EOCs as training
confirmations. - Flagler ARES Newsletter, March 2010 issue
___________
In This Issue:
* The View from Flagler County
* Southeastern Division to Host National Hurricane Conference March 29 -
April 2
* Chilean Earthquake
* Hawaii Mobilized for Potential Tsunami
* Haiti Medical Mission Supported by ARRL, Amateur Radio
* Chemical Stockpile Exercise Supported in Alabama
* RACES Revitalization Effort Underway in Nebraska; SM Seeks Input
* FCC Seeks Comments for Blanket Waiver to Allow Amateur Radio in Hospital
Emergency Drills
* ARRL Requests Support for Senate Bill 1755
* Reading List
* Letters
* K1CE For a Final
____________
Southeastern Division to Host National Hurricane Conference March 29 - April 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, proudly announces
that the division will host the 2010 National Hurricane Conference, March 29
- April 2 at the Orlando Hilton, Orlando, Florida. This is the nation's
forum for education and professional training in hurricane preparedness.
The primary goal of the National Hurricane Conference is to improve
hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation in order to save
lives and property in the United States and the tropical islands of the
Caribbean and Pacific. In addition, the conference serves as a national
forum for federal, state and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend
new policies to improve Emergency Management.
On Tuesday, March 30, from 1:30 to 5:00 PM, all hams are invited at no cost
to attend the "Amateur Radio: Disaster Communications Before, During and
After Hurricanes" session in room Orange C.
On Wednesday, March 31, from 8:30 to 10:00 AM there will be an Amateur Radio
session designed for Emergency Managers called "Amateur Radio: The Emergency
Manager's Hidden Resource."
This conference will help Amateur Radio be successful in hurricane
preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. For more info: 2010
National Hurricane Conference.
Chilean Earthquake
------------------
Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) President Dr Galdino Besomi, CE3PG, reported that
the situation in Chile is "very complex" as the country suffered aftershocks
registering 6.0 or higher after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile
on February 27. "Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicio (RECNA) and RCCH
networks worked in coordination with the Army of Chile, handling information
about people localization, condition of roads and support for the emergency
administration," IARU Region 2 (Area G) Emergency Coordinator Jorge Sierra,
LU1AS, told the ARRL. He asked the amateur community to keep certain
frequencies free from non-essential, emergency traffic. The RCCH set up an
e-mail address where people could request information concerning people
affected by the earthquakes. - ARRL Letter
Hawaii Mobilized for Potential Tsunami
--------------------------------------
Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, Hawaii State Civil Defense ARES/RACES Coordinator,
thanked the Amateur Radio community for outstanding support of a state-wide
tsunami net convened in the immediate aftermath of the Chilean earthquake.
The net was held on the State RACES VHF network, and on HF at 7088 kHz. "We
had a combined total of 60 stations on VHF and HF checked into the net,"
said Hashiro. "Real-time observations from the field were passed, and
tactical messages were injected directly into the State Civil Defense's
information tracking and reporting systems." Hashiro added: "At the same
time, amateurs in three county EOCs were able to receive the same radio
reports for informational updates for their EOC operations."
The location reports, time-stamping, and timeliness with the estimates of
water height information demonstrated the professionalism of the Amateur
Radio Service to the SCD staff operations and to the Governor. SCD Director
Ed Teixeira was extremely pleased and grateful for these reports and
extended his thanks to the Amateur Radio community for an outstanding job
well done.
Haiti Medical Mission Supported by ARRL, Amateur Radio
------------------------------------------------------
ARRL and Amateur Radio has supported a medical mission to Haiti. Project
Medishare was founded in 1994 by the University of Miami Medical School and
Haiti physicians and health officials. Over the years, Medishare constructed
several health clinics, all of which were destroyed in the earthquake. In
the quake's aftermath, Medishare was able to rapidly deploy medical teams
and assets to begin the overwhelming task of meeting medical needs. A field
hospital was established within the relatively secure boundaries of the
Port-au-Prince Airport. Large tents were supplied to set up makeshift
operating rooms, patient treatment and recovery areas and mass sleeping
quarters for the volunteers.
