Every ARES® or other EMCOMM team should have a
designated "Records and Reports" person. It is not necessary
that this volunteer be a licensed operator. In fact, in some ways it is
better if they are not...that removes the temptation to press them into
radio duty! It is important that these records be compiled and
reported to the ARRL. The value of all this "paper work"
is that it becomes a weapon in the battle to save our amateur privileges.
In the Sacramento Valley Section ARES® units were kept on the
run over a fourteen day period during three major wildfire incidents.
Over 50 trained and registered ARES® operators provided over 1500
hours of volunteer service, traveled untold hundreds of miles at
their own expense in their own vehicles, and expended over $1,500 out of
their own pockets for expenses. These are conservative estimates and
do not reflect the value of privately owned radio equipment, other
emergency gear, and the cost of wear and tear on vehicles...all donated by
volunteers who care!
But all of this pales in comparison to what the
total contribution must be made by volunteer radio amateurs in the recent
hurricane, tornadoes and flooding in the eastern U.S. and the
Caribbean. Hopefully, someone kept time and expense records.
County by county, district by district, section by section, state by
state. The real value, however, is incalculable!
September 9, 2004: -- "Still digging out
from Frances, no major damage, just a fence blown down and a whole
lotta' broken trees and re-uniting garbage cans with owners on the next
block ( sure beats finding a neighbors roof in your front yard like we
found after Cleo in 1964! ). Now the big wait to have power
restored.
My family was evacuated. Mostly to stay
with elderly parents. I did not want to move them up to a coastal
county to stay with us for this one.
Monitored the ARES® and RACES activity.
What a job they did and are still doing with "Operation
Recovery". This is what hams did way back when. And just
like back then, the bulk of the operation was good old fashioned
untechnical ham radio operating. And yes, amateur radio was
absolutely vital, according to the local and district EOCs.
Cells were down, phones were down, there were in
many instances no other way to communicate. Doctors and staff at the
shelters that provided for non-ambulatory or self-dispensing patients got
a full dose of what ham radio alone could do.
In large areas, cell phones were useless until
well after Frances was gone! Hams from all over poured in for
both storm service AND more intensely, the current recovery service.
The big challenge now is coordinating
distribution of ice, water and dry goods to residents in the affected
areas. Local officials voiced their appreciation of the
indispensable work provided by amateurs.
Ham Radio may be a lot of things, but one thing
these storms have proven is that ham radio is absolutely relevant.
And Old Fashioned hamming, at that. Dirty, in the field,
white-knuckle sweaty, operating. On all frequencies and modes.
Especially with mic and key. You guys would be very proud to
see this. So would HPM! (Hiram Percy Maxim, ARRL Founder- Editor).
They represented us in the highest standard."
---------------------------------------------------
September 16, 2004: -- "I was just making
sure other folks know how much CW is being used in the midst of
the ongoing hurricane emergencies . I will commence (teaching) ARECC
level 1 classes this coming Saturday and I will stress to each
member of the class the value of simply learning a minimal level of CW.
It will gain them their General ticket. Then
with just a little on air activity they'll be at 15 wpm in no time.
CW is not that difficult to learn but it is extremely valuable for
EMCOMM work. I am not very skilled at CW. I have been
working on getting from 5 wpm to 15 wpm in a couple of months on air
work and then the real work begins of g ettingproficient.DIV
Over a year of work on NTS CW nets,
hours of on air activity, and CW nets I've gotten slightly
better. Passing traffic is good practice. Every EMCOMM
worker should be able to use CW to pass traffic at 15 wpm or
better. Amateurs don't need to have everything handed to
them without a little work. 5 wpm is not hard. Just 30 days and
you'll be able to pass element 1. A little more work and
you're at 15 wpm rapidly. That is a good entry level to NTS
work. I don't think the code should have been dropped for any license class
and think the 13 wpm for General and 20 wpm for Amateur Extra is a
goal to strive towards. 20 wpm just means you've worked a
little on the air and studied a bit.
Please be sure to stress the value of CW in
EMCOMM work. My comments to the Mentor list were cut out
when it was quoted. That is very sad. CW is the primary
life line out of these areas. The power requirements are so low I was
able to work the traffic I mentioned from a station running 3
watts. That is less than my FM HT. CW lives! Let's
keep it alive and a part of the amateur's skills."
