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Subj: ARES E-Letter January 16, 2013
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SA
To : ARES@WW
The ARES E-Letter January 16, 2013
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
ARRL January VHF Contest - Perfect for ARES Practice, Too
---------------------------------------------------------
The ARRL has added a new "FM Only" category to ARRL VHF contests, starting
with the January VHF Contest, which begins this Saturday, January 19. The
contest starts at 1900 UTC and runs until Sunday night at 0359 UTC. You'll
find lots of "weak signal" VHF operators using high power and sensitive
antennas working hard to work your station on FM. No special gear, no big
expense -- you can operate in this contest and possibly win a certificate
using just the radios you already own.
It's also a perfect opportunity for ARES, SKYWARN, RACES and CERT teams to
test their ability to communicate without using a repeater, just as you
might have to in an actual emergency. Want to have even more fun? Drive or
hike to a local hilltop and you can exercise your deployment capabilities --
it's like "Field Day In the Cold!"
You'll find lots of VHF operators hoping to work YOU! Try transmitting a "CQ
Contest" on the following frequencies: 146.550 MHz simplex; 146.580 MHz
simplex; also 52.525 MHz (6 meters); 223.5 MHz (1.25 meters); and 446.0 MHz
(70 cm band). Remember under the new rules, you're limited to 100 watts or
less, but that means you'll be on equal footing with a lot of small
stations. A gain antenna (like a beam or Yagi) can really help, and a high
location is a big plus, too. You'll need to know your "grid square" as that
is part of the exchange of reports with other stations. - Les Rayburn, N1LF,
Birmingham, former Alabama SEC [See more discussion in this issue, from ARRL
Contest Update Editor Ward Silver, N0AX and from Rayburn. - ed.]
ARRL January VHF Contest - Perfect for ARES Practice, Too
Florida Amateurs to Drill with State in Major Interoperability Exercise
Letters: On the Origins of CERT
MMSN Celebrates 45 Years of Service
Insight: New FM-Only Category Supports ARES Interests
Letters: TERT Response and Mutual Aid in 911 Dispatch Community
K5GM Honored for Nearly 30 Years of Service to NTS, TCC
National Traffic System: BPL Counts That "Count"
K1CE For a Final
Florida Amateurs to Drill with State in Major Interoperability Exercise
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Florida's Division of Emergency Management is running a statewide
interoperable communications exercise entitled "Operation RADAR II," to be
held early next month. According to the state's lead agency for disaster
response, the multi-day exercise emergency communication teams will utilize
mobile communications units and work from Camp Blanding in northeast Florida
to establish communications networks among one another and county Emergency
Operations Centers (EOC) located throughout the state. This exercise has
been designed to fully integrate multiple communications systems located
across Florida into an effective emergency communications network. Amateur
Radio programs have been invited, and will participate, according to ARRL
Northern Florida Section Manager Paul Eakin, KJ4G.
Exercise objectives include identification of shortfalls in resources,
limits in capabilities, and conflicts in planning for interoperable
communications; demonstration of the ability to communicate throughout the
emergency response community and establish interoperable voice and data
communications between federal, state, and local first responders;
evaluation of response partners' ability to share necessary, appropriate
data in all environments; and demonstration that all response partners can
effectively share information between communication modes.
Participation is by invitation only, and entities and individuals must apply
for and be registered accordingly. Eakin reports that the exercise will be
like Field Day, with amateurs bringing "everything we will need to
accomplish the tasks we are given, including antennas, extra coax,
connectors, spare radios, computers, wire, baluns, generators (gensets),
tables and chairs, pens, paper, programming software and cables and the list
goes on." "We will have to set up our own equipment and antennas, build
operating stations, operate and tear down."
Eakin said that amateurs will need to have an elaborate command post up and
running prior to the start of the exercise. The exercise scenario is a
hurricane and will be managed under the Incident Command System (ICS). The
Amateur Radio unit will be operating as an "agency unit," Eakin said. It
will be given tasks relating to Amateur Radio, and is shown as part of the
ICS in a Power Point planning guide, which can be found here. HF tasks will
be assigned, and digital modes testing will be enhanced in the tasking, said
Eakin.
Chosen applicants will be sent an official e-mail giving instructions on how
to register on the state's exercise web page to receive their credentials.
