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   The ARES E-Letter   
      
   July 16, 2014   
   Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE   
      
    *  ARRL Centennial Convention Special Edition!   
    *  ARESLAX Northeast Reinvents Field Day for 2014   
    *  Field Day Over the Weekend; Real Thing on Monday   
    *  Orange County Hospital ARES Group's Field Day at Huntington Beach   
       Hospital   
    *  Broadband-Hamnet Greatly Expands its Usefulness, Adds 5.8 GHz Support   
    *  Open Letter to the Winlink Team: Thanks from a Mariner   
    *  GAREC 2014 Next Month in Alabama: Make Plans Now to Attend!   
    *  Letters: More than One MARS Service   
    *  K1CE For a Final   
      
   ARRL Centennial Convention Special Edition!   
      
   I hope to meet and greet many of you as readers (almost 40,000 subscribers   
   now!) of the ARES E-Letter on Saturday, July 19, on the convention floor of   
   the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford! I'll be there all day, starting   
   off at the President's Breakfast with ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. I'll   
   have my Red Badge on - please stop me and say hello!   
      
   _________   
      
   ARESLAX Northeast Reinvents Field Day for 2014   
      
   This year the Northeast District of ARESLAX (Los Angeles, California ARES),   
   in cooperation with the Los Angeles Emergency Communications Team,   
   reinvented Field Day. Instead of simply seeking to make contacts over the   
   24-hour operating period, the objective was to reach out and provide   
   educational opportunities to both the general public and served entities.   
      
   As usual, Field Day 2014 was conducted on the campus of a served hospital.   
   However, the specific location was moved from the roof of a parking   
   structure (great for making contacts, but not very accessible) to a   
   ground-level parking lot fronting a busy street. And instead of running as a   
   "contest," Field Day was focused on emergency preparedness and   
   communication. A number of hands-on activity stations, ranging from an   
   introduction to Amateur Radio to digital communications to backup power   
   sources, were located in the parking lot, along with HF, VHF/UHF and GOTA   
   operating stations. A local CERT team staffed a booth to educate the public   
   about emergency preparedness. Participants were engaged at all stations and   
   asked lots of questions.   
      
   An adjacent conference facility was the location for two separate tracks   
   comprising 13 hours of classroom education. One track was intended for   
   representatives of served hospitals, providing in-service training related   
   to critical backup communications during a disaster or other emergency. The   
   second track provided members of the general public with an introduction to   
   Amateur Radio, emergency communications and related topics. A number of   
   participants earned their first Amateur Radio license or upgraded at an exam   
   session.   
      
   More than 100 members of the public participated in the activities. Many of   
   these individuals were affiliated with local CERT teams or similar   
   organizations and had little previous exposure to Amateur Radio. ARESLAX   
   Northeast District members participating in the reinvented Field Day found   
   these activities much more rewarding than calling "CQ Field Day" for 24   
   hours and are looking forward to an even larger event next year.   
      
   Los Angeles Section of ARES   
      
   The Los Angeles Section of ARES (ARESLAX) encompasses all of Los Angeles   
   County. Covering more than 4000 square miles, and with almost 10 million   
   residents, ARESLAX is the largest ARES Section, and the only one comprised   
   of a single county. There are more than 22,000 Amateur Radio operators   
   licensed in Los Angeles County.   
      
   As its primary mission, ARESLAX provides backup and emergency communications   
   support to the Los Angeles County Medical Alert Center and almost 70   
   hospitals throughout the County, including virtually all "911 receiving"   
   hospitals (those with emergency room facilities). ARESLAX is recognized as a   
   formal component of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency   
   Emergency Communication Plan.   
      
   Los Angeles Emergency Communications Team   
      
   The Los Angeles Emergency Communications Team (LAECT) is a group of   
   dedicated individuals committed to training and education in all aspects of   
   emergency preparedness, management and response, with an emphasis on   
   emergency communications. LAECT partners with cities, community groups and   
   other preparedness organizations to coordinate and provide practical   
   preparedness and communications training throughout Southern California.   
      
   Field Day Over the Weekend; Real Thing on Monday   
      
   No sooner had Newton (Iowa) Amateur Radio Association (NARA) Emergency   
   Coordinator Chuck Wagoner, KOWAG, stepped into the room housing the ham   
   radio equipment at the Jasper County Law Enforcement Center on Monday, June   
   23, the lights went out. "The emergency generator kicked in immediately and   
   the 9-1-1 center dispatchers didn't miss a beat during a windstorm," said   
   Wagoner.   
      
   Members of NARA had set up operations on Friday at their new station at the   
   EOC in the Armory Annex for Field Day. "We were set up to provide   
   communications separately from the 9-1-1 Center and test for communications   
   with the State EOC at Camp Dodge and with the National Weather Service in   
   Johnston," said John Nelson, KOIO, NARA President. "During the Monday event,   
   we exchanged SITREPs with the weather people and trained storm spotters   
   provided the 9-1-1 dispatchers with water-over-the-road, flash flooding,   
   branches/trees down blocking roadways or damaging power lines information."   
   "If they needed the status of the condition of a certain area we would   
   deploy an operator to check it out."   
      
