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Subj: ARES E-Letter January 21, 2015
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
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The ARES E-Letter January 21, 2015
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
In This Issue:
-On the Importance of Reporting; Development of a Web Based Platform
-AshEX , Oregon SET 2014
-Letters: Update on San Diego/Baja High Data Rate Emergency Network
-Winlink Used for Support of Utah 100k Back Country Event
-SKYWARN Critical in Santa Fe County, New Mexico
-Letters: Emergency Manager Checks In with More (Informal) Definitions
-Colorado ARES Member, 5, Passes Tech Exam
-Letters: More on Supporting Public Events
-NVIS Antenna Day in April: "Sure, But Does That Emergency Antenna Really
Work?"
News Briefs
A January 9 article in Virginia's Roanoke Times newspaper features the
participation of ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, and her husband Carter,
N3AO, in the SKYWARN weather-spotting program. The Craigies, who live in the
Southwest Virginia town of Blacksburg -- home to Virginia Tech -- have a
home weather station and, when severe weather threatens, are able to
supplement local National Weather Service (NWS) office meteorologists with
"ground-level" weather observations.
Members of Australia's Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network in South
Australia (WICEN SA) have been assisting an emergency animal rescue and
recovery organization in the wake of the so-called Sampson's Flat bushfire
in the sheep and cattle-ranching region of Adelaide Hills. More here.
The Philippine Amateur Radio Association's (PARA) busy Ham Emergency Radio
Operations (HERO) network has again activated, this time for Tropical Storm
Jangmi (Seniang), which made landfall on Mindanao Island on December 29,
then moved inland, causing massive floods and landslides. More here.
ARES volunteers in northeast Ohio activated on January 13 after 911 and
other telephone services went down in six counties due to a power failure at
a major AT&T center in Akron. The outage was blamed on a burst steam pipe.
Cell telephones and the 800-900 MHz digital Multi-Agency Radio Communication
System (MARCS) remained functioning. More here.
On the Importance of Reporting; Development of a Web Based Platform
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation and reporting of planning, activity, and results are pervasive
and critical factors in all aspects of a productive society, across all
sectors. For example, I work in the healthcare sector: Documentation and
reporting of medical diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes are absolutely
essential for identifying needs for changes and upgrades to diagnostics and
procedures for improving the health of our citizens. Indeed, federal
reimbursement to hospitals is almost wholly dependent on such reporting. The
goal is better and more efficient health care in this country. Such
documentation and reporting requirements can be found in all other sectors
of the economy as well.
And such documentation and reporting is also absolutely essential for us as
radio amateurs serving in programs like ARES, which are productive with our
partners for the public interest in safety of life and property.
Documentation and reporting allow us to assess, diagnose, and then plan,
intervene, and evaluate outcomes of our interventions (deployments, actions,
operations) for identification of areas for improvement and enhancement of
our value to the public.
Our documentation and reporting, hard data and anecdotal reports, are not
only essential for use in educating the public of our contributions, but are
used by local radio amateurs in justifying our antenna systems before
government boards, and by the ARRL in its filings with the FCC and other
entities to defend and enhance our access to priceless spectrum, without
which we would be like artists without canvasses.
Monthly or otherwise regular reporting is a requirement of all ARRL Field
Organization appointees. It's a function that should be made as routine as
turning on our radios. It should be made easy to do by the administrative
support staff and program managers at ARRL HQ. All of the above was
recognized by the Board of Directors last July when it passed the following
resolution:
WHEREAS, the central gathering of information on Amateur Radio activities
involving Field Organization volunteers is vitally important for the League
to be able to educate and inform the public of our contributions, and to
assess program success;
THEREFORE, the ARRL Board of Directors directs staff to work with the
Programs and Services Committee to design and implement a web based
reporting system to gather information on activities performed by field
volunteers. The first phase of the reporting system should be implemented
during 2015.
You will see much more on this system roll-out over the course of this year,
but this is a heads up that we are entering into a new era of reporting our
activity for the interest of the public we serve, and also for our own
self-interest. -- K1CE
AshEX, Oregon SET 2014
----------------------
The Oregon SET dubbed AshEX was held November 22, 2014, and was based on the
1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption and ash fall that affected much of the state of
Oregon. Simulated traffic incidents, public health concerns, power and
communication failures that actually occurred in 1980 were played out by the
participants. This SET included, for the first time, Oregon ARES/RACES
Leadership Team members SEC Vince Van Der Hyde, K7VV, and Lisa Clarke,
KE7NIY, as "simulation cell" (SimCell) players who both originated traffic
from the state Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to the county EOCs and
responded to county EOC traffic received by OEM.
