The ARES E-Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
July 11, 2012
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
"NR 3 R N4FR 23 FRANKLIN TN JUNE 23
RICK PALM K1CE
AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE
"WILLIAMSON COUNTY TN ARES OPERATING FIELD DAY FROM EASTERN FLANK
BATTLEFIELD PARK IN FRANKLIN X APPROX ONE HUNDRED ARES MEMBERS
PARTICIPATING X 73
"GARY HEDDEN - W8JFP
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WILLIAMSON COUNTY TN ARES"
Way to go, guys! Hope everyone had a good Field Day. - K1CE
____________
In This Issue:
IN THIS ISSUE
- ARRL to Host Webinar on Amateur Radio Response to 2012 Hurricane
Season: July 17
- Tropical Storm Debby Spawns Severe Weather and SKYWARN Response
- Colorado Wildfires Response
- Minnesota Flood 0f 2012 - Hams Respond
- Letters: On Upgrading
- Tips: DIY Equipment Labeling
- Letters: US Virgin Islands Section Works with EMA/EOC
- Training: ARRL Courses Updated
- Letters: Sometimes We Get Noticed
- K1CE For a Final
==> ARRL TO HOST WEBINAR ON AMATEUR RADIO RESPONSE TO 2012 HURRICANE
SEASON: JULY 17
The ARRL will host a webinar
from 8-9:30 PM EDT
Tuesday, July 17 (0000-0130 UTC Wednesday, July 18) to present
information about the 2012 hurricane season and the Amateur Radio
response. The program will offer presentations from representatives
from the National Hurricane Center (NHC ) and
WX4NHC (the Amateur Radio station at the NHC),
the VoIP Hurricane Net , the Hurricane Watch
Net (HWN ) and the ARRL. Webinar registration is
open to all, but this informative web session will be of particular
interest to those amateurs in hurricane-prone areas. If you are
interested in emergency communications and hurricane preparedness and
response, you are invited to attend this online presentation.
The following items will be included in the webinar:
- Opening remarks and introduction of presenters.
- Meteorological Overview of the Upcoming Season, presented by VoIP
Hurricane Net Director of Operations and ARRL Eastern Massachusetts
Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY.
- Amateur Radio WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center: Who We Are and
What We Do and How to Contact WX4NHC and Submit Surface Reports During
a Hurricane, presented by WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll,
WD4R
- WX4NHC Weather Initiatives: APRS, ON-NHC, CARMEN and CWOP Programs
and Equipment, presented by WX4NHC Coordinator John McHugh, K4AG
- ARRL Coordination and Interface, presented by ARRL Emergency
Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U
- VoIP Hurricane Net, presented by Rob Macedo, KD1CY
- Hurricane Watch Net, presented by Hurricane Watch Net Assistant Net
Manager Tom Gerard, KB3ONZ
- Q&A Session and Closing Remarks
To register for this webinar, please click here
.
==> TROPICAL STORM DEBBY SPAWNS SEVERE WEATHER AND SKYWARN RESPONSE
On Sunday, June 24, 2012 Tropical Storm Debby spawned severe weather in
Pinellas County, Florida, particularly in the Pass a Grille area of St.
Petersburg. The Pinellas County SKYWARN net was activated around 10:35
AM with the issuance of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. The net remained
active at several different alert levels for just over 11 hours, until
9:45 PM that evening. In all, 27 Amateur Radio operators checked in to
the net and the four operators who rotated duties as the net control.
The most significant event occurred in the evening, when one of 10
tornadoes spawned by Debby touched down in southern Pinellas. At about
8:14 PM, a Tornado Warning was issued for Pinellas County as radar
indicated a tornado near Ft. Desoto Park, moving north. The Net was
immediately moved from standby to code red. For Pinellas county, code
red means severe weather is imminent. At 8:23 PM, Jack Satterfield,
W4GRJ, reported multiple transformers blowing in the Pass a Grille area
and advised that his son's house located just south of his location had
a window blown out. This report was relayed to the NWS within 1-2
minutes. The NWS put this report in a Severe Weather Statement released
shortly afterward. W4GRJ made follow up reports of roofs torn off of a
couple of buildings and power lines down in Pass a Grille, all of which
were relayed to NWS.