Walk-ons will not be admitted at Camp Blanding without proper ID from the
Florida state EOC. Eakin said that "it is a precedent set by the FL-EOC to
ask Amateur Radio to come into Operation Radar at this level of
responsibility to participate and assist. The outcome of our performance may
very well move Amateur Radio forward in the eyes of citizens, served
agencies, press and government leaders." Section Manager Eakin is also the
Florida State EOC's liaison for Amateur Radio.
Letters: On the Origins of CERT
-------------------------------
I read your column in the January 2013 issue of QST regarding ARES and CERT.
I'd like to provide a little historical perspective indicating that an
ARES/CERT affiliation existed long before FEMA adopted the concept which, in
fact, was created by local government. In the early 1980's the Coronado
(California) Police Department, where I served as Police Chief, had a very
large and active ARES program and as we were responsible for emergency
preparedness in the city our department also had an active citizen emergency
preparedness program. The nearby city of San Diego, through its fire
department, developed the CERT concept. Indeed I believe they were the
originator of it. My department's Emergency Preparedness coordinator,
Sergeant Dick Stolpe, suggested that we "marry" our ARES program into a CERT
approach and we did exactly that. Sergeant Stolpe's suggestion was soon
copied by multiple other cities in Southern California, which saw the
advantages of a citizens emergency response team having the reliable
communications services that only Amateur Radio could provide. - Jerry Boyd,
N7WR, former Chief of Police, Coronado, California
MMSN Celebrates 45 Years of Service
-----------------------------------
Thursday, January 3, 2013, marked the 45th anniversary of the Maritime
Mobile Service Network. The need for the type of volunteer service provided
by the network had existed for many years. The launching of an organization
to meet this need was placed on the drawing board when nine Amateur Radio
operators met at the home of Chaplain Alla Winston Robertson, USN, WB4AKB
(now KB5YX), on December 27, 1967. Those meeting with Robertson were: S.C.
Rock, WA4YVQ; Mel White, WA4IQS; D. Freeman, K1YLI; J.G. Kincade, WA4YVX;
Art Werner, K3QYQ; H. Bretches, K4DBR; L.B. Lapman, W4SAW; and G.W. Powell,
WA4RRO. This group agreed to launch the Maritime Mobile Service Network, or
MMSN, on January 3, 1968 at 2130 UTC on 14.320 MHz but had to move to 14.317
MHz a few weeks later to avoid excessive interference. In 1969, when the net
moved to 14.313 MHz, it also established 14.300 MHz as an alternate working
frequency and for years operated on either frequency depending on nearby
interference, but, since before 2000, the net has been operating exclusively
on 14.300 MHz.
The original purpose of the MMSN was to "Serve Those Who Serve" in the
United States military during the Vietnam crisis. Since that time, the
network has grown considerably in hours of operation and services provided,
and consisting of a dedicated group of radio amateurs who unselfishly
volunteer their time, equipment, and efforts to serve and assist those in
need of communications from foreign countries and the high seas. Our primary
purpose now is that of handling legal third party traffic from maritime
mobiles, both pleasure and commercial, and overseas-deployed military
personnel. We also help missionaries in foreign countries, and volunteer net
control stations from throughout North America maintain the network.
Furthermore, these stations are assisted by relay stations to ensure total
coverage of the Atlantic ocean, Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, and
eastern Pacific ocean.
The network has been formally recognized for its work in handling emergency
traffic by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the United States Coast
Guard and the National Weather Service.
The Maritime Mobile Service Network has grown in hours of operation from a
five-hour net operating seven days a week to the nine-hour format today,
which is from 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time and
until 9:00 PM during standard time. In the early years, phone patch traffic
was heavy, with estimates of over 10,000 pieces of traffic handled each year
from 1968-1977. One of our net control stations, Dave Wagner, WA2DXQ, in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ran well over 1000 phone patches during the
two-year period of 1977-1978, mostly to United States Navy (USN) ships in
the Mediterranean and Red Sea but also to a few missionaries and both
private and commercial vessels. Though the need for phone patch traffic has
diminished considerably over the past 15 to 20 years, the need is still
there. If it hadn't been for a number of our net control stations equipped
with a phone patch, some rescues the net's been involved in would not have
been as successful.
