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Subj: ARES E-Letter April 21, 2010
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The ARES E-Letter April 21, 2010
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
The View from Flagler County
----------------------------
The ground-breaking first meeting of the new Flagler ARES© organization is
tonight at the Flagler county EOC. Emergency Services staff, and perhaps
even Emergency Management Chief Troy Harper are expected to attend, as they
are excited about having the ARES© resource back in the county. Local emcomm
group members are also expected. Agenda items include a review of the new
ARES© Code of Conduct, and training.
Interviewing of EC candidates has been slow. East Coast DEC Michael Lee,
WB6RTH, said "the new EC will have to be strong-willed, fearless and with a
bias toward action, not just empty talk. We don't need a chair-warmer for an
EC, but a team builder, a change agent, a customer and volunteer-focused
individual who will lead in positive change. Being a prior EC has no bearing
on this decision - only a passion for service and a service-oriented
attitude will be considered."
Flagler County ARES© has installed a new ICOM ID-880H D-STAR radio in the
EOC's Radio Room. ARES© volunteers also revamped the Radio Room: All radios
and power supplies were re-rigged with PowerPole connectors; antennas and
feed lines were re-worked; and general clean-up was done. Eddie Cail,
KJ4LRB, Phil McElrath, K5BBC, and Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ, joined with other EOC
volunteers and staff members Frank Sanita, AA4FS, Bob Pickering, KB4RSY, and
Harper for the work party. In the end, both Pickering and Harper were
impressed with the efficiency and quality of the work. All work was
documented and sent to EOC staff and management as a baseline for future
perforğmance measurements.
____
Our neighbors to the north, St. Augustine and St. Johns County ARES© are
working hard to advance D-STAR hardware/software and capability in the
county with the purchase of D-STAR radios for their EOC. The new equipment
will close the gap with capability in all EOCs from Duval (Jacksonville),
through St. Johns, Flagler and down to Volusia county (Daytona Beach),
enabling all of them to be part of a seamless network of D-STAR voice and
data operations in the northern I-95 corridor.
____
Southeastern D-STAR Weather Net
On Sunday night, the local ARES© D-STAR repeater was connected to the
Southeastern D-STAR Weather Net. More than a half-dozen members checked into
the net, joining a hundred others from 35 repeaters across eight states in
the network. The net meets Sunday nights at 2100 local time, and EOCs are
welcome to send representatives. The net also meets during severe weather
call-ups.
____
In This Issue:
The View from Flagler County
ARRL Signs MOU with Red Cross
Amateur Radio Well-Represented at the National Hurricane Conference
2010 Hurricane Season Forecast Grim
China's Qinghai Province Earthquake
ARES© Digest
ARRL Files Comments in Response to Hospital Association Seeking Blanket
Waiver Request for Amateur Radio Drills
National Communications System's SHARES Program
New Emergency Manager at ARRL HQ
Letters
EmComm East Returns to Rochester, New York
K1CE for a Final
_____
ARRL Signs MOU with Red Cross
-----------------------------
On Thursday, March 25 ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, signed a new
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American Red Cross (ARC) at ARC
National Headquarters in Washington, DC. The MoU, which replaces an earlier
Statement of Understanding that expired in 2007, provides a "broad framework
for cooperation" between the ARRL and the ARC "in preparing for and
responding to disaster relief situations at all levels in rendering
assistance and service to victims of disaster, as well as other services for
which cooperation may be mutually beneficial." Details here.
Amateur Radio Well-Represented at the National Hurricane Conference
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2010 National Hurricane Conference was held March 29 - April 2 at the
Orlando Hilton in Orlando, Florida. This conference is the nation's premier
forum for education and professional training in order to improve hurricane
preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation to save lives and property
in the United States and the tropical islands of the Caribbean and Pacific.
Hundreds of federal, state and local officials were there to learn, exchange
ideas and recommend new policies to improve Emergency Management.
The National Hurricane Conference (NHC) Amateur Radio Committee requested
and received two Amateur Radio sessions this year. The first session was
held over the course of the entire afternoon on Tuesday and boasted
attendance of more than one hundred. The forum, titled "Amateur Radio:
Disaster Communications Before, During and After Hurricanes," required no
entrance fee and was open to all hams.