After Action Reports (AARs) provide an opportunity for the county Emergency
Coordinators to evaluate unit readiness, identify equipment problems and
train operators. Comments on the overall design of the SET were encouraged.
Received reports are all posted on the Oregon ARES/RACES website on the
"Previous SETs" page. Several noted that AshEX was the best SET yet
organized by Oregon ARES/RACES.
AshEX participants included 18 county units and the OEM Amateur Radio Unit.
There were many (11) medical/hospital teams active from many parts of the
state as well as several city EOCs and public safety organizations. Many
(probably most) of the hospital, city EOCs and other stations are operated
by ARES members. This provides training opportunities and involvement by far
more ARES members than would be possible if only the county EOCs
participated. About 180-200 radio operators were involved in addition to
eight emergency managers that worked with their county ARES units writing
and directing traffic flow. Total volunteer time to organize, conduct and
complete reporting on the SET totaled in excess of 1,500 hours.
The Oregon Emergency Management Amateur Radio Unit (OEM ARU) received nearly
200 Winlink messages from EOCs statewide during the SET. Operators there
replied to 170 of these messages and originated an additional 20 messages.
Traffic volume at OEM ARU averaged 80 messages per hour, primarily via
Winlink.
The success of AshEX was in large part due to the addition of a 2-person
SimCell group of ARES/RACES Leadership (K7VV and KE7NIY) who worked with OEM
ARU during the SET, replying and originating to participating EOCs around
the state. Many county unit after action reports commented on the value that
this added to the SET.
In the days prior to the SET, the Leadership Team drafted about 50 ICS-213
messages that were prepared and ready to go out from OEM immediately at SET
startup to kick-start the flow of traffic to and from OEM. Hourly bulletins
were prepared to be distributed statewide during the SET. The OEM ARU staff
spent considerable time before the SET to prepare all of these messages for
quick transmission. All of the prepared traffic, the SET schedule and
participant responsibilities were included in a "Playbook" that was copied,
bound and distributed to OEM and SimCell staff about a week before the SET.
Lessons learned: The OEM ARU HF Pactor capabilities need to be expanded to
accommodate the heavy load of traffic that is being received and sent during
these SETS and more training is needed on RMS Express.
The message preparation and record-keeping challenges identified during the
Fall 2013 SET continue. Several counties have gone (as OEM has) to message
entry onto ICS forms using computers outside of the Radio Room. The prepared
messages are moved in/out of the radio room by thumb-drives thereby
eliminating a serious bottleneck in traffic flow. However, the sheer volume
of traffic creates problems in efficiency: If two PC-Winlink stations are
using the same call sign (one on Pactor and the other on VHF RMS packet or
telnet), messages replies don't get matched up with the originating message.
More ARES members are needed to just keep the paperwork straight! This seems
to be a common problem in need of a common solution.
At the County Unit Level
The most common equipment problems were with HF antennas, inoperable RMS
Gateways and inexperience with the RMS Express software. Nevertheless, ARES
operators did manage to send their traffic successfully. In some cases,
groups had to rely on telnet connections rather than RF, however. There were
problems using the correct ICS forms but large improvements in use of the
Date-Time Group were evident from last year' SET. As in all previous SETS,
County Unit planning, problem solving, operating, on-demand station fixes,
training and discussions involve ARES/auxcomm groups statewide for many
hours before, during and after these SETS. They have proven to be valuable
learning experiences.
All participating groups were asked to submit an ICS-205 Communications Plan
to the SET Coordinator to be uploaded to the Oregon ARES/RACES website for
use during the SET to facilitate traffic between participating stations and
to encourage the County Units to periodically review their plans.
We need to recruit more County Units to participate in these SETS, and more
ARES/RACES members as well, as we prepare and plan for the spring 2016 FEMA
Cascadia Rising Exercise. This spring's QuakeEX I SET to be held April 25
will have a similar structure to AshEX but will be an all day, 8-9 hour
exercise requiring several shift changes. We will again use the SimCell
group at OEM to generate and reply to OEM traffic and be regional in scope.
