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********************************************
The ARES E-Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 15, 2019
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
IN THIS ISSUE
- ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention® Special Edition!
- ARES Supports Washington National Airport Mass Casualty Incident
Exercise
- National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Session Proceedings
- Ohio ARES Member Completes Entire Catalog of FEMA Independent Study
Courses
- Batteries and the Airlines
- Letters: Take an LZ Class
- Self-Study Course Offering: ARRL Public Service and Emergency
Communications Management for Radio Amateurs
==> ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION AT DAYTON HAMVENTION® SPECIAL EDITION!
The spring classic Dayton Hamvention® starts Friday and ends Sunday, at
the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, 120 Fairground Road,
Xenia, Ohio. This year, the event is hosting the ARRL National
Convention and Expo.
See the ARRL National Convention ARRL Expo Programs, Exhibits and floor
plan here
.
This is the first year a free mobile event app
will help attendees
navigate the extensive Hamvention program, activities, and exhibits
from their personal smartphone or tablet. The app is a collaborative
effort between ARRL and Dayton Hamvention, which allows attendees to
find exhibitors and booths, forum schedules, and affiliated events.
Not-to-be missed forums of special interest for ARES members include
the following:
Friday, 9:15 - 10:15, Room 4, SHARES HF Emergency Communications,
moderator Ross Merlin, WA2WDT. SHARES is the SHAred RESources HF radio
program managed by the US Department of Homeland Security to provide
backup long-range communications, interoperability, and situational
awareness for all levels of government, critical infrastructure and key
resources providers, and national or regional disaster relief
organizations; all on federal radio channels. Many SHARES radio
operators are also Amateur Radio operators, and the application of the
skills and knowledge learned in Amateur Radio to government emergency
communications is invaluable. This presentation will include a
description of the program mission and eligibility, and an open forum
for SHARES members to discuss operations, policies, and the evolution
of the program.
Friday, 10:25 - 11:25, Room 2, MARS Forum 2019, moderator Paul English,
WD8DBY, Chief, Army MARS. Richard Duncan, WD5B, will discuss MARSRADIO
and the Military Support Network in 2019. The Department of Defense
uses HF phone patching daily. Duncan will present an update on the MARS
Radio phone patch network and how you can support this effort. Dave
Stapchuk, KD9XM, Chief of Air Force MARS since 2014, will present, as
well as Mark Jensen, WA6MVT, who will discuss the upcoming NORTHCOM
Communications Interoperability Exercise coming to Ohio later in June.
Jensen will explain how Amateur Radio operators can become involved in
this training opportunity.
Friday, 12:00 - 1:50, Room 1, Homeland Security Forum with moderator
John Peterson from the DHS/OEC, on Auxiliary Communications (AUXCOMM)
Train-the-Trainer (TtT), a new offering in the Technical Assistance
(TA)/Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan (SCIP) Guide.
Speakers will talk about a service offering help to states/territories
in creating a self-sustaining AUXCOMM training program by providing
instructor training to qualified COML personnel who have also
successfully completed these courses: AUXCOMM Course, COML Course, COML
Position Task Book (PTB), Formal Adult Education in Training
Instruction, and has taken the most current versions of ICS 100C, 200B,
300, 400, 770B, and 800C, and has an FCC Amateur Radio license that has
been held for at least three years.
Friday, 1:10 - 2:30, Room 2, National Weather Service Forum -- Working
With Amateur Radio To Save Lives During Severe Weather with Brandon
Peloquin, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service,
Wilmington, Ohio. NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation initiative is about
building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability
to extreme weather and water events. To achieve this, the National
Weather Service (NWS) strives to develop and strengthen partnerships
with those who contribute to this initiative. This presentation will
describe the partnership between Amateur Radio operators and the NWS
and how they work together to help communities be better prepared for
severe weather.
ARRL Public Service Communications Forum Friday Afternoon
Friday, 2:25 - 3:40, Room 3, ARRL Public Service Communications: Panel
Discussion will be a chance to hear from representatives from Amateur
Radio's largest organizations active during times of disaster and
emergency. An update will also be given on the new ARES Plan and
changes that were asked for by volunteers and partner agencies on
training, reporting, identification, leadership development, and more.
