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The ARES E-Letter

November 20, 2013
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE

In This Issue:

 *  Philippines Disaster Update as of November 16
 *  Letters: "Localization of Response," CERT on Long Island
 *  Letters: Fiscal Value of Amateur Radio
 *  Letters: Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Administrator Also Champion
    for Change
 *  Letters: Code of Conduct
 *  Hospital Press Release Cites Amateurs as Partners in Emergency Response
 *  Linked Ham Radio Repeater System Instrumental in Hiker Rescue
 *  Lake County ARES Supports the 39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle Festival
 *  K1CE For a Final


Philippines Disaster Update as of November 16

More than a week after being hit by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in one of the
worst natural disasters in recent history, survivors of the central
Philippines have basic needs of food, water and medicine, shelter, evacuation,
communication and power.

The Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) and its Ham Emergency Radio
Operation (HERO) network continue providing emergency communications, and at
the request of authorities is starting to expand its locations and facilities.
Ramon Anquilan, DU1UGZ, Vice Chief Operating Officer of PARA, confirms that
HERO stations are continuing to work. He thanks the world for keeping 7.095
MHz clear for urgent traffic.

Working with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), PARA is
looking at potential sources for needed communications equipment. PARA also
had two representatives present at a meeting chaired by the Commissioner of
NTC, Gamaliel A. Cordoba.

Anquilan said the NTC has requested that communications coverage from Borongan
be expanded to the adjacent town and further. The idea is to set up an HF
station in the farthest town that can be accessed. "Given the new task that
NTC wants us to meet, we will be needing stations that can be deployed and
dismantled at a moment's notice. On the excellent offer of the ARRL, I have
requested it to provide at least four HF stations and a repeater."

Anquilan said that the PARA/HERO effort "is going now to the difficult phase.
The operators that are needed should come from the outside because our locals
will not budge from their locations as they have to fend for themselves and
their families - they are victims too of this disaster. There are other
willing radio amateurs but usually they don't have the proper equipment."

Anquilan reported that in one of the worst hit areas of Tacloban (where 90% of
its buildings have been lost), the Negros Oriental Radio Assistance Dumaguete
(NORAD7) team is on its way to provide an additional HF station. "The team is
bringing much needed relief goods along with operators Rey Boy Manaay, 4D7DSW,
and Eric Mite, DW7DTR, who are trained in rescue. Experienced operator Darwin
Torres, 4F1FZE, is joining the efforts at Tacloban and is expected to improve
VHF coverage in the area, and extend HF coverage as well. Torres is embedded
with a relief team from Manila."

The Philippines Amateur Radio Association and its HERO network have a long
road ahead as it slowly gains the necessary resources for its operations. --
Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee

Please see also the extensive coverage of the disaster and response on the
ARRL web site: http://www.arrl.org/news-features and especially the latest
issue of the ARRL Letter, November 14, 2013.

In other incidents, an outbreak of tornadoes and high winds on November 17
killed six people in Illinois and injured hundreds of others, some seriously.
ARRL Illinois official Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN, reported that Peoria County ARES
Emergency Coordinator Fritz Bock, WD9FMB, responded with a team of volunteers
to a Central Illinois Division Red Cross request for emergency communication
support between sites in Washington, Illinois -- a town of approximately
11,000 residents and hardest-hit by the storm activity -- and the Red Cross
office in Peoria. Most of the injuries occurred in Washington.  -- from ARRL

Just posted to the ARRL web site news: MARS 48 Hour Test Deemed "Unequivocal
Success." The MARS station at ARRL's Maxim Memorial Station, AAN1ARL, took
part in the November 3-5 exercise, which, the Chief of Army MARS said was
"designed to test and stress our networks and our members' ability to process
and respond to a variety of message traffic."


Letters: "Localization of Response," CERT on Long Island

Our Town of Huntington (in northwestern Suffolk County, Long Island, New York)
ARES/RACES group employs some of the aspects you discussed in the October 2013
issue of the ARES E-Letter. ICS 100/700 classes are mandatory for all of our
members. The EC and some AEC's have taken ICS 200, SKYWARN and CERT training.
The CERT class was a great hands-on course, showing what you can do to keep
yourself and neighbors safe before first responders arrive.

Our deployment protocol for an event is based on the member's proximity to a
key location (fire house, police station, EOC, et cetera). On an as-needed
basis, each member will cover the location closest to their QTH -- usually
less than one mile away. Only the EC and AEC's operate net control from the
EOC. We don't want amateur operators driving around in hazardous conditions.

