In This Issue:
+ Midwest Floods
+ Hawaii State CD Makani Pahili Hurricane Exercise
+ Florida Fires Response
+ A Repeater on the Fire Line in Northern California
+ NHC Director Joins WX4NHC Annual Test
+ LETTERS: New E-Mail Software
+ LETTERS: Message Content Needed
+ K1CE For A Final
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+ Midwest Floods
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) activated ARES members
for tornado and flooding emergencies earlier this month. SEC Tony Langer,
W9AL, said ops worked in EOCs and shelters, bagged sand, and aided in rescue
efforts. Tornadoes visited 11 Indiana counties. As water inundated the region,
President Bush declared 29 counties in central Indiana a major disaster area.
Four people died.
On June 8, IDHS called for more hams: "The flood waters have impacted several
counties here in Indiana severely. Ham radio operators have been operating
continuously since activated and are growing weary. Some counties do not
have a vast amount of active hams to relieve these tired operators." Specific
areas needing amateur assistance were overnight relief operators at the Bartholomew
County EOC, as well as the EOC and three shelters in Columbus County.
Marion County EC Mike Palmer, N9FEB, called out his ARES members: "People
might think, 'Why not just use telephones or cell phones?' Well, many phones
are not working down there at this time. With the high waters, electric transformers
are out all over; even those servicing cell towers are out. Even with today's
technology, we find ourselves looking at ham radio to assist. If you can
spare a few hours or an entire evening, please consider helping."
In Wisconsin, five counties had called operators for duty ranging from backup
communications to damage assessment. One county called on ARES members to
provide patrols of flooded areas. Wisconsin SEC Bill Niemuth, KB9ENO, had
90 ARES members responding: "In Columbia County, ARES members provided dam
monitoring communication, giving critical information to public safety officials
about two dams that were nearly compromised."
Richland County ARES members provided a variety of services, including answering
information calls in the County's EOC and providing specialized communications
for disaster assessment by hover craft and airplane. These communications
were in addition to providing traditional ham radio communication links between
the EOC and evacuation shelters.
On June 12, more rain caused the state and more counties to request aid from
area operators. Winnebago County ARES members provided damage assessment
in the county and in the City of Oshkosh, while hams in Fond du Lac helped
with shelter communications. ARES teams in Marquette and Outagamie provided
back-up communications and flooding reports to their respective EOCs. --
excerpted from the ARRL Letter
[An inquiry to Iowa ARES leadership is pending in re the colossal tragedy of flooding events there and elsewhere - ed.]
+ Florida Fires Response
Brevard County (Florida) amateurs responded during recent wildfires in Palm
Bay and Malabar. The "Mother's Day Fires" started on May 11, and burned 13,000
acres. (Brevard County is home to Kennedy Space Center).
John Weatherly, AB4ET, and Clayton Bennett, KA4NHW, manned a 2-meter station
in a shelter set up by the American Red Cross. Additionally, the Brevard
Emergency Amateur Radio Services (BEARS) donated the use of their mobile
command center to public safety agencies. The command vehicle, dubbed BEARS-I,
was obtained through a $100,000 grant from the State of Florida. The interior
was designed and built by a group of Amateur Radio operators from local Brevard
County clubs that are members of BEARS. BEARS-I is outfitted with Brevard
County 800 MHz public safety radios and amateur equipment.
BEARS-I was used as a command post in the week-long operation. The Palm Bay
Fire Department, the Palm Bay Police Department, ARES and Florida Power and
Light manned the four operating positions. The unit was put in place at Bayside
High School when the fires started; it was relocated the next day to the
US Air Force tracking station that became the new command center, as well
as the staging area for trucks and teams from other counties. BEARS-I was
used as a self-contained command center around the clock for over five days.
- excerpted from the ARRL Letter; information provided by Jan Heise, K4QD,
and Dan Fisher, AI4GK
+ A Repeater on the Fire Line in Northern California
Late in 2007, Sunnyvale ARES (Santa Clara County, California) was offered
a high-level (3612') 440 MHz repeater. SARES saw this as an opportunity to
provide a back-up for its low-level, local 2-meter repeater (K6GL) and to
also provide a wide-area resource in time of emergencies. The location provides
coverage of the South San Francisco Bay Area, including peninsula communities,
East Bay, Santa Clara County to Gilroy, the Salinas Valley, and Monterey
to Santa Cruz. The SARES Repeater Group was formed by the EC and AECs, and
the repeater call sign was changed to K6SNY. They didn't realize how soon
it would play a role as a wide-area resource.
The "Summit Fire," in neighboring Santa Cruz County, started on May 22. Immediately,
K6SNY was linked to the Santa Clara County ARES/RACES 2-meter repeater (AA6BT)
to facilitate a county-wide resource net. The linking facilitated communication
between the ARES/RACES EOCs for Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. After
the Santa Clara County EOC closed for the evening, K6SNY handled logistical
traffic for Cal-Fire.