Many mariners in the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America and the
Gulf of Mexico view the network as a resource for weather information as
well as a safety valve and trusted contact point for essential
communications. In 2003, Frank Kelley, N3FK (SK), said "I would be remiss if
I didn't say something about a great lady who used the net to get assistance
with numerous medical problems. She was Ruth Paz, HR2RP, located in San
Pedro Sula, Honduras." Frank was stationed in Panama from 1975-1977, and
Ruth was a net control station for the MMSN during that time. Continuing, he
stated "Ruth was a nurse and was the only medical person in her area. She
used the net to get medical advice, medical evacuations and medicine in and
out of Honduras. While I was stationed in the Canal Zone, Ruth ran many
patches to the Gorgas Army Hospital in Panama. She used the tropical disease
section on Gorgas to save and help many people from Honduras, many of whom
were bitten by exotic creatures. At the time Gorgas was the place for
anything tropical." Today, phone patch traffic has subsided, but
there remain some net control stations to help many of the missionaries and
doctors in various locations with phone patching for assistance they can't
otherwise obtain. Since March 2000, the net's been featured in many
publications such as QST, publicizing the help and rescues of people in life
and death situations.
Notable Rescues
There have been two notable rescues effected by MMSN nearly one year apart:
the S/V Hayat on March 27, 2000 off the northeast coast of Honduras, and the
S/V Lorna on March 20, 2001, off the northeast coast of Venezuela and west
of Trinidad. In each case, one passenger was seriously injured from gun fire
from modern day pirates and thankfully both survived.
The Maritime Mobile Service Network has a legacy of service that will
continue due to the selfless volunteer Amateur Radio operators donating
their time to train and be ready to help each and every day. Without such
devotion, the net wouldn't be able to do what it does. As a member, I want
to say a big thank you to all who've served in the past as well as those
serving now. It's been a great 45 years, and may the net last to see another
45 years and more.
In honor of celebrating our 45th anniversary, the Maritime Mobile Service
Network unveiled a new website design as well as announced our presence on
FaceBook. We welcome everyone to visit our new-look website as well as
signing our new "Guest Book" and liking us on FaceBook. -- Bobby Graves,
KB5HAV, Brandon, Mississippi
Insight: New FM-Only Category Supports ARES Interests
-----------------------------------------------------
The ARRL January VHF Contest offers an FM-Only category for the first time.
The goal is, of course, to encourage new hams that have never used the "weak
signal" modes to do a bit of DXing and find out what their stations are
capable of. Contests are a terrific way to do just that but communicating
with the target audience requires understanding their needs and
expectations. Les Rayburn, N1LF, posted a thoughtful discussion on this
topic to the VHF contesting reflector - it is food for thought for all of us
who participate in both emcomm and radiosport. Thanks, Les. -- Ward Silver,
NťAX, Editor, ARRL Contest Update, January 2, 2013, issue
_______
As the previous Section Emergency Coordinator for Alabama, I understood that
FM simplex capability translated to a greater level of capability during an
emergency. Amateurs who improved their stations on simplex, also benefited
by being able to reach more distant repeaters, which is a huge advantage
during severe weather. Some "lessons learned" from cross-promoting FM
activity during VHF contests were:
1) Tailor your message to your audience. I didn't try to pitch it as a
"contest" as much as an exercise when talking to ARES, SKYWARN, and CERT
groups. We encouraged them to test their ability to communicate without the
aid of a repeater, as they might have to do in an emergency. We also
encouraged Field Day-type operations from high locations.
2) Concentrating activity in a three- to five-hour period is going to be
more successful than just putting out the dates and times for a two-day long
contest. Nothing is less interesting than "dead air" to a non-contester.
(It's not all that interesting to a contester, either - N0AX.)
3) It's vital that weak-signal operators monitor the FM simplex channels and
participate during those concentrated activity periods. I tried to utilize
the afternoon hours on Saturday, when conditions are poorest---so that
operators didn't miss out on a lot of contacts on SSB and CW but that
doesn't work well in June when six meters is liable to be open.
The point is that weak-signal operators often turn their nose up at FM - and
this hurts the effort. If you give a new operator a taste of DX, they may
become hooked for life. The best way to accomplish this is to get those
"monster signals" active on FM. If your local big gun doesn't
support FM contesting, then try to change their mind on the topic.