The conference presenters at the session were WX4NHC Amateur Radio Assistant
Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R; the National Hurricane Center's John McHugh,
K4AG; Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net and Eastern
Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY; and ARRL
Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK. During this session,
attendees learned about operations of the Amateur Radio station at the
National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC, which is now entering its 30th year of
service, and assisted the University of Miami Hospital (UMH) Project
Medishare with operations at their field hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
in the wake of the recent earthquake. The WX4NHC Group coordinated and
teamed up with MARS, the Maritime Mobile Net, the Intercontinental Net and
the VoIP Hurricane Net to provide long distance HF communications between
UMH Miami and Haiti. They also provided extensive interoperable local
communications (VHF, UHF, Marine, MARS) among the UMH Field Hospital, USNS
Comfort Hospital Ship, other Medical Missions, Airport Terminal, Medical
Supplies Logistics support and critical patient transfers.
Those in attendance also learned about the VoIP Hurricane Net, which uses
Echolink and IRLP technology to provide surface reports to WX4NHC and
provides interoperability and pathways into the affected area of hurricanes
for EOCs and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at the local, regional
and national level and also serves as a liaison with D-STAR nets when
active. Hams in attendance were also provided an ARRL update.
On Wednesday morning an Amateur Radio session designed for Emergency
Management professionals titled "Amateur Radio: The Emergency Manager's
Hidden Resource" was held. Macedo and Sarratt conducted this session for 40
emergency management officials of which half were Amateur Radio operators.
Good questions and interchange occurred with the managers from all over the
U.S. This rap session concept was started at last year's Hurricane
Conference in Austin, Texas, where Dennis Dura, K2DCD and Sarratt found this
concept worthwhile in exposing the ARRL's role at section, regional/division
and national levels for Emergency Management and other served agencies. This
interaction proved very valuable to emergency management and Amateur Radio.
On Wednesday evening, the Orange County (Florida) EMA hosted a meeting for
ARES© and all amateurs interested in emergency radio communications who were
unable to attend the Hurricane Conference. Macedo and Sarratt gave a recap
and answered emergency communication questions. Emergency Manager Keith
Kotch and more than 35 attended the meeting, toured the EOC/911 operations
center and wrapped up by enjoying a special and tasty Hurricane Katrina
cake, baked by Linda Kotch.
Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, a professional videographer and ARRL Eastern
Massachusetts ARES© Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, provided video
and audio coverage for all three events. Videos will be available online by
mid-June. Watch prior conferences from 2008 and 2009 here.
Sarratt said "It was another great conference for ARES©. Many Amateur Radio
operators enhanced their skills, knowledge and relationships, which will
help us to be more successful in providing emergency communications for the
future." More information on the National Hurricane Conference here. - from
a report by ARRL Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK
2010 Hurricane Season Forecast Grim
-----------------------------------
Colorado State University's Research Scientist Philip J. Klotzbach and
Professor Emeritus William M. Gray reported that information obtained
through March 2010 indicates that the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will
have significantly more activity than the average 1950-2000 season: "We
estimate that 2010 will have about eight hurricanes (average is 5.9), 15
named storms (average is 9.6), 75 named storm days (average is 49.1), 35
hurricane days (average is 24.5), four major (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes
(average is 2.3) and ten major hurricane days (average is 5.0). The
probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall is estimated to be about 130
percent of the long-period average. We expect Atlantic basin Net Tropical
Cyclone (NTC) activity in 2010 to be approximately 160 percent of the
long-term average. We have increased our seasonal forecast from the
mid-point of our early December forecast."
"We expect current moderate El Ni¤o conditions to transition to neutral
conditions by this year's hurricane season. The predicted weakening of El
Ni¤o conditions combined with a very strong anomalous warming of the
tropical Atlantic are the primary reasons why we are increasing our
forecast. We believe that these two features will lead to favorable dynamic
and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification."
More info here. -- Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State
University
China's Qinghai Province Earthquake
-----------------------------------
The Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA) has asked that the frequencies
of 7050 KHz and 7060 kHz be kept clear for emergency communications
following a devastating earthquake in Yu Shu district, Qinghai province. A
number of radio amateurs are active in supporting the rescue and recovery
efforts including BG9UA, BG9UP and BG9UO.