QuakeEX I will be a Cascadia Subduction Zone scenario based on the latest
available estimates of what might actually happen during a major earthquake
event. The fall 2015 October 10-11 SET QuakeEX II will be a similar two day
event. - John Core, KX7YT, Oregon ARES/RACES ASEC, SET Coordinator
Letters: Update on San Diego/Baja High Data Rate Emergency Network
------------------------------------------------------------------
There is progress on the HDRENS (High Data Rate Emergency Network of San
Diego) project: Our team has just completed installation of a new high data
rate relay point on the University of California, San Diego tower, located
on Mt. Soledad, California. There are two dishes at the top of the main
structure of the tower; one is for a 5 GHz link from our central radio room
location in Coronado, California and one 2.4 GHz dish serves as a relay
looking out into our "client territory." Both dishes are on rotators. The
2.4 GHz link has been positioned to serve a number of our active ARES
associates including our ARES EC Bruce Kripton, KG6IYN.
The TX/RX data rates we currently measure on the 5 GHz link are in excess of
50 Mbps. Our long range plan is to continue to expand the high data rate
network up the coast and inland to provide high data rate private LAN backup
for more and more emergency communications clients including those San Diego
County hospitals that choose to participate.
The Mt. Soledad installation will now serve as a key relay point as we reach
out further into the lower and central San Diego County region. We continue
to share the high data rate emergency network with our sister organization,
CREBC, in Baja California, Mexico. -- Ed Sack, W3NRG, Coronado, California
[For background, see High Speed Networking: Time to Net its Benefits, pp.
80-81, April 2014 QST. - ed.]
Winlink Used for Support of Utah 100k Back Country Event
--------------------------------------------------------
The Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club and Cache County ARES group in northern
Utah participate each fall in an ultra marathon event called the Bear 100, a
one hundred mile all-back-country race. The event starts in Logan, Utah and
ends in Fish Haven, Idaho.
Since the event is entirely held in the back country, the only event
communications is by ham radio. There is no cell coverage or any other kind
of data communications available except at the start line and finish line.
At each aid station, 13 in total, plus start line and finish line stations,
the communications team records the in-time and out-time of each runner. The
race starts with 300 runners but thins out substantially by the end of the
race!
Amateur Radio support for the race is primarily for runner safety, although
other communications are provided, too, including messages for DNS's (Did
Not Start), DNF's (Did Not Finish), supplies, runner status inquiries, and
lost runners. In the past, messages were communicated to net control via
voice and as a consequence, the FM repeater in use for the event was tied up
about 80 to 90 percent of the time. Net control took the data and recorded
it into a database, manually one by one.
Over the last couple of years, the group started using Winlink to
communicate data, especially runner times. Club member Cordell Smart, KE7IK,
wrote a program for compiling the data automatically into a CSV file that
enters the times with the runner. Periodically, this file is copied off the
computer and sent via RMS Express to net control via e-mail using packet and
Winmor. Sending a file takes 2 to 3 minutes whereas on voice it took hours,
freeing up the repeater for other event communications.
This year, 80% of the aid stations either used Winlink or attempted it and
the result was a significant improvement in efficiency in tracking runners
and their times. -- Tyler Griffiths, N7UWX, Cache County (Utah) ARES EC;
Winlink RMS Packet Sysop N7UW-10
SKYWARN Critical in Santa Fe County, New Mexico
-----------------------------------------------
Santa Fe County, New Mexico is high-desert country and greatly impacted
during severe weather events. The County depends on outstanding weather
forecasts from the National Weather Service (NWS) and those forecasts
continue to improve with new observations and better communications. New
Mexico is the fifth largest state in size, ranks 36th in population and 46th
in population density. Another way to view New Mexico is a large state with
a few cities and lots of wide-open spaces. Those wide-open spaces are
observational black holes.
One of the many organizations in the County that supports the National
Weather Service's SKYWARN program is the Santa Fe Amateur Radio Emergency
Services (SFARES) functioning under the ARES program of the ARRL. SFARES
provides communication support to partners when requested. There are two
primary partners we work with: Santa Fe county and the Santa Fe city
emergency management entities. In order to provide support for SKYWARN as
requested by the City or County Emergency Manager, SFARES members have
received NWS-organized training as spotters to enable them to recognize
weather phenomena. When requested by either Emergency Management, SFARES
members can make observations from their home or while mobile and report
them to the Emergency Manager and the National Weather Service directly.
There is a robust network of amateur band repeaters in the county as well as
throughout the state. The NWS Forecast Office in Albuquerque listens to
radios tuned to amateur bands during severe weather. Since there are seven
NWS members that have amateur licenses, a SFARES mobile member can
immediately provide observations directly to the NWS Forecast Office on
amateur bands. This ability for direct communications allows a forecaster to
not only have the observations but to query a trained spotter for more
information, e.g. is the hail intensity getting bigger or smaller?