Immediately following an event (the ARRL SET being our last), we debrief and
submit an After Action Report (AAR). The AAR is distributed to all members, so
that lessons can be learned.

In regards to NBEMS as discussed in your last issue, our served agency was
impressed with our ability to send ICS forms so easily. We have been
practicing weekly sending MT-63 messages via 2 meter FM repeater and simplex.
Thanks to the VOA radiogram transmissions, our latest venture now is sending
images using MSFK. Our weekly net consists of a 2 meter FM repeater portion
followed by a simplex session that alternates between 2 meter FM simplex and
10 meter SSB. Finally the net wraps up with a message being sent on the 2
meter FM repeater with NBEMS.

Having the weekly net with different frequencies removes the anxiety of "what
frequency do I use?" and "what was your call sign?" Thus, call signs are
familiar and don't need to be repeated. Radios are already pre-programmed with
the correct frequencies. Any coverage and antenna issues have been corrected
over time so that simplex can be relied upon: We are aware of which stations
need relays, and work accordingly. The element of surprise (and link failure)
is eliminated.

The EC and AEC's meet monthly on Echolink. We work out ideas in a conference
call forum, from the comfort of our homes. We also use Dropbox to keep our
latest ARES/RACES files accessible to all.

We keep all training and activity on one night. Since we already run a weekly
net, we also removed the monthly meeting for the general membership, and now
meet every six months. More members show up when there are fewer meetings. We
make sure to have a demo of some kind, to keep interest. For example, last
month I showed a Power Point presentation and performed an NBEMS demo.

We do use text and e-mail to keep members informed. We use a good
old-fashioned phone tree to notify members of our meetings; it works
surprisingly well. -- Steven W. Hines, N2PQJ, RACES Radio Officer and ARES
Emergency Coordinator, Town of Huntington, Suffolk County - Long Island, New
York, Twitter: @RACESHuntington


Letters: Fiscal Value of Amateur Radio

Regarding your MASH UP article in the last issue, in addition to the benefits
you mention, both the public and the served agencies need to understand the
fiscal value that ham radio provides. The presentation by Art Goddard, W6XD,
(http://youtu.be/xmT1BXyZsy8) could not spell out the purposes of our amateur
license grants any better. Just as fiscal grant recipients must be held
accountable for spending grant money strictly according to grant guidelines,
Amateur Radio must do the same. As a long-time employee in the commercial
wireless industry, I can assure you that there are many companies licking
their chops to bid their billions for the "underutilized amateur bandwidth."

As an example of proving the fiscal value of Amateur Radio, recently antenna
zoning regulations came under sharp attack in the City/County of San Diego.
When draconian antenna zoning changes were proposed, the San Diego DX Club
rallied around the cause and clearly illustrated to the City/County the fiscal
value of Amateur Radio: the number of hams in the county; the value of their
equipment; the number of hours dedicated to served agencies, including them;
et cetera. This information was all refined into a simple to understand figure
of something in excess of $2.5 million of demonstrable fiscal benefit to the
City/County. As a direct result of this action, the City/County backed off the
draconian platform and negotiated a more realistic change with local amateurs.

Yes, Amateur Radio is cool. Yes, technology is cool. But we have to remember
that the fabric (spectrum) of wireless communications is extremely valuable,
and becoming more so each day. In order to preserve it for generations of
amateurs to come, our fraternity absolutely must put our business hats on and
make sure we know how to swim in the tank with the "business sharks," or we'll
end up being a mashed up mess. - Fred Kleber, K9VV, Section Manager and
Section Emergency Coordinator, US Virgin Islands


Letters: Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Administrator Also Champion for
Change

In re your lead editorial in last month's issue, Captain Stacy Gerlich,
KJ6EPQ, Administrator of the Los Angeles Fire Department CERT Program, was
also honored in the Champions for Change program and event. Capt. Gerlich was
unable to attend the event and her award was picked up by Capt. Christopher
Cooper, Administrator of the LAFD Disaster Preparedness Unit. As you may be
aware, the LAFD originated the CERT Program and Capt. Gerlich was a tireless
promoter for CERT -- first as an LAFD CERT Trainer, then as Program
Administrator. Capt. Gerlich suggested we add Amateur Radio to the LAFD CERT
Program several years ago, so we did. I wrote the Communications Plan with
Capt. Kevin Nida, LA City Radio Officer. Capt. Gerlich receivedher amateur
license several years ago. Information on the LAFD CERT Communications Plan is
available here. -- Jonathan Zimmerman, K6JGZ, LAFD CERT Liaison, Battalion 14
Comm Unit Leader, jgzimmerman@sbcglobal.net


Letters: Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct reproduced in the October 2013 issue, ARES E-Letter, is
the one we drafted and implemented four years ago in Flagler County, Florida,
which you reported in an older ARES E-Letter. This was an original work by
myself on behalf of the Flagler County ARES group, and the Code has been on
the back of our ARES. application form since its inception. Perhaps the Code
is not even the story -- but the sad fact that such common sense statements
need to even be made -- that some Amateurs lack the common sense and respect
to conduct themselves in such a manner. Fortunately, those numbers are few,
but they are significant enough that such statements were necessary.

