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Subj: The ARES E-Letter July 14 2010
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The ARES E-Letter for July 14, 2010
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
The View from Flagler County
----------------------------
Great news this month for our Flagler County ARESİ program: East Coast
District Emergency Coordinator Mike Lee, WB6RTH, announced that Robbie
Creal, KG4HUF, has been appointed as the new Emergency Coordinator, filling
a vacancy of almost a year after the sudden departure of the former office
holder.
Creal is the perfect choice, coming to the position with a lifelong career
in emergency services, having recently retired as the Chief of the Flagler
Beach Fire Department. He is well known and respected by the local amateur
community and county government officials. Creal has most recently served as
the primary coordinator for Flagler SKYWARN.
Reconstruction and revitalization of the Flagler ARESİ program will be
Creal's first priority. Lee said "Given his stature and the respect that he
has earned among the amateur community and Flagler County officials, I am
confident that he will quickly have his team at full capacity for the
current hurricane season. As District Emergency Coordinator for Flagler and
Volusia counties, I encourage operators to give Robbie their full support."
National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) MS-150 Bike Ride Support
Reports on regional ARESİ communications efforts in support of MS-150
bicycle rides have appeared in recent issues, and for good reason: The
events are superb platforms for ARESİ training and experience -- money in
the bank for major disaster responses.
The MS-150 event in St. Johns, Flagler, Clay and Volusia counties here in
the ARRL Northern Florida section this year will be held October 2-3, and
will be using ARESİ resources from the Crown and East Coast Districts. Doug
Carter, N4FPS, and Phil McElrath, K5BBC, attended the coordinating committee
meeting as part of our offer to bring significant ARESİ resources to bear on
this year's event.
Changes will be implemented this year: Ride sponsors and hosts can expect a
very robust, structured, NIMS-style coordination and chain-of-command
before, during and after the event. Pre-event training will include a
complete dry run, as well as table-top exercises. The bike route is known
and ARESİ leaders will be evaluating repeater coverage (both by mobile and
hand-held units) in the next few weeks. Both analog and D-STAR technologies
will be employed. Temporary repeaters will be installed and tested for weeks
in advance of the event.
The event will be a model for how we serve special events and disasters in
the future - planning, coordination and chain-of-command in a
professional-level response. The goal is to commit in excess of 40-50
operators for each of the two days of the event, recruited from the entire
area. It will require a massive coordination effort, and sign-ups will be
taken in the next few weeks.
____________
In This Issue:
The View from Flagler County
Pennsylvania Ops Switch from Drill to Emergency Mode
ARESİ Digest
Two New PA Events Encourage Hams To Hone Skills for Emcomm Ops
Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Anything Goes in an Emergency?
Web Site of the Month: StormPulse Amateur Radio Featured on NHC's New
Hurricane Preparedness Web Site
Summer Reading List Suggestion
Letters
"Unit Readiness" in South Texas
K1CE for a Final
____________
Pennsylvania Ops Switch from Drill to Emergency Mode
----------------------------------------------------
Just two days before the start of Field Day, Amateur Radio operators in
south central Pennsylvania were manning their positions for a regularly
scheduled bi-annual exercise involving the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station
located on the Susquehanna River. The drill is required as part of the
licensing process for the power plant.
"Nuclear power plants have got to do well in emergency planning as part of
their licensing requirements", said Daniel Sullivan, KO1D, Eastern
Pennsylvania ARESİ District 5 Emergency Coordinator. "For hams to shine in
that setting is more important than Field Day to show community or agency
leaders within the public safety community what we can do when we apply
ourselves."
Many of the Amateur Radio operators participating in the drill had been
involved with previous drills and most thought they knew what to expect.
However, Mother Nature injected severe weather along with National Weather
Service issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings. Within 15 minutes
of the warnings being issued, Lancaster County ARESİ EC Ron Small, WB2OOB,
and Lancaster County RACES Officer Chris Bunting, K1CWB, were reporting that
communications went down just before the drill began and remained out during
the drill in some municipalities due to storm damage to the
telecommunications infrastructure.