Due to the terrain in northern New Mexico, the Albuquerque NEXRAD radar
doesn't "see" the first 10,000 feet above ground level around Santa Fe City,
which is about 75 miles to the northeast of the radar and a few thousand
feet high. The Albuquerque-based NWS Forecast Office often knows that there
is a strong cell near Santa Fe on the radar but not what is happening
directly beneath it. SFARES spotters can and do fill-in that missing
information. One striking example of how valuable SFARES spotter input can
be, was a severe thunderstorm during the summer near Santa Fe with large
hail falling on a portion of Interstate-25 with a major road grade of more
than 6%. The hail was so intense that the road became icy and dangerous. Two
minutes after the spotter talked to the Albuquerque forecaster on an amateur
repeater system, a road alert was issued by the NWS. Until the Spotter made
his report, the forecaster didn't know that copious amounts of large hail
were falling.
Hail isn't the only danger that SFARES spotters are trained to spot. Strong
winds, tornadoes (which do occur in New Mexico), rotating wall clouds,
flooding or torrential rain, significant snow or ice, and wildfires all
occur. SFARES members live in a tinderbox in the summer. Surrounded by
National Forest and experiencing a multi-year drought, we constantly scan
the horizon in the fire season (most of the year) for signs of smoke.
Another facet of SFARES support is our ability to listen to the NOAA Weather
Radios. There are six in New Mexico and often a SFARES member is contacted
by the NWS Forecast Office to determine if the local NOAA Weather Radio is
broadcasting. Although not a SKYWARN function, SFARES also provided
communication support for search and rescue missions and always listens to
the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast since weather can and does have a big
impact on search missions. Many SFARES members have automatic weather
stations that report directly into the NWS network and some have highly
accurate rain gauges.
SFARES communication support uses many different modes and frequencies. For
SKYWARN, we depend heavily on the robust VHF/UHF repeater systems available
in the county and state. We also embrace new technologies when they would
augment our communication capabilities. One such new technology is WiFi.
While WiFi isn't new -- there probably is a WiFi in almost every home --
Amateur Radio operators have a radio frequency allocation in some of the
standard WiFi channels. And the allocation allows operators to use power
amplifiers and high-gain antennas not available to the general public. The
net result is WiFi ranges in the tens of kilometers instead of the tens of
meters. Four or five strategically placed SFARES Mesh nodes using the
amateur WiFi completely cover Santa Fe City. So, in times of emergencies if
there is also a loss of the Internet, the SFARES Mesh can provide intranet
capability linking all the emergency centers. The Mesh can move digital
traffic, support live IP cameras and provide VOIP digital voice
communications without any Internet available. The Mesh uses 12V power and
can continue even with the loss of main power as long as the nodes are
outfitted with solar panels. With 300 out of 360 days of sun, there is lots
of solar power available in New Mexico. The Mesh also allows a mobile
SKYWARN unit with a high-gain directional antenna to link back into the main
Mesh and thus provide digital communications including imagery in real time.
There is a strong relationship between the National Weather Service and
SFARES. The SFARES Emergency Coordinator is a retired meteorologist with
more than 40 years of experience including 21 years with the United States
Navy as a geophysicist and 20 years with the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO). His last position in WMO was the Director of the World
Weather Watch, the flagship intergovernmental program involving
observations, communications and forecasting. Additionally, the Emergency
Coordinator is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Organization. --
Donald Hinsman, N4VIP, AMS Fellow; Santa Fe County Emergency Coordinator;
Santa Fe and San Miguel Counties District Emergency Coordinator
Letters: Emergency Manager Checks In with More (Informal) Definitions
---------------------------------------------------------------------
As a longtime Emergency Management professional I'd like to offer more of
our definitions, in the context of last month's piece by OFDA's Art Feller,
W4ART.
Conditions: elements are present that may create a problem. For example,
oily rags being stored inappropriately, or a 7 day weather outlook shows
heavy weather on the horizon.
Situation: the oily rags have been moved closer to a heat source and are
smoldering, or weather fronts are combining and a watch has been issued.
Event: our rags have now caught fire in a bucket; or we have rain, hail and
high winds currently.
Emergency: Actual event with impending threat to life or property, handled
adequately with resources and assets routinely available to the affected area.
Disaster: The event and its aftermath are beyond the abilities of the local
area to cope with, but through mutual aid and accessing resources outside of
the area, possibly going regionally, the response and recovery effort can be
handled effectively.
Catastrophe: Response and recovery efforts and resources required to contain
the elements of the event are beyond the capabilities of the region.
