+ News From ARRL HQ
American Red Cross Responds to ARRL Concerns Regarding Background Checks
In November 2007, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, wrote to the American
Red Cross (ARC) regarding concerns voiced by ARRL volunteers. In 2006, the
Red Cross stated it would implement background checks that included, among
other things, a credit check and a "mode of living" check for its staff and
volunteers, including ARES volunteers providing services to the Red Cross
during disasters. ARRL saw these portions of the background check as unneeded
and inappropriate for ARES service.
In a letter dated May 8 of this year, Armond T. Mascelli, ARC Vice President
for Disaster Response Services replied to President Harrison: "I can now
report back to you that [these] actions have been completed and changes have
been instituted which I trust resolves the concerns detailed in your letter.
This effort took considerably more time and attention than originally envisioned,
but I believe the results will now benefit our respective organizations.
"A new background consent form now [is] to be used by all Red Cross chapters
for ARRL members and other partner organizations. The form and related process
is limited to the name and social security number verification of the individual,
and a criminal background check. References and suggestions to other related
investigative possibilities have been stricken."
ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, announced
the resolution at the ARRL ARES forum at the Dayton Hamvention® and received
hearty applause.
"We are very pleased that the American Red Cross has addressed some of the
issues that we raised regarding their background investigations and that
we can move forward in a relationship that has existed for a long, long time,"
Harrison said. "The American Red Cross and the ARRL have shared a productive
relationship for many years which has been of benefit to both the organizations
and to the public. We are glad that throughout the past months we have been
able to negotiate the issues that we had and have finally come to a resolution."
What's Next?
With the background check issue apparently resolved, the ARRL will be working
with the ARC in the negotiation and creation of a draft for a new Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) or similar document to replace the one which expired
last year; Dura and Keith Robertory of the ARC will be leading the effort.
When complete, the draft of the MOU will be presented to the leadership of
both organizations for approval.
"The ARRL is very pleased that the American Red Cross has responded appropriately
to our concerns about the background check issue," said ARRL Chief Executive
Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "We believe it now will be possible to go forward
to negotiate a statement of understanding between the two organizations.
We look forward to renewing and expanding the relationship with the Red Cross."
In This Issue:
+ News From ARRL HQ
+ "Hurricane Ulysses" Exercise Preps Mississippi Gulf Coast
+ China EQ
+ Midwest, Southeast Tornado Responses
+ Illinois Earthquake Drill Turns to Reality
+ Brady, Texas, Hospital Communications Outage
+ ARES Forum at Gainesville, Florida Hamfest Lauded
+ Crisis in Trauma and Emergency Care
+ Colorado Group Receives D-STAR Equipment; Will Support ARES
+ Interoperability Video
+ Pandemic Flu Video
+ UPDATE: SMS E-Mail Address for AT&T Phones
+ LETTERS: "SMS" on APRS
+ LETTERS: From the Hurricane Watch Net Manager
+ LETTERS: Diminished Licensing, Technical Standards?
+ LETTERS: "Digital Call signs"
+ LETTERS: Observations of a FEMA Disaster Assessor
+ EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE: Live News Cameras
+ K1CE For a Final
+ "Hurricane Ulysses" Exercise Preps Mississippi Gulf Coast
For a drill in preparation for the 2008 hurricane season, "Hurricane Ulysses"
moved ashore with 115 mph winds as the eye passed over Biloxi Bay, Mississippi.
This was the beginning of the annual Mississippi EMA (MEMA) Hurricane exercise,
which commenced at 0800 on May 1 with the eye just east of Laurel, and continued
until 1530. This exercise saw the first deployment of an Amateur Radio station
on the MEMA Mobile Operation (MOBOPS) Center, which was located for the exercise
at the Air National Guard Training Center in Gulfport and operated on HF,
VHF, and WinLink. This was also a successful test for the MEMA to the Coast
VHF Link, which has been put in place through the continuing efforts of the
members of the South Mississippi Repeater Coalition.
Nets were operated on HF and VHF. The Mississippi ARES Net operated on 3862 kHz with EOC check-ins from numerous counties.