Two days later, overnight, the fire crossed Summit Road, into Santa Clara
County and the county EOC was reactivated. The AA6BT/K6SNY link again provided
a county-wide resource net. ARES members were advised to monitor for updates.
The Santa Clara County EOC was closed again on May 25. By May 28, the fire
was 100% contained.
A total of 4,270 acres were burned along with 35 residences and 64 outbuildings.
There were 16 injuries. There were 12 cooperating agencies involved, 946
fire personnel, 32 fire crews, 45 engines and various other pieces of support
equipment. As of May 30, the estimated cost is $16.1 million. -- Neal Enault,
WA6OCP, SARES AEC and PIO
+ NHC Director Joins WX4NHC Annual Test
On May 31, WX4NHC
www.wx4nhc.org/,
the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), held their
annual Communications Test from 1300-2100 UTC. According to WX4NHC Assistant
Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, this annual test has two purposes: To verify
that ham radio equipment will not interfere with any equipment at the NHC,
and to ensure proper performance of Amateur Radio equipment at the NHC.
During the test, NHC Director Bill Read, KB5FYA, addressed the
Amateur Radio community on the VoIP Hurricane Net and on the
Hurricane Watch Net
www.wx4nhc.org/Bill-Read-QST.mp3.
Read spoke about the importance of Amateur Radio in hurricane-related disasters
and thanked Amateur Radio operators for their support in past hurricanes.
He encouraged hams to continue to provide that strong support as WX4NHC enters
its 28th year of service and the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season begins. Read
made several contacts with Amateur Radio operators during the test.
"We all know how important it is to maintain communications during a hurricane
to relay our hurricane warnings to those in the affected area which may have
no other means to receive this vital information," Read said. "We are also
very appreciative for the surface reports from those in the storm which add
to our database and help our forecasters better visualize what is actually
happening at the ground level in real time. As our own ham radio station,
WX4NHC, celebrates its 28th year of volunteer service at the National Hurricane
Center, we extend our thanks to all ham radio operators that continue to
support our mission to help save lives."
WX4NHC made 346 contacts during this event: 291 on HF and 55 on EchoLink/IRLP.
They heard from 23 states and US territories, as well as countries including
Bermuda, Curacao, Jamaica, Cuba, Honduras, Estonia and Canada.
"The WX4NHC Coordinators and Operators extend their thanks to all ham radio
operators that participated in our Annual Station Test," Ripoll said, "and
look forward to your continued support during the hurricane season."
+ LETTERS: New E-Mail Software
There is new software entitled JNOS for passing e-mail messages over Amateur Radio during emergencies:
ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-radio/packet/jnos.html
Readers can download the program, and try it as noted in the documentation.
Configuration is simple: it takes only ten to fifteen minutes editing in
your call sign, password, and log-on banners to get started. The beauty of
JNOS is the sending and receiving of e-mail messages over the Internet as
well as Amateur Radio seamlessly. It can print incoming e-mail messages on
a printer unattended, one message to a sheet, just like a fax machine.
JNOS will also take advantage of the ICOM ID-1 in digital data mode, and
I'm in the process of testing and documenting that configuration. At some
point, I'd like to implement this at Hawaii State CD and Oahu DEM, when a
sufficient critical mass has been implemented. -- Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, Honolulu,
Hawaii State Civil Defense RACES
+ LETTERS: Message Content Needed
Here in Utah we don't have a lot of disasters, but we do spend a lot of time
on drills and simulations. My issue is: You tell us a lot about what ham
radio units worked with which agencies, but never discussed are the actual
contents of messages. It would help our simulations if I could be more aware
of the contents of the messages passed by amateurs. If your contributors
could keep this need in mind when reporting, that would be a great help to
us. -- Jim Cox, W7QIS, Pleasant Grove, Utah
JCW7QIS@cs.com
+ K1CE For A Final
Ham radio is about collegiality and friendship, and we enjoyed heaping portions
on Friday, June 13, when friends and colleagues of retiring Northern Florida
Section Manager Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, gathered at historic Wakulla Springs
lodge to honor him. Hubbard served as SM for 18 years, returned ARES to a
place in the state EOC, and worked tirelessly to track Florida operators
traveling to meet Katrina communication needs along the Gulf Coast.
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said it perfectly: "Dear Rudy: Twenty-five years
ago, at a point in life when many people are beginning to wind down, you
were just getting started in your service to the ARRL Northern Florida Section:
as Public Information Officer, then as Section Emergency Coordinator and
finally as Section Manager for 18 years. Amateur Radio and the State of Florida
have seen many changes over the past quarter-century, but your dedication
and your willingness to speak up have been two great constants that have
served the ARRL, Amateur Radio, and the public very well.
"Today your colleagues have gathered to pay you well-deserved tribute. As
you prepare to transfer the heavy responsibility of Section Manager, please
know that admiration for Rudy Hubbard and gratitude for his service extend
well beyond the boundaries of Northern Florida. On behalf of the ARRL, its
members, officers, directors and staff, thank you."
See you next month! 73, Rick K1CE
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Material from The ARES E-Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole
or in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given
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