Amateur Radio operators who were pre-positioned to support the drill
integrated SKYWARN operations into the drill's RACES net. In Drumore
Township, Lancaster County, Small became the only reliable communications at
the municipal EOC when commercial communications networks went down. He
reported that fax and telephone were intermittent and other communications
systems were not operational due to the storms.
Bunting said he heard the weather alert on the local repeater. "When I heard
a tornado warning being broadcast for Southern Lancaster County, I decided
that we must start a "hybrid net" and start SKYWARN operations while
preparing for the Peach Bottom drill." When the first operator arrived at
Lancaster County EOC, he set up net control, and began the SKYWARN net.
Bunting announced that this would be a hybrid net, looking for weather
reports from operators in the field. He immediately received a report of
"golf ball sized" hail in the southern end of the county. This information
was passed on to Randy Gockley, the Lancaster County Emergency Management
Coordinator, who in turn contacted the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists at the weather service indicated that there was a strong
possibility of a tornado in the southern end of the county.
Acting quickly, Gockley decided to activate the emergency warning sirens in
the southern part of Lancaster, to warn civilians of the impending danger.
Net control immediately notified all stations that this would be occurring,
and the RACES personnel at each municipal EOC notified the staff. For some
EOCs, this was the only method of communication to let them know why the
sirens were sounding, as there were power outages and telephony outages
throughout the area. RACES operators continued to pass on vital storm
information to net control until the storms had passed.
The NWS confirmed that an EF-0 tornado occurred near Hershey, home of
Hershey chocolates and a large amusement park. Winds reached 80 miles per
hour. Damage ranged from downed trees to roofs ripped off of several homes.
The severe storm uprooted trees and knocked down power lines as it continued
towards Philadelphia.
Drill Finally Starts
The Peach Bottom drill quickly started after the threat of severe weather
passed; however, telecommunications and power outages were still affecting
multiple EOCs. Part of Lancaster County's RACES pre-planning involved making
sure all operators have battery power/generator, radios, power supplies and
antennas with them, and to be prepared to operate independently of any
infrastructure in place. In this case, the pre-planning paid off, as all
stations were operating regardless of the power outages at the municipal
EOCs. Many locations were having problems sending or receiving faxes, phone
calls, and power. RACES maintained the constant contact needed to play out
the drill. Near the end of the drill, Randy Gockley, EMC Lancaster, stated
that "RACES was a godsend tonight."
York County operators did not report any weather impact on their ARESİ/RACES
and SKYWARN operations. They did suffer severe weather and at least one fire
was reported during the storms, which did impact the drill. At one EOC
almost everyone left to fight fires. The EOC was then staffed by four hams.
Drill observers provided good feedback on the hams' ability to adapt to the
situation. Alan Frame, WB3FTD, said power went out at two local EOCs where
hams were stationed.
Drill Was "Quiet"
In Fawn Township, York County, EOC staff members commented that the drill
seemed quiet and slow. It was brought to their attention that most of the
communication was done by the radio amateurs (who were in another room) and
via fax. The telephones were not ringing off the hook. Most of the Amateur
Radio communications was sent/receive via FLDIGI using BPSK250. Jack
Dellinger, N3BQB, explained "We would receive the message and cut/paste it
into Notepad to print. We have also developed a program that allows text
entry in the format used by York County ISC-213 format. We had 100% perfect
copy on all messages. The County EOC and two local EOCs were active on
digital modes."
Kudos
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) officials thanked the radio
amateurs for a job well done. "The professionalism and actions of all the
volunteers involved," said Chris Snyder, Acting Commonwealth Auxiliary
Communications Systems Coordinator, "clearly demonstrate the value they
bring as a communications resource to the emergency management community."
Henry C. Tamanini, Chief, Technological Hazards Division, of PEMA's Bureau
of Strategic and Operational Plans said "Your dedication to providing
valuable emergency communications was certainly proven when Mother Nature
transitioned the majority of the exercise area/Emergency Planning Zone from
the exercise mode of the nuclear power plant to the real-world mode."