---------------------------------------------
"I'm sure this is way more than you want
to print and because it is so negative. But this is the
true story of how Hurricane Charley affected me. I had originally wanted
to just write a true but funny story of sitting out the storm but that
isn't what happened.
This is Hurricane Charley’s effect on an EC
(yours truly) who worked too long with volunteers.
Day 1 (August 31) - Well, it is really coming.
We have been told the worst case scenario is on its way. A category
three hurricane is going to slide into Florida from the Gulf, run up the
middle of the state and exit west of Jacksonville. No place for
anyone to run. I set in on the noon warning-point conference call at the
EOC. Tough break for Tampa; it is going to hit at high tide....big storm
surge.
Interesting...all of the weather centers think
it will pass west of Jacksonville...except Jacksonville. They seem
to think it will pass south of them, maybe around St. Augustine or
lower. (The worst of the worst cases.) I have been busting my tail
trying to be ready for the evacuation at home. Picking up
hazards in the yard and putting up storm shutters. I now smell
like a barnyard. We started hourly broadcasts on the club repeater
warning club members to be ready to go into shelters tomorrow.
Day 2 (September 1) - Surprise! The
county will only open one general population shelter (for folks in
manufactured homes, trailers and low lying areas) and the special-needs
shelter. The theory is, we will be on the lee side of the storm,
and far enough away so we need only worry about heavy rain and flooding.
My wife went out and bought enough food to take to the shelter to serve
two armies for a month. I was not wise enough to follow her logic.
I hid half the food in the garage.
Finally arrive at our county net control
station with total of three volunteers for the shelter a local school.
Earlier in the year, I had contacted the facilities manager at the
school and arranged for a 120VAC outlet from the emergency generator to
be installed in the designated radio room. This morning on my
visit to the shelter I talked to a lady that rents that space for classes
from another school and found a little conflict as to "who owns
what", and "who does what" in the building that is a
designated shelter.
As near as I can tell, the facilities manager
installed my emergency power outlet and the people that are renting
the space jerked it out as a potential fire hazard. I wasn't
exactly thrilled.
Oh yes, all that talking on the club repeater
garnered me three more volunteers. But they couldn’t stay very
long. They all had something important to do that evening. I
passed on lunch at noon since I had already consumed a bottle and a half
of antacid.
My wife is now calling on the phone for more
volunteers. Everybody seems to be unavailable. Where can
they all be going when the roads will be shut down as 45mph winds tickle
our fancies? Funny thing, we average 15-18 check-ins on our
weekly ARES® net. Now they are all lying low. People
who have raised a big stink for not getting an ARES® badge as
quickly as they had liked, are all now very, very quiet.
Here comes the messages from the shelter.
Some how it has become my fault that there are no pastries for the
kiddies in the shelter. Then I discover that my shelters-net
repeater is still not working (after I notified the club technical
manager last month.) Nothing to worry about. I
will just go to the alternate repeater.
Much to my dismay, the alternate is
also down for repairs. The controller is at the
manufacturer's plant clear across the state. Well, luckily,
I am blessed with a second backup. What’s that? It has
taken a lightning strike and is down? All the purple pills in
Barney-land can’t save my esophagus now. But luckily one of our
best trouble-shooters (may he live a long and fruitful life) manages to
rig the secondary to repeat without a controller which means no courtesy
tone and no auto-ID. That man is a hero!
We can adapt to that......right?. People
who expected to hear us on the secondary repeater couldn’t get a
courtesy tone, so they turned off their radios and went to bed.
We shift to simplex. Here is an
interesting twist, someone who hasn’t been listening on the repeater
tries to make a phone patch call. I am berated for not announcing
the net was in session more frequently. I just sent out to a
pharmacy for another dozen bottles of antacid. If it doesn’t
arrive within 30 minutes, I get delivery of a brand new ulcer tomorrow
morning.
Here comes a message from a shelter.
Something to take my mind off the staffing problem . It's a
rambling, incoherent , diatribe signifying nothing. It is at
least 200 words long. No number, no check, no address, no
signature. After chugging another bottle of antacid, I
suggest the operator frame it as a message and get an addressee and
signature. At that point, the shelter communicator, drops
off the edge of the earth never to be heard from again.
