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CX2SA > ARES 21.11.20 17:02z 682 Lines 37905 Bytes #999 (0) @ ARRL
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Subj: ARES E-Letter November 18, 2020
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : ARES@ARRL
The ARES E-Letter November 18, 2020
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
- Highly-Anticipated Red Cross Nationwide Drill Held November 14
- ShakeOut 2020 -- an Amateur Radio Service Success Story
- SKYWARN Recognition Day 2020 - Making Adjustments for COVID-19
- New Edition of Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio Now Available from ARRL
- Handheld Radio Field Guide -- Second Edition Released
- Mississippi ARES Reports on Hurricane Zeta Responses
- Tulsa County, Oklahoma Conducts SET on a Severe Weather Scenario
- ARES Connect Update: Connecting Amateur Radio Volunteers with a Purpose
- K1CE for a Final: My Nationwide Red Cross Drill Experience
- ARES Resources
ARES¶© Briefs, Links
As this is written (November 17, 2020), ARRL has released the following
bulletin: "Stations handling emergency traffic during the response to
Category 5 Hurricane Iota, just off the eastern coast of Nicaragua, are
requesting clear frequencies.
"Radio amateurs not involved in the emergency response are asked to avoid
(plus/minus 5 KHz) the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and WX4NHC (National
Hurricane Center) frequencies of 14.325 and 7.268 MHz, as well as a Honduran
emergency net operation on 7.180 MHz (net control station is HR1JFA), and a
Nicaraguan emergency net operating on 7.098 MHz." With maximum sustained
winds of 160 MPH, Hurricane Iota is expected to bring catastrophic winds,
life-threatening storm surge, and torrential rainfall to Central America.
Officials at the WX4NHC Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane
Center, Miami, Florida, announced Sunday that Hurricane Iota was forecasted
to strengthen into a major hurricane and make landfall along the Nicaraguan
coast. The area that will be affected by Hurricane Iota is the same area
affected by Hurricane Eta that killed over 160 people. WX4NHC was planning
to be on the air starting on Monday at 1700Z, monitoring the Hurricane Watch
Net on HF frequencies of 14.325 and 7.268 MHz as well as the VoIP Hurricane
Net, Winlink, APRS and other modes listed on the WX4NHC website. Amateurs
were asked to relay any reports from stations or ships at sea in the
affected area with or without weather data for use by NHC Forecasters. --
Thanks, Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Assistant Coordinator, WX4NHC
Hurricane Zeta -- ARES teams in Louisiana went on standby status on October
27, ready to activate at the request of local emergency management officials
or served agencies. At midday on Wednesday, October 28, the Louisiana
Emergency Net was placed on active standby status on 3.878 and 7.255 MHz,
concluding operations at 2100 UTC the same day. The Northern Florida ARES
Net convened October 28 on 3.950 MHz for about 12 hours in anticipation of
tropical storm winds and a risk of tornado activity. "Our HF net shut down
this morning," Northern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Karl Martin,
K4HBN, said. "The counties closed shelters and had their ARES groups stand
down soon after." Martin said operators did cover three shelters. "We had
challenges due to HF conditions, and one of the ARES groups lost a repeater
and had to go to a back-up plan."
In George County, Mississippi, ARES Emergency Coordinator General Dailey,
KD4VVZ, suspended routine net traffic to take storm-related reports
including weather data, property damage, and power status. Dailey said a
repeater net would remain active for 12 hours, and the information would be
relayed to weather forecasters. The net prepared to carry occasional digital
traffic. "As the sun comes up, damage assessments are still ongoing," the
George County Sheriff's office announced on the George County ARES Facebook
page. "Currently a majority of the county is without power." The sheriff
reported many downed trees and power lines and advised against nonessential
travel. See below for after action reports out of Mississippi.
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami activated at 1600 UTC
on October 28, monitoring HWN's frequencies of 14.325 and 7.268 MHz as well
as the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP WX) and other resources. The net funnels
"ground truth" reports to NHC forecasters.