Overall conditions were basic to primitive. An immediate need was to
establish a logistics chain for supplies from cots, food, water, medical
equipment and pharmaceuticals to handling the more than one hundred
volunteers rotating in and out every five to seven days.
Establishing reliable local and international communication was also a high
priority. The University of Miami's IT group set up two broadband Vsat
satellite links to handle e-mail and two channels of VoIP phone circuits,
but they were unstable and not reliable. An operations director then
contacted Julio Ripoll, WD4R, one of the volunteer leaders at the National
Hurricane Center in Miami. Ripoll in turn contacted ARRL to request help in
soliciting volunteers.
ARRL immediately sent an HF "Ham Aid Kit" and put Ripoll in touch with Neil
Lauritsen, W4NHL/NNN0TFH, ARRL West Central Florida Section Emergency
Coordinator and Navy MARS Florida State Deputy Director. Ripoll described
the mission profile and that he had only two WX4NHC operators ready to go to
Haiti. He requested operators to go to Haiti to provide two to three weeks
of backup communications until such time as the permanent satellite system
was stabilized. John McHugh, K4AG, assembled the list of equipment needed,
and Medishare provided it for both ends of the circuit: Haiti and Miami. The
equipment came from AES in Orlando.
The WX4NHC Club built a complete station at the Haiti Command Center
Building on the UM Medical Campus including erecting antennas on the roof.
Dale Botwin, KR4OR, and Ivan Menendez, KB4RMB, configured the HF radio for
remote control, Skype and Winlink e-mail capability. EchoLink was added
later as an internal coordination system between UM Haiti and the principal
coordinators stateside with the help of Rob Macedo, KD1CY, and Tony Langdon,
VK3JED.
Operations
The original mission profile was to set up an HF station capable of
providing backup voice via phone patch and backup e-mail capability via HF
Winlink. Both of these objectives could be met using normal Amateur Radio
frequencies, but with limitations due to propagation and stations available
when needed for phone patch traffic, it was decided to increase flexibility
and capability by using MARS assets to extend the number of Winlink stations
available and use the Air Force MARS-dedicated phone patch circuit that was
available 24/7. The volunteers were arranged in teams of two operators with
at least one being a MARS operator. Equipment included an ICOM IC-718 and
AH-710 supplied by ARRL.
VHF operations were set up on 146.52 MHz with Ron Tomo, KE2UK/AAT2BC at the
Nassau medical clinic approximately five miles from the airport. The clinic
had limited medical resources, and consequently there was much traffic
conducted with Miami Medical as a resource for patient consulting, patient
transfers to Miami, to other medical facilities and to the US Navy ship
Comfort.
Once the need to establish direct communications with the Comfort was
apparent, a VHF radio was modified to work on marine frequencies. When
contact was made, priority and emergency traffic was passed. Communications
with the Comfort were conducted seamlessly. The link with the Comfort was
critical to saving a lot of lives.
Twenty five phone patches were made over the AF phone patch net and the
Maritime Mobile Net on 14.300 MHz. Having access to the AF phone patch net
was valuable providing virtually 100% phone patch availability regardless of
propagation or time of day or night. All were routine health and welfare
messages that were appreciated by the Miami Medical personnel.
A communications link was also established with the U.S. Joint Operations
Command (JOC) to coordinate certain local security concerns. The six-meter
band was used for this purpose.
One of the unexpected communication needs was to maintain the GMRS radios
being used by the UM personnel. They had 12 radios, most of which were not
working. The volunteers worked on the radios by replacing dead batteries,
battery connections, wrong frequencies, and so forth. The radios then worked
within the hospital grounds, but could not work when needed over longer
distances. A Yaesu FT-897 was used on Channel 21 (462.700 Mhz) and acted as
a manual repeater to relay traffic between operators.
A VHF/UHF MARS-modified hand-held was also put into service on 462.700 MHz
when extended range was needed; for example, for daily trips to a medical
supply point four miles away.
HF Winlink was used for routine traffic. Its primary purpose was to provide
backup for emergency traffic should the VSAT e-mail link go down. This was
never needed but having the capability was a safety net that met the mission
requirements.