It is now time for one YL operator to get
tired and forget the phonetic alphabet and start using "OH"
for zero. I berate her loudly...I am told. I am now being
jumped on by everyone who heard the exchange, and are of course,
sympathetic to her point of view. I apologize...and rightly so.
Just about the time I am downing my last bottle
of antacid, people start arriving at the central net control station.
But they just want to watch the storm on TV while my darling wife and I
try to communicate with one of the shelters and the Emergency Operations
Center. As they talk they drown out the TV so they have to turn up
the TV which of course, makes them talk louder. Just about the
time the noise level reaches the point of pain, I receive a call that
another shelter is being opened and they need a radio unit.
This one is a new elementary school located way
out in the boonies where few men have ever gone and from where even
fewer have returned. None of the noise generators want to go so,
my deputy-in-training, volunteers to go.
My blood pressure skyrockets when
local operators just stop in on the county emergency net to chat with
the EOC. The county net manager responds in one of two ways.
If the chatty operators is his buddy, he chats right back, If
not, he responds with a officious tone.
Again I have a try by another operator to pass
the message, no number, no check, no addressee, same message but at
least written out. Check would seem to be 67. Oh yes...no
signature again. After reading it carefully I decide it isn't
worth wasting any more time.
The weather service is now reporting a deviation in
the track of the storm. Instead of slamming into Tampa, it is
going to come ashore farther to the south in poor little Punta Gorda as
a Category 4 storm. The Jacksonville track was proving to be
accurate. That moves the track much closer to us.
.About 0500 one of our volunteers stops by
to remind me how badly I sounded chewing out everyone and everything.
It was after only a few minutes of introspection that I decided to turn
in my keys to net control and dump the whole works. I decided I
would never again be put in a leadership position for volunteers,
although I will do everything I possibly can as a volunteer for my
replacement.
Thus ends the sad tale of an EC who was pushed
too far, too long...and too frequently."
--------------------------------------
EM Editor's comments:
This is classic example of (unfortunately) an
all-to-common-story of what happens when too few must carry the load
while the majority sit idly by. I have seen many fine leaders come
and go over the years. Many have become discouraged or simply burn
out. Shame on all those self-centered hams who enjoy all the
privileges of amateur radio, but are always too busy to get
involved in organized EmComm, or are unwilling to function in a team
setting.
It is indeed sad to see this EC "burn
out". I know him personally. He was a great asset to EmComm.
But, unfortunately, his experience is not all that uncommon.
But as Dirty Harry once said: "A man's got to know his
limitations".
Any of us who give a hoot about EmComm, and
doing the job right, have experienced what he has described to a
greater or lesser degree. I often wonder why any of us in
leadership bother to continue. In fact, hardly a day goes by that
I don't have fantasies about just saying "screw it", become a
"hobby-only-ham", and enjoy my life here at our
wilderness sanctuary. The problem is...humanitarian service runs
in my blood.
This writer did resign from his EC
appointment. I have asked him to stay in touch and let me
know how he is doing. We hope that the road to
restored health and normalcy is not too far away. I also sent him
the quote below. It has kept me going for many years.
---------------------------------------------
"It is not the critic who counts, nor the
man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of
deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is
actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat; who
strives valiantly; who errs and may fall again and again, because there
is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who does actually strive
to do the deeds; who does know the great enthusiasm, the great devotion;
who spends himself in a worthy cause; who knows, at best, in the end
that triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at
least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with
those cold or timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
---------------------------------------------
ANOTHER 9/11 -
Editor's note: It has been 12 years since Hurricane
Iniki devastated the Island of Kauai, Hawaii. The account below
from the Honolulu Star Bulletin is very timely.
Pay particular attention to t he last two paragraphs.
Ham radio vital link for Kauai during Iniki - by
Gregg K. Kakesako (Star Bulletin) 1992
As the eye of Hurricane Iniki hovered over
Kekaha on Sept. 11, Kauai Mayor JoAnn Yukimura was forced to turn to a
sole ham radio operator on Oahu as the only communication with Gov. John
Waihee and the state Civil Defense officials.
The Garden island already had been hit by
hurricane gusts, clocked at more than 200 mph, knocking out the island's
telephone microwave links and electrical power at about 1:20pm.