Ham Aid emergency communication kits from ARRL had been pre-positioned in
Louisiana in preparation for this event. - Thanks, Rick Lindquist, WW1ME,
ARRL News Desk
_____________
There is a plethora of comprehensive, additional reporting on this year's
extraordinary hurricane season from the ARRL Field Organization, as well as
an extensive array of hurricane response resources from ARRL.
_____________
ARES groups continue their ARRL Simulated Emergency Tests (SET) into this
month and until the end of the year. It's not too late to conduct your SET.
Instruction and forms can be found here. (Scroll down to find the SET
documents). Please see the stories below on the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and
Clark County, Western Washington SET efforts.
__________
Boulder County (Colorado) Director of the Office of Emergency Management
Mike Chard thanked Boulder County ARES (BCARES) for its contributions in
support of the emergency efforts on the wildfires in the county recently.
During a call with Chard, he told BCARES Emergency Coordinator Allen Bishop,
K0ARK, that "with the fire's lack of expansion and the fact that the snow
has provided a significant lowering of the fire danger, he feels BCARES can
take a breath for the foreseeable future. However, as the temperatures begin
to return to normal and the possibility of winds increasing, the danger has
not gone away. The need for BCARES services may return at any time." --
Boulder Amateur Television Club TV Repeater's Repeater, November, 2020 issue
________
The 2020 California Interoperability Field Operation Guide (IFOG) is now
available -- The guide provides information on multiple county and
California state interoperability communications plans. Rules for operation,
frequencies and multiple telephone numbers as well as system guides for
reference and education are included. IFOGS are available on the Kaiser
Permanente Amateur Radio Network (KPARN) web page. The California
Interoperability Field Operation Guide (Cal-IFOG) has been updated and the
document is now available in electronic form as an application available for
download in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Simply search
"Cal IFOG." A hard copy of the Cal-IFOG can also be obtained.
_________
The IARU Region 2 (the Americas) Executive Committee has appointed Dr.
Carlos A. Santamaria, CO2JC, as the new R2 Emergency Coordinator (EMCOR).
The Executive Committee made the appointment after a call to all Member
Societies for candidates after the recent retirement of Dr. Cesar Pio
Santos, HR2P, after 12 years of service. Dr. Santamaria has extensive
experience serving as Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba coordinator of
the National Emergency Network (REN) both in exercises and communications
during activations in the event of hurricanes and even earthquakes,
maintaining contact with the coordinators of other Caribbean countries to
protect emergency frequencies. He also advises the Cuban headquarters of the
United Nations Organization on Emergency Communications during disasters.
Emergency Coordinators in Member Societies are encouraged to contact Dr.
Santamaria to introduce themselves and make any recommendations they may
have to improve emergency responsiveness within the Region. Dr. Santamaria's
eǽ¶?¶?mail address is emcor@iaru-r2.org
Highly-Anticipated Red Cross Nationwide Drill Held November 14
--------------------------------------------------------------
A Red Cross nationwide emergency communications drill was held on Saturday,
November 14, with ARES and other operators asked to demonstrate the ability
to deliver digital messages to specific addresses via Winlink. Participants
were tasked with sending one message to the Red Cross Divisional
Clearinghouse for their geographic area.
Only Winlink-generated messages were requested. This drill was an exercise
in sending messages from local sites to a group of Divisional Clearinghouses
to simulate and demonstrate the capability of amateur radio operators across
the country to relay information in times of need. This drill used the
messaging program Winlink as the primary method of delivering preformatted
messages. Operators were free to use any connection mode that they had
available, including the variety of digital modes on HF, VHF, UHF and
Telnet. The goal was to encourage more operators to become familiar with
Winlink and its associated message templates. The primary message template
for this exercise was the ARC-213 found in the Winlink catalog of forms
templates. This message format allows for standardized messages to be sent
and allows for the messages to be easily evaluated for correctness.