Sponsored by ARRL, this forum will feature Rob Macedo, KD1CY, VOIP WX
Net and VOIP Hurricane Net; Paul English, WD8DBY, US Army MARS; David
Stapchuk, KD9DXM, US Air Force MARS; Bill Feist, WB8BZH, SATERN; Ross
Merlin, WA2WDT, Department of Homeland Security, SHAred RESources
(SHARES); Ted Okada, K4HNL, Chief Technology Officer, FEMA; and Malcolm
Kyser, KG4G, Chief of Communications, Civil Air Patrol.
ARRL National Convention Forum is Saturday at Noon - Not to be Missed
Saturday, 12:00 - 1:15, Room 3, ARRL Member Forum with Dale Williams,
WA8EFK, ARRL Director -- Great Lakes Division and past Chairman of the
Public Service Enhancement Working Group, which drafted the new ARES
Plan. ARRL welcomes all members and friends to this 2019 ARRL National
Convention, hosted by Hamvention. At this interactive session, you'll
hear from national and regional ARRL officials on key areas of
membership interest. Find out how ARRL supports dozens of ways to get
involved, get active, and get on the air. Members and prospective
members are all welcome.
Saturday, 11:45-1:00, Room 5, SATERN, with Bill Feist, WB8BZH, national
SATERN Liaison for The Salvation Army. SATERN is the Salvation Army
Team Emergency Radio Network. Bill has been a member of SATERN since
1994 and is currently the Divisional Emergency Disaster Services
Disaster Liaison for the Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi (ALM) Division.
In his 24 years of service as a volunteer and staff member, Bill has
participated in or led numerous responses by The Salvation Army to
major fires, hazardous materials incidents, SWAT actions, tornados,
floods, hurricanes and wild-land forest fires. He was also part of The
Salvation Army response to the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.
Feist is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) through the International
Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).
Saturday, 1:50 - 3:20, Room 2, AREDN Mesh Technology, with Andre
Hansen, K6AH. As the AREDN project manager, he finds this open-source,
volunteer-based effort personally rewarding and is thrilled at how far
the team has been able to take this technology. Andre will discuss this
phenomenon as well as bring us up to speed on AREDN developments and
notable implementations over the past year.
Sunday, 9:15 - 10:15, Room 3, Tornado Alert - Severe Weather Detector,
with Mickey Lee on Tornado Alert new weather detection technology. It
is well known that tornadoes can be identified visually or by analysis
of Doppler radar. Advances in technology have allowed sensors that
measure electrical energy, lightning and others sources, to determine
how intense the thunderstorm that is generating the energy. One device
even determines distance and movement as it updates every minute. This
talk will describe the technology and how to utilize it for household
protection, storm spotter activity, or lightning threat awareness.
www.earlyalert.com
See you at these fantastic forums at the ARRL National Convention at
Dayton Hamvention in just two days!
==> ARES SUPPORTS WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT
EXERCISE
Arlington County, Virginia (across the Potomac River from Washington,
DC) ARES provided communications support during a recent Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport (DCA) emergency preparedness exercise. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandates a Mass Casualty Incident
(MCI) Airport Exercise (APEX), every third year in order to exercise,
test, and improve plans, systems, and skills.
The exercise, APEX 19, was held on Saturday, April 27, 2019 and
involved Arlington ARES members from the Arlington Amateur Radio Club
and Pentagon Amateur Radio Club along with members of the Alexandria
Radio Club and Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club. Amateur Radio operators
were stationed at the airport and at area hospitals to track exercise
victims as they were triaged and transported from the airport for
treatment. A total of 22 Amateur Radio operators participated in the
exercise. The exercise scenario also involved 120
volunteer role players, moulaged to simulate injuries sustained
during a plane crash, participating in the exercise along with airport
emergency response teams, area hospitals, and mutual aid responders
from surrounding communities. Specific Victim Actor situations provided
realistic stress to First Responder plans, systems and skills, testing
them in preparation for an airport disaster. The Arlington Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT) provided the victim actors with moulage,
costuming, and briefings on their role playing duties. Volunteers were
advised before signing up that participating in emergency response
exercises such as APEX19 can be emotionally and physically challenging.
Joe Cigan, exercise director and airport operations manager at DCA,
commended exercise participants for an outstanding job. -- Gary
Sessums, KC5QCN, Arlington County (Virginia) ARES Emergency Coordinator
==> NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE AMATEUR RADIO SESSION PROCEEDINGS
The Amateur Radio emergency/disaster response community was represented
at the 2019 National Hurricane Conference
, April 22 - 25 in New Orleans.