As expected, most participants experienced some operational and equipment
glitches, but that is why we have exercises: Find the problems now, and not
during an actual event. The MEMA Scenario gave ARES a chance to check out
links and equipment.
Exercise action was not limited to southern Mississippi. Northeastern Mississippi
DEC Paul Reiselt, WB5CON, reported that Operation Vigilant Guard '08 went
well. The Tennessee Army National Guard moved into Alcorn County after a
simulated earthquake along the New Madrid fault. Alcorn County was a staging
area for troops moving from central and east Tennessee toward the Memphis
and Millington area. Alcorn County ARES was involved in the first 24 hours
of the 6-day operation and set up two communication trailers with HF and
VHF equipment. At the EMA, they were self-contained with batteries, inverters,
generator, a 30-foot Rohn 25 tower with inverted V antenna and a 2-meter
omni antenna. At the Magnolia Regional Health Center, Alcorn ARES set up
a trailer with inverted V and 2 meter omni antennas, batteries, generator,
and solar panels. -- Excerpted from the April 2008 Mississippi Section Report,
Malcolm Keown, W5XX, Section Manager
+ China EQ
On May 12, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Sichuan, China. According to the Chinese Radio Sports Association
www.crsa.org.cn/english.php,
the Chinese IARU Member-Society designated frequencies for emergency services
involved in the rescue: 14.270, 7.050 and 7.060 MHz. The ARRL encouraged
US amateurs to be aware of the emergency operations on those three frequencies.
The CSRA called on its members to learn what is most needed by
people in that area and report it to the local government authority; to pass
messages for citizenry and support disaster relief authorities.
Liu Hu, BG8AAS, of Chengdu, reported that a local UHF repeater survived the
disaster. "It keeps functioning from the first minute and more than 200 local
radio hams are now on that repeater. A group of hams from Chengdu has headed
for Wenchuan, the center of the quake, trying to set up emergency communication
services there," he said. The UHF repeater directed "social vehicles to transport
the wounded from Dujiangyan, Beichuan and other regions."
On May 13, a group of radio amateurs were transmitting from Wenchuan, the
center of the quake: "Signals are very weak. They tried to keep communication
with BY8AA, the Sichuan Radio Orienteering Association in Chengdu, seeking
resources needed. During a contact, they were asking for raincoats, water,
tents and outdoor living facilities." -- CRSA Web site, information provided
by Michael Ye, BD4AAQ, and Michael Chen, BD5RV/4, excerpted from the ARRL
Letter
+ Midwest, Southeast Tornado Responses
The Midwest and Southeast were affected by tornadoes last month and earlier
this month. A series of major storms moved through Mississippi in April.
The storm of April 4 left parts of Warren, Hinds, Madison, and Rankin Counties
looking as if Katrina had returned. SKYWARN ops fed a series of key information
reports to NWS-Jackson that aided in developing warnings for residents in
the path of the storm as it moved from east to west across Central Mississippi.
EC Donna Harrison, KD5GWM, reported that the storm finally exited the Meridian
area leaving 95 homes damaged.
Several lesser storm events occurred during the month until an EF2 tornado
struck Union County on May 2. EC Gregg Fitzgerald, W5LMW, reported that the
tornado left a 20-mile long path of destruction across the County. The Northeast
SKYWARN Net was activated. Thomas Hall, WB4VYB, initially sighted the tornado
with quarter-sized hail. The list of damage is long with 19 houses destroyed;
47 houses with major damage; 103 houses with minor damage; and multiple other
structures damaged. Union County ARES was activated the following morning
with traffic passed for the Red Cross. W5LMW escorted the Memphis NWS staff
on their damage assessment tour. -- Mississippi Section Report, Malcolm Keown,
W5XX, Section Manager
An EF2 tornado hit Stafford County, Virginia, on May 8. EC Curt "Bart" Bartholomew,
N3GQ, said ARES members handled more than 100 traffic messages for the American
Red Cross, the Stafford Sheriff's Office, the Stafford Sheriff's Office 911
Center and the Stafford Emergency Management Division. ARES members also
set up a SKYWARN net. Residents reported the tornado blasted in at about
10:30 PM amid a "lurid red-and-green sky laced with lightning that sent many
rushing into their basements," said Spotsylvania County EC Tom Lauzon, KI4AFE.