The drill started at 9:00 Eastern time and continued until 18:00 local time
in each time zone. Thus there was a minimum of 9 hours for each operator to
create and send their message to their Divisional Clearinghouse was provided.
The scenario involved major weather events that caused outages and hazardous
conditions across the country and the messages were formatted using the
American Red Cross ARC-213 template. [See K1CE for a Final at the end of
this issue for an editorial on your editor's personal experience in this
exercise.]
Zombies Rising Exercise Held on Halloween in Clark County, Washington
"The annual Leonid meteor shower arrived several days ago, about a week
earlier than normal. The meteoroid particle stream of frozen gases entered
the Earth's atmosphere as meteors and dissipated their primordial goo over
Clark County, which mixed with the rain as it fell to the ground. Wherever
this mixture seeped into the soil at a burial location, the undead began to
rise." So began the scenario for the 2020 Simulated Emergency Test (SET)
held on Halloween by Clark County ARES/RACES.
The idea of using zombies in an exercise was brought to the group by Toby
Clairmont, KH7FR, who had successfully used this type of scenario in an "all
hazards" communications exercise in Hawaii. His idea developed into an
activity that had ARES members traveling to 50 burial locations in the
county and radioing in situation reports (number of zombies observed,
direction of travel, and approximate speed). If met at the cemetery by a
representative of that "served agency" (played by volunteers from the Clark
County Genealogical Society and the Clark County Historical Cemetery
Foundation), ICS-213 forms and Radiograms were also transmitted. The EYEWARN
program, sponsored by the Clark County Amateur Radio Club, spun up a
separate coordinated net for non-ARES hams to give zombie sighting reports
from their homes.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, adaptations to a standard exercise plan
had to be made. All members who were not operating from their home needed to
wear face masks at all times, because air currents can carry zombie
pathogens, and there is no known cure for zombieism. Members at fixed
locations were advised to not locate their portable station under a
structure where zombies could reach down and grab them. Fortunately, no ARES
members were infected by zombies during the exercise.
Several new (at least to the organization) processes were tried during this
SET. Recent training included the use of tone squelch on members' radios,
and this was tested during the initial callout using an alternate tone on
the repeater. Net control was divided between three local repeaters, each of
which favored a different area of the county. Locations that had never
before been visited by members tested their ability to understand the county
address numbering scheme and to either read maps or use a GPS navigation
system.
Michael Barnhart, AE7GQ, who just became EC/RO for Clark County in August
2020, experienced his first SET in his new position. He indicated that while
he was generally pleased with the exercise, not all went as expected, and
the organization now has a list of items where new protocols need to be
developed and documented and where new and refresher training may be
necessary. - Steve Aberle, WA7PTM, ARRL Official Emergency Station, Western
Washington Section
ShakeOut 2020 -- an Amateur Radio Service Success Story
-------------------------------------------------------
ShakeOut 2020 was a success for amateur radio operators throughout the
United States. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) received 175 "Did
You Feel It?" (DYFI) reports sent via Winlink on ShakeOut Day, October 15.
Most of the reports were received from Southern and Central California,
Washington and Hawaii.
Amateur radio operators practiced sending DYFI reports to USGS from
simulated "donut holes," i.e., areas without internet access. A variety of
techniques were employed: ARES LAX Northeast, for example, aggregated DYFI
reports via VHF using a gateway, which then autoforwarded the reports on HF
to out-of-area gateways with internet connections. Ventura ARES/ACS and ARES
LAX High Desert, by contrast, relied on individual HF stations to send
reports out of area. These varying approaches demonstrate the flexible and
creative responses of operators in the Amateur Radio Service based on
variations of local conditions.
USGS generously created an event website for ShakeOut 2020 which shows the
amateur radio responses in Southern and Central California. Note the
clusters of responses in Los Angeles County, Ventura County and San Diego
County. For a given area, 20 or more responses allow for a decent estimate
of earthquake intensity in that area.