Post storm surveys by the NWS indicated an EF-1 tornado with winds of
80-85 mph had touched down in Pass a Grille at 8:21 PM and lifted at
8:25 PM. The tornado had a path length of 3.3 miles and a width of 50
yards. The tornado actually started as a waterspout that then moved
onshore. Damage included a tourist rental building that had the top
unit removed/destroyed; fortunately no one was in this top unit.
When asked about the way the reports were passed on to the National
Weather Service, Justin McBride, KJ4REU, Pinellas SKYWARN Coordinator
replied, "Our net maintained contact with the National Weather Service
throughout the event using the NWS online chat system, which allows us
to interact directly with the forecasters in real time and quickly
relay reports received from our spotters." Justin added, "This event
highlighted the unique ability of SKYWARN Amateur Radio operators to
get reports to the NWS well ahead of other sources. The reports of the
tornado damage in southern Pinellas from the spotter located in Pass a
Grille were relayed to the NWS approximately 10 minutes before 911 and
the media received and/or relayed the information." Asked to summarize
the performance of the SKYWARN spotters, McBride said, "Our SKYWARN
activation for Tropical Storm Debby underscored the value of training,
organization, and frequent practice in our program, which allowed us to
respond effectively to the situation. Although ultimately the damage
and injuries associated with this storm system were only minor to
moderate, the event gave us additional experience, which will better
prepare us for future, more severe events." - source: Kevin Poorman,
KV4CT , West Central Florida Public
Information Coordinator
==> COLORADO WILDFIRES RESPONSE
Thanks to an extremely dry season, portions of Colorado have been
ravaged by wildfires. As of July 5, only a handful of the fires are
considered extinguished or fully contained, with the majority
considered still active. According to InciWeb
, almost 170,000 acres are affected by
11 active fires. Since June 9 -- when the High Park Fire
, the first of the wildfires
began -- hams in Colorado have been assisting with disaster
communications, providing communications support to the State and
served agencies. Complete report here
.
-- ARRL Letter, ARRL Web SIte
==> MINNESOTA FLOOD 0F 2012 - HAMS RESPOND
Northeast and north central Minnesota recently suffered one of its
worst rain fall events in many years. As much as 10 inches of rain
inundated this part of the state, and its effects will be felt for many
years as recovery takes place.
A powerful low pressure area moved into the region from the Pacific
Northwest on the heels of previous systems that had saturated the
ground in the Upper Midwest. Along with another moisture laden front
from the south, the stage for flooding was set. The National Weather
Service had been warning of the potential for flash flooding in the
days preceding the arrival of the system, and with the ground
saturated, the potential became a reality as the area of low pressure
moved slowly across the region on June 19 and 20. Torrential rainfall
from severe thunderstorms that trained along the front caused havoc as
many communities and counties were affected. Homes and businesses were
flooded, and roads and bridges were either dangerously compromised or
washed out by rushing flood waters.
Lake County Emergency Coordinator Jeff Nast, KC0MKS, reported that
Northland SKYWARN was activated from 1800Z on June 19 until 0145Z on
the next day. Lake County RACES/ARES was also activated on June 20 to
provide emergency communications for a fiber cable failure at the Knife
River expressway bridge.
Cook County officials requested disaster response communications for
the hospital in Grand Marais. All communications were severed during
the storm, and the hospital was without contact with the hospitals in
Duluth. Pat Scully, N0WSI, made the request and a communications
response resulted. "We were without phone, cell, Internet, and 911
service for approximately 12 hours," reported Jayne Fingerman-Johnson,
N0UYQ, of the Cook County ARES Response Team (CCART). "We set up our
Amateur Radio station at the Cook County Northshore Hospital to provide
communications to the outside world."
Garry Hooghkirk, KD0DHB, Bob Schulz, KC0NFB, and Tom Kurtovich, KB0LSS,
responded to the St. Louis County EOC in Pike Lake. Gary Hanson,
KD0CVO, Dave Leslie, KC9MKJ, and Doug Nelson, AA0AW, activated the
Douglas County, Wisconsin EOC to coordinate communications to Grand
Marais as well as for net controls for a Duluth/Superior net to record
road closure information to help travelers trying to get through the
area. "We had people running net control from the Douglas County EOC,
and St. Louis EOC was also manned," Nast reported. "We also had a
presence at the NWS during the net." [See more info, links here
.]