Billy Gomban, an amateur radio operator,
already had been monitoring the situation from his rig in his Village
Park home in Kunia. His vigil would last nearly round-the-clock for two
days until commercial radio links were restored. With all commercial
radio and telephone equipment knocked off the air by the hurricane,
Yukimura turned to the amateur radio located in the emergency operations
center in the Lihue County Building.
"This looks like a bad one," Gomban
recalled Yukimura telling Waihee just as the first wall of the hurricane
muscled its way onto Kauai flattening homes.
"The governor, using a ham radio in the
state Civil Defense bunker, reassured her that he had already informed
the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that help would be on it's
way.
"Eventually, we were able to rig a phone
patch so Mayor Yukimura could contact the governor no matter where he
was on Oahu as long as he was near a phone during the crucial
hours."
Gomban, a data communications specialist for
GTE/Hawaiian Tel, said restoration of vital telephone links between
Kauai and Oahu was helped by another amateur radio operator, Vince
Soeda, who also worked as an engineer for the phone company.
"Vince took his ham radio to Kauai on
Saturday - the day after the hurricane hit - and went to the company's
two microwave dishes at Kalepa and Kukalono and was able to tell
technicians in Honolulu exactly what the problem was."
"Without the ham radio setup it would have
taken a lot longer to restore phone service between Oahu and Kauai"
Gomban explained that although all of the radio
antennas and microwave dishes had been knocked down on Kauai, ham radio
operators on Oahu used his antenna, located on Mauna Kapu 2000 feet
above Mililani to boost their signals to Kauai.
Gomban credits a mainland tourist, whose name
he never got, for saving the lives of at least five kidney patients
being treated at Wilcox Hospital in Lihue the day the hurricane slammed
into Kauai.
"Using a five-watt, portable, hand-held
radio, the tourist was able to contact Bob Hlivak, who called the Red
Cross, to order badly needed medications and other supplies."
"There were at least 50 patients at Wilcox
undergoing kidney-dialysis treatment when the hurricane hit, leaving the
hospital without electricity and water... at least five of them were so
critical that they had to be evacuated from Kauai."
Other hams such as Joe Keola and Jonathan
Briones packed their own radio gear, food, clothing and generators and
spent time in Koloa and Lihue to help provide communications with Oahu.
Gomban, a former Navy radioman, explained that
all this was possible because of the Mililani antenna, which extended
the range of Oahu's amateur radios who's normal range is limited to line
of sight.
With the Mililani repeater antenna, Gomban
said, Oahu amateur operator can cover the entire state with only limited
difficulty during any emergency.
In planning for future emergencies, Gomban said
ham radio operators should be looked upon as a separate communication
link whose equipment should be kept apart from commercial operations.
"We survived the hurricane," Gomban
said, "because we were not part of the technology used, but because
we stand alone and apart."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICS PERSPECTIVES -
by Jerry Boyd, KW7J -
A CASE FOR EMCOMM SPECIALIZATION
After a lengthy career in law enforcement, followed by a
stint in the fire service, I now find myself involved in the 9-1-1
Dispatch portion of the public safety profession. I’ve had a chance to
observe how professional public safety communicators face the challenges
of ICS-based communications in the post 911 environment. There are, I
believe, some applications to amateur radio EmComm, and I’d like to
share those with you.
Traditionally,
public safety dispatchers have been generalists. That is, no matter what
the incident, emergency, or disaster any dispatcher was deemed qualified
and acceptable to handle any and all forms of communications that might be
required. Amateur radio EmComm has historically followed the same track.
Whether it is administrative, tactical, logistical, or health and welfare
traffic that needed to be passed the amateur radio operator pool is often
called upon to assist. To date, there has been a presumption than any
responding operator is qualified to handle any type of traffic.
With
the changes ICS-based dispatching have brought to public safety, the old
presumptions have given way to a new, and many feel, more enlightened
approach. We now have specialist dispatchers specifically trained and
certified to handle major incidents and disasters. They are called by
several different names—Incident Dispatchers, Tactical Dispatchers, and
the like—but their qualifications are unique and a challenge to master.