Transmitting a critical mass of DYFI reports to USGS in a timely manner was
a core objective achieved during ShakeOut 2020. Timely information is of the
essence, as DYFI data informs ShakeMap and Pager, two USGS products that are
used by governments, NGOs, public and private companies, and the public to
assess the impact of seismic events and organize their responses.
During ShakeOut the bulk of DYFI reports were sent in the first hour after
the simulated event had occurred, achieving a second objective of ShakeOut
2020 for amateur radio operators.
Astute amateur operators will notice that a circuit (or radio network) that
can move DYFI reports out-of-area reliably can also move other traffic
reliably. It is therefore critical for operators in earthquake country to
become familiar and comfortable with DYFI reports, if they want to help
guide high level responses and provide added value to the communities they
live in.
Check out the ShakeOut 2020 event website and learn about how the data
provided by amateur radio operators contributes to ShakeMap.
The USGS was thanked for their support, collaboration and guidance and for
providing data for ShakeOut 2020, as was ARES LAX, Ventura ARES/ACS, San
Diego ARES and Hawaii ARES for providing DYFI training to their operators
and making this exercise so successful. The Winlink Development Team was
also thanked for coding the DYFI form and making it available to all amateur
operators.
If you or your group are interested in a "Did You Feel It? for Winlink"
online workshop, please contact Oliver Dully, K6OLI; or via Winlink at
K6OLI. - Oliver Dully, K6OLI, District Emergency Coordinator, ARES LAX
Northeast [The author is interested in digital modes of communication,
including AREDN MESH, NBEMS and the many modes of Winlink on VHF/UHF and HF,
and has recently been exploring NVIS. Dully is a lecturer and instructor. -
Ed.]
SKYWARN Recognition Day 2020 - Making Adjustments for COVID-19
--------------------------------------------------------------
Each year, SKYWARN Recognition Day is the day where radio amateurs celebrate
the long relationship between the amateur radio community and the National
Weather Service SKYWARNƒ?½ program. The purpose of the event is to recognize
amateur radio operators for the vital public service they perform during
times of severe weather and to strengthen the bond between radio amateurs
and their local National Weather Service office. The event is co-sponsored
by ARRL and the National Weather Service. Normally radio amateurs
participate from home stations and from stations at National Weather Service
(NWS) forecast offices, and the goal is to make contact with as many NWS
forecast offices as possible during the event. However, this year, due to
COVID-19 restrictions, participation from NWS forecast offices will be
minimal at best. So, the focus will shift to contacting as many SKYWARNƒ?½
trained spotters as possible during the event. New for this year, SKYWARNƒ?½
Recognition Day will be open to all SKYWARN Spotters. Additionally, a
SKYWARNƒ?½ Recognition Day Facebook page has been created and will host a
variety of live and recorded segments throughout the day. All SKYWARNƒ?½
Spotters who wish to participate may sign up for a SKYWARNƒ?½ Recognition
Day number by completing the form found on the SKYWARNƒ?½ Recognition Day
2020 website. During the event, amateur radio operators are encouraged to
exchange their name, location, SRD number, and current weather conditions
with other participating stations. See the event website for the full
operating guidelines. Additionally, all SKYWARNƒ?½ Spotters will be
encouraged to participate by sending weather reports, images and attending
various live stream events via social media. SKYWARNƒ?½ Recognition Day 2020
will be held from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC December 5. To learn more, visit the
SRD website.
New Edition of Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio Now Available from ARRL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A new edition of the publication Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio is now
available from the ARRL store. Storm spotting gives amateur radio operators
another way to use their skills as communicators. In an average year, the US
experiences more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods, and more
than 1,000 tornadoes, often causing hundreds of injuries and deaths, as well
as billions of dollars in damages. During these weather events, thousands of
ham volunteers provide real-time information to partners like emergency
management and forecasters at the National Weather Service. The information
they get from hams helps them issue weather watches, warnings, and
advisories. Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio can help you become one of
those volunteers, providing ground-truth information when it is needed most.
