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   The ARES E-Letter   
      
   March 16, 2016   
   Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE   
      
   In This Issue:   
      
    *  Amateur Radio Sessions at the National Hurricane Conference, Orlando,   
       Next Week   
    *  Communications Support for the "Greatest Free Show on Earth"   
    *  Wisconsin's Sawyer County ARES/RACES Receives Donation from Ski Race   
       Foundation   
    *  Letters: W1HKJ fldigi Suite's flmsg   
    *  Florida Amateurs Take Part In Severe Weather Awareness Day   
    *  Letters: Mass Alert Systems   
    *  Boston Marathon Communications Committee Seeks Amateur-Volunteers   
    *  Biennial Radiation Drill Supported by Southern Florida ARES   
    *  Tech Tips: Crimping Tools   
    *  Letters: Solar Panels   
    *  Maryland-DC ARES Statewide ARDF/SAR for Missing Person   
      
      
   ARES Briefs, Links   
      
   Special Deputy John Krawczak, KJ0P, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, was recently   
   presented the 2015 Hennepin County Sheriff's Distinguished Service Award and   
   the 2015 Minnesota Sheriff's Association Volunteer Of The Year Award. Krawczak   
   is a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Volunteer Services   
   Division on the Communications Response Team. Twenty radio amateurs are   
   members of the team that provides public safety and amateur communications   
   support in emergencies/disasters and community events.   
      
   The Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency (PREMA) and other agencies will   
   participate in a communications drill simulating a tsunami incident, along   
   with radio amateurs in supporting roles. The exercise is slated for tomorrow,   
   March 17 at 10 AM local time.The Puerto Rico ARES organization will be active,   
   and registered on www.tsunamizone.org where more information can be found. The   
   aim of the exercise is to test the reliability of communication systems and   
   protocols between centers of tsunami alerts and to help emergency management   
   agencies to improve their preparedness in the event of an alert. Since 2010,   
   Amateur Radio operators have played a role in the exercise, executed in   
   conjunction with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network (RSPR), the Caribbean Warning   
   Tsunami Exercise (Caribe Wave), FEMA, the Puerto Rico Emergency Management   
   Administration, and NOAA.   
      
   ARRL Officials at Michigan Communications Conference: The 2016 Michigan   
   Statewide Interoperability Communications Conference held at Great Wolf Lodge   
   February 22-25 in Traverse City, Michigan, featured the state's auxcomm   
   protocols, with amateurs playing a significant role in many presentations and   
   discussions. From the conference summary, "In an emergency, every link in the   
   chain is critical and those links must be firmly connected. That means every   
   agency, every leader and every employee needs to be on the same page and   
   committed to our shared strategic vision of interoperability."   
      
   Armed Forces Day 2016 Communication Test to Include Direct Military-Ham   
   Contact on 60 Meters (3/1/16); ARES Groups, Individual Hams Support Army and   
   Air Force MARS Communications Exercise (3/1/16); ARES Team Leverages Radio   
   Services, Local Media, Internet in Missouri Flood Watch (2/22/16)   
      
      
   Amateur Radio Sessions at the National Hurricane Conference, Orlando, Next Week   
      
   Amateur Radio capabilities will be presented at the 2016 National Hurricane   
   Conference, which will be held next week in Orlando, Florida, at the Orlando   
   Hilton hotel. The conference theme is to improve hurricane preparedness as it   
   has been in past years. All Amateur Radio sessions are free, and all will be   
   held on Tuesday afternoon, March 22, 2016 from 1:30 to 5:00 PM. Here is the   
   session breakdown:   
      
   NHC Session #1 - 1:30 to 3:00 PM: Dr. Rick Knabb, Director, National Hurricane   
   Center will discuss the importance of Amateur Radio surface reporting. Bob   
   Robichaud, VE1MBR, of the Canadian Hurricane Centre, will present on hurricane   
   meteorological topics and an overview of Canadian Hurricane Centre operations.   
   Julio Ripoll,WD4R, Assistant Amateur Radio Station Coordinator will present on   
   National Hurricane Center station WX4NHC operations.   
      
   NHC Session #2: 3:15 to 5:00 PM: Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Hurricane Watch Net   
   Manager, will present an overview of the net, use of personal weather stations   
   and backup power/antenna. Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations, VoIP   
   Hurricane Net and ARRL ARES Eastern Massachusetts Assistant SEC, will discuss   
   net operations, and best practices in SKYWARN tropical systems reporting. Ken   
   Bailey, K1FUG, ARRL Assistant Manager of Preparedness and Response, will   
   present the ARRL Beginner's Course in Ham Radio Hurricane Preparedness.   
   Finally, a Q&A session and door raffle prizes will be offered.   
      