They are the "go to" dispatchers that Incident Commanders summon
into the field to handle all incident-related communications from the
Incident Command Post, mobile communications van, or similar venue.
Incident
Dispatchers are very much in demand. In major wildland fires, for example,
teams of such dispatchers are often brought in from far away states in
order to provide the 24/7 dispatching needed. Becoming Incident Dispatch
qualified and being assigned to a team that can be deployed anywhere at
any time is a much sought after certification in the public safety
dispatch profession today.
The
message to amateur radio EmComm operators is, I believe, clear.
Professionals who operate under ICS are quickly becoming used to the
capabilities that specialist dispatchers have. In time, they will settle
for nothing less regardless of the source of their communicators---amateur
radio EmComm operators included. To be ahead of the curve, and to keep our
service relevant, I believe now is the time to become more specialized
than we are today. There are, and should be, those whose forte and
interest remains with health and welfare traffic handling. Bless them.
Others, particularly those who wish to "be where the action is",
need to become highly proficient at handling tactical/operational traffic.
Still others, perhaps those with interest and expertise in the digital
modes, ought to focus on logistical traffic.
The
beauty of all of this is that the framework for a specialist EmComm
response has already been developed by the Editor of this publication. In
his two part series (December 2003-January 2004) in QST Magazine, K6SOJ
has identified an ICS friendly "packaging" of EmComm
communicators----Amateur Radio Communications Teams (ARCT, types I through
IV). Take his concept, staff those teams with a balance of various types
of specialist communicators, and our role in future ICS managed
emergencies and disasters will be insured.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NETWORK NEWS
REGIONAL EMCOMM NET LIST AVAILABLE
-
EM maintains a
roster of REGIONAL EMCOMM NETS. These are active
ARES and other EMCOMM nets (RACES nets are not listed).
It includes primarily VHF and HF local, district, state and
regional nets in Washington, California, Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska.
A few international nets are listed. The list is not
routinely dispatched. Anytime you would like a current list by
email, simply request a copy at: lazyt@cot.net
NETWORK NEWS, provides
schedules and updates on regional, national, and international
specialty EMCOMM and TRAFFIC nets. NN is not intended to
duplicate other resources such as:
ARRL Net Directory: (ISBN: 0-87259-835-7) #8357
$5.00
ARRL Net Search: www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nets/client/update.html
EMCOMM.ORG NET DIRECTORY PAGE:
www.emcomm.org/netdirectory/
RADIO WATCH • MONITOR • CALLING • TRAFFIC • EMCOMM •
GUARD
• 7111 kHz DAYTIME / 3711 kHz NIGHTTIME / 146.52 MHz
• ALASKA WATCH - 3540 / 7042 kHz / 14.050 MHz
• NEVADA ARES® MONITOR/CALLING SSB: 3965 ± kHz SSB
• NATIONAL RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK: 7068 / 10122 / 14050 kHz •
• WEST COAST NET (WCN) Slow Speed Traffic/Training Daily 1900
Pacific 3702 kHz
• Alaska-Pacific Emergency Preparedness Net 1630Z 14.292 MHz
• IMRA TRAFFIC NET (INTERNATIONAL MISSION RADIO ASSOCIATION)
14.280 MHz USB M-F 1800Z (summer) 1900Z (winter)
• ARES® 146.55 MHz
• ARES®/Red Cross 147.42 MHz
• NATIONAL CALLING (and Wilderness Protocol) 146.52 MHz
• 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) frequency(s) 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."
WINCOM NETWORK - 1st and 3rd Wednesdays 1930 Pacific Time
on 3987 kHz (down).
WINCOM is for EmComm stations in
Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon,
Montana and anywhere else within range. Scheduled nets are on
the The WINCOM NETWORK may be activated
during disasters, communications system
failures, and other emergency incidents as a regional SSB
network for tactical and/or formal
EMCOMM traffic. WINCOM is not intended to replace local or
section ARES® or RACES nets,
but rather to supplement and provide regional support by skilled
operators who know each
other and work together on a regular basis.
EMCOMM stations are 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 may be in use for other scheduled state or
regional nets.
Always yield for scheduled nets. E.g. - JNN is daily at 1200
Pacific on 7232 kHz SSB.
EMCOMM TRAFFIC
“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)
• 1st and 3rd 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.)
