The ARES E-Letter
December 20, 2006
================= 

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

<http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=K1CE>,
<http://www.iaru-r2emcor.net/>

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ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or
comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>;;; 
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+ THE VIEW FROM FLAGLER COUNTY

Our Flagler ARES meeting was held last night at the Fire House, and
was essentially an "End of Year Party" (with the obligatory copious
pizza and soda). There was one piece of business transacted relative
to the proper way to check into our nets and the use of accepted
(standard) phonetics. A list was distributed to all in attendance. 

The socializing was wonderful, and it occurred to me that it's the
camaraderie that still floats my boat in ham radio after all these
years. It was a great evening. Thanks to FECA for the pizza!
________

With hurricane season over, our section's ARES leadership is studying
jump teams. SEC Joe Bushel, W2DWR, wants every county to draft their
own group ready to deploy to another county to provide relief
operators. He also wants each ARES district to have a super jump team
composed of radio amateurs with other specialties: pilots, divers,
law officers, medical professionals, and electronics techs, for
examples. Bushel's initiatives are laudable, and we are grateful to
have him as our SEC in Northern Florida. 
_________

Controversy swirls about the Red Cross requiring background checks,
and our section's policy is that ARES works under government
emergency management, not the Red Cross. In the EOC, the Red Cross
has its own ESF number, and Communications has its own ESF number. A
shelter is opened by emergency management, requesting it under the
Red Cross ESF. Communications is provided to that shelter under the
Communications ESF at the request of emergency management to the
local EC. Untested yet, but Red Cross doesn't seem to be in a
position to demand clearance of persons working in shelters under
control of the EOC. At least that's the current thinking of our
section's leadership.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

+ THE VIEW FROM FLAGLER COUNTY
+ ECV SURVEY CLOSES DECEMBER 31
+ MASSACHUSETTS ARES/RACES ACTIVATES FOR EXPLOSION
+ FLORIDA COUNTY USAR TEAMS UP WITH AMATEUR RADIO, CERT, OTHERS
+ EMCOMM IN THE AFTERMATH OF CASTRO'S DEATH 
+ LETTERS: "NATION'S OLDEST WEATHER NET"
+ MISSISSIPPI HAMFEST FORUM REPORT HIGHLIGHTS KATRINA STATUS
+ LETTERS: RED CROSS BACKGROUND CHECKS
+ LETTERS: PERSONAL PUBLIC SERVICE RETROSPECTIVE
+ LETTERS: HELP WANTED
+ K1CE FOR A FINAL
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+ ECV SURVEY CLOSES DECEMBER 31

ARRL seeks data on mobile emergency communications vehicles: The
League's National Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC)
continues to invite responses from clubs or groups having access to
an emergency communications vehicle (ECV). If your group has an ECV
and has not yet participated in the survey, please have someone take
a few minutes and be a part of this effort. The Committee's response
to the ARRL Board is due in January. A number of responses have been
received to date, but the Committee wants to collect as much
information as possible to develop its report. 

As of November 29, clubs and groups had entered information on 29
ECVs into the survey database. Most ECVs are owned by individuals or
local governments, 14 have portable repeaters onboard and another 25
have their own power generators. This information will help determine
what assets are available and help in planning for future disasters.
To participate, visit the Emergency Communications Vehicle Survey Web
site <http://www.bullock.org/nerpc>.
 
+ MASSACHUSETTS ARES/RACES ACTIVATES FOR EXPLOSION

Eastern Massachusetts ARES and RACES teams went on alert November 22
after an early-morning explosion destroyed a paint and ink plant in
Danvers, 15 miles north of Boston. The blast, felt as far away as
Southern Maine, destroyed more than a dozen nearby homes and damaged
upward of 100 others. Minutes after the 2:45 AM explosion North Shore
ARES members initiated an informal net on a Danvers repeater while
monitoring the situation. The blast awakened North shore EC Jim
Palmer, KB1KQW, who lives about a mile from the plant site.

"As soon as I heard the explosion, I followed our well-established
ARES protocols by getting on my local SKYWARN/ARES frequency and
starting an informal net," Palmer said. "I also monitored my scanner
to hear information directly from the incident area." DEC Eric
Horwitz, KA1NCF, and Eastern Massachusetts SEC Rob Macedo, KD1CY,
were notified, as well as Region One RACES Radio Officer Terry
Stader, KA8SCP. 

Macedo contacted Massachusetts Bay Red Cross, which opened a shelter
at Danvers High School to accommodate some 100 to 150 displaced
residents. Radio amateurs were ready to provide communication support
for the Red Cross or other agencies.