In Oklahoma, Assistant SEC Mark Conklin, N7XYO, said served agencies were
contacted and ARES groups in the area were placed on standby status: "Amateur
Radio SKYWARN spotters were very busy and were of great help to the National
Weather Service office in Tulsa during the storm events."
+ Illinois Earthquake Drill Turns to Reality
Illinois ARES conducted their annual EQ drill last month in support of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC)
www.cusec.org/ efforts in preparing for earthquakes, and to keep attention focused on the New Madrid fault zones.
The drill was dubbed "Shake, Rattle and Roll," and held in the early morning
of April 8. The scenario was a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. An emergency net
was up and operating within two minutes of the cessation of shaking, taking
reports from the tri-state area. First, it was determined that the event
was definitely an earthquake with a widespread impact. Local public safety
radio systems went down owing to an overloaded and crashed computer system.
(The single computer controlled all of the radios).
The drill and net closed at 9 AM. Then at 10:15 AM, the area was shaken into
reality by a real Richter scale 4.6 EQ. The net re-opened and took reports.
Thirty seismic events of measurable strength were recorded. According to
Gary Auerswald, WB9UDJ, EC, Lawrence County, "the first quake scared everyone,
and the second strong one created a lot of concern." Auerswald added this
anecdote: "We have one operator, Chuck, KB9KHB, who lived at the epicenter
of the activity, so we called him 'Epicenter Chuck' at 'Rock and Roll Central.'
He thinks Mother Nature is mad at him, with all of the quakes at his location
and a bolt of lightning that exploded a power pole transformer on his property.
As Chuck left his house to check it, a skunk sprayed him. No one will stand
near Chuck anymore." -- Gary Auerswald, WB9UDJ, EC, Lawrence County, Illinois,
and Pat Ryan, KC6VVT, Illinois SEC
kc6vvt@arrl.net
+ Brady, Texas, Hospital Communications Outage
The Heart of Texas Ham Operators Group (HOT-HOG) and McCulloch County ARES
have an agreement with the Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital in Brady for
providing back-up emergency communications. The hospital has many communication
needs, including the need to confer with Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo
before transferring patients from Brady to Shannon. That communication is
normally conducted by telephone.
During a communications outage that isolated the community from the outside
world, with long-distance land line service, cellular service and Internet
service not working due to a severed fiber optic cable, the hospital called
upon Amateur Radio operators for help.
Using the link between a repeater at Brady and one north of San Angelo, an
operator in Brady made direct contact with a colleague at the communications
center at Shannon, and notified that facility of the situation. A few hours
later, there was a need to transfer a patient, and the system was put to
the test. One Amateur Radio contact from within the Heart of Texas Memorial
Hospital building put the doctor in direct voice communication with Shannon
so that the necessary patient and administrative information could be transferred
between them. With that and the summoning of an ambulance, the patient was
on his way.
All of the amateur equipment is funded and maintained by the hams and their
local organizations, but some outside assistance is always welcome. The radio
repeater link that was used to cover the outage was upgraded only ten days
earlier thanks to a grant that the Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital obtained
from the Concho Valley Regional Administrative Council. At the time, no one
could have known that the advisability of that expenditure would be tested
and proved successful so soon. -- Rick Melcer, N5KAO, EC, McCulloch County,
Texas
n5kao@arrl.net
+ ARES Forum at Gainesville, Florida Hamfest Lauded
Northern Florida's Suwannee District ARES members conducted a forum at the
Gainesville Hamfest on April 26. Presentations on the ARES programs in Alachua,
Gilchrist, and Columbia counties were shared with more than 33 hams. Public
service events, drills, and emergency activations were reported by the county
ECs for the past year. Richard Heston, KE4BQI, EC for Columbia County, gave
a first hand report on the communications loss and ham radio support provided
following the March 7 EF2 tornado that damaged 50 homes in Lake City. The
program ended with encouraging comments from DEC Richard Block, KG4CHW, SEC
Joe Bushel, W2DWR, and ARRL Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt,
W4OZK. Bushel said "I congratulate you on the fantastic presentation. You
are hard workers and do a great job. Please continue to set the good example
for the rest of us." Director Sarratt added, "You guys put on a very good
ARES forum and Hamfest. I enjoyed my visit." -- Jeff Capehart, W4UFL, EC/RO
Alachua County ARES/RACES
+ Crisis in Trauma and Emergency Care
For any Amateur Radio operator involved in providing emergency communications
to a hospital or other EMS centers, a recent article in "Homeland Security
Today" should be required reading. This follows several media accounts in
the past two weeks citing a GAO report that hospitals would be incapable
of providing the level of care needed for a Madrid (Spain) terrorist event
with mass casualties.