New in this edition are lessons learned and response reports from the 2017
hurricane season; Apps and social media resources; new SKYWARN training
requirements; and expanded information on digital voice modes such as DMR,
D-STAR, and Yaesu System Fusion. The co-author is University of Mississippi
Professor of Emergency Management Michael Corey, KI1U.
Handheld Radio Field Guide -- Second Edition Released
-----------------------------------------------------
Leaders and responders alike at incidents and public events need to change
radio programming on the fly. For modern handheld radios (HTs), the way it's
done varies from radio to radio. The second edition of the Handheld Radio
Field Guide has just been released and includes more clear pictures and
straightforward instructions for front-panel programming (FPP) of the
handheld radios you might see at events and incidents today - or in your new
ham class. With programming information for 85 radios, that's 30% more than
the first edition, and 60 more pages.
The Handheld Radio Field Guide explains how to set frequency, offset, tone,
and power level for each radio. It describes how to write to a memory and
select that memory. It also provides instructions on locking/unlocking,
adjusting volume and squelch, and resetting the radio to defaults. The Guide
includes instructions for resolving problems specific to each radio.
When a new ham has a radio that's stuck in a strange mode, you'll be able to
help out. The second edition of the Handheld Radio Field Guide (ISBN
978-0-9996609-1-1) is published by Listening Bird Press, and is available on
Amazon, $22.95. For further information, click here.The author, Andrew
Cornwall, KF7CCC/VE1CCC, is active in the emergency communications community
in Arizona. He has managed and taken part in large scale communications
exercises and public service events. He is an ARES Emergency Coordinator, a
manager of the Arizona Emergency Net - Maricopa training net, and an ICS
Incident Communication Center Manager (INCM) and Auxiliary Communications
(AUXCOMM) resource. He is a trainer and volunteer examiner. [A book review
will appear in the next issue. -- Ed.]
Mississippi ARES Reports on Hurricane Zeta Responses
----------------------------------------------------
From Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX -- Gulf Coast District
EC General Dailey, KD4VVZ, reported that Harrison and Jackson Counties ARES
teams did a great job during the storm maintaining their nets and providing
crucial information on weather stats and road conditions for first
responders. The Southeast Mississippi Wires-X Link was maintained for most
of the storm period and relayed traffic from Harrison, Jackson, and George
County operators, with the addition of operators from the Hattiesburg area
who were also connected. The Lucedale VHF repeater never lost power.
Harrison County EC Jason Purvis, AG5RI, reported a tremendous turnout and
response from the Harrison County and Jackson County ARES teams, along with
operators along the Gulf Coast. Harrison County was activated by the EMA
director, and ARES ran the local net from W5SGL at the EOC and from remote
stations -- KJ4NJT, KC5IMN, W4WLF, and AE5MI - who were instrumental in
pulling off this response. Thanks also went to W5THT as a relief operator.
Harrison County ARES was able to get their repeater up on emergency power
until commercial power was restored thanks to N5LBZ with traffic being
passed via W5JGW. Hams provided updates on weather, power, road closures,
etc. when there were no commercial communications available.
Purvis thanked the net control operators of Jackson County who provided
critical road and weather conditions during the storm so ARES could advise
an ambulance regarding transporting a patient to Mobile.
Purvis also thanked K9EYZ for getting W5SGL linked with George County. While
the link was tenuous, "it was effective, allowing us to link with Stone
County EC during the onset of tropical conditions," said Purvis.
Jackson County AEC Laurence Galle, K9EYZ, commended the ARES group for
exemplary service during the landfall of Hurricane Zeta. All stations on the
net were professional and dedicated, and cited the dedication and
professionalism of net control stations N2PKW, KI5JJP, and KM4EWZ.
Mississippi ARES repeatedly adapted and reassigned net control duties during
power losses and kept nets running continuously during hurricane conditions.
