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Dedicated to Amateur RADIO Emergency
Communications
EMCOMM MONTHLY
“PREPAREDNESS is our most important PRODUCT”
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NUMBER ONE
PREMIER EDITION
JUNE
2004
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EM ONLINE: www.emcomm.org/em/
INTERNET: www.emcomm.org
Welcome to the Premier
Edition of EMCOMM MONTHLY! After 212 issues of the
EMCOMMWEST BULLETIN we are starting over with NUMERO UNO. Long
time readers of
the ECWB will recognize some similarities, but they will also notice
many changes.
Readers will now have the option of reading EM
online at: www.emcomm.org/em/
If ever you fail to receive EM you now have that option. A
“printer friendly” version in PDF is
also available.
This PREMIER EDITION begins with a review of
the recent ARRL specialty convention in
Reno, Nevada...EMCOMMWEST 2004. It is hoped that in the years
ahead we can also
report on EMCOMMEAST or EMCOMM CENTRAL or EMCOMM MOUNTAIN!
Following FEEDBACK is EM's first feature
article: ICS WITHIN EMCOMM GROUPS by
Jerry Boyd, KW7J.
NETWORK NEWS is next and you
will find information and updates about specialty
EMCOMM and TRAFFIC NETS nets.
“Hurricane season” begins today, and your attention is
directed to the Hurricane and Maritime Nets links.
Our TRAFFIC TRAINING section is next. As
with the ECWB, we will continue to provide training
and tips about what is one of the most basic fundamentals of emergency
communications:
FORMAL RECORD MESSAGE TRAFFIC HANDLING.
RETRO REVIEW will view EMCOMM
through our “Retrospect-O-Scope”. Each month it will
contain useful information for newer EMCOMM operators while also
providing a review of the
FUNDAMENTALS of EMCOMM for the rest of us.
Also watch for an occasional “Best of ECWB” article.
QSH is EM’s “lighter side” with Quizzes,
Satire, and Humor.
NEW SUBSCRIBERS and CONTRIBUTORS will be
acknowledged.
While we do not accept paid advertisements,
SUPPORT OUR SUPPORTERS will
recognize and “plug” commercial vendors who have contributed to
EMCOMM in one way or
another.
Near the end of each issue, look for EM’s
REFERENCE and RESOURCE SECTION. It
will list URLs for many web sites that offer a wealth of related
information.
While EM is larger than the EMCOMMWEST
BULLETIN, you’ll now have a whole month
to digest it! Let us know how you like EM. Your comments,
suggestions, and constructive
criticisms are welcome! [TOP]
Driving into the parking lot
at the Fred W. Traner Middle School in Reno, Nevada left no
doubt in one’s mind that we had arrived at EMCOMMWEST 2004. All
manner of RV’s,
trucks, campers, vans, SUVs, sedans and compact cars...most sporting a
myriad of antennas
were everywhere. (Sometime they should have an impromptu contest for
who has the most
antennas on his/her rig!) The Ham Swap area on the playground in the
rear looked like a
modern day version of a Moroccan street bazaar.
The fifth annual EMCOMMWEST was opened with the
Pledge of Allegiance. Attendees
were welcomed by Dick Flanagan, K7VC, Nevada SM, and Don Carlson, KQ6FM,
DEC
Northern Nevada, the event’s master of ceremonies.
The lead-off batters for the convention were D.
W. Thorne, K6SOJ, Sacramento Valley
SEC (and ECW Founder) and Ed Ewell, K7DXV, AEC, OES, OO (and more) who
emphasized the importance of all ham operators learning and maintaining
the
FUNDAMENTAL skills of EMCOMM. The emphasis was on the importance of
knowing how
to handle formal message record traffic. It was pointed out that if
only 10% of the licensed
amateurs in the U.S. possessed this skill, there would be 60,000 stations
spread out in nearly
every hamlet, burg, village, neighborhood, town, city and metropolitan
area of the country.
60,000 operators READY and EQUIPPED with dependable emergency gear!