Any mass casualty event is also likely to produce loss or reduction of communications
ability. Amateur radio can help to fill these gaps, but it will be vital
that amateurs have close working relationships with their served agencies,
and understand the environment that they'll be working in. In the past year,
I've visited Level 1 trauma centers in five U.S. cities, and in every case,
you see waiting rooms filled nearly to capacity. Bed space, doctors, nurses,
lab techs, and other resources are usually operating at maximum capacity
around the clock. Any mass casualty event would certainly overwhelm the system,
and triage would become a necessity.
In order to be effective, it's vital that amateurs know the capabilities
of their served agency, contingency plans for mass casualty events, security
arrangements, and diversion hospitals and routes. Think about how you'll
be able to communicate with the hospitals that overflow patients would be
diverted to, and then plan for losing all or part of that communications
capability.
hstoday.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3334&Ite
mid=150
-- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County EC, Alabama
+ Colorado Group Receives D-STAR Equipment; Will Support ARES
The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) recently teamed up with
Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) in Denver to donate a 2 meter, 70 cm and 23 cm D-STAR
system stack. According to ARRL Colorado Section Manager and CCARC Board
Member Jeff Ryan, K0RM, the two groups hit upon the idea of issuing a Request
for Proposal (RFP) to Colorado radio amateurs. "We received three excellent
proposals," Ryan said, "and on March 21, CCARC and HRO awarded the D-STAR
system to the Colorado D-STAR Association, a consortium of Denver area individuals,
clubs and ARES groups." Ryan explained that the goal of the CCARC, which
also serves as Colorado's frequency coordination body, was "to spur the interest
and use of digital Amateur Radio technology. This is the first D-STAR system
that will go on the air in Colorado. The hope is that it is the first of
many such systems, ultimately linking the entire Amateur Radio community
throughout Colorado and beyond." The 3-band D-STAR system, serving the Denver
Metro area and the Front Range of Colorado from Ft Collins to Castle Rock
and points east, will be installed this summer at a mountaintop site. The
system will have a coverage area of more than 5400 square miles, nearly the
size of Connecticut. Ryan said that the RFP placed "special emphasis" on
the D-STAR systems being available to ARES groups in the served area, "and
also requires the host group to link to any other requesting D-STAR system
that comes on the air in Colorado." - ARRL Letter
+ Interoperability Video
There is a very current video that addresses progress on interoperability
among first responders, and the technical, funding, and political challenges
that still dog this issue. It's from Homeland Security Today Magazine, and
can be viewed at:
http://tinyurl.com/567dmj --Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama EC
+ Pandemic Flu Video
There is an excellent resource video available on-line that speaks clearly
about the threat of a flu pandemic, its potential impact, and common sense
steps that can be taken to mitigate, deal with, and recover from such an
event. It was produced by the King County, Washington Dept. of Public Health
and can be viewed at:
www.metrokc.gov/health/pandemicflu/video/
Amateur Radio would have important roles in helping to manage such a crisis,
and yet we would also be affected by it directly. Does your ARES program
have a plan to meet its critical missions if 30% or more of your members
were unable to participate? Is it possible for you to meet the needs of your
served agencies while operating from home (social distancing) rather than
going to their site? Are you personally prepared to deal with disruptions
to the food supply, or other essential services?