Nast activated the EOC in Two Harbors for Lake County. Bob Hoyt, KC0EIM
and Grant Forsyth, KC0WUP went up to the radio desk at the National
Weather Service office in Duluth to become real time providers of any
weather information needed. Garry Hawkinson, W0ELH, set up and
monitored 7.250 MHz SSB as a back up.
Bill Fleischman, KC0ZZL, located phone numbers for Life Flight to
establish hard wire communications with them if needed. Ham
communicators handled closure information and a doctor replacement
issue. Dave Miller, W0NWO, was instrumental in coordinating many facets
of the response. Several local amateur operators went mobile and called
in damaged areas to the net.
A call for help came in from MPR (Minnesota Public Radio): One of their
reporters had a relative living up the shore in Two Harbors, and hams
were able to give her information so that her Dad's medical supply
service could get supplies to him.
Regular communication services were restored to the Northshore
communities and the amateur response was no longer required. Thanks to
the active participation by many local ARES members, a ready and
capable multifaceted response resulted. Thanks to all operators who
took time from their own issues to make Amateur Radio work in this time
of need. While the severity and widespread magnitude of the flooding
exceeded expectations, the hams were still able to meet the challenge.
Once again, Amateur Radio proved itself as being the one reliable means
of communication in a real emergency when all else fails. -- KD0CI's
Radio Newsletter, July 2012 issue; by Doug Nelson AA0AW, with
contributions by Jayne Fingerman-Johnson N0UYQ, Kenny Broshofske KD0CI,
and Jeff Nast, KC0MKS
==> LETTERS: ON UPGRADING
Thanks for the excellent commentary in the June ARES E-Letter about
license upgrading. In recent years, I have seen a large number of new
hams join the hobby specifically so they could become involved in
disaster response work. They have become a valuable community asset,
yet have limited themselves to the VHF/UHF frequencies in the false
belief that only VHF/UHF frequencies are necessary in an emergency.
Mike's article presents very convincing reasoning as to the need for
these individuals to extend their capabilities by upgrading. Well Done!
-- Dale Williams, WA8EFK, Vice Director, ARRL Great Lakes Division
==> TIPS: DIY EQUIPMENT LABELING
Here is an interesting DIY project for labeling your equipment
with tape. This tape should be fairly permanent if you use pop rivets
to fasten it to something. Seems like it would make a good equipment ID
for when you have to take expensive stuff into the field (emergency
exercises, Field Day, or actual emergencies). And several locals swear
by E-6000 glue as an alternative for application of the labels. --Rick
Herndon, K5FNI, Mathis, Texas; Life Member, ARRL; Official Emergency
Station
==> LETTERS: US VIRGIN ISLANDS SECTION WORKS WITH EMA/EOC
Thanks for the nice tribute to NP2B in the last ARES E-Letter. lt will
be an honor to continue John's fine legacy. [Fred Kleber, K9VV/NP2X is
the new US Virgin Islands Section Manager, taking the reins from
longtime SM John Ellis, NP2B, who stepped down recently after exemplary
service to the section -- ed.]
John and I have been working with VITEMA, the Virgin Islands
Territorial Emergency Management Agency for a little over a year. We
have built up their St. Croix EOC comms center from scratch. While the
agency had most of the equipment, they needed assistance to assemble it
and operate it. We were able to obtain leftover hardware and assistance
from FEMA to assemble a fully-functional emcomm center.
We have been working closely with VITEMA mangament and the VI National
Guard. It just so happens that the VITEMA Director is also a Brigadier
General in the Guard. We participate in the weekly FEMA HF net (FNARS)
and are in the process of organizing a weekly HF net between key
governmental agencies in the VI and Puerto Rico.
Last year we activated for a couple of tropical storms that were in the
area. Our goal is to continually "push the bar higher" and be even
better prepared for another direct strike. Being on a small Caribbean
island means that evacuation is much less of an option. This places a
much greater importance on emcomm as the bulk of our post-storm relief
will come from "off-island." I can tell you that my previous CERT, NHC,
NIMS, ICS and ARRL emcomm training has proven invaluable in this
exercise.