Ready to
originate, relay, or receive third party messages during disasters or
other events when normal
lines of communication are interrupted of overloaded.
After a short break, a served agency forum was
presented by representatives from VOAD,
NWS, SATERN and the Red Cross followed.
Next, Dan Miller, K3UFG, ARRL HQ and ARECC Course
Manager reviewed the ARECC
course, ARRL’s involvement in Homeland Security, and some proposed
changes in the NTS
which may include amateur-to-email-to amateur automated messaging systems.
Suffice it to
say the EMCOMM community is polarized on this subject and a very lively Q
and A session
followed.
Rick Lagerstrom, KN6FR, (www.ectar.org) gave an excellent talk on “eventing” and
stressed the value of using the ICS by all amateur groups when providing
communication
service for community events.
Last (but not least) on “day one”, Jerry Wellman,
W7SAR, who writes the monthly Search
and Rescue column for Worldradio, is active in SAR, CAP, ARES, and is a
“master scrounger”
gave an excellent (and humorous) power point presentation on some
operating “Do’s and
Don’ts”. He also did a “Show and Tell” of some
very innovative ideas for field deployment too
numerous to list here, but one tip that is worth mentioning is that
freight salvage yards
conduct actions and sales that sell off new, but slightly damaged goods.
One example Jerry had was a new marine radio antenna with minor damage,
that he bought
for four dollars. When repaired he had a commercial grade VHF
antenna.
Sunday began with a presentation about the new
American Red Cross ECRV (on display
all weekend), by Michael Colvin, W6CUL and Gary Grant, K7VY.
The ARRL Forum was last on the formal agenda.
Moderated by Don Carlson, KQ6FM it
included: Dan Miller, K3UFG, ARRL HQ; Dick Flanagan, K7VC, Nevada SM;
Jettie Hill,
W6RFF, Sacramento Valley SM; D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ, SV SEC; Charles
McConnell,
W6DPD, San Joaquin Valley SM; Glenn Thomas, WB6W, Santa Clara Valley SM;
and Bob
Vallio, W6RGG, ARRL Director, Pacific Division. The main topic was
the imminent threat to
amateur and many other radio services by the proposed BPL.
The drawing for door prizes concluded the
festivities. Al Stinger, W7RTI, Carson City, NV
was the winner of the GRAND PRIZE...a new ICOM 706 MKIIG!
EMCOMMWEST 2004 RENO was one for the record
books! Many of the participants
appeared to not want it to end. Finally, after much hand shaking
and well wishing, the
re-energized EMCOMM operators slowly drove off into the sunset.
Did I see a new antenna or two on some of the
rigs? - Editor [TOP]
FEEDBACK,
MUSINGS... and SPURIOUS EMISSIONS
Dear Editor:
“There was a rumor floating at EMCOMMWEST
2004 that you may be cutting back on
conducting presentations. I hope that is not true. As I am
hoping that you will, at some point
conduct a presentation on the ARCT concept. Also, I guess we did
not make it clear to
everyone at the conference this year that the EMCOMM Bulletin exists. I
still run into people
that don’t know what I'm talking about when I discuss the EMCOMM
online bulletin.”
- Gary Altig, N7UVL, Reno, NV
Thanks for the
comments and suggestions Gary. As my time and energy allow, I plan
to
remain as active as I can and contribute as much as I am invited to do.
I had asked for three
hours this year, but as is true with all conventions time is on a tight
budget and others need to
have time for their presentations.
I gave a seminar last year at PACIFICON on
"How to Build an Effective EMCOMM Team",
and will probably do something again this year (if I am asked).
My passion is still with formal message traffic
handling, but your idea suggesting a
program about ICS-ARCT is a good idea...perhaps next year? I
suggest that you make your
desires known to the ECW-05 planning committee.