While I'm flattered that they've adopted it, they are not the only ones, as we
have had requests by over a dozen groups around the country to send them our
Code. The Code is a bold statement and emphasizes the high standards to which
we wish to hold ourselves accountable, both individually and as a group. I'm
happy that others are beginning to feel likewise. Perhaps another story is
that the processes in even small county ARES groups like Flagler can still act
as best practices elsewhere - that innovation has no exclusive domain, but can
be found everywhere. -- Mike Lee, AA6ML, Section Emergency Coordinator,
Northern Florida Section


Hospital Press Release Cites Amateurs as Partners in Emergency Response

[Editor's note: Here is a great example of a hospital's press release on
support by and for Amateur Radio that I particularly enjoyed - K1CE].

FMC PREPARES FOR THE UNEXPECTED BY PARTNERING WITH LANCASTER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

LANCASTER, Ohio (November 12, 2013) - For more than a decade, Fairfield
Medical Center has partnered with the Lancaster and Fairfield County (Ohio)
Amateur Radio Club to prepare for the unexpected.

FMC uses an amateur radio repeater along with an antenna to communicate to
other operators on a frequent basis. These operators are better known among
each other as "hams." These ham operators are called upon to give assistance
in the event of an emergency through the Emergency Management Agency of
Fairfield County.

FMC is not the only hospital that partners with ham operators. The Central
Ohio Trauma System (COTS) serves 27 hospitals and has purchased 22 ham radios
in 2009 to equip 22 central region hospitals.

"Emergency management is a very important topic today and the relationship FMC
has formed with other ham radio operators is key to meeting the needs of our
community during a potential disaster," said Cynthia Pearsall, FMC chief
nursing officer.

Communication with emergency responders and the public in general is
imperative when a disaster occurs. If landline telephones, cell phone towers
or the Internet become inoperable, an alternate mode of communication is
needed. That's when amateur radio can become the main means of communication,
serving as a backup to emergency responders.

"We partner with our local amateur radio club during many events through the
year," said Steve Anderson, FMC Center Police chief. "Whether it be a table
top emergency exercise to the Lancaster Festival, the Lancaster Amateur Radio
Club is a great asset to us. As a ham operator myself, I see the benefit
firsthand."

Amateur radio is the first mode of wireless communication before cell phones
and requires an amateur radio operator license from the Federal Communications
Commission. Before receiving a license, you must pass an examination.

"Our club appreciates the close relationship we have formed with FMC,
Fairfield County representatives, and the city in general," noted John
Hilliard, trustee of the Lancaster and Fairfield County Amateur Radio Club.
For questions or more information on how to become involved with the Lancaster
and Fairfield County Amateur Radio Club, go to k8qik.org or contact Mark
Urbine, K8QIK Club spokesman.


Linked Ham Radio Repeater System Instrumental in Hiker Rescue

A hiker in distress in Nevada is thankful that he had his hand-held
transceiver along when he found himself stranded in the hills near Henderson.
Western Intertie Network (WIN) System member Jim Frederick, KF6QBW, in Arizona
reports he was monitoring the system November 3 around midday when he heard,
"Mayday, Mayday. Hiker in distress!" from his WIN System repeater.

"I grabbed a charged battery for my VX-5, and the call came over the radio
again," Frederick says. He responded, and the hiker on the other end, Nathan
Rischling, KDOHFM, of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, told him he'd misread
the elevation on his topographical map, had ended up on a very steep and rough
area, had stuck his hand on a cactus, and could find no safe way out of his
situation. He had a GPS, however, and was able to provide Frederick with his
precise coordinates. Rischling said he had a day's worth of food and water but
needed help getting off the mountain, as he would not get back to his starting
point before sundown and didn't think his GPS battery would last out the trip.