   Amateur Radio presentations will be recorded and live streamed. The livestream   
   for 2016 will be on You Tube. Livestream links will be as follows:   
      
   http://www.nsradio.org/stream   
      
   http://www.voipwx.net/files/stream.htm   
      
      
   Communications Support for the "Greatest Free Show on Earth"   
      
   Mardi Gras is an annual celebration in New Orleans that's tied to the   
   Christian tradition of Lent before Easter. Sixty-four parades with up to 50   
   floats each are enjoyed by locals and nearly 1.2 million visitors over the   
   course of 2 weeks leading up to Mardi Gras day (literally, "Fat Tuesday," the   
   day before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday). The multiple daily events of the   
   Mardi Gras celebration have been called "the world's largest planned natural   
   disaster." Eric Pickering, KE5BMU, is the City's Deputy Operations Chief in   
   the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness (NOHSEP),   
   and his team is responsible for responding to unplanned events that are real,   
   likely, or feared.   
      
   Of course, a communications infrastructure failure is high on the list of   
   likely disasters that can be mitigated with planning and practice. And so   
   Pickering began working closely with two local hams, Rafael Shabetai, W5BAI,   
   and Cedric Walker, K5CFW. Together they re-activated a station in City Hall   
   that had been built for NOHSEP by Bob McBride, AE5RN (SK) and began planning   
   for an expansion into the NOHSEP mobile command post bus. The three had two   
   goals: involving local hams who could serve as the "eyes and ears" of NOHSEP   
   in a disaster or emergency, and ensuring that a robust backup communications   
   network was trained and prepared to take over if the state-wide primary   
   trunked 800 MHz network stopped working.   
      
   Because New Orleans residents still vividly remember the wrath of Hurricane   
   Katrina in 2005, it's easy to convince them that the goals of operator   
   preparedness and equipment readiness can mean the difference between life and   
   death. After Katrina, the trunked public safety network and all cellphone   
   voice capability shut down. The only remaining communications channels were   
   via ham-operated VHF and UHF repeaters. And so Pickering, Shabetai and Walker   
   decided to create a repeater-based training exercise, centered around Mardi   
   Gras when so many residents/hams are out and about and likely to be carrying   
   their H-T radios anyway.   
      
   Of the 64 parades in the New Orleans area, 29 follow a similar 3.7 mile route   
   down St. Charles Avenue and along Canal Street in the Central Business   
   District. Three first aid stations along the route are in operation during the   
   parades, and arrangements were made to credential ham volunteers to give them   
   access as bases of operations. Three repeater owners (Southeast Louisiana   
   Emergency Communications Service W5MCC, Jefferson Amateur Radio Club W5GAD,   
   and the Greater New Orleans Amateur Radio Club W5UK) granted access to their   
   machines for the duration of the Mardi Gras exercises. A mobile command post   
   along the route serves the many city departments that keep the parade route   
   safe and clear. An operating position in the mobile command post bus was set   
   aside for net control, and a street sign next to the bus' parking place served   
   as a convenient temporary mast for a dual-band vertical antenna. A transceiver   
   from the City Hall station was temporarily relocated to the mobile command   
   post, but next year a dedicated transceiver and antenna will be installed.   
      
   With operation locations and equipment in place, the team's next task was   
   recruiting a cadre of volunteers. Pickering made a successful recruitment   
   presentation at the W5GAD club meeting. The Assistant Section Emergency   
   Coordinator Matt Anderson, KD5KNZ, plus ARES Emergency Coordinators for New   
   Orleans Joel Colman, NO5FD, and neighboring Jefferson Parish Nick Frederick,   
   W4NDF, all stepped up to recruit operators for both field and net control   
   positions, and all three volunteered as operators. It was decided to limit   
   operations to the weekend immediately before Mardi Gras day, and to Mardi Gras   
   day, as these dates have the biggest parades with the highest attendance. Ten   
   volunteers participated, and check-ins from other hams along the parade route   
   added to the numbers compiled by each net control shift. No emergencies were   
   handled, and we were fortunate that the city's regular emergency communication   
   infrastructure did not need a backup.   
      
   The ham community demonstrated that it could serve NOHSEP professionally and   
   reliably. This was the first year of an organized effort to bring hams into   
   the NOHSEP operation, and it was incomplete because many parades were not   
   covered. With the success of this year's demonstration and the goodwill that   
   was generated, it will be possible to mount a bigger recruitment effort and   
   provide coverage for more of the 64 parades that make Mardi Gras the greatest   
   free show on earth. -- Cedric F. Walker, K5CFW [The author is Professor   
   Emeritus, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane   
   University].   
      