There are some photos of our progress on the VITEMA
website. We will be hosting
license classes shortly for VITEMA and TSA personnel. Hopefully this
will lead to even more KP2 activity! While the comms stuff is cool, the
best part is that we have made life-long friendships within VITEMA and
the community. These too will be invaluable when the "rubber hits the
road" and we have to pull together in the aftermath of a storm. -- Fred
Kleber, K9VV, ARRL USVI Section Manager, Gallows Bay Station,
Christiansted, VI
==> TRAINING: ARRL COURSES UPDATED
The former Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) series of
three levels of emergency communications courses has been reconfigured
into two new courses: An introductory course for radio amateurs who
want to volunteer to provide services for public service and emergency
communications, and a course for leaders and managers who are
responsible for training and coordinating response efforts. The course
descriptions for both of these courses that make up the ARRL's ARESŪ
training program can be found in the ARRL Online Course Catalog
. Links to register for each
course are included in the course descriptions.
Introduction to Emergency Communication
The Introduction to Emergency Communication course (#EC-001) is an
update of the former Level 1 course. It is designed to provide basic
knowledge and tools for any ham who wants to serve as a Public Service
volunteer. It also provides an opportunity for non-hams who rely on
communications in emergency situations to learn about Amateur Radio and
its unique role in emergencies.
The course is offered online using the Moodle online learning platform
. When you register for the course, you will need
to demonstrate completion of two FEMA course pre-requisites:
Introduction to the Incident Command System
(ICS-100 [IS-100.b])
and National Incident Management System
(IS-700). This is a
mentored course. You will be assigned to correspond with an experienced
radio amateur who will be your resource for any questions you have
about the course content.
Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio
Amateurs
The Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio
Amateurs course (#EC-016) is designed for Amateur Radio operators who
will be in leadership and managerial roles, organizing other volunteers
to support public service activities and communications emergencies. In
this course, participants will learn how radio amateurs prepare and
organize to support local community events and, when working in
coordination with governmental and other emergency response
organizations, how to deploy their services to provide communications
when needed in an emergency.
This course is available online on the ARRL website to all League
members. The course can be accessed without a fee or enrollment
directly through the ARRL website. To view the course, you must be
logged into the ARRL website as a member, or as a "Guest" member. This
is a self-study course that you may complete at your own pace.
==> LETTERS: SOMETIMES WE GET NOTICED
I wanted to share this story of interest to others who volunteer and
support their communities in times of need. After recent major forest
fires in the mountains above Colorado Springs with the loss of several
lives and 350 homes lost, and a resulting 32,000 evacuees, flash
flooding became our next urgent concern. Our local RACES team was
activated by the Sheriff's Office to act as spotters for rising streams
and possible flash flooding.
On a recent night as I stood in rain on the center span of the steel
pedestrian bridge about 20' above a dark raging torrent of Monument
Creek's muddy water, a passerby stopped to observe with me and comment
about how amazingly fast the water had come up. I quickly agreed and
said "Yeah, my buddy and I have been here awhile watching it and you
should have seen it -- it went from just ankle deep to chest high in a
matter of seconds!" Seeing my yellow safety vest he asked if I was with
the city works or other agency. I said, "No, we're just a bunch of ham
radio operators who volunteer our time to the county; we're actually
with the El Paso County Sheriff Office." I then went on to explain
there was similar flash flood spotter teams strategically placed
throughout the county watching streams rise and then using our radios
to report observations back to the EOC. He said, "It's great to know
someone's out here watching our backs!" He then turned and extended his
hand to shake mine and said "Nice to meet someone on the front lines."
He thanked me for being there and then went on his way.
I must say I wore a proud smile as I walked back across the bridge in
the drizzle realizing that yep, that's what we do alright; we're out
here watching our community's back while they sleep, watch TV, and live
their lives. It sure felt great and meant a lot to be paid a huge
unsolicited thanks, especially from someone who probably is sleeping a
little better tonight knowing that someone has his back! -- Steve
Galchutt, WG0AT , Monument, Colorado
==> K1CE FOR A FINAL
ARRL HQ sends regular and current notices of interest to disaster
response communicators via Twitter. Follow ARRL's EmComm news at
Twitter: @ARRL_EMCOMM. I am also active on Twitter: Follow @K1CE.
Keep cool! 73, Rick K1CE, Daytona Beach, Florida
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