Please promote EMCOMM MONTHLY all you
can...word of mouth still seems to be the
best form of advertising. - Editor [TOP]
USING
ICS WITHIN EMCOMM GROUPS - by Jerry Boyd, KW7J
The Incident Command System (ICS) is now the
system of choice for managing both
emergencies and special events. This is due to the adoption of ICS
by the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). While DHS calls its flavor of ICS
“NIMS” (National Incident
Management System) it is essentially the same system that has been
around for the past 33 years.
Amateur Radio EmComm groups must be proficient
in use of ICS terminology and
procedures if we are to work effectively with most of our clients.
Much has been written on
the subject and there are some excellent ICS courses available on-line
and elsewhere.
What I would like to suggest is that if ICS is
good for our clients it is
good for EmComm groups as well. I believe we should organize our
EmComm groups
internally using the ICS model. Further, as we prepare to respond
to either a special event or
an actual emergency it behooves us to implement ICS within our own
response. The group’s
leader (EC or other similar position) may serve as the EmComm Incident
Coordinator (EIC).
That is NOT the IC for the actual incident but for the EmComm team only.
Within the EmComm group key ICS style positions
should be established to make the
response more efficient. The EmComm group IC could assign one
member as the
“Operations Coordinator” assigned to handle all operational matters,
thereby freeing the EIC
for other duties. A “Logistics Coordinator” would deal with
such matters as scheduling and
procuring equipment and supplies. Another might be assigned to
“Planning” in order to gather
information about the expected duration and scope of the event.
All of these group leaders support the EIC
within the EmComm group just like their
counterparts support the over all IC of the incident.
There is a parallel here with what professional
communications entities are doing. Many
9-1-1 Dispatch Centers, which, like amateur radio EmComm groups, provide
communications
services to public safety agencies during times of emergency, and they
have implemented
“internal ICS” as part of their protocol.
If you wish further information about this, The
May 2004 issue of 9-1-1 Magazine has a
detailed discussion of communication center ICs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry Boyd, KW7J is a former Chief of
Police for the City of Coronado and the City of
Martinez, California. He has also served as the chief of a rural
fire department. He currently
SERVES as Director of the Baker County (Oregon) 9-1-1 Communications
Center. Jerry has
held ARRL appointments as EC, SEC, Section Manager, and is currently
serving as the
Oregon ARES District 6 EC. He has authored several books on the
subject of emergency
preparedness. His most recent offering is: MANAGEMENT OF THE
AMATEUR RADIO
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTION. (WORLDRADIO BOOKS - APRIL 2003.
(Available from BOOKS, Etc. (See “Support our Supporters” elsewhere
in EM) [TOP]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NETWORK NEWS
Schedules and updates on Regional, National,
and International EMCOMM and TRAFFIC nets.
NN is not intended to duplicate other resources such
as the ARRL Net Directory
WINCO NET HAS NEW NAME AND IS NOW TWICE
A MONTH
The WINCO
NETWORK is now the WINCOM NETWORK. WINCOM is Washington,
Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon and Montana. WINCOM is now
regularly scheduled for
twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 1930 Pacific Time zone on
3987 kHz (down)
SSB. WINCOM is for ARRL Official Emergency Stations, Official
Relay Stations, ARES
stations, and other EMCOMM affiliates. The WINCOM NETWORK may be
activated during
disasters, communications system failures, and other emergency incidents
as a regional wide
area SSB network for tactical and or formal EMCOMM traffic. EMCOMM
stations encouraged
to monitor and/or use these frequencies for routine calling and for a
RADIO WATCH during
actual or potential incidents.
(During actual events move message traffic at least 5 kHz up or down.)
Nighttime: 3987 kHz (down) 1982 kHz (down) alternate. Daytime:
7232 kHz (up)
NOTE: These frequencies are used for other scheduled ARES section or
state nets. JNN is
on 7232 daily at 1200 Pacific. Always yield for scheduled nets.
HURRICANE AND MARITIME NETS AND INFORMATION
June 1st is the start of the
“Hurricane Season”. Just because your home station isn’t
located
in the SE US, don’t think you can’t be of
service. Propagation may be such that a relay station outside
of the normal service area of these nets occasionally
may be of great benefit. As with all emergency nets:
DO a lot of listening
DO NOT check in unless you know that you are a member
or your help is requested or necessary.