You should hear some of the reactions you get from newcomers when they
discover they can communicate 75-100 miles or more on their FM rig without a
repeater. This is easily possible with a high-performance weak-signal
station on one end of the contact.
4) Talk up the event on your local FM nets, club meetings, etc. Tailor the
message to the crowd. A DX club isn't going to respond to the same "pitch"
as your local ARES team.
5) Poll your club and see who has 222 MHz FM capability. I always make it a
point to schedule contacts with those operators on 223.5 MHz simplex.
6) In the last few days before the contest, make a lot of calls on 146.52
MHz and talk to operators there about the contest. They understand the
concept of simplex and use it often. They're your best candidates for
participation in the contest. Nothing in the rules forbids promoting the
contest on 146.52 prior to the event!
7) Don't get discouraged by the naysayers. The FM-Only category is a great
idea, but it needs the active support of the weak signal community to work!
-- Les Rayburn, N1LF, reprinted from the January 2, 2013, issue of the ARRL
Contest Update
Letters: TERT Response and Mutual Aid in 911 Dispatch Community
---------------------------------------------------------------
You might find this article from APCO of interest. It's about the deployment
(and the process) of additional personnel from unaffected 911 call centers
to areas affected by storm Sandy.
http://psc.apcointl.org/2012/12/20/ny-tert-response-to-hurricane-sandy/ --
Robert Bauer, KC4HM, ARRL Life Member, kc4hm@arrl.net
K5GM Honored for Nearly 30 Years of Service to NTS, TCC
-------------------------------------------------------
Pete Jordahl, K5GM, of Austin, Texas, who recently retired as the ARRL
National Traffic System, Cycle 4, Transcontinental Corps Director in the
Central Area, was honored recently by the ARRL NTS Central Area Staff and
ARRL Headquarters for his 29 plus years of service as a TCC Director.
The duties of this position include assuring that Transcontinental Corps
stations are available seven days a week to make schedules with TCC stations
in other parts of the United States and Canada to facilitate the movement of
third party messages in service to the public. Pete has been a faithful and
reliable member of the staff, and he made sure these positions were covered
every day. He often covered positions himself when operator power was short.
Pete retired from his position on August 1, 2012.
Jordahl received a plaque for his diligent and reliable service to ARRL and
the public. Thank you, Pete! -- Richard Webb, NF5B, Chair, NTS Central Area
Staff
National Traffic System: BPL Counts That "Count"
------------------------------------------------
The Counting Basics. From its inception, the intent of the Brass Pounders
League (BPL) monthly award has been to recognize individual operator
dedication in "handling" a significant amount of messages in proper
radiogram format. An operator's monthly BPL count is self-reported - without
verification -- to the Section Manager (or Section Traffic Manager) who
issues award certificates and reports operator results to ARRL Headquarters.
Summary results are published in QST. BPL awardee-operators attaining three
(3) monthly BPL awards are eligible for the coveted medallion issued by
League HQ. This article restates the long-standing policy on the proper BPL
counting to be used in submitting monthly counts for the award.
The BPL award is given for each operator reporting at least 500 messages
each month (total of received, sent, delivered and originated), or at least
100 originated messages, and is based on counting "points" for particular
categories of message-handling:
Received - One point for each message in proper format received by the
operator over the air. This point is earned whether received for relaying
(sending) or for delivery to a third party (not including the receiving
operator) addressee. A message received by the operator addressed to that
operator counts as a received point.
Sent - One point for each properly formatted message sent by the operator
over the air to another operator. This point is earned either when the
operator is relaying a message, or sending an originated message (see
below). A message that the operator initiates and sends only counts as a
sent message point.
Delivered - One point for each message in proper format delivered by the
operator to a third party addressee. This point is counted as an
"off-the-air" function. If the message is addressed to the receiving
station, it only counts as a received message, not also a delivered message.
Originated - Extra credit of one point is given for each message from a
third party for sending by the operator over the air in the proper format.
Originated messages earning the extra point are an "off-the-air" function in
recognition of the public service value. BPL counts should not include the
originated extra point for messages created by the sending operator (not a
third party).