Lessons Learned
The major lesson was the importance of interoperability, which was managed
well: Army, Navy and Air Force MARS each stepped in with a coordinated
effort, each with defined support roles. The ARRL was there from the
beginning with equipment and reciprocal licensing support, to contacting the
FCC to clear the use of traffic, to supporting the ordering of medical
supplies and meeting other logistical requirements.
The mission provided a new perspective on interoperability, primarily among
the three MARS services, ARES, ACS and U.S. Military assets.
One other critical observation was the obvious need for more MARS operators
in support of the various U.S. military units operating in Haiti. The team
was asked to supply operators and equipment to help them improve their
communications across the various services deployed. Based on this
experience and the new mission statement for MARS, it is hoped that this
will facilitate the three MARS Chiefs and the DOD to review the
communication support MARS can provide during future humanitarian missions.
MARS members should train and be prepared for deployment, not if but when
the U.S. Military is called upon to provide the leadership for another major
humanitarian relief mission. -- Jack Satterfield W4GRJ/AFA4DG, Saint Pete
Beach, Florida
Chemical Stockpile Exercise Supported in Alabama
------------------------------------------------
The annual Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP)
exercise was conducted Wednesday, March 17, 2010 in northeast Alabama. The
six CSEPP counties are centered around Calhoun County where the Anniston
Army Depot at one time housed 7% of the nation's stockpile of chemical
weapons. (Congress has directed that the U.S. Army destroy certain kinds of
chemical weapons stockpiled at six U.S. Army installations in the U.S. over
the next several years. Experts believe the chance of an accident involving
these obsolete chemical munitions is remote. However, local officials and
responders have to be ready for such an emergency today and every day until
the stockpile in their community no longer exists),
It was a multi-hazard exercise this year. In Anniston, at the primary
hospital, the Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center, a mock fire at 7:30
AM destroyed several wards. A mobile hospital was requested from another
CSEPP county. The hospital had just received new Amateur Radio equipment
through a grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The hospital
had five ARES operators Tracy Stephens, KI4OZG, David Whilhoite, KM4DLW and
Peggy Whilhoite, KM4MPW who were all in the radio room while Mike Phillips,
KI4KOT operated the "Decon" Site. James Adams, W4FMI operated the Mobile
Hospital.
The second part of the exercise involved a mock tornado in the northern part
of Calhoun County hitting two schools, the Pleasant Valley Elementary and
Pleasant Valley High School with structural collapse and many trapped,
injured, and killed. ARES AEC David Spinks, W4EMG, and AEC James Brown,
KG4HXN operated the Alabama Department of Homeland Security Region 7
Communications Vehicle. They were dispatched to the Staging area and set-up
the communications and camera system for the EMA to view the staging area
scene. Jacksonville Fire Chief Wade Buckner, KD4TFS played a big part in the
exercise as well.
At 9 AM the CSEPP part of the exercise began with a simulated release of
Mustard agent from the Anniston Army Depot. The sirens and Tone Alert Radios
alerted (simulated) citizens in the affected areas. Residents were
instructed to shelter in place and wait for further instructions. Calhoun
County DEC/EC Randall Landers, KG4EUD activated the Calhoun County EMA ARES
staff and the Alabama Emergency Net on the state's highest repeater located
on Cheaha mountain.
All six CSEPP county ECs were active on the Alabama Emergency Net: checked
in were Landers, Clay County EC David Hester, KC4LQT, Cleburne County EC
Randy Smith, W4AUB, Etowah County EC Dave Waits, K4VMV, St Clair County EC
Steve Ayres, KG4VSH and Talladega County EC Jim McIlwain, W4LVT. Each EC
managed their own operations to support Calhoun County, running their own
nets as well as monitoring the main District wide net with Alabama State EMA
station KF4LQK. The Calhoun County EMA Director Dan Long, KI4SUF requested
EC Landers take over on 800 MHz so the EMA could manage the CSEPP. Landers
performed dispatch duties on the 800 MHz Digital trunking system.
During the exercise, the D-STAR net had seven agencies represented.