RADIO WATCH • MONITOR • CALLING •
TRAFFIC • EMCOMM • GUARD
• WINCOM 7111± kHz DAYTIME / 3711± kHz NIGHTTIME CW
• WINCOM 7232± kHz DAYTIME / 3987± kHz NIGHTTIME
SSB
• NEVADA ARES MONITOR / CALLING SSB: 3965± kHz SSB
• ALASKA WATCH - 3534 / 7042 kHz / 14.050 MHz CW
• NATIONAL RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK: 7068 / 10122 / 14050 kHz CW
• ARES 146.55 MHz SIMPLEX
• ARES / Red Cross 147.42 MHz SIMPLEX
• NATIONAL CALLING (and Wilderness Protocol) 146.52 MHz SIMPLEX
• WILDERNESS PROTOCOL (ref. June 1996 QST, page 85).
Primary frequency: 146.52 MHz (FM simplex). Secondary
frequencies: 446.0, 223.5, 52.525
and 1294.5 MHz. All stations (both fixed, portable or mobile)
monitor the primary (and
secondary if possible) frequencyies every three hours starting at 7:00
am local time, for five
minutes (7:00-7:05 AM, 10:00-10:05 AM, etc.) Additionally,
stations that have sufficient
power resources monitor for five minutes starting at the top of every
hour, or continuously."
REGULARLY SCHEDULED SPECIALTY NETS
• WEST COAST NET (WCN) Slow Speed Traffic/Training Daily 1900
Pacific 3702 kHz CW
• ALASKA-PACIFIC Emergency Preparedness Net 1630Z 14.292 MHz SSB
• IMRA TRAFFIC NET (INTERNATIONAL MISSION RADIO ASSOCIATION)
14.280 MHz SSB M-F 1800Z (summer) 1900Z (winter) [TOP]
TRAFFIC TRAINING...
TRAFFIC TRAINING... TRAFFIC TRAINING...
--.- -
-.-.
“For want of a letter, a word was lost.
For want of a word, the message was lost.
For want of a message, a life was lost.”
.- .-.
CW NIGHTLY SLOW SPEED (10 WPM)
TRAINING-TRAFFIC WEST COAST NET (WCN)
•
NIGHTLY 3702 kHz ± 1900 Pacific Time
SSB ON-THE-AIR RADIOGRAM TRAINING-PRACTICE NET (WEST
COAST)
• WEDNESDAYS 3987 kHz ± 2000 Pacific Time
(approx.)
• BEGINS shortly after WINCOM and/or SV Section ARRL/ARES NET. )
• NON-HF HAMS AND SWLS ARE INVITED TO LISTEN AND COPY.
• A SPECIAL CERTIFICATE IS AVAILABLE to anyone who submits a correct
copy of at least one of the transmitted RADIOGRAMS postmarked
within
three (3) days of the practice session.
• Use standard ARRL RADIOGRAM format and send to: EMCOMM, PO Box 99,
Macdoel, CA 96058. (Enclose a #10 self-addressed
stamped envelope.)
-...-
TRAINING RADIOGRAMS SENT MAY 26 ON
3984.5 (SSB)
SENDING STATION K6SOJ - RECEIVING STATIONS W7IB K7DXV
----------------------------------------------------------------
NR 115 TEST P HXDE W6SOJ ARL13 EDGEWATER CA MAY 26
CASEY MCPARTLAND W7IB
3620 ROSE LN
PO BOX 1969
LOOMIS CA 95650
916 660 9680
916 715 3564
TEST MESSAGE X ARL SIXTEEN
ARL EIGHT HF ARL ELEVEN
K7DXV 3984 DOWN
D W THORNE
.-.-. -...
NR 315 R K6SOJ ARL8 MACDOEL CA MAY 26
KEN DAHL K7TAG
1120 PALOMINO CT SE
TUMWATER WA 98501
360 561 4315
360 534 9357
ARL FIFTY TWO X THANKS
FOR LUXURY RIDE
D W THORNE
.-.-.