Damage Reports
In damage reports from around the state, K5YG, of Ocean Springs, said that
his towers survived, although one rotator could not handle the wind load and
the antenna array went "wherever the winds wanted it to go." K2FF reported
several gusts had antenna elements "looking like noodles."
From George County, ARES Emergency Coordinator General Dailey, KD4VVZ,
reported 32 trees down on his property, with three big pines missing the
house by inches, two pine trees taking out his power lines, eight pine trees
across his driveway, and several on his fence. He had to literally cut his
way out (600 feet) to the main road. Robert Rand, WV5Q, reported from
Vancleave that he lost all of his antennas and commercial power for 6 days.
Fortunately, his backup generator kept him on the air.
Tulsa County, Oklahoma Conducts SET on a Severe Weather Scenario
----------------------------------------------------------------
On Saturday, October 3, 2020 the Tulsa County ARES organization conducted
its annual Simulated Emergency Test. Using guidelines from Section Emergency
Coordinator Mark Conklin, N7XYO, the group prepared a multi-faceted exercise
based upon a severe weather scenario with impact across the county.The
principal objective of the exercise was to test the suitability of a newly
configured Emergency Communications trailer for Incident Command and Net
Control points. The trailer is funded by the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club, W5IAS.
Key aspects of the 2020 SET:
Çî¶?¶ú Resource Net: this net is where volunteers first checked in and
received tasking orders. Some volunteers were tasked to change frequencies
and check in on other nets for assignments. Other resources were giving
specific tasks to work and report back.
Çî¶?¶ú Command Net: this net is reserved as the main communications
frequency between Incident Command and served agencies. The resource net and
command net operated out of the emergency communications trailer on
generator power. Ray Young, K5CFY, and Russ Doden, KF5UZG, functioned as net
control operators (NCO).
Çî¶?¶ú Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency (TAEMA) net: a tactical net
with assigned volunteers dispatched to specific locations and purpose. The
TAEMA NCO operated from the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Tulsa.
James Plumlee, KI5DAZ, functioned as NCO. TAEMA is the group's principal
served agency.
Çî¶?¶ú Digital Net: a Winlink net was set up to send and receive digital
messaging during the exercise period. NCO for the Winlink net was Jeff
Scoville, AE5ME.
Çî¶?¶ú All four nets operated simultaneously once the incident briefing was
given on-air and the resource net was established.
Çî¶?¶ú ICS documentation: The ICS 205 comms plan was published ahead of the
exercise to allow operators programming time. All activity was recorded on
ICS 214s.
Çî¶?¶ú Exercise briefing: a comprehensive exercise briefing was published to
the NCOs ahead of the event.
COVID-19 had a big impact on the SET this year. Organizers restricted the
number of people at the net control points to maintain proper social
distancing. All volunteers were advised to adhere to CDC guidelines for
sanitization, masks, and social distancing. As a result the majority of
volunteers participated via on-air communications.
Lessons Learned
Çî¶?¶ú Equipment will fail and you need a plan to mitigate the impact of
that. One of the dual-band radios in the trailer failed during the initial
phases of the exercise and was replaced quickly to keep the net control
function on the air. It's important to have a backup plan for every aspect
of your exercise.
Çî¶?¶ú Running simultaneous nets can be somewhat confusing. This is solved
through comprehensive communications ahead of the exercise. Also, training
will help build "muscle memory" among the volunteer population and everyone
will know to start on the resource net.
Çî¶?¶ú Multiple NCOs in a trailer produce a lot of noise that can interfere
with accurate message transmission and confirmations. This will be solved by
purchasing headphones for each NCO station.
In summary, the 2020 SET was a success and accomplished all objectives.