"Improving Hurricane Preparedness" was the traditional conference
theme. A series of free Amateur Radio sessions took place on Tuesday,
April 23. Here are some highlights of the presentations. To view the
presentations, click here .
Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net,
kicked off the presentations with welcoming remarks, and introduced
special speaker Bob Robichaud, VE1MBR, from the Canadian Hurricane
Center, who spoke on hurricane-related meteorological topics. Robichaud
discussed the purpose and operation of the Canadian Hurricane Center,
which is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He recounted Hurricane
Gloria's (1985) track up the east coast of the US and potential impact
on eastern Canada. The science and effects of tropical cyclones in the
northern latitudes were not well known at the time, and consequently,
the Canadian Hurricane Center was developed in 1987. An amateur station
is sited there with the call sign VE1HTC. The center is equipped with a
low power VHF repeater, VHF/UHF capability, Echolink, IRLP, a public
safety trunked radio system, and maintains relationships with the US
National Hurricane Center and the VoIP Hurricane Net.
Next up to the podium was ARRL Virgin Islands Section Manager Fred
Kleber, K9VV, who offered one of the most compelling presentations of
the sessions. He discussed the historic 2017 category five hurricanes
Irma and Maria responses. He presented some of the unique
characteristics of emergency management on the islands: There is no
place to evacuate to, thus residents must shelter-in-place and not
expect any help for the first 96 hours.
There are no paid government radio operators on the USVI: "the hams are
it," Kleber said. Hams built, maintain and staff the EOC communications
center on St. Croix. The hams are the front line communicators for the
territorial EMA. They are embedded with the Transportation Safety
Administration, Police, water and power, rescue, and hospitals. They
program EMA radios with the National Interoperability Field Operations
Guide
(NIFOG) interoperability frequencies.
During the hurricane Irma response, hams acted as air traffic control
on St. John. (For future possible need, Kleber recommended that all
ARES members take training on Landing Zone hand signals). Air-to-ground
communications were conducted over the St. Croix two-meter repeater.
FCC granted a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) for ships to use
60-meters. US Navy and National Guard used the 5 MHz channels as did
the radio amateurs. Nets were held daily. Amateurs used the channels to
communicate with the ships and other Department of Defense assets.
Kleber offered many lessons learned and recommendations going forward:
"Every log needs to be a golden log (error-free). Lives depend on it."
"Pass messages slowly and carefully, paying attention to quantities,
directions, names, etc." "Expand battery and solar power capability for
critical equipment." Many more lessons and recommendations were offered
by Kleber in his presentation.
With a grant, Kleber and the USVI amateur community have installed a
linked system of repeaters across the three islands with
interoperability ports for National Interoperability frequencies and
better communications for the next incident.
The Irma and Maria responses were on scales seldom seen before, as
described by Section Manager Kleber in his presentation.
After a break for lunch, special speaker and guest Ken Graham, WX4KEG,
Director, National Hurricane Center, discussed the importance of
Amateur Radio/Spotter Surface reports to the NHC. Graham, who served in
the New Orleans NWS office during Hurricane Katrina (2005), began his
remarks by saying that during the Katrina disaster, Amateur Radio was
the only means of communication out of the area, to tell the outside
world "we were still alive." Graham was appointed NHC Director on April
1, 2018.
Graham said that it is important to recruit young people into the ranks
of the amateur community to preserve and continue Amateur Radio's
assets and abilities in hurricane and other meteorological disasters
into the future. He also said there is a role for Amateur Radio
operators to play in educating the public about the risks and dangers
of not only wind, but water/flooding. He cited as an example the 16
fatalities from Hurricane Florence, caused by rising water.
Following Graham was long-time Assistant Coordinator of the National
Hurricane Center Amateur Radio station (WX4NHC) Julio Ripoll, WD4R.
Ripoll spoke on the dramatic hurricanes of the past two years. For
Irma, the clinical staff of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, part of
the University of Miami, had requested Amateur Radio communications to
support the 300 individuals that were hunkered down in the building,
which served as a shelter. Winds recorded by an anemometer on top of
the building were 133 mph. Ripoll lost half of his home's roof in the
storm. Ripoll also discussed Maria's colossal devastation on Puerto
Rico, with some 500 shelters to be opened. ARRL recruited 50
volunteers, vetted by Red Cross, to provide communications among the
shelters. ARRL also sent go-kits with HF and VHF radios to Puerto Rico.