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO USE RADIOGRAM TRAINING AND PRACTICE
SESSIONS
For ARES leaders (within range of course):
1) Organize small “study groups” to meet at a HF capable
ham’s shack, an
EOC or club station, or the home of anyone with a short-wave receiver.
Pass out blank forms and have your members copy the RADIOGRAMS.
Follow the on-the-air
session with a discussion period and refreshments. Have printed
reference material, such as
the ARRL Net Directory on hand.
2) Tape record the on-the-air sessions and play them back at your
local
meetings. Provide blank forms and have your ARES members copy the
RADIOGRAMS. Follow with a critique and discussion period (and
refreshments)! Have
printed reference material, such as the ARRL Net Directory on hand.
3) A few ARES units around the country have been using the
RADIOGRAMS published in
the ECWB in training sessions...both on-the-air and/or in classroom
settings. Feel free to use
any/all if it helps!
“TRAFFIC HANDLER’S MANTRA”
(Recite to help remember the eight parts in preamble):
“No • Prepared • Ham • Should • Copy • Priority • Traffic
• Delayed”
“No • Prepared • Ham • Should • Copy • Priority • Traffic
• Delayed”
“No • Prepared • Ham • Should • Copy • Priority • Traffic
• Delayed”
(NUMBER-PRECEDENCE-HX-STATION OF ORIGIN-CHECK-PLACE OF ORIGIN-TIME-DATE)
[TOP]
RETRO
REVIEW - EMCOMM viewed through the "Retrospect-O-Scope”
"The Fundamentals Never Change"
ITU RADIOTELEPHONE OPERATING PROCEDURES
This list of ICAO (International Civil
Aviation Organization) PROCEDURE WORDS AND
PHRASES for RADIOTELEPHONE communications has been around a long time.
Some of it
is in use by most of us on a daily basis. It wouldn't hurt,
however, for each of us to
periodically review these terms. It is especially important to
know and use them in EMCOMM
situations.
RADIOTELEPHONE PROCEDURE WORDS AND
PHRASES:
Acknowledge: "Let me know that
you have received and understood this message."
Affirmative: "Yes" or
"permission granted."
Break: "I hereby indicate the
separation between portions of the message." (To be used when
there is no clear distinction between the text and other portions of the
message.)
Correction: "An error has been
made in the transmission (or message indicated). The correct
version is..."
Go Ahead: "Proceed with your
message."
How Do You Read: Unreadable,
readable now and then, readable but with difficulty,
readable, perfectly readable.
I Say Again: Self-explanatory.
Negative: "No" or
"permission not granted" or "That is not correct."
Over: My transmission ended, and I
expect a response from you."
Out: "This conversation is
ended and no response is expected."
Read Back: "Repeat all, or the
specified part, of this message back to me exactly as
received."
Roger: "I have received all of
your last transmission." (Under no circumstances to be used as
an affirmative.)
Say Again: "Repeat all, or the
part following _____, of your last transmission."
Speak Slower: Self-explanatory
Standby: Self-explanatory
That Is Correct: Self-explanatory
Verify: "Check coding, check
text with the originator and send correct version."
Wilco: "Your last message (or
message indicated), received, understood, and will be
complied with."
Words twice: (1) As a request:
"Communication is difficult. Please send every word twice."
(2) As information: "Since communication is difficult, every word
in this message will be sent
twice."
NOTE: "Please
repeat" and "I repeat" are not used by
skilled operators since the word "repeat"
can be easily mistaken for "received". [TOP]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QSH !
... EM’s Quiz ???, Satire ;-) , and [attempts at] Humor :-)
section
¿ A SERIOUS QUESTION TO
PONDER ?
Suppose it is the year 2020.
You are being interviewed by a reporter who asks you to give
a one word answer to this question: “What killed amateur
radio?” After thinking about
it...what is your answer?