"We continued the informal net until 6 PM and secured," Macedo said.
"No deployments were required, but we were ready to deploy if needed.
We had over 40 check-ins to the informal net and between 6 and 12
amateurs ready for deployment." - excerpted from the ARRL Letter 

+ FLORIDA COUNTY USAR TEAMS UP WITH AMATEUR RADIO, CERT, OTHERS

The Alachua County (Florida) Fire Rescue's Reserve Division K-9
Search and Rescue unit has teamed up with local radio amateurs,
members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and reserve
EMTs to form a combined resources team for improved wilderness and
urban search and rescue (USAR). In November, the USAR K-9 team
initiated training in basic SAR skills for the new team members. Held
near the Gainesville Airport, team members conducted practice
searches and practiced skills required for the NASAR SARTECH II
certification. Nearly 20 volunteers participated in the on-going
training, learned teamwork, and were cross-trained in skills such as
medical, communications, and navigation. The team's goal is to
increase their response capability and improve the level of service
to the community. 

+ EMCOMM IN THE AFTERMATH OF CASTRO'S DEATH 

The Miami Herald ran an interesting article this week about the
extensive preparations being undertaken by the State of Florida, DHS,
and others to prepare for events in the aftermath of Cuban President
Fidel Castro's death. The article cited potential problems with
communications.

It would seem to me that in the event of widespread civil unrest in
Cuba, Amateur Radio could help in the following areas:

(1) Handling direct requests from the population of Cuba for aid,
emergency supplies, etc.; (2) Providing real time intelligence about
conditions on the ground, by relaying reports from Cuban amateurs;
and (3) Relaying critical communications for the US entities on nets
like MARS, SHARES, Maritime Mobile Nets, etc.

It would be interesting to hear if any of the various ARES groups
have started to train or prepare for this eventuality. -- Les
Rayburn, N1LF, Helena, AL, Official Emergency Station

[As IARU Region 2 EMCOR, I can tell readers that there is a robust
amateur radio emergency communications community in Cuba. Of all the
countries in Region 2, Cuba's radio amateurs are at the top of the
list for severe weather and other emergency communications planning
and practice. - K1CE]

+ LETTERS: "NATION'S OLDEST WEATHER NET"

In the November ARES E-letter I read with interest the item about
Wisconsin's Badger Weather Net. The net was described as the nation's
oldest weather net, organized in December 1964. 
 
While this net has been in operation for a long time, there is
another Weather net called "The New England Weather Net," operating
continuously even longer, since December, 1955. I first checked into
the New England Weather Net in August 1959, and am currently the
Tuesday net control operator. I have been active in this net for the
last 47 years serving as net control for much of that time. 
 
The New England Weather Net was founded by a small group of amateurs
in the Boston-Cape Cod area who were interested in exchanging weather
information and communicating with other amateurs involved in the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the "Texas Towers" early
off-shore radar detection operations. Members of the Weather Net were
able to provide that vital link to the mainland that was so
appreciated by those stationed at sea and on the towers.
 
The net is still active today with 30 to 40 stations reporting their
weather conditions each morning from all of New England, to as far
north as Nova Scotia, as far south as Florida, and as far west as
Idaho. There are check-ins from 17 states, primarily in the eastern
section of the country.
 
The net meets each morning from 0530 to 0620 local time. At 0620, a
summary of the reports received is given by the net control station.
Each report contains the station's temperature, barometric pressure,
wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation amounts, 24 hour
temperature gradient and any other data the reporting station wishes
to give. 

All stations are welcome and no membership is required. We meet every
day except Sunday on 75 meters at 3905 kHz. Additional information
can be received by contacting the net manager Dave Haas, N1PT,
Lancaster, New Hampshire. See <http://newn.org/about_newn.asp> --
John P. Bretz, KE2EA <KE2EA@infoblvd.net>;

+ MISSISSIPPI HAMFEST FORUM REPORT HIGHLIGHTS KATRINA STATUS

[ARRL Delta Division Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, and Vice Director
Karl Bullock, WA5TMC, attended the Ocean Springs, Mississippi Hamfest
last month. Here are portions of Bullock's report. - ed.]

This was the first hamfest I'd been to on the Gulf Coast since
Katrina. The hamfest was a success, though the clubs there have lost
membership, and are in the rebuilding stage. The ARRL Forum was the
liveliest ever. The attendees were the hams who walked through the
fire last year, and we listened carefully. 

TRAINING. "We're going to have to look at NIMS training, whether we
like it or not", was a recurring comment, along with "but, none of
these courses instruct hams how to communicate in an emergency. Such
training should be done in person. Clubs would be ideal for
conducting this training. Certification would be nice upon
completion. Needed is a syllabus, and some training aids, probably in
the form of a DVD video that clubs could obtain at minimal cost from
the ARRL."

Other comments: Assembling a working station isn't enough. Training
on message handling is needed. Attendees liked our idea of having HQ
originate test emergency messages, in addition to taking another look
at strengthening the SET.

"We weren't ready then, and we're not ready now," was a resonant
comment.

LICENSE EXAMS. There should be some emphasis on emergency
communications in the VEC Question pool. 