Ripoll applauded the League and staff for their response and support.
In 2018, Hurricanes Florence and Michael wrought more destruction and
vigorous, active Amateur Radio disaster responses.
Ripoll then presented a fascinating slide show on the history of the
National Hurricane Center, and reviewed the configuration of the
Amateur Radio stations there over time, with the development of an
early go-kit in the event the station had to be moved out of harm's way
for a strike on Miami.
Ripoll discussed the purpose of the WX4NHC station: to collect data, or
"ground truths" from stations in the affected areas; to serve as a
backup communications link for the NHC; and to provide advisories to
those in the path of the storms who may not be able to get them by
other means.
Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Net Manager of the venerable Hurricane Watch Net
spoke on the role of his net and its relationship with the VoIP
Hurricane Net. The net was founded in 1965 by Jerry Murphy, K8YUW.
Graves discussed the purposes of the net, which include receiving
reports from amateurs in the affected areas and conveying them to the
National Hurricane Center for use in the forecasters' advisories.
Graves discussed the net's activation for Hurricane Michael (2018): the
net was active for 19 hours (with a total of 372 man-hours of volunteer
work contributed) and handled countless ground truth weather reports
from the devastated areas on Florida's panhandle.
Macedo, net manager of the VoIP Hurricane Net, spoke about his net and
best practices for hurricane weather reporting. He referred radio
amateurs interested in listening or participating in the net over
EchoLink and IRLP to the tab on the voipwx.net website for tips on the
configuration of the technical aspects of connecting. After presenting
the net's activations for recent major hurricanes, Macedo discussed
Zello and other technologies to expand the reach of the net to
non-amateurs.
Macedo pointed out that even weaker tropical systems can wreak
devastation, and local/regional SKYWARN programs should vigorously
activate as indicated: SKYWARN can provide profound situational
awareness to the public, media and responders.
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) Manager Bill
Feist, WD8BZH, discussed the components of its strategic plan adopted
two years ago, and vision statement going forward: SATERN will "bring
together communications expertise and disaster services response to
better serve those in need." Feist reviewed international nets,
exercises and activations over the past few tropical weather seasons,
and discussed lessons learned and goals for future responses: Ability
to quickly mobilize and deploy SATERN volunteers into the field; and
appoint Divisional SATERN Coordinators to pre-identify deployable
volunteer operators and handle related administrative aspects for them.
ARRL Delta Division Director Dave Norris, K5UZ, a former Section
Manager, Emergency Coordinator, and COML with years of emergency
communications experience, gave the ARRL update, speaking on the new
ARES Plan adopted this past January by the full ARRL Board of
Directors. The new plan emphasizes the need for new levels of training,
qualification, certification, expertise, and capability of ARES
members. The drafting committee, the ARRL's Public Service Enhancement
Working Group (PSEWG), will continues its work this year to enhance the
interface between ARES and the National Traffic System and Digital NTS,
among other action items. A question and answer period followed, with
door prizes awarded.
Readers are strongly urged to view the entire sessions as we count down
the days to the commencement of the 2019 hurricane season. View the
presentation here: nsradio.org/stream/
==> OHIO ARES MEMBER COMPLETES ENTIRE CATALOG OF FEMA INDEPENDENT STUDY
COURSES
Ohio ARES member Ronald J. Hollas, K8RJH, recently completed all of the
available FEMA numbered online Independent Study courses and has
submitted his certificates to the Ohio Section database, according to
ARES Training Database Manager James E. Yoder, W8ERW. Hollas has on
file a total of 249 certificates of completion including all of the 244
numbered courses. "He is the only one of our members to do so although
several have well over 100 completed now," said Yoder. "I suspect that
Ron is perhaps the only ARES member to do so, nationally."
"In all, I have recorded 8,226 training documents for 1,028 active Ohio
Section ARES members," Yoder said. "809 members have completed NIMS
training and 155 have progressed to Level 3 on the ARES training
curriculum." He added, "Those numbers continue to grow as our Ohio
Section radio amateurs support the ARES mission and submit training
documents weekly."