Twenty-four D-RATS messages were sent with many between the hospital and the
EMA. Dave Dostie, AE9Q operated the Joint information Center.
During the hot wash the FEMA lead evaluator said that communications was by
far the best part of the exercise with so many systems employed. The Alabama
District 7 team did a great job. -- Randall Landers, KG4EUD [Landers is
District 7 District Emergency Coordinator; Calhoun County EMA RACES
Commander; Calhoun County Citizens Corps Council Chairperson; Calhoun County
ARES Emergency Coordinator; Alabama Association of Emergency Managers;
Calhoun County Amateur Radio Association Trustee]
RACES Revitalization Effort Underway in Nebraska; SM Seeks Input
----------------------------------------------------------------
The ARRL Nebraska Section leadership is considering how to re-energize RACES
in the state. Current thinking is that RACES would be revamped as an elite
emergency communications corps, administered operationally as well as
organizationally under the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
There would be eight divisions of RACES, one in each of the eight Planning,
Exercise, and Training (PET) regions. "Elite" means that to be a member of
RACES, you would have to pass a sequence of on-line (and maybe "live")
courses in emergency communications and emergency management and to take
part in periodic emergency drills and exercises. Membership in RACES would
be open to any qualified Amateur Radio operator who meets the training
requirements.
While RACES members would report to a leader in each of the PET regions,
they would be available for assignments at the request of the county
emergency managers in that region. This action would create a corps of
well-qualified, trained individuals for emergency managers to count on.
To implement this new organization, current RACES operators would be
cancelled after a period long enough to allow them to qualify under the new
rules. New RACES certs would be issued as soon as hams met the training
requirements.
The RACES state Radio Officer (RO) would become a single point of contact
between NEMA and organized Amateur Radio emergency communications in the
state. The Nebraska SM Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ, has been asked to serve in
that capacity.
So what happens to ARES? The current thought is that ARES would be
administered within counties just as it is now. ARES members would be
encouraged to qualify for the new RACES certs. An appropriate protocol would
be worked out to prevent a conflict of commitment for hams who are members
of both ARES and RACES. Since the head of ARES in the state, Section
Emergency Coordinator Jon Morris, KAJGG, reports to the Section Manager,
both RACES and ARES will have common leadership at the top.
Early support from the field has been encouraging. Before formal action is
taken, however, Zygielbaum is asking for broader participation in
discussions. The objective is for the Nebraska Amateur Radio community to do
a better job of supporting the state's emergency management organizations.
Zygielbaum said "I am hoping that the actions under consideration will
strengthen us and encourage the participation of new hams." "Thoughts and
ideas would be very valuable." Zygielbaum can be contacted at k0aiz@arrl.org.
FCC Seeks Comments for Blanket Waiver to Allow Amateur Radio in Hospital
Emergency Drills
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In February, 2010, the American Hospital Association (AHA) filed a request
with the FCC for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) of the
Commission's Rules "to permit hospitals seeking accreditation to use Amateur
Radio operators who are hospital employees to transmit communications on
behalf of the hospital as part of emergency preparedness drills." On March
3, the FCC issued a Public Notice -- WP Docket 10-54 -- seeking comments if
the Commission "should grant AHA's request for a blanket waiver of Section
97.113(a)(3) to permit amateur operators who are hospital employees to
participate in emergency drills that are conducted by hospitals for
accreditation purposes and that are not government-sponsored." Section
97.113(a)(3) specifically prohibits amateur stations from transmitting
communications "in which the station licensee or control operator has a
pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer."
Instructions on how to paper file or file electronically comments are listed
in the Public Notice.
ARRL Requests Support for Senate Bill 1755
------------------------------------------
Senate Bill 1755 -- The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement
Act of 2009 introduced in October 2009 by Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and
Susan Collins (R-ME) -- has unanimously passed the US Senate and has been
sent to the US House of Representatives for consideration and now sits in
the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The ARRL is asking its
membership to contact the leadership of the Energy and Commerce committee,
requesting support and action on moving S 1755 through the committee. S 1755
accomplishes the same things as HR 2160; HR 2160 was introduced in April
2009 by Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18). Since S 1755 has already been
approved by the Senate, moving it forward in the House will simplify the
process.