LACK OF EQUIPMENT. On the coast, pre-disaster, the local hams had
constructed an emergency communications station complete with
equipment necessary to manage a large-scale local disaster. They had
radios across the spectrum, including SHARES, local government, HF,
VHF, digital, antennas, and backup power with fuel. It was totally
destroyed in the early hours of Katrina. Nothing else came close to
providing that capability, and equipment that would show up would
disappear when those who brought it had to go home. The equipment
from HQ was welcome, but again, not everything the operators needed.
They didn't have a solution to the problem, but we do need to look at
providing more capability in these large disasters. -- Karl Bullock,
WA5TMC, Delta Division Vice Director, and member, ARRL National
Emergency Response Planning Committee

+ LETTERS: RED CROSS BACKGROUND CHECKS

As for the Red Cross background checks, I am concerned about identity
theft and exposure to errors that are inherent in any system. Would
the Red Cross be liable for my costs to correct problems? What
protection is offered? I know of two people who have still not
recovered from theft of their identity. I will decline the overly
broad demand of every bit of personal information that is required to
be authorized for collection. I can see the criminal check for people
who are working with kids and stressed adults, but what business is
it of theirs to find out that I owe no one anything and have never
missed a payment? I have done checks with the three reporting
companies and have found errors like one that listed some 20 credit
cards as active when the number is just three. I will probably drop
out of ARES and concentrate on RACES where the Vermont DPS has
already run a more reasonable background check. -- Gordon Pugh, PE,
W2NH 

+ LETTERS: PERSONAL PUBLIC SERVICE RETROSPECTIVE

Last night I was watching a TV program on the 1996 civil war in
Liberia. At the time of the conflict, I was tuning around on 20
meters when I heard an emergency call to any US ham. For the next
several hours I relayed information from our embassy in Liberia to
the State Department in Washington concerning health and welfare.
Rebels had taken over the capitol and shut off all communications.
Our embassy was able to communicate using ham radio as hundreds of
people herded into the embassy compound for safety. 

I was a first responder at Ground Zero, 9/11. Again, I concentrated
on performing the communications job at hand and was not able to
contemplate the event's significance, as the rest of the world could.
There was info going out of the area, but none coming in. The
helplessness of the country as they saw the damage in New York and
Washington must have been terrible. I feel it now, as, after watching
that TV program, I now feel what went on in Liberia in 1996, when I
was doing my communications "job." In 1996 I had no idea of the
slaughter that was taking place in that country, nor its
significance. 

Perspective during an emergency is a strange thing: it's lost. During
an emergency we are so focused on doing what needs to be done that we
lose the impact of the event and the feelings that other people
experience. Amateur Radio has allowed me to help others, but I feel
as if I have missed real-time significance by being in another
"loop." - Bob Hejl, W2IK

+ LETTERS: HELP WANTED

Our ARES district has been asked by a local fire department to teach
a basic license course for their radio dispatchers. Regional police
have also indicated an interest in a similar course, and efforts are
underway to involve dispatchers from two other fire services. 
 
Having taught adult learners for a living, I know how important it is
to make the information relevant to their jobs. That's where I need
some assistance. Apparently, the idea of dispatchers having radio
amateur licenses came from a conference in the U.S. I'd sincerely
appreciate hearing from anyone who may have attended such a
conference session, or anyone who may be teaching a similar course.
-- Gord Hewit, VE3GIH, <VE3GIH@rac.ca>;

+ K1CE FOR A FINAL

It's the time of year for cheer, friends, family, reflection, but
also melancholy and loss. We recently lost SEC John Warne, K4KAM. Joe
Bushel, W2DWR, writes: "He was a Ham's Ham, and a tremendous friend.
During the years that I knew John, I found him to be always there
when I needed his advice, which I often did, and he never shirked a
request for assistance. He fought illness for years with a positive
attitude in all he did. When North Florida lost John Warne, they lost
a terrific ham and a very dear friend."
________________
 
For us sentimental old fools, check out http://www.novice.bappy.com/
for a short walk down memory lane.
________________

And finally, a gem from Joe Shea, of the HQ's Production staff,
reflecting on the FCC's Morse code decision, sung to the tune of "Mr.
Ed":

A Morse is a Morse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk with Morse of course,
That is, of course, unless the course is taught by A-R-R-L.

Go right to the source and ask about Morse,
We'll give you a program that you'll endorse,
You'll always stay on a steady course,
Contact A-R-R-L.

Phone ops yakkity yak a streak and waste your time of day,
But Morse operators will never "speak" unless they have something to
say

A ham is a ham, of course, of course,
And some will talk 'til their "voice" is hoarse;
Would you rather sound like a horse's a--?
Well why not learn this: "dot-dit-dit-dit-dash"
________________

Happy Holidays! Keep warm by those glowing rectifier tubes!

73, Rick, K1CE