Mike Brulo, KB3RRV, a Harrisburg area SKYWARN member and net control
operator, shot video from his car and e-mailed the following: "I was in
Campbelltown, the hardest hit area. Brett Thackara and I are thinking this
was a tornado. Be sure to watch my video and read this story." - Thanks, Bob
Josuweit, WA3PZO, Philadelphia, PA
ARESİ Digest
------------
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center, the VoIP Hurricane Net and the
Hurricane Watch Net activated at 8 AM on Wednesday, June 30, in response to
storm Alex. Info here.
Florida (Hernando County) Emcomm Classes Scheduled
The Hernando County (Florida) ARESİ organization will be holding its first
set of training classes at The Senior Enrichment Center of Oak Hill
Hospital, 18900 Cortez Blvd (Route 50) in Brooksville, July 26, starting at
7 PM. The curriculum will consist of NTS traffic handling, making a short
term Go-Kit and what is needed for longer term deployments, and new
requirements for working at a shelter in Hernando County.
The class is open to all amateur operators and anyone, in or out of the
area, interested in emergency communications. If needed, another session of
the class will be held at a later date. Refreshments will be provided by
Hernando County ARESİ. Pre-register by contacting Alan McGrew, KC4MTS, EC
Hernando County ARESİ, by e-mail or by telephone (352) 683-7264.
Registration cut off is July 24.
Two New PA Events Encourage Hams To Hone Skills for Emcomm Ops
--------------------------------------------------------------
A new Pennsylvania FM Sprint and a new Pennsylvania county hunter award have
been announced by the Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club (HARC) of Philadelphia,
events that will promote on-the-air activity among new hams and emcomm
operators.
The Pennsylvania FM Sprint will be held Saturday, February 26, 2011 from 7 -
11 PM. Hams will exchange a contact number and zip code on 6 meters, 2
meters, 222 MHz, and 440 MHz using FM simplex frequencies, workhorse
frequencies and mode for emcomm ops.
This is believed to be the first statewide FM Sprint in the country. In the
past few years there has been a growth of FM simplex contest activity in
Pennsylvania. According to Rich Shivers, AB3EO, Sprint coordinator, the
Sprint will give the operator the opportunity to see how far his/her signal
will travel without the use of a repeater. It can be a learning experience
and a fun, fast contest with equipment that most hams have.
In addition HARC is now sponsoring the Pennsylvania "67" Challenge. This
county hunter certificate is open to all amateurs. Hams can use any band or
mode to make a real time contact with Pennsylvania's 67 counties. Hams may
work towards the Challenge by working 20, 40, 60, or 67 counties and receive
a certificate at each of the four levels.
Besides HF contacts, Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, explains that repeaters, D-STAR,
Echolink, and IRLP modes are valid contacts as long as a radio is used by
both operators. HARC is encouraging all hams to get on the air. Complete
rules and information on both events can be found at the Club's Web site.
Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Anything Goes in an Emergency?
---------------------------------------------------------
The rules for the Amateur Radio Service don't say "in an emergency, anything
goes." They say that in an emergency and no other services are available
that Amateur Radio may be used to resolve an immediate threat to life or
property. That's a big difference from opening up radios to out of service
operations, etc, allowing other services to use the amateur bands. The
starting point is that it is not legal under Part 97.113 to retransmit
signals from other radio services on the amateur bands. So while other
services may want to "plug" the amateurs into their "black boxes" for
interoperability, it isn't legal to do the reverse on the amateur bands.
It is also significant to note that the US rules are very precise about when
Amateur Radio can be used. Simply put, you use it to alleviate a specific
life/death situation. It is not intended to be used for extended periods of
time when other radio services are functioning and available again. It isn't
an "overflow" service to "ease" traffic on other frequencies.
As far as what they did in Haiti -- I don't know how they reprogrammed
radios for use in other services, but I do know that there were problems
with some of the type of traffic passed. There were times when "routine"
emergency traffic was being sent via Amateur Radio. An example was a message
where a well-meaning ham got another radio service station to operate on the
amateur bands without authorization because in the ham's mindset "it's an
emergency." The content of the message was "supplies were running low" in a
particular town. Under the circumstances, supplies were running low
everywhere: the entire country was having problems.