S 1755 points out that "[t]here is a strong Federal interest in the
effective performance of Amateur Radio Service stations, and that
performance must be given -- (A) support at all levels of government; and
(B) protection against unreasonable regulation and impediments to the
provision of the valuable communications provided by such stations."
If enacted into law, S 1755 would instruct the Secretary of Homeland
Security (DHS) to undertake a study -- and report its findings to Congress
within 180 days -- on the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio
communications in emergencies and disaster relief.
The study shall:
*Include recommendations for enhancements in the voluntary deployment of
Amateur Radio licensees in disaster and emergency communications and
disaster relief efforts.
*Include recommendations for improved integration of Amateur Radio operators
in planning and in furtherance of the Department of Homeland Security
initiatives.
*Identify unreasonable or unnecessary impediments to enhanced Amateur Radio
communications, such as the effects of private land use regulations on
residential antenna installations, and make recommendations regarding such
impediments.
*Include an evaluation of Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996)).
*Recommend whether Section 207 should be modified to prevent unreasonable
private land use restrictions that impair the ability of amateurs to
conduct, or prepare to conduct, emergency communications by means of
effective outdoor antennas and support structures at reasonable heights and
dimensions for the purpose, in residential areas. The Secretary of Homeland
Security shall utilize the expertise of stakeholder entities and
organizations, including Amateur Radio, emergency response and disaster
communications.
Please contact Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA-30) and Ranking Member
Joe Barton (R-TX-6), urging them to send this bipartisan bill to the House
floor for adoption. A sample letter can be found here. Send your letters
urging consideration of S 1755 by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
to Rep Waxman via fax at 202-225-2525, and to Rep Barton via fax at
202-225-1919. Also, please fax a copy of your letters to the ARRL's
Washington representative, Chwat & Co at 703-684-7594.
For more information on S 1755, please visit the ARRL Government Relations
Web page.
Reading List
------------
Here is a good clip on D-STAR.
From Les Rayburn, N1LF: Great NPR article on solar storms here.
Rayburn also recommends an article on how people react in a disaster
situation. A team of behavioral economists from Switzerland and Australia
have published a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS) that takes an imaginative new look at who survived and who
perished aboard the two ships Lusitania and Titanic, and what the
demographics of death say about how well social norms hold up in a crisis.
A good item from Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU: Using the Internet as a Public
Service Radio Scanner.
Letters
-------
X50 Antenna Tips
I saw the notes (January issue) about those who may use the X50 antenna. I
have one as my main carry out antenna. I keep coax attached. I used the
mounting brackets to attach it to a piece of PVC pipe that slips over my
fiberglass mast assembly I use as an emergency antenna support. That way I
don't have to use a wrench to take the base apart to attach coax or to a
mast. It goes together in less than a minute after the mast is put together.
- Chris Rose, KB8UIH, Midland, Michigan
K1CE For a Final
----------------
I lost my wonderful wife, Joanne Palm, W1GUN, to cancer this month. I met
her at ARRL HQ in Newington in 1980 when we both worked there; she was a
secretary in the old Communications Department. Joanne always
enthusiastically supported my passion for Amateur Radio, and when I was
traveling away from home on the hamfest and convention circuit for many
weekends of my HQ staff years. Thanks to the vanity call sign program, she
was able to obtain her father's call sign.
While she was home on Hospice these last few months, we communicated around
the house using two Yaesu hand-held 2-meter rigs that I was testing for a
QST Product Review. For example, if I was working on this newsletter in the
ham shack, she could call me if she needed anything. It was fun, too!
I am reminded of the timeless "The Amateur's Code," written by Paul M.
Segal, W9EEA, in 1928: The amateur is "BALANCED . . . radio is an avocation,
never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community."
While Amateur Radio was also a vocation for me, I always ensured that I
spent more time with Joanne, devoting it to her needs and interests. This
was not so much because of duty, but for love. We both enjoyed doing things
together, no matter what they were.
Give your spouse or significant other an extra hug for me today, and thank
him or her for their support of your Amateur Radio passion. - 73, Rick, K1CE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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