This video offers common sense approaches that you can take personally, as
well as organizational steps that will help us all plan for, and deal with
a pandemic when it occurs. -- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama EC
+ UPDATE: SMS E-Mail Address for AT&T Phones
I enjoyed Les Rayburn's letter in the last issue, but it seems that AT&T
(formerly Cingular, formerly AT&T) has changed their email-to-SMS gateway
again. Here's the information from their FAQ at
www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/faq
"Q. Can I send and receive email messages using my wireless phone?
A. All wireless phones are set up to send and receive email messages by using the following address:
yournumber@txt.att.net. You can exchange short emails with any email address worldwide.
Q. How long can email messages be that I receive on my phone?
A. Just as with regular text messages sent to your phone, each message longer
than 160 characters will be broken up into multiple segments and delivered
separately. Messages longer than 160 characters are billed as multiple messages."
Thanks, Blake Sobiloff
blake@sobiloff.com, San Jose, CA
+ LETTERS: "SMS" on APRS
We also have an "SMS" in the form of APRS. It works great and if an
I-Gate
is available, e-mail can now be sent over APRS. Our area in South Mississippi
has also experimented with NBEMS and found that with a sound card equipped
computer NBEMS can send text over repeater networks merely by keying the
mic and holding it next to the speakers to both send and receive. -- James
Lee, KC5TYL, Lamar County, Mississippi EC
+ LETTERS: From the Hurricane Watch Net Manager
Many thanks for the kind words about our net in the latest ARRL Letter. We're
all primed for a busy season, but will be just as happy not having to go
to work. We have several new members that got some "hot seat" time last year
and show great promise to be future solid performers during the high pressure
operations and tempo with a storm bearing down on land, or on vessels at
sea. Again, many thanks for the nice write-up. -- Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, Manager,
Hurricane Watch Net
+ LETTERS: Diminished Licensing, Technical Standards?
I read with interest the recent letter from Alton Higgins, W4VFZ related
to the diminished level of technical expertise of today's hams and the eased
examination standards, and to that issue, I might add the reduced barrier
to getting licensed resulting from the relatively new no code license procedures.
My disagreement with Alton rests on the fact that each ham has a different
reason for being in ham radio and different interests that attracted him
or her in the first place.
Some, like Alton are very technically oriented (he reports that he is an
aerospace electronics design engineer) but for others, the sheer joy of operating
a station in community service is paramount. We need hams like Alton to further
the technical aspects of ham radio, but we also need operators like me who
may not know every nuance of what goes on under the lid, but we are skilled
in setting up an effective emergency station and efficiently handling traffic.
I hold an advanced class license and I am studying for the extra class, but
it seems that some of the electronics questions are not as important as the
regulation and operator questions--at least for an operator. How important
is it for me to know the difference between a Colpitts and a Hartley oscillator?
I would never advocate eliminating all theory questions from the exam--we
all need a baseline of basic knowledge; however, which element of the exam
should be given more emphasis while at the same time not setting the bar
so high that it discourages people from becoming hams in the first place?
Wasn't this the rationale in eliminating the code requirement?
Clearly Alton approaches ham radio from the standpoint of his career technical
expertise, and is willing to give his time to teaching the technical aspects
of our hobby (for this, I applaud him) but there are many aspects of our
hobby that appeals to different people, and I believe that good operators
are needed whether or not they can tear down and rebuild their gear blindfolded.
-- Michael W. Popejoy, Ph.D., N4TIM
I have to take issue with last month's letter regarding the lowering of licensing
standards. I am a "no code" licensee. I have progressed to Amateur Extra
and also have my Emcomm level 3 and VE certifications. I mention this not
to seek compliments, but to bring me to my point.
I had hesitated for years to obtain my amateur license: The prospect of learning
the code was daunting and there was no local mentor.Enter the no-code Technician
license, and I passed the test on my own. I then wanted to get my General,
and once the code requirement was dropped, I obtained it and my Extra class
license in less than 6 months.