There are approximately 1700 Ohio Section ARES members. The 1,028
mentioned by Yoder are those who have submitted training documents to
date. ARES Connect participation is also growing. "We are working hard
to get everyone on board." -- James E. Yoder, W8ERW, Assistant Section
Emergency Coordinator, ARRL Ohio Section; ARES Training Database
Manager; AEC Sandusky and Seneca County ARES
==> BATTERIES AND THE AIRLINES
Pilot Tom Mills, AF4NC, travels frequently to QRP operating and hiking
locations around the world. He has completed the Appalachian Trail, the
John Muir Trail and summited 11 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado.
Mills uses an Elecraft KX-1 or KX-3 with a simple MFJ vertical antenna
and a 12 V 7 Ah battery. He carries his gear in a Tamerack Expedition
10 camera backpack, which has enough padding, pockets, and external
holders for two water bottles. It has plenty of room for accessories
including the small antenna tuner and Begali key.
When traveling, some amateurs have simply purchased a new battery at
their destination rather than deal with the perceived hassle of
transporting a battery. (Using AAA or AA batteries is just not enough
power if you are out for a few days).
Mills is often asked what kinds of batteries can be transported on a
plane. After research, he has determined that non-spillable wet
batteries (absorbed electrolyte) up to 12 V and 100 Watt-hours are
permitted to be carried aboard planes. Absorbed electrolyte battery
types include gel cells, AGM, etc. Batteries must be kept in a strong
outer case with the terminals protected from shorting out with
non-conductive caps, tape, etc. Mills says his 7 Ah batteries can be
carried in "carry on" or checked baggage.
Passengers are limited to carrying two batteries. Watt/hours are
calculated: 12 V times the rated capacity in Ah of the battery. In
Mills' case, his battery is permissible on board: 12 X 7 is 84 watts,
less than the 100 Watt-hours maximum permitted.
While the above is a Federal rule, the airlines can impose stricter
rules. Mills has not had any problems with US air carriers, but a good
precaution is to check with the carrier before leaving home. When
traveling on foreign air carriers, check with them directly, but from
what Mills has said, he has not heard of any problems.
Here is an FAA "pack safe" page that presents battery restrictions:
https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/
See also:
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazm
at/passenger_info/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf
==> LETTERS: TAKE AN LZ CLASS
During a presentation at the National Hurricane Conference
this year, the audience learned that
Amateur operators are involved with air traffic control and are
encouraged to learn Landing Zone (LZ) hand signals. Interested amateurs
may want to contact their local air ambulance service to take an LZ
class. It's usually free. You may never need it but you have it if
needed. In the city of Altus, Oklahoma, hams were able to get the
training. - Lloyd Colston, KC5FM, Newkirk, Oklahoma
Landing Zone Preparation
o Size 100 x 100' (larger if more than one aircraft is requested)
o Flat surface without debris
o Free of overhead obstacles (wires, towers etc.)
o Mark landing zone at each corner using secured cones or fire
personnel during the day and strobes at night
o Landing Zone coordinator should be standing with the wind to his or
her back
o Provide Life Flight with the following patient information: number
of patients, adult or pediatric, extricated or still entrapped
o Provide Life Flight with the following landing zone information:
surface (road or field), location in relation to accident scene
(Northwest etc.), any overhead hazards such as wires, trees or towers
[source: http://www.lifeflight.cc/site_pages/landing_zone.html ]
==> SELF-STUDY COURSE OFFERING: ARRL PUBLIC SERVICE AND EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT FOR RADIO AMATEURS
The ARRL Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for
Radio Amateurs (EC-016) course is designed to train licensed 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 you will learn how radio
amateurs prepare and organize to support local community events, and,
working in coordination with governmental and other emergency response
organizations, deploy their services to provide communications when
needed in an emergency. The course is made available on-line on the
ARRL website to all ARRL members. It is a self- study course that you
may complete at your own pace. Studying the content of this course is
expected to take a minimum of 30 hours. This does not include the time
needed to complete the FEMA courses that are referenced as background
knowledge for this course. Additional time will be needed to do the
suggested activities that will reinforce the content and help you to
understand how the topics apply. It is suggested that you develop a
plan for completing this course over a period of 2-3 months, depending
on your personal schedule.
Further information and portal of entry can be found here:
http://www.arrl.org/online-course-catalog
_________________
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... If you can't be handsome, at least be handy. -- Red Green
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
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