The emergency communication team of the Anhui Amateur Radio Society, led by
Mr. Du, BG6CEV, was flying to Qinghai on April15 to bring communication
equipment.
The earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale has left 589 people dead,
nearly 10,000 injured and 10,000 families needing to be resettled due to 99%
of houses being damaged. Yu Shu is located on a plateau with temperatures
falling to -5 degrees Celsius making conditions difficult for those without
shelter as well as hampering rescue efforts. Water, electricity and other
facilities are also cut off. - from a report by G0DUB, Region 1 Emergency
Communications Coordinator; and Fan Bin, BA1RB, CRSA Coordinator of the IARU
Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee via Jim Linton, VK3PC
ARES© Digest
------------
March 1 -- Kentucky has a new ARES Emergency Communications Plan as of March
1, 2010. The Kentucky Amateur Radio Emergency Service (KY ARES) is comprised
of Kentucky operators who have voluntarily registered their capabilities and
equipment for public service communications and disaster/emergency
communications duty. The ARRL Kentucky Section consists of five regions, 13
districts and 120 counties.
March 28 -- Amateur Radio Assists with Rescue in Great Smoky Mountains
April 1 -- Telephone Outage in Nebraska Was No April Fool's Joke
April 24 -- Sacramento Valley (CA) Emergency Communications Leadership
Conference this Saturday. The third annual seminar for Emergency
Communications Leadership in the ARRL Sacramento Valley (California) Section
will take place Saturday, April 24, from 9 AM to 2 PM, at the U.C. Davis
Sierra Foothills Research and Extension Center, 8279 Scott Forbes Rd., in
Browns Valley. The seminar is hosted once again by Art Craigmill, K6ALC, the
Yuba and Sutter County Emergency Coordinator. The seminar is organized and
presented by Larry Sutter, WD6FXR, Section Emergency Coordinator. All
Section emcomm leadership is invited as well as anyone who intends to step
up to a leadership position. All emcomm organizations, not just those whose
title includes the ARES label, are urged to attend.
ARRL Files Comments in Response to Hospital Association Seeking Blanket
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Waiver Request for Amateur Radio 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." On
April 2, the ARRL filed comments regarding the blanket waiver request.
While not opposing the grant of a waiver, the ARRL urged the Commission "to
carefully delineate limits on the types of communications that can be
provided by employees of hospitals for accreditation purposes or otherwise
pursuant thereto." The ARRL pointed out that AHA's waiver request was not
"sufficiently specific to preclude any possible misunderstanding by Amateur
Radio licensees (and hospital administrators) about what is permitted and
what is not. The Commission's notice alleviates some, but not all of these
concerns."
To address this, ARRL proposed some very specific language for this waiver
in its comments that will:
*Accommodate the specific needs of AHA and its member hospitals.
*Permit effective and seamless emergency and disaster relief communications
preparedness drills and exercises incorporating Amateur Radio.
*Protect the Amateur Service to some extent against potential commercial
exploitation.
*Protect Amateur Radio licensees who are employees of hospitals against
pressure from employers to conduct inappropriate communications by means of
Amateur Radio stations. Background and more discussion here.
HDSCS Weighs In
The Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS) of Orange
County, California, has filed its official comments to the FCC Public Notice
regarding the "blanket waiver" request by the American Hospital Association.
HDSCS is a specialized unit of ARES formally organized in 1980 at the
request of hospitals in north Orange County who hold drills together each
year for disaster preparedness. It came about as the result of a phone
outage at a large hospital in Fullerton in 1979 and the impressive response
of Amateur Radio operators to that emergency. Beginning with seven at
inception, the list of HDSCS-supported facilities has grown to include all
of the acute care receiving hospitals in the county, plus other critical
medical facilities.