      
   Wisconsin's Sawyer County ARES/RACES Receives Donation from Ski Race Foundation   
      
   The American Birkebeiner Ski Race, known as the Birkie, is North America's   
   largest cross-country ski race. Held in northwest Wisconsin, the race is 33   
   miles long, starts in Cable, and ends on Main Street in downtown Hayward. This   
   was the 43rd year for the Birkie and 10,500 skiers came from the US and   
   Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, Japan and many other   
   countries.   
      
   Eighteen years ago the Birkie Foundation asked the Amateur Radio community to   
   help with communications along the race course and amateurs from a five-county   
   area around Hayward in Sawyer County have been doing it ever since. There are   
   nine medical and nine food stations along the race course that provide medical   
   help to those who need it, with the food stations providing power drinks and   
   refreshments to the skiers. Amateur Radio operators are at these stations to   
   relay information regarding medical issues (dropouts, injuries, etc.) and food   
   station needs (low on supplies for skiers, etc.) back to a net control   
   station, which gives the information to the Birkie office during the event.   
      
   This year the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation donated $2,500 to the Sawyer   
   County ARES/RACES group to purchase and maintain two new amateur VHF repeaters   
   in Sawyer County. With this donation, Sawyer County ARES/RACES is able to   
   replace two old repeaters and the accessories for them. -- Wally Kruk, N9VAO,   
   Sawyer County ARES/RACES, Wisconsin, Emergency Coordinator   
      
      
   Letters: W1HKJ fldigi Suite's flmsg   
      
   Many digital mode operators familiar with flmsgthink of it as a forms utility   
   for use only with fldigi. However, it's also a great cross-platform,   
   stand-alone program. We have used it to prepare and move forms (ICS,   
   radiogram, etc.) within our EOC by thumb drive, shared drive and mesh network.   
   Our county officials can put flmsg on their computers and send the files to   
   the radio room without any need for transcribing or cut and paste. We also   
   send flmsg files as attachments to email and radio-email messages and they may   
   also be placed on store-forward bulletin board systems. Additionally, amateurs   
   have been working with W1HKJ to make the flsmg ICS-213 form FEMA compliant and   
   completely compatible for use within the National Traffic System (NTS). The   
   text can be transported within NTS via voice, cw and digital modes using the   
   standard radiogram format as a "wrapper" for the file. NTS-Digital can also   
   handle flmsg files as attachments to radiograms. -- Steve Hansen, KB1TCE, Knox   
   County ARES/RACES-CERT, Owl's Head, Maine   
      
      
   Florida Amateurs Take Part In Severe Weather Awareness Day   
      
   The Lake Amateur Radio Association (LARA) of Lake County, Florida, and its   
   ARES group were invited to take part in the county Public Safety Department   
   Emergency Management Division's Severe Weather Awareness Day Exposition held   
   at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Eustis, Florida on Saturday, February 20,   
   2016.   
      
   The purpose of Severe Weather Awareness Day is to acquaint the citizens of   
   Lake County with the need to prepare for severe weather events such as   
   hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or forest fires. The Lake County Emergency   
   Management Division invited various disaster relief groups to display their   
   emergency equipment that could be used in such events.   
      
   Along with the LARA and Lake County ARES organizations, present were other   
   groups such as the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Lake Emergency Medical   
   Service, Lake County Fire Rescue, Southern Baptist-Disaster Relief, Salvation   
   Army, and the Red Cross. These groups brought had their officials available to   
   explain their organization's roles. Tours were also conducted.   
      
   LARA had their communication trailer on display along with a booth where ham   
   volunteers explained their role in assisting professional responders in the   
   event of an emergency. LARA and Lake County ARES members were glad to be   
   included by the Lake County Emergency Management Division and be given the   
   opportunity to tell the general public about their roles in disaster relief.   
   -- Ted Luebbers, K1AYZ, Lake County, Florida ARES PIO   
      
      
   Letters: Mass Alert Systems   
      
   Our ARES unit researched various mass notification (alert) system vendors for   
   a system that would work for us. After two no-cost trials, we have gone with   
   One Call Now, and their basic pay-as-you-go package for $90 for 1000 "credits"   
   - each notification call or SMS text counts as 1 credit, so our 70 member ARES   
   group with a total of 122 contact numbers would be 122 credits per   
   notification, giving us eight phone and SMS notifications.   
      