Send your one-word-answer to: k6soj@arrl.net
(Answers will be published
in the next issue of EM.)
HEARD ON-AND-OFF-THE-AIR...
DUMB:
“I’m not hearing you very good. Stand-by while I turn my power
up.”
DUMBER:
“Did you say your telephone isn’t working? Here’s the number
to call.”
DUMBEST:
“I have my car’s battery maintainer plugged into the cigar lighter.
But it won’t charge the @#%&*! battery.” [TOP]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEW SUBSCRIBERS
• Harry Marnell, N6URU, McKinleyville, CA -
Humboldt County ARES, RACES
• Rick Lagerstrom, KN6FR, Seaside, CA - ARES, RACES, ECTAR Inc.,
CARTOG
• Gary Grant, K7VY, Reno, NV - Red Cross Comm. Chairman, Sierra Nevada
Chapter
• John Thompson, KC8RAK, Concord, Ohio - ARES, American Red Cross
• Jim Larsen, KG6RBN, Rio Vista, California - Solano County ACS
• Jettie Hill, W6RFF, Roseville, CA
• Charles D. Hubbard, WB2LBE, Fort Mill, SC [TOP]
SUPPORT OUR
SUPPORTERS
When contacting any of these fine vendors, be sure
to tell them that EMCOMM MONTHLY
sent you!
Books, etc.
Jack Ruckman, AC6FU, Owner
www.hamradiobooks.com
ac6fu@arrl.net
(775) 577-2639
P.O. Box 309
Silver Springs, NV 89429
(Amateur Radio Books, ARRL patches, decals and other supplies)
Q. R. Zed Engraving
Gordon Yee, KI6UH
www.qrzed.8k.com
(415) 467-2235
P.O. Box 651
Brisbane, CA 94005
(Name badges, desk plates, signs, and more. Custom work.)
SEARCH FEATURE AT EMCOMM.ORG
www.emcomm.org may be just what you need!
EMCOMM MONTHLY and EMCOMM.ORG
are funded solely by dedicated EMCOMM
operators who are concerned about preserving the ability of amateur
radio operators to be
prepared to provide skilled, accurate and efficient emergency
communications during times of
disaster or other events where normal channels of communication may be
interrupted or
overloaded. EMCOMM.ORG is “pop up free”. If you have
benefited from our efforts, and
would like to support us in a tangible way; you may do so by sending a
check or money
order payable to: EMCOMM. Send to: EMCOMM, PO Box 99, Macdoel, CA
96058.
Your donation is an outright gift and is NOT tax-deductible.
EM is formatted in HTML using Arial font. (Some
portions in other fonts.)
FOR A PRINTED COPY VIA FIRST CLASS [surface] MAIL:
Send $2.00 [US$] check or money order for each copy ordered.
[Specify issue(s) wanted.]
to: EMCOMM MONTHLY, P.O. Box 99, Macdoel, CA
96058 - U.S.A.
EMCOMM MONTHLY - Copyright (c)
2004 - All rights reserved
“For radio operators who take EMergency COMMunications”
seriously.”
Published on the Tuesday before the first Wednesday of every month.
EM STAFF
D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ - Editor and Publisher
Bill Frazier, W7ARC - Associate Editor and Webmaster
Ed Ewell, K7DXV - Associate Editor and Technical Advisor
Ed Trump, AL7N - Associate Editor and Alaska Correspondent
Jerry Boyd, KW7J - Associate Editor and ICS Advisor
John Moriarity, K6QQ - Associate Editor and Technical Advisor
Dave Nicholson, KB6PNT - Associate Editor and SAR Advisor
For permission to reproduce material in EMCOMM
MONTHLY
contact: D. W. Thorne at: k6soj@arrl.net or write:
EMCOMM MONTHLY, P.O. Box 99, Macdoel, CA 96058 U.S.A. [TOP]
NEXT MONTH:
RECORD MESSAGE TRAFFIC vs. “HARD COPY”
PLUS: NEWS... FEATURES... FEEDBACK.... QSH... and MORE! [TOP]
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