NOTE: When band conditions are poor or there is thunderstorm activity
in the area,
the SSB training-practice net may be canceled. Listen
the following Wednesday.
HOW TO USE ON-THE-AIR RADIOGRAM
TRAINING AND PRACTICE SESSIONS:
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 team’s
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 EM
in training sessions...both on-the-air and/or in classroom settings.
Feel free to use any or all if it will be of help!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NO TRAINING RADIOGRAMS THIS MONTH
(Apathy Strikes Again)
-----------------------------------------
THE “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)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RETRO REVIEW - “EMCOMM
viewed through the Retrospect-O-Scope”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QSH !
EM’s Quiz, Survey, Satire ;-) , and [attempt at] Humor :-) Section
NEW CONTEST AWARDS PROGRAM
ANNOUNCED!
The World Wide International Network
of Landline Idealistic Nerds and Cyberoperators, Inc.
Proudly announces their WWINLINC
2005 Contest Awards Program.
award categories:
wwcce: work 100
counties via email.
wwdxe: work 100
countries via email.
wwccm: work 100
email stations in 100 counties using mobile email.
wwdxm: work 100
email stations in 100 countries using mobile email.
wwdx10-10: work 10 dx email
stations 10 times each.
(each e-station must use each of 10 different
email aliases.)
other rules:
1. no radio or other wireless
contacts may be used to solicit email stations.
(this
includes amateur radio, gmrs, frs, cb, etc.)
2. email contacts must be printed out
and saved for one year in the event the judges wish to verify.
3. 10 bonus points for each email
done on a battery or solar powered computer.
4. 1 bonus point for every spam
message deleted within 5 seconds.
(spam ads for
ciagra, vitallus, letvita, hot chicks, and the bank of mogodogoo, are
exempt.)
5. 10 bonus point for every email
message that actually has some redeeming value.
6. 1 bonus point off for every
mispelled word.
7. 10 bonus points for every time
your computer locks up during an email contact and you reconnect with
the other
e-station within 10 minutes.
8. cell phone output power for mobile
email is permitted but limited to 500 milliwatts.
9. no outside or roof-top cell phone
antennas.
10. 100 bonus points for non-laptop mobile 110
vac computers with crt using a dynamotor for power.
11. 100 bonus points if you make all
contacts on the boss' time and using a company computer.
12. 100 bonus points if the internet goes
down while you are online.
13. 100 bonus points if all contacts are
made using a "vintage" computer (over 2 years old) .
awards are free and are issued on a
first-come-first-served basis (please include $25.00 processing
fee.) awards and contest period ends 31 december 2005. good
luck in the 'test!
OCTOBER SURVEY RESULTS:
Last month EM
asked:
When the HF
bands are dead and/or "long", or full of QRM and/or QRN, and
VHF/UHF FM is jammed or otherwise unavailable, 2 meter CW and SSB are
worth considering. 2M CW/SSB routinely has a range of up to 300
miles with the proper antenna and 25-50 watts. Also, 2 meter CW (and
even 2M SSB) traffic is much more "confidential" than VHF
voice (and even packet for that matter) should more privacy
be desired. Very few members of the media and general public (also
few hams) will have VHF SSB and/or CW monitoring capability.
1. Do you have a 2 meter SSB xcvr?
2. Do you plan to use 2 meter SSB for EMCOMM?
3. Do you have 2 meter CW capability?
4. Do you plan to use 2 meter CW for EMCOMM?
5. If you do not have a 2 meter CW or SSB rig, do you
think there is any advantage to having a few members on your team with
that capability?
RESULTS and COMMENTS:
All but one
out of all that responded believe that utilizing 2 meter SSB and/or
CW for EmComm is a good idea. We suspect that many of our readers
have never operated on VHF in SSB or CW,
and may not be familiar with what rigs
are available that will provide good service in this band/mode.
Up until about ten
years ago, their were few affordable multi-mode VHF transceivers
available. The '70's vintage Yaesu 290RII was one of the few
truly portable multi-mode 2M rigs available for about a 20 year period.
At EM HQ we have one of these classic rigs
stowed in a .50 caliber metal ammo box (with its C-cell battery pack and
a QRP (miniature) J-38 key). It is ready to "grab and go".