   For my first test, I sent Winnipeg ARES Emergency Coordinators, AECs, PIO and   
   two special tech savvy members (eight in total) an alert exercise message with   
   request to meet me on the air on a local repeater. It didn't work well -- I   
   only heard from one of the eight: The recipients were leery about answering   
   calls from 1-877 numbers. I now have the system set up to display the "local"   
   number for my ARES pager. For a wider audience test of Winnipeg ARES members   
   who knew I was looking at a mass notification system vendor and that I was   
   targeting a specific day for a test (a provincial holiday in Manitoba), I used   
   the messager to distribute a draft exercise plan. As a result, for the actual   
   test notification/on-air exercise net, I heard from half of the Winnipeg ARES   
   membership (many were away for the long weekend).   
      
   A group leader gets a report from the provider for each notification, and can   
   log in and see a detailed report of which recipients answered and when they   
   did so. I have made my AECs and PIO "messengers" so they each have a discrete   
   log-in and can transmit a notification.   
      
   This system sure beats our cumbersome, suboptimal, time-consuming telephone   
   tree fan-out protocol. -- Jeff Dovyak , VE4MBQ, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ARES   
      
      
   Boston Marathon Communications Committee Seeks Amateur-Volunteers   
      
   The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) begins its Boston Marathon volunteer   
   communications work with the slogan "Volunteers Run This Event." Indeed, the   
   Amateur Radio community has a role in nearly every aspect from Start to   
   Finish. Preparations are in high gear as Amateur Radio continues to serve in   
   this extraordinary event -- we need you! Each year around 300 communications   
   volunteers organize, plan, train and serve the BAA, some 30,000 runners,   
   10,000 volunteers, and their communities. Registration for Amateur Radio   
   volunteers remains open with assignments available for new volunteers who have   
   a passion for public service, and for experienced hands at this longstanding   
   event. Registration is easy and one-stop. -- Brett Smith, AB1RL, BAA   
   Communications Committee Volunteer Coordinator   
      
      
   Biennial Radiation Drill Supported by Southern Florida ARES   
      
   Every two years the St. Lucie (Florida) Nuclear Power Plant is required to   
   hold an exercise that is chiefly evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management   
   Agency (FEMA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The purpose of   
   these exercises is to test and evaluate the responses of plant personnel, law   
   enforcement agencies, emergency management officials, and communications   
   personnel. This year, the exercise took place on February 24. The scenario   
   involved overloaded communication systems normally used by the public,   
   rendering them unusable. ARES would provide radio communications among the   
   county EOCs and other critical assets/support locations.   
      
   ARES teams came and participated from St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Martin, Indian   
   River, and Brevard counties. Operators successfully employed the UHF   
   repeater-based Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) for most   
   communications as well as an HF net on 7.245 MHz. The dual nets backed each   
   other up for redundancy/reliability for the ARES mission of supporting each of   
   the EOCs.   
      
   SARnet is a network of linked UHF voice repeaters that serves the State of   
   Florida. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) network that connects   
   these amateur repeaters is a stand-alone carrier class microwave network. The   
   use of this dedicated bandwidth provides a network much more likely to remain   
   operational during a severe weather event like a hurricane.   
      
   All ARES communications tests and requirements were successfully passed and   
   met, with the use of the dual nets for backup capability being noted and   
   praised by the evaluators. Martin County ARES also had a display of Go-Kits   
   that illustrated what they do upon activation. It drew a good audience and   
   plenty of questions from the responders. The FEMA representative visited ARES   
   EC Steve Marshall, WW4RX, who discussed the kits and answered questions about   
   SARnet and a map of its coverage and implications for its usage.   
      
   The excellent performance of these county ARES teams could not have been   
   possible without the leadership and efforts of their county ECs, their   
   respective net control operators, all other ARES operators and their   
   assistants, and their respective county Emergency Management personnel. Thanks   
   also go to the other amateur operators who kept the SARnet and HF frequencies   
   clear for the duration of the exercise. -- George P. Geran, KK4AXV, Brevard   
   County Assistant EC; Willie Thompson, KB5FKG, Indian River County Assistant   
   EC; Steve Marshall, WW4RX, Martin County EC; Charles Benn,   
   WB2SNN, Palm Beach County District EC; and Steve Lowman, N4SGL, St. Lucie   
   County EC   
      
      
   Tech Tips: Crimping Tools   
      
   A few years ago when Powerpoles started to emerge as the standard connector   
   for ARES and RACES applications, it was time for me to change out my Molex   
   connectors. Having no initial success in finding a die set for my Paladin   
   CrimpALL tool, I noticed that DX Engineering was not only selling a crimp   
   tool, but also individual die sets for PowerPoles, RG-8, RG8X and uninsulated   
   and insulated wire connectors. After an exchange of e-mails with DX   
   Engineering staff, I ordered the PowerPole die set. DX Engineering was not   
   sure if it would fit my crimp tool but offered to accept its return if it did   
   not. Eureka -- it fit perfectly as if Greenlee manufactured it! Subsequently,   
   I purchased the RG-8 and RG-8X die sets for UHF and BNC connectors.   
      