Although not widely written down and shared, these informal definitions are
widely held in the emergency management community, and may help planners,
responders, adjunct agencies, and, of course, radio amateurs understand the
dynamics. -- Richard (Ryc) Lyden, KD0ZWM, Cottage Grove, Minnesota
[Lyden has 25 years of experience in Public Safety, including 15 years of
Emergency Management, and eight years in the US Air Force as a Medical
Services Technician. He also served eight years in the Civil Air Patrol
(CAP). He is a former Senior Planner, Minnesota Department of Public Safety,
Division of Emergency Management; Disaster Preparedness specialist in the
USAF; and Chairman, Northland Chapter, American Red Cross. - ed].
Colorado ARES Member, 5, Passes Tech Exam
-----------------------------------------
Centennial, Colorado resident Colton Ragsdale, KECRD, has passed his
Amateur Radio Technician examination at five years of age. Colton certainly
took an interest in radio at a young age! There is no age limit to taking
the federal test, but it is extremely rare for anyone this young to pass it.
Applicants must demonstrate an understanding of FCC regulations, radio
station operation, electrical principles, and safety considerations by
passing a 35 question, multiple choice, written examination. Although Colton
was unable to meet the 74% threshold to pass the test the first two times he
tried in December, persistence paid off as he passed the exam with a 91% on
January 3 in Centennial. His parents Zeke and Debra are also both Amateur
Radio operators. Colton plans to use his license for community service,
particularly by providing communications for emergencies and disasters. --
Jack Ciaccia, WMG, ARRL Colorado Section Manager
Letters: More on Supporting Public Events
-----------------------------------------
I can't believe that it's been over 20 years since you published my articles
on supporting public service events in the September and October 1994 issues
of QST. I continue to create nets supporting various events here in Tucson,
Arizona.
Over those years much has changed, yet a lot remains the same. We now have
APRS to track the progress of races, and we have D-STAR knocking at our door
to provide accurate communications traffic handling for future events. The
biggest event we support now is the El Tour de Tucson, planning and
directing communications for the 104 mile charity bike race, which attracts
over 9,000 riders who navigate a course covering the perimeter of the city
of Tucson. It takes place every November (for the past 32 years) and
benefits various charities.
Your article in the January 2015 issue of QST on planning and operating for
public service events was quite informative and comprehensive. I would add
one thing: I've asked all Net Controllers (we have four sectors, each with
its own Net Controller and each using different primary and back-up
repeaters) and all stations on the route to maintain a written log, eg, an
ICS 309 form, to log all significant traffic. These log sheets are collected
at the end of the event and used for various purposes and are quite
important: The event sponsor uses them to track any issues that may have
legal implications. The police and the county EOC use them to compare notes
and issues that may have resulted in 911 or EMT actions. And I use them to
determine the number of public service hours that were provided by Amateur
Radio. We all use them for after-action reports and the drafting of lessons
learned exercises. -- Cary Fishman, WB2BSJ, Tucson, Arizona
NVIS Antenna Day in April: "Sure, But Does That Emergency Antenna Really
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work?"
------
Ohio ARES is sponsoring the NVIS Antenna Day, April 25, 2015. We are
encouraging groups in every Ohio county to devise several portable NVIS
antennas that they think will perform, and then test them on the air. The
program grows out of an annual antenna party in Ashtabula County, which is
both an operating event and a great time in early spring to break out the
hamburgers and have some fun. They have found a vast difference in actual
antenna performance, and have been able to narrow down their choices for a
real emergency setup.
The NVIS Antenna Day will begin at 10 AM Eastern time. We will operate on
both 40 and 80 meters, operating at 100 watts as you might during a real
emergency. While a typical session might go through the afternoon, there is
no official closing time. It is not necessary to set up a completely
portable or remote station, although the location should have enough room
for several antennas and be in a fairly quiet RF environment. This is not a
contest for QSO rates and points; rather it's aimed specifically at
determining the best of several NVIS antennas through signal reports, and
through coverage. A group could make several contacts with the same station
as they try different antennas. Stations at key locations such as the Ohio
state EOC will be on the air.
Groups should compile a list of their top three antennas with descriptions
and photos. Ohio ARES will see if any particular antenna design bubbles up
as the top performer across the entire state.
Antenna experimentation is an integral part of the hobby and the outcome
will benefit each ARES group or club by helping to create an arsenal that
can be deployed during a real emergency. It could be a great time to test
potential Field Day antennas, too. This is open to all hams as we hope they
will become interested in joining their local ARES organization. - Stan
Broadway, N8BHL, Section Emergency Coordinator, Ohio
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