Founder April Moell, WA6OPS, stated that she would be interested in comments
regarding this issue: "For those of you who are hospital employees, please
read through the letter from AHA to the FCC. I would also like to know your
thoughts about the statement regarding The Joint Commission standards for
drills and using Amateur Radio." Moell is ARES© District Emergency
Coordinator for the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System, Orange
County, California
National Communications System's SHARES Program
-----------------------------------------------
[The National Communications System is a long-time MoU partner with the
ARRL. The NCS is a unique organization. It is a confederation of 23
organizations across the Federal Government tasked with ensuring the
availability of a viable national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications infrastructure. The President designates member
organizations that own or lease telecommunications facilities/services of
significant value to emergency response or that have important
telecommunications policy, regulatory, or enforcement responsibilities. The
assets of these 23 organizations comprise the bulk of the Federal
Government's telecommunications resources.
Veterans will recall the NCS "Night Tango" exercises of the '80s, designed
to evaluate the capabilities of volunteer communications systems to support
NCS goals. NCS recognizes the resources that trained radio amateurs bring to
the table, especially through the decentralized field organization (ARES and
NTS) of the ARRL.
The SHARES program often is operational during major disaster situations,
and this month we look at this program as part of our basic emcomm
education, reproduced from the NCS Web site. - ed.]
The SHARES program is charged with promoting interoperability between High
Frequency radio systems used by the Federal departments and agencies. It is
also tasked to foster interoperability through examination of regulatory,
procedural, and technical issues. This role has taken on added importance
with the widespread purchase and use of Automatic Link Establishment (ALE)
technology throughout the HF radio community. In responding to this role,
the NCS SHARES HF Interoperability Working Group has established the SHARES
Action Item process to identify, record, and track issues affecting HF radio
interoperability in the Federal government.
Emphasis has also been placed on expanding awareness of new technologies in
HF radio. Technological advancements have made HF radio more efficient and
competitive in day-to-day operations. Multiple microprocessors,
Digital-Signal Processing (DSP) and computer control, and Automatic Link
Establishment (ALE), combine to simplify and enhance HF radio operation and
frequency selection. The US Navy has successfully demonstrated e-mail links
within a surface fleet Battle Group via HF radio, with transmission speeds
of up to 4.8 kbps.
Automatically combining HF radio and other communications media such as land
line, satellite, and VHF/UHF enables a user to consider costs and priority
in processing messages. This technology provides selective routing of
high-speed, error-free transmission of fax, e-mail, text, and data files.
Data compression techniques further enhance the effective data rate.
New technologies also enable the transmission of imagery over HF.
High-resolution color and monochrome images from analog cameras, still video
cameras, and digital cameras as well as imagery from IR and RADAR sources
can be processed via HF radio. Image compression and error correction
algorithms are featured in this newly enhanced technology.
New Emergency Manager at ARRL HQ
--------------------------------
The ARRL is pleased to welcome Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager
Mike Corey, W5MPC, to the Headquarters staff in Newington. Corey's major
responsibilities include addressing the development and implementation of an
organizational disaster response plan as well as an operational continuity
plan, complete with supporting procedures and training. Corey also will play
an integral part in the management of ARES©, and in future negotiations with
served agencies with whom ARRL shares or creates Memoranda of Understanding.
An Extra class licensee and an ARRL Life Member, Corey comes to the ARRL
with almost 20 years of experience with emergency communications. Licensed
since 1988, he has been involved with SKYWARN since 1991 and has attended
basic and advanced SKYWARN training. He is the author of the ARRL Storm
Spotter's Handbook, which was released last month.
After graduating from Indiana University, Corey embarked on a career in law
enforcement, working as the Communications Officer for the Howard County
Sheriff's Department, where he was responsible for dispatching law
enforcement, emergency medical services, fire services and county resources
to calls for service, as well as operating and maintaining the logs for the
National Crime Information Center. Corey also served as Project Manager for
contingency planning for public safety communications. While employed at the
Sheriff's Department, he also volunteered at the Kokomo Howard County
Emergency Management Agency, serving as a Special Deputy Sheriff, and
assisted with emergency management response planning and local disaster
response as part of the Emergency Operations Center staff.
Corey left Indiana to pursue a Master's degree in Criminal Justice at the
University of Mississippi. While attending to his studies, he joined the
University of Mississippi Police Department as the Communications Officer.