Digital Station Counting
Beginning in the late 80s and early 90s, digital-mode store-and-forward
operations (packet BBS and HF MBO stations) emerged as an effective method
for rapidly relaying messages. Auto-forwarding of messages posted on such
stations typically involves no operator intervention in actually "handling"
the relay of each message. An initial NTS policy position on the proper BPL
counting by auto-receiving/forwarded stations was published by HQ staff in
the August 1990 issue of QST (at page 68), providing, in part: "The award is
limited to those who actively, manually perform relay functions using their
key, paddle, mike or keyboard. It is not for managers of automated stations
where traffic introduced by others passes automatically with no operator
intervention." (See also the ARRL Public Service Communications Manual,
Section 10.2; and the ARRL Operating Manual for Radio Amateurs, 10th ed., at
page 5-17.) This position was validated by the ARRL Board standing committee
having jurisdiction over the National Traffic System.
In the March 1991 issue of QST (at page 70), additional guidelines sought to
clarify the issue, adding, in part: "Installing and maintaining a voice
repeater is a big job, as is maintaining a packet, AMTOR or other type of
BBS. But it's the message handling itself, not the provision of the medium
that we recognize with the BPL. BBS System Operators (SysOps) are not
excluded from BPL recognition . . . A SysOp who manually transfers a
radiogram from an NTS net . . . into his BBS files for autoforwarding, earns
two BPL points: one for receiving it on the net and the second for "sending"
it to the BBS for further relay down the road. When a radiogram is posted on
the BBS and the SysOp takes it for delivery or relay to a local net, he may
count one point for receiving the message over Amateur Radio and one point
for the delivery . . . or for sending, if he transmits it to another amateur
manually, not automatically. If the SysOp has to manually modify a radiogram
posted by a user (to edit an improperly constructed header, for instance),
we allow two BPL points - one for receiving it and one for sending it. The
key is manual intervention, which we reward with BPL credits." Parallel
articles emphasizing this policy guidance appeared in several additional
League publications that same year.
Counts Need to "Count"
For the BPL award (and the Medallion) to retain its distinguished character,
it is important that volunteer report integrity remain true to the award's
intent by proper and consistent counting. It is hoped that this restatement
will help serve that end. This guidance will be added to the next edition of
the Public Service Communications Manual. - Rob Griffin, K6YR, Chairman,
Pacific Area Staff, National Traffic System and Santa Barbara Section
Manager; and Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL Headquarters
K1CE For a Final
----------------
I almost hate to bring this up after such a devastating 2012 hurricane
season - the loss of life and property was of epic proportions - but NOW is
the peacetime to prepare for this year's season, which runs from June 30 to
November 30. The National Hurricane Conference (March 25-28, New Orleans)
and the Governor's Hurricane Conference (Florida, May 5-10, Ft. Lauderdale)
will once again be good venues for learning and training, planning and
networking. Meeting details to come. Attendees can count on a robust Amateur
Radio presence, which is sure to include major related forums and coffee
klatches, exhibits and presentations. And, of course, get your stations
ready, and prepare your household and neighborhood disaster response and
survival kits and plans. Now is the time to start a CERT team in your
neighborhood - see January QST's Public Service column on that topic for
ideas.
______
Last but not least, remember our friends and colleagues in other
hurricane-prone areas of Region 2 - Bermuda, Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central
America, and Mexico - as you plan and prepare your hurricane response
capability for this season coming up. I just returned from a week of touring
several Caribbean island-nations, and listened to their residents talk of
more severe weather and storms from climate change, destruction and lives
lost from previous storms and how they count on the United States for aid
and assistance following such calamities. They are poorer than us, and do
not have the response planning and resources that we have here in the U.S.
Be prepared to assist on nets such as the Hurricane Watch Net, VoIP
Hurricane Net, and the network operations of WX4NHC, the famous group of
operators at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, whether it is
relaying transmissions and messages or standing by and conveying situation
reports from affected stations to the media to make the public aware of the
plights of our fellow radio amateurs and the residents of other affected
countries. But, always bear in mind perhaps the Number One tenet in disaster
response and emergency communications: Never transmit unless instructed to
do so by net control or stations in the affected areas. Listen more,
transmit only if truly necessary.
_______
Hope to see some of you at the upcoming hurricane conferences this spring.
Happy New Year! 73, Rick K1CE
________
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