"KDOHFM stated that he did not take a conventional trail and was using a
topographical map and GPS for guidance," Frederick explained. Frederick said
he knew from experience that a call to the Las Vegas search and rescue would
expedite the process, so he put out a call on the WIN System for any Las Vegas
station that could make the call. James Freeman, KG7EWP, promptly came back,
and Frederick handed off the emergency traffic. Freeman called 911 and spoke
with search and rescue, and stood by until the situation was resolved. Within
15 minutes a rescue helicopter was on the way.

Frederick kept his ear to the radio until the event was resolved, in case
someone needed more information from him, and a few hours later, he overheard
Rischling thank KG7EWP for helping "and everyone else on the WIN System for
standing by."

The WIN System is a series of 90 linked, or inter-tied repeaters -- most on
UHF (70 centimeters) -- that cover a substantial portion of California, 16
other states, and four countries around the world. It is owned and operated by
Shorty Stouffer, K6JSI. KF6QBW is an affiliated repeater station with the WIN
System.

"Without Shorty, K6JSI (my Elmer), and the WIN System and its members, I would
not have known what to do, let alone been able to help, as I was just a link
in this chain of events," Frederick said. -- Thanks to Chuck Baer, W4ROA; Jim
Frederick, KF6QBW; Shorty Stouffer, K6JSI, and Sean Kutzko, KX9X


Lake County ARES Supports the 39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle Festival

The Lake County (Florida) ARES provided radio communications to support a
three day bicycle event in Mount Dora, Florida from October 11 through October
13, 2013. The event was the 39th Annual Mount Dora Bicycle Festival sponsored
by the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce. Sunny weather prevailed for the
three days with moderate temperatures and reasonable humidity so there were no
reports of heat exhaustion. There were 703 bicycle riders registered this year
-- a slight increase over the past year. Most of the riders were from Florida
but there were some from various places in the United States. This is not a
competitive race but a series of 15 separate bicycle tours through Lake
County, Florida's country side. The county has 1400 named lakes and is
considered to be Central Florida's hill country. This combination provides
scenic background and significant challenges for the riders which brings them
back year after year.

The longest ride is 100 miles and the shortest is two miles. One of the most
popular is the Yalaha Bakery ride which is a 55 mile round trip. This includes
a stop at a German bakery that serves elegant pastries, lunch, assorted drinks
and musical entertainment. Another ride ends at a farm that provides the
riders a chance to get lost in a large corn maze.

The ARES group had 20 radio operators helping to keep track of the bicycle
riders, man rest areas, provide SAG wagons and radio equipped mobile patrol
vehicles. The ARES volunteers provided 255 man hours of service over the three
days. All vehicles were directed by the net control station N4FLA which had
its mobile command trailer set up in the parking lot of the Mount Dora Chamber
of Commerce. A repeater provided by K4AUS was used on a frequency of 147.390
MHz. An APRS station and operators kept tabs on the three SAG wagons using the
27 inch video monitor mounted in the trailer. This video system can also be
used to monitor weather conditions during any event.

A total of nine riders were transported back to the Mount Dora staging area
due to mechanical issues or just getting tired out. We had one report of a
rider down with what appeared to be serious injuries when he fell from his
bicycle. EMS was called and he was transported by air to a local hospital for
evaluation. Later we received a report that he was not seriously hurt and was
released from the hospital.

The Lake Area Radio Association has been providing on course radio
communications for the Mount Dora Bicycle Festival for over 20 years. They use
events of this type to train their members to be ready to provide emergency
radio communications for disaster situations such as hurricanes and tornados
which are not uncommon in this part of Florida. Members volunteer their time,
radio equipment and vehicles as a public service to the community.

For more information about Amateur Radio activity in Lake County, Florida you
may go to the following web sites. www.n4fla.org or www.k4fc.org -- Ted
Luebbers, K1AYZ, Lake County ARES PIO


K1CE For a Final

Season's greetings from your editor! I get the impression sometimes that
readers are under the impression that I must have to sort through thousands of
contributions of pages of after action reports, exercise lessons learned,
opinions, criticisms and compliments, brickbats and bouquets to come up with
each month's issue of this newsletter. That is not the case. As I work through
the course of the month to draft a new issue, it is usually a job of searching
for and pulling relevant material from various sources on the Internet. I look
at the ARRL and IARU web sites, the ITU resources, FEMA training and CERT
information, and ARRL Section and ARES web sites. The point is, I could use a
lot more material directly from you, the reader. Chances are, if you have a
solid opinion or report and you write it up fairly well, I will use it in the
newsletter! So take a chance at gaining your 15 minutes of fame as 37,000
readers will see your story and call sign! Write for the ARES E-Letter!

73, Rick Palm, K1CE, Daytona Beach, Florida, the "World's Most Famous Beach"

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