   The Monday windstorm lasted just a few hours and normal power was restored   
   quickly to the Law Enforcement Center. Wagoner secured the Jasper County   
   Emergency Net and the Newton hams were released. - Chuck Wagoner, K0WAG,   
   Newton Amateur Radio Association Emergency Coordinator   
      
   Orange County Hospital ARES Group's Field Day at Huntington Beach Hospital   
      
   The special ARES group the Hospital Disaster Support Communications Service   
   (HDSCS) enjoyed a successful Field Day weekend at host Huntington Beach   
   Hospital, reports EC and group leader April Moell, WA6OPS. She said that   
   Field Day is a scheduled event at the hospital, so set up and operation is   
   now like a well-oiled machine. "Hospital staff got exercised in deploying   
   surge capacity tents and generators for our use. Engineering staff assisted   
   and guided the HDSCS Field Day antenna team to locations on the roofs and   
   stairwells to create the emergency antennas. Then HDSCS communicators and   
   guests were on the air, Moell reported. 2014 is the first year all 50 states   
   were contacted. Several hospital staff visited to learn more about how HDSCS   
   assists in communications emergencies and the Orange County EMS Medical   
   Director, Dr. Sam Stratton, W5AGX, came in at midnight to operate the   
   radios. Check out the HDSCS website www.hdscs.org for pictures of the event.   
      
   More recently, HDSCS coordinators attended the monthly Orange County   
   hospitals' disaster planning committee meeting. The recent National Disaster   
   Medical System drill was reviewed: Hospitals had to go through the Amateur   
   Radio activation procedures that they would use for real, which was   
   important because it is different from what is done in a mass casualty   
   incident. Also reviewed were network procedures and construction of messages   
   that were sent to EMS, Camp Pendleton, and between hospitals. The hospitals'   
   stated objective of using Amateur Radio as an alternate communications   
   resource was met by those hospitals participating. -- April Moell, WA6OPS,   
   HDSCS   
      
   [Editor's note: In a few areas of the country, hospitals have used the   
   services of Amateur Radio operators at key communication points throughout   
   their campuses to provide critical back-up communications. The pioneer and   
   still leader of this function and groups is the Hospital Disaster Support   
   Communications System (HDSCS), a group of 80 Amateur Radio operators who   
   provide back-up internal and external communications for large (HDSCS   
   supports all sizes) medical facilities in Orange County, California whenever   
   normal communications are interrupted for any reason. In 2010, HDSCS   
   celebrated its 30th year of service. HDSCS is a specialized unit of ARES and   
   claims to be the first and largest ARES unit devoted solely to hospital   
   support.   
      
   Their service was initiated after a phone outage at a large hospital in   
   Fullerton in 1979 and the impressive response of Amateur Radio operators to   
   that emergency. Beginning with seven at inception, the list of   
   HDSCS-supported facilities has grown to include all of the acute care   
   receiving hospitals in the county, plus other critical medical facilities.   
      
   Internal communications are provided among hospital departments, but also   
   external communications with staff, suppliers and outside agencies (such as   
   blood banks, Red Cross and county Emergency Medical Services) are vital in a   
   disaster and are also provided by HDSCS. Most of the hospitals have   
   installed dedicated rooftop VHF/UHF antennas and a few have installed   
   Amateur Radio stations for HDSCS use. However, this equipment may not be   
   available or accessible in disaster situations. Therefore, each HDSCS member   
   is prepared to bring battery-operated personal equipment to provide both   
   internal and external communications.]   
      
   Broadband-Hamnet Greatly Expands its Usefulness, Adds 5.8 GHz Support   
      
   Broadband-Hamnet is proud to announce a new firmware release, an update to   
   the original Linksys WRT54G/GL/GS gear, and for the Ubiquiti firmware   
   originally released for the 2.4GHz ham band this past February. With this   
   release, Broadband-Hamnet now supports the Ubiquiti M5-series hardware,   
   giving hams use of the 5.8 GHz band for mesh networking. Among the release's   
   many new features are the ability to easily connect collocated nodes into   
   clusters and to span the mesh across both ham bands. For more information   
   and to download the firmware, please visit http://www.broadband-hamnet.org.   
   -- Jim Kinter, K5KTF, Webmaster, Broadband-Hamnet   
      