I faced what many others have faced: Many hams today do not "Elmer" as willingly
as they once did. Help for people interested in ham radio is not as readily
available as I think it should be. As President of my local club this year,
I am trying to initiate a movement of "Elmering" and hopefully create a group
of Code proficient hams who would run a code course for us who do wish to
learn and use code.
Elimination of the code requirement has made obtaining a license easier,
but is perhaps offset by the more complex technical knowledge required. The
pursuit of ham radio for me includes all aspects of ham radio, including
code, EmComm and helping others. The ultimate Amateur Radio test to me is
the willingness to help others. Good Elmers have passed the highest test.
-- Rebekkah L. Whiting, W2WHT
+ LETTERS: "Digital Call signs"
I enjoyed the latest e-letter. One area we are struggling with in digital
modes is the notion of operator authentication. It is trivial to spoof a
call sign. The FCC Part 97 rules request us to authenticate users of message
forwarding systems "...(1) Authenticate the identity of the station from
which it accepts communication on behalf of the system" -- we need to develop
a way to assign a digital signature to a call sign. The ARRL could lead this
effort, and it would not be very hard using off-the-shelf software and standards-based
technology. When we get an urgent emergency message on our open channels,
we right now have a difficult time telling if it is real or fake. I am not
asking for encryption, just a "message/payload" that can be verified. --
Erik Westgard, NY9D
+ LETTERS: Observations of a FEMA Disaster Assessor
In re the letter by the FEMA assessment agent in last month's issue, I too,
am a Disaster Assistance Employee with FEMA and do many jobs including Preliminary
Disaster Assessments (PDA). I take a hand-held with me on my PDA deployments.
Not one time have I been able to raise anyone on 146.52 MHz, but while deployed
in Little Rock, Arkansas, this spring, I checked into the local SKYWARN net.
Operators were professional and well drilled. (We spent several hours in
tornado shelters twice during this deployment). However, once I leave urban
areas, activity diminishes significantly. After performing 12 PDAs in rural
counties here, I saw only one two-meter radio in an emergency manager's car.
While Arkansas has a good radio network, a key component, Amateur Radio,
seems to be missing in the outlying counties. While deployed a few years
ago to support the Salvation Army with my radios (before I worked for FEMA),
I found the Salvation Army vehicles equipped with two-meter radios, but no
licensed operators. I could find no one who was licensed to use these radios.
It seems that we have a lot of work to do to educate both the emergency managers
and the relief workers on what Amateur Radio can do and who can use this
equipment. -- John Veach, KE4D, presently deployed with FEMA in Arkansas
+ EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE: Live News Cameras
One of the biggest needs during any emergency is "situational awareness."
More and more, news organizations are relying on live news cameras, weather
cams, and similar technology. There is an online resource that will allow
you to watch live news feeds from cities around the country in real time.
It's called "Livenewscameras.com." They also provide a host or moderator,
who will recommend the most interesting feeds available at any given moment.
www.livenewscameras.com/
There is a "chat" feature that shows on the page when it first loads, but
I recommend ignoring that. -- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama EC
+ K1CE For A Final
The observations of ARRL's Harold Kramer, WJ1B, in last month's QST on obesity
in the ham population struck a chord with me, as both an RN and ARES official.
I see the end stages of obesity every day on the Intensive Care Unit where
I work: the gross complications of diabetes, the loss of skin integrity and
ultimate respiratory and heart failure. A good friend, a ham and accomplished
county emergency manager, recently died as a result of the comorbidities
of his obesity.
Other than the obvious one, an additional benefit of a good diet and exercise
is a more professional appearance to served agency officials.
Next hamfest, skip the traditional hot sausage and onion stand. See you next month! 73, Rick K1CE
The
ARES E-Letter is published on the third Wednesday of each month by the American
Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main
St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200 fax 860-594-0259; www.arrl.org
The ARES E-Letter is an e-mail digest of news and information of interest
to active members of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).
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
to The ARES E-Letter and The American Radio Relay League.
Past issues of The ARES E-Letter are available at www.arrl.org/ares-el/. Issues are posted to this page after publication. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.