Corey served as the primary contact for the department, provided support
training to new employees, coordinated public safety communications during
campus events and advised the University administration on severe weather
response. While part of the University Police Department, Corey became a
Mississippi Certified Public Safety Communications Instructor.
During August and September 2008, Corey volunteered at the Saint Helena
Parish (Louisiana) Office of Homeland Security, providing support during
Hurricane Gustav. He helped to manage the Emergency Operations Center and
served as its liaison to local, state and federal agencies, as well as to
local private entities and the local evacuation shelters.
Corey said he would like to take his love for Amateur Radio and public
service "and bring in the education part of ham radio, training and teaching
and learning" to his position at HQ. "I'd like to work with the existing
relationships that the ARRL has with outside agencies. For instance, I
noticed that the ARRL's contact at the National Weather Service is the same
person who reviewed my book for the National Weather Service. So I already
have a good working relationship with him. Building on the strength and
stability that we enjoy will be a main focus of mine." - excerpted from the
ARRL Letter
Letters
-------
In re the item in the last issue on the Haitian medical relief effort, I
would like to clarify a few issues. The article stated "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."
This is not the case. Initially, Nassau University, Miami Med, and the
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief faced many hours when the only transport
layer available was Winlink 2000. Much of this traffic was command and
control, but some did provide information to save a few lives -- very
gratifying.
Secondly, MARS does NOT deploy its members. It is the MARS Agencies who
deploy MARS volunteers. This was recently made clear with an "ALL_MARS"
bulletin sent by the Chief of Army MARS. There is a huge Civil government,
and non-government list of Agencies using the "AMARS Agency Use Agreement,"
which provides the instructions for the service. It gives these agencies the
capability to train and use ANY volunteer necessary to accomplish their
mission using the MARS services, including ARRL ARES© members, and MARS
volunteers, IF they are qualified. Many agencies spend time and money
training these volunteers as they would their own employees. Fact is, these
agencies, especially Federal agencies, who must use their own employees,
train these employees for this support.
The new DODI (Department of Defense Instruction) puts emphasis on the above.
"MARS" is not making the deployments; it is always (to date) the agencies
doing it. -- Steve Waterman, K4CJX, AAA9AC; Winlink Network Administrator,
Winlink Development Team, AMARS National Automation Coordination/Agency
Liaison; Assistant Director, ARRL Delta Division
EmComm East Returns to Rochester, New York
------------------------------------------
The third annual EmComm East emergency communications conference is slated
for September 18, 2010, in Rochester, New York.
EmComm East is an ARRL-sanctioned Amateur Radio emergency communications
conference where operators can attend training sessions on technical topics,
learn from served agencies, obtain VE testing for license upgrades, and
interact with other emcomm operators from all over the area.
The hosts are currently seeking presentation proposals. If you have an idea
for a presentation, or if you know of someone who might be willing to
present, let them know. Send an e-mail to program@emcommeast.org. The
deadline for presentation proposals is July 1. Ask your local Amateur Radio
clubs, and Emergency Coordinators to spread the word. Please visit
www.emcommeast.org for more information, or to sign up for e-mail
announcements. You can also contact the hosts at info@emcommeast.org. See
you in September! -- Jeff Wigal, WY7Q
K1CE for a Final
----------------
A recurring theme of this newsletter is the work of excellence of our ARES©
volunteers. But, it is also important that we recognize the work of the
often unsung Emergency Manager as a supporter of our efforts. Flagler
County's Emergency Management Chief Troy Harper falls into that category: He
has been a staunch supporter of ARES© efforts in this county, for which we
are very grateful.
As a 20+ year resident of Flagler County, Harper has a vested interest in
the community. He started his professional career in the United States Air
Force and then returned to Flagler County where he was self-employed for
many years. Harper states: "My Emergency Management career started with
Flagler County in 1994 when I worked as a public information officer for
Emergency Management. When I was hired as the Emergency Management Chief I
committed to making Flagler County prepared for all hazards. From mitigation
and preparedness through response and recovery, my goal is to keep the
citizens and visitors of Flagler County informed and involved. I operate my
office under the adage, "It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark."
A tip of the ARRL fedora to Flagler Emergency Management Chief Troy Harper.
See you next month! 73, Rick, K1CE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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