But with the advent
of the current generation of compact mobile/portable multi-mode HF
transceivers that include VHF (and UHF), the probability of EmComm
operators having 2 meter SSB and/or CW capability has greatly increased.
What rigs are
available for this application? Of course trusty Yaesu FT-290II's
are still around on the used market. Most will have VERY few
hours. Check ham swap or eBay.
The Yaesu FT-817,
Icom 703 and 706, Kenwood TS-50, and others in that class will also do
the job done very well.
For those on a
budget, or who may not want to buy another all-band rig, the MFJ-9402
($289.95) is worth taking a look at. It puts out a respectable 7
watts in SSB or CW and should be more than satisfactory for EmComm work.
Remember, repeaters
may break down, or be clogged with non-essential
"chatter" during disasters. Packet systems are easily
"log-jammed" and computers often "lock up". HF
(even with NVIS) may be dead, QRN or QRM'd beyond belief. 2M
SSB and/or CW might turn out to be the only band/mode available for
short to medium range emergency communications. It is also as
close to "private" as you can get in amateur radio operations!
EM strongly suggests that EmComm
leaders consider including 2M SSB and/or CW operators and adding an
appendix to their existing emergency plans to include these
alternatives.
EM'S NOVEMBER SURVEY - This month EM
asks:
UNDERGROUND EMCOMM
1. Does your EMCOMM "service area"
(county, district, section, state) have any topographical features that
potentially might have a need for underground communications?
2. If yes, what type? Natural caves
and/or cave systems? Abandoned mines or mine systems?
3. Does your amateur radio EmComm Team (do
not include SAR,
Cave Rescue, or Mine Rescue Teams)
have a communications plan to provide underground communications if
called upon?
4. Has your EmComm team ever been deployed
to provide underground communications?
The results will be published in the December
EM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EMCOMM
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• Northern Hills Amateur Radio Club, KCØBXH
- Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota - ARRL, ARES®
• Thom "Red" Duggan,
WA8RLI - Roscommon, Michigan - ARES® / DEC, RACES, SKYWARN
• Mark Mesalam, KE7BLY, Mesa, Arizona -
ARES®
• Ken Sanders, AE6LA, Arnold, California -
Tuolumne County ARES®, RACES
• James House, KA6IVF, Walnut Creek,
California - WB6MWB CARES DHS Richmond Lab
• Mickey Cox, K5MC, West Monroe, Louisiana
- NTS
• Ralph Javins, N7KGA, Snohomish,
Washington - ARES®, ARRL Official Emergency Station
• Chris Levy, KG6TTN, Yuba City,
California - ARES® AEC
• Gordon Milldrum, WB6JAD, Reno, Nevada -
SATERN, RAMS, ARRL
• Mac Waters, KJ4P, Dawsonville, Georgia -
RACES
• Mike Madden, KG6HMJ, Forest Ranch,
California - ARES®
RECENT CONTRIBUTORS-
• Jerry Boyd, KW7J - Baker
City, Oregon
(EM and
EMCOMM.ORG is funded solely by donations from EMCOMM operators
who want to preserve skilled, accurate and efficient emergency
communications by amateur radio operators during times of disaster or
other events where normal channels of communication may be interrupted
or overloaded.)
SOS - SUPPORT OUR
SUPPORTERS
When contacting these fine vendors
tell them that EMCOMM MONTHLY sent you!
Books, etc.
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P.O. Box 309
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EMCOMM MONTHLY and
EMCOMM.ORG are funded solely by the voluntary donations of serious
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
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interrupted or
overloaded. WWW.EMCOMM.ORG is “pop up
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Your donation is an outright gift and is NOT tax-deductible.
The opinions expressed by individual
contributors do not necessarily reflect the
EM philosophy, the editorial position of EM,
or its staff.
EMCOMM MONTHLY - Copyright (c) 2004 - All
rights reserved
Published on the Tuesday before the first Wednesday of every month.
STAFF:
D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ - Editor and Publisher
Bill Frazier, W7ARC - Associate Editor and Webmaster
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.
COMING IN THE DECEMBER ISSUE OF EMCOMM MONTHLY :
• PLUS: NEWS... FEATURES...
FEEDBACK.... QSH... and MORE!
• COMING SOON: “UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS”
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