An analogy used in this discussion has been "the boat has to be sinking,
water coming over the transom, no other radios are working and you better be
able to explain how you survived." A bit Draconian perhaps, but it
illustrates the point that a lot of what is transmitted as "emergency"
traffic may not really be such -- and the amateur has to make a reasoned
decision on the message. There is a difference between "emergency" (we need
an Air-Evac helicopter for a patient who is in severe trauma) and
"emergency" H&W traffic (we have 20,000 people in our town who need food and
water.) It is a hard lesson, but a valid one to ponder.
The bottom line is, in a true emergency the FCC regulations would permit out
of band operation: Section 97.405 says "(a) No provision of these rules
prevents the use by an amateur station in distress of any means at its
disposal to attract attention, make known its condition and location, and
obtain assistance. (b) No provision of these rules prevents the use by a
station, in the exceptional circumstances described in paragraph (a) of this
section, of any means of radio communications at its disposal to assist a
station in distress."
The Haitian government may have relaxed their rules for their specific
circumstances. The FCC would probably do so, too, in a similar situation
here, and 97.405 would allow "any means" (including the use of our radios
tweaked for other services) for mitigation of the immediate/imminent threat.
-- Dan Henderson, N1ND, Regulatory Information Manager, ARRL
Web Site of the Month: StormPulse
---------------------------------
With the onset of the first storm of the year, I would like to recommend an
excellent Web site for tracking purposes: StormPulse. This is the best site
of its kind I've seen. Please pass this along to anyone you think would be
interested. -- John Reynolds, W4IJJ, Regional/State Communications Officer,
American Red Cross, Florida
Amateur Radio Featured on NHC's New Hurricane Preparedness Web Site
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In April, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) debuted a new Web site
dedicated to hurricane preparedness. The site explains that a lack of
hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major
hurricane disasters, and that by knowing your vulnerability and what actions
you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster. One of
the tools that the NHC mentions on its Web site is WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio
station located at NHC Headquarters in Miami, Florida. In speaking about the
WX4NHC volunteer ham radio operators, the NHC notes that "formal Amateur
Radio activity at the National Hurricane Center was initiated in 1980 and
has been an important source of real-time weather observations before,
during and after hurricane landfalls. Dedicated ham radio volunteers work at
NHC during storm events to help provide NHC meteorologists with very
important data that is used in the hurricane warning process. Please visit
www.wx4nhc.org for a more detailed history of the WX4NHC ham radio service."
WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, said he hopes that this
updated NHC Web page "will help promote public awareness about Amateur Radio
and more activity from the Amateur Radio community during this hurricane
season." - ARRL Letter
Summer Reading List Suggestion
------------------------------
From the weekly DHS Newsletter web publication:
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Amateur-Radio-Operators-Communications.htm
l -- Thanks, James Burrough, N5DTT, Bellaire, Texas
Letters
-------
Thanks for the tips (last issue) on being ready. It can't be emphasized
enough. For years I was a Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordinator and I had to
deal with some teams who arrived on site to begin their task but who were
not prepared to self-sustain if needed. (At least one day's meals, cold prep
instead of needing heat, and clothing to match the weather conditions are a
minimum). In more than one case I had to refuse to let them participate.