   Open Letter to the Winlink Team: Thanks from a Mariner   
      
   I wanted to drop the Winlink managers and operators a sincere note of thanks   
   and gratitude for volunteering the use of your amateur radio equipment on   
   the Winlink system. I am on a 45-foot sailboat nearly 1,000 miles offshore   
   sailing in the Victoria-to-Maui race; one of 14 boats this year. It is our   
   seventh day at sea. I am also the communications vessel for the fleet. We,   
   and I'm sure a few other boats in our fleet with amateur operators have been   
   connecting to your stations to access race vessel position info and vital   
   wind and weather predictions. We have also had need to relay medical advice   
   related to an injury on another boat and assist with another boat that had a   
   catastrophic steering issue and is limping into San Francisco.   
   I cannot convey enough thanks for the comfort of hearing the Pactor modem   
   connect to each of you with a clear strong signal. We connect with and   
   reassure our relatives and friends ashore that we are safe and are enjoying   
   ourselves and I share a daily journal of our experiences with about 500   
   people. If you wish to follow our daily journal, send an email to Dan Pearce   
   at frigidkid@gmail.com. Again, many thanks from everyone aboard! -- Paul   
   Michael, KD7JST,   
   Navigator, s/v Family Affair   
      
   GAREC 2014 Next Month in Alabama: Make Plans Now to Attend!   
      
   The ARRL Alabama Section and the Huntsville Hamfest Association are proud to   
   announce that the 2014 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC)   
   Conference will return to Huntsville, Alabama August 14-15, next month! The   
   conference will be held in connection with the 2014 ARRL Southeastern   
   Division Convention/Annual Huntsville Hamfest. The Huntsville Hamfest will   
   be held on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17, at the Von Braun   
   Convention Center in Huntsville.   
      
   The conference will focus on the application of advanced technologies in   
   emergency communications. All interested Amateur Radio operators and   
   professionals are invited to attend.   
      
   In 2005, the first Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC)   
   Conference was organized on the initiative of Seppo Sisatto, OH1VR in   
   Tampere, Finland. Following the success of this event and the increased   
   interest in international and regional cooperation on emergency   
   communications, GAREC conferences established themselves as annual events.   
      
   For each conference, an organizing committee works together with a local   
   host, and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) representatives   
   participate in the event. In its 2009 meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand,   
   the IARU Administrative Council defined the relationship between GAREC and   
   IARU by adopting the following recommendations contained in the Statement of   
   the GAREC-2009 Conference: "GAREC 2009 recommends that GAREC conferences   
   should continue to be held in locations throughout the world to the extent   
   possible and should maintain the character of GAREC as an informal meeting   
   among representatives of IARU member societies and of Amateur Radio   
   emergency communications groups within or outside of the respective National   
   IARU Member Society, serving as a forum for the exchange of experience and   
   as an advisory body for the work on emergency communications of the IARU."   
   http://www.iaru.org/garec.html   
      
   Letters: More than One MARS Service   
      
   Great article last month on the TEMA exercise - thanks! Please note that all   
   three MARS branches participated equally in this exercise. Army MARS, Navy   
   MARS and Air Force MARS operators and managers all played a part in the   
   success of the exercise. Also, the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber   
   Security Administration, National Coordinating Center for Communications   
   Shared Resources site is: http://www.dhs.gov/shares-program-information   
   Again, thanks! -- Steve Waterman, K4CJX, Winlink Network Administrator,   
   Winlink Development Team; President, Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc.   
   (ARSFI)   
      
   [According to its website, the primary purpose of the Amateur Radio Safety   
   Foundation is to provide for the formation, training, maintenance, and   
   testing of volunteer licensed amateur radio emergency services and networks   
   using state of the art communications technology. These services and   
   networks to serve the general public by facilitating emergency, health, or   
   welfare communication in times of disaster or other communications   
   emergencies. - ed.]   
      
   K1CE For a Final   
      
   My personal history in ARES and emergency communications started with the   
   relief effort of the Great Northeast Blizzard of '78 (see August 1978 QST   
   for the reports). The storm occurred over February 5-7, 1978, and was   
   described in the media as "the week the state stood still" in Rhode Island,   
   and "awesome" after Massachusetts State Governor Michael S. Dukakis returned   
   from his helicopter survey. Only a few snowstorms over the past century   
   might compare to the February 1978 Great Northeast Blizzard.   
      
   I was home-bound like most citizens of eastern Massachusetts, but used my   
   Drake TR-33C to check into the ARES and NTS nets on the Waltham 146.04/64   
   MHz repeater, relaying traffic and condition reports in Lexington, my   
   hometown. I mostly listened to the activities that [1978.JPG] involved the   
   Massachusetts State Civil Defense. It was an eye-opener into Amateur Radio   
   as a public and emergency communications service, and was a catalyst for   
   seeking my first job after graduating from college - a staff position at the   
   ARRL Administrative Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. A dream job for   
   every ham!   
      
   See you on the convention floor on Saturday of this week! - Rick, K1CE   
      
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   )\/(ark   
      
   One of the great tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a   
   gang of brutal facts. --Benjamin Franklin   
      
   --- FMail/Win32 1.60   
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