   If any readers owns a Paladin/Greenlee 8000 series CrimpALL tool, they can be   
   safe in ordering the dies discussed above from DX Engineering. I am in no way   
   connected with DX Engineering, just a satisfied customer.-- Joseph Walc,   
   W4EEI, Asheville, North Carolina   
      
      
   Letters: Solar Panels   
      
   When looking at solar panels, there are three basic technologies: Amorphous,   
   Poly-Crystalline, and Mono-Crystalline. Amorphous panels are common for small   
   panels because they are inexpensive and can be cut to any size, but they wear   
   out more quickly and/or not very efficient. They are usually a deep brown   
   color. I recommend avoiding them. Poly-Crystalline is a good technology and   
   should be the minimum acceptable.They are typically bluish tint and usually   
   have a fractured pattern. Mono-Crystalline are the best. They last a very long   
   time and have the best efficiency.These typically look black and usually have   
   cells that look like rectangles with two clipped corners. There are some   
   flexible panels, but their efficiency is usually not very good. For my heavy   
   deployable go-kit, I use a solar package similar to the USA STOCK 100 watt 12   
   volt Folding Solar Panel with one or two 50 Ah batteries, depending on the   
   circumstances. -- John Bloodgood, KD0SFY, Pikes Peak (Colorado) ARES   
      
      
   Maryland-DC ARES Statewide ARDF/SAR for Missing Person   
      
   The mission presented to ARRL Maryland-DC Section ARES: Find a radio beacon   
   and save a life. It started on Friday, February 26, when an autistic adult was   
   discovered missing. By Sunday, Section Manager Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM, and   
   SEC Jim Montgomery, WB3KAS, received an e-mail from Joe Cotton, W3TTT,   
   explaining the serious situation: "I was called last night by a member of the   
   Northwest Citizen's Patrol, a partner with Project Lifesaver. An autistic man   
   was discovered missing by his caretaker on Friday morning, two days ago."   
   Cotton asked Pittinger and Montgomery if their organization had the means to   
   locate a Project Lifesaver radio beacon leg bracelet, issued to incapacitated   
   adults for rapid location, response and safe return. The local Project   
   Lifesavers point-of-contact in Baltimore needed help.   
      
   Pittinger, Montgomery and Cotton, with the CEO of Project Lifesaver,   
   coordinated action using brief e-mail correspondence and telephone chats to   
   define search criteria and share technical information. Contact was also made   
   with local law enforcement agencies handling the missing-person case in order   
   to set a protocol/format for Amateur Radio operators reporting to the police   
   departments.   
      
   ARRL Atlantic Division Director Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, was consulted and a plan   
   was created and coordinated to handle this rather unique request. Section   
   officials contacted local clubs to secure phase doppler radio direction finder   
   equipment, and acquired the beacon frequency, radio range, and tone   
   signatures. The goal was to activate the entire Maryland-DC Section's ARES   
   statewide to perform a QTH-QTV ("stand guard," or listen on frequency) from   
   every Amateur Radio operator's home station to detect the beacon and relay its   
   location to local police. Amateur Radio mobile assets   
   might be needed to determine the beacon's precise location.   
      
   Once permission to activate was secured, Section Manager Pittinger issued an   
   "Activation Announcement" to SEC Montgomery, who alerted and activated all   
   ARES members to initiate the search plan/protocol. Pittinger then informed   
   Project Lifesaver coordinators and police that the state-wide ARDF search was   
   underway.   
      
   The Maryland Port Authority identified the missing autistic man at Baltimore   
   Washington International Airport, and MDC ARES was told to stand down.   
      
   Pittinger concluded "We were grateful to learn that the missing man was   
   located and that we were given the opportunity to assist in a massive safety   
   of life search." He said "Our knowledge, experience, agility and huge presence   
   across Maryland and the District of Columbia show our ability to serve   
   multiple agencies and organizations jointly, seamlessly and rapidly as an   
   organized team." -- ARRL Maryland-DC Section   
      
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   Always Mount a Scratch Monkey   
      
   ... Computer: A device designed to speed and automate errors.   
   ---   
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