Over the years, the New Mexico SAR groups have learned to claim only one
field of expertise and then they are assured of being called when that
expertise is needed. Each year we have a meeting at Philmont Scout Ranch in
the northern part of the state where all of the teams gather and we help
them get ready to be called when needed. These same people are the ones who
get called in almost any emergency so this is a double benefit. - Bob
Skaggs, KB5RX, New Mexico SAR
Code of Conduct
I think the ARESİ Code of Conduct presented in the last issue is an
excellent idea, especially in emergencies where stress can overrun our
natural benevolent natures. I would like to include a modified version of
the Code in my local District EMCOMM plan. -- Rik Chapman, K5RIK, District
Emergency Coordinator, District 8, South Texas; District 62, RACES Radio
Officer Unit 62
On Personal Preparedness
In your "Final" in the last issue, you stated: "But, I, as well as every
radio amateur and citizen in the state also have an obligation for personal
preparedness, and planning. Here is what I've done so far for personal
readiness: stocked my closet with one case each of canned fruit, mixed
vegetables, and baked beans; pasta, instant rice, and about 30 gallons of
fresh drinking water." If your drinking water is in those one gallon jugs
from the local supermarket, make a note to remove them from your storage
area at the end of the hurricane season. Otherwise, they will burst open and
ruin a lot of your personal property. They are made of very thin plastic and
this happened to my next door neighbor!
Also, you stated, "I've laid in a good supply of extra batteries,
flashlights, candles, cat food, cat litter, gasoline in extra tanks." Please
don't tell me you are storing gasoline in your home. That is dangerous. And
also, if the gasoline is stored on your property (not indoors) there is a
legal limit on the amount you can store. -- Carl Zelich, AA4MI, Chuluota,
Florida
"Unit Readiness" in South Texas
-------------------------------
Since taking over as the Emergency Coordinator for the South Texas Section
District 14 ARESİ Southwest Unit in April, Dr. Chris Hasse, W5OIL, has hit
the ground running. Establishing increased unit readiness as a primary goal
for the Southwest Unit has necessitated some operational and administrative
reorganization, according to Hasse. He has restructured the Unit's
leadership by appointing new Assistant Emergency Coordinators (AEC) and
reassigning others. He has updated the Southwest Unit's Emergency Plan and
Operations Manual, and has modified the training net procedures for
increased efficiency.
With only three or four days notice, Hasse announced an 8 AM Saturday
morning meeting at a local Park and Ride location. All of the Unit's AECs
were strongly encouraged to attend, and all members of the Southwest Unit
were invited. The Unit AECs were requested to discuss their preparedness for
deployment, and describe their portable and mobile equipment.
The event, held on a black top parking lot on a hot and humid South Texas
morning, was much more than just showing up with a hurricane preparedness
"go-kit." Most of the participants did have their go-kits with their
subsistence and personal items, and these were displayed and discussed. But
there was more: the Southwest Unit leadership, and other members, actually
set up their portable stations and demonstrated how they would operate when
deployed. Also, the team reviewed their mobile communications equipment and
capabilities including VHF and UHF voice communications and a digital e-mail
system called "Airmail," which uses radios to send e-mail in place of a
traditional landline and Internet connection. There were several new ARESİ
members and some new hams that were able get an up close and personal look
at a wide range of different portable and mobile communications set-ups.
Hasse has repeatedly emphasized the need for esprit de corps within the Unit
and the need for members to become acquainted and familiar with each other,
and each other's operational capabilities. This meeting brought the group
closer as a functional team, and emphasized ongoing collaboration and
teamwork. All present commented favorably on the meeting format. -- Del
Partridge, W5QQ, South Texas District 14 ARESİ South West Unit PIO
K1CE for a Final
----------------
On the subject of proper use of Amateur Radio as discussed above, and during
the recent protracted discussion on drills versus business communications, I
was reminded of something a veteran FCC staffer (who shall remain nameless,
but with whom I worked closely with over many years in the 80's and '90s),
repeatedly told me when these types of questions came up: "To the FCC, it
looks like public safety agencies do not have enough frequencies since they
turn to Amateur Radio for their communications needs, and it seems that
Amateur Radio has an abundance of frequencies amateurs are happy to turn
over to public safety service use, so perhaps we should just give Amateur
Radio's frequencies to the public agencies." Food for thought.
____________
And finally, I can't tell you how happy I am that we have a new Emergency
Coordinator here, after all we have been through. Congratulations to Robbie
Creal, KG4HUF, and also to DEC Mike Lee, WB6RTH, our district's fantastic
"Change Agent." Thanks, Mike, and Robbie!
See you next month! 73, Rick K1CE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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