Thirty-two operators participated throughout the 2-hour exercise including
communications with other ARES groups operating in adjacent counties. We
also saw Winlink communications with ARES organizations in the state and
between adjacent states. -- Paul Teel, WB5ANX, ARES Emergency Coordinator,
Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and Incident Commander for the 2020 SET
ARES Connect Update: Connecting Amateur Radio Volunteers with a Purpose
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARES Connect is ARRL's tool for registering operators and their credentials,
recording training and activity hours, and generating reports. It's not just
for ARES personnel any more. It is a total management recording system that
allows a more robust and efficient way of leading all of our amateur radio
volunteers throughout the country. This system is designed to track the
hours of participation for every amateur radio volunteer. You don't have to
be an ARES member to contribute.
The most important report generated by the system is the "Category Report."
This one report is what standardizes all 71 Section reports. Standardization
is essential to yield a credible nationwide activity report. See, for
example, the table for a summary of activity tallied nationwide for the
month of October.
National Volunteer Amateur Service Activity for October 2020Category of
Event # Events #Participants #Hours
Communications Emergency 8 38 238
Community Event 50 234 1,318
Exercise 69 531 1,514
Meeting 204 771 1,575
Net 1,942 439 5,920
SKYWARN 77 233 290
Training 185 676 1342
Miscellaneous 51 88 753
Unclassfied 2 834 8,761
Totals 5,420 18,771 23, 486
Referring to the table, there were 48 Sections reporting for October. The
data can be filtered down to individual Sections, Districts, or even
Counties. The data is available instantly whenever data is entered into the
platform. There is no longer any wait for the old monthly reports to be
mailed in. This is all live data.
ARES Connect also gives ARES/ARRL leadership teams the ability to promote
their events throughout the entire Section, reducing scheduling conflicts of
upcoming activities and making it easier to direct volunteer resources more
effectively. It's truly a much more robust way to monitor volunteers'
activities as they register for and record their public service time.
There are currently over 15,000 registered users in the system. Are you one
of them? If you aren't, you really need to be. Not sure where to sign up?
Click on your Section's link listed below. (If you receive an error message,
please copy and paste your section's URL below and paste it into your
browser.) Please make sure that you only sign up for the section in which
you reside. - Scott Yonally, N8SY, Ohio Section Manager
Alabama https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/al
Alaska https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ak
Arizona https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/az
Arkansas https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ar
Colorado https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/co
Connecticut https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ct
Delware https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/de
East Bay https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/eb
Eastern Massachusetts https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ema
Eastern New York https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/eny
Eastern Pennsylvania https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/epa
Eastern Washington https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ewa
Georgia https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ga
Idaho https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/id
Illinois https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/il
Indiana https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/in
Iowa https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ia
Kansas https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ks
Kentucky https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ky
Los Angeles https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/lax
Louisiana https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/la
Maine https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/me
Maryland-DC https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/mdc
Michigan https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/mi
Minnesota https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/mn
Mississippi https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ms
Missouri https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/mo
Montana https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/mt
Nebraska https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ne
Nevada https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nv
New Hampshire https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nh
New Mexico https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nm
North Carolina https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nc
North Dakota https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nd
North Texas https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ntx
Northern Florida https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nfl
Northern New Jersey https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nnj
Northern New York https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nny
NYC - Long Island https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/nli
Ohio https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/oh
Oklahoma https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ok
Orange https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/og
Oregon https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/or
Pacific https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/pac
Puerto Rico https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/pr
Rhode Island https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ri
Sacramento Valley https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sv
San Diego https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sd
San Francisco https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sf
San Joaquin Valley https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sjv
Santa Barbara https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sb
Santa Clara Valley https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/scv
South Carolina https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sc
South Dakota https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sd
South Texas https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/stx
Southern Florida https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/sfl
Southern New Jersey https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/snj
Tennessee https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/tn
Utah https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/ut
Vermont https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/vt
Virgin Islands https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/vi
Virginia https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/va
West Central Florida https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wcf
West Texas https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wtx
West Virginia https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wva
Western Massachusetts https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wma
Western New York https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wny
Western Pennsylvania https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wpa
Wisconsin https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wi
Wyoming https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/wy
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
K1CE for a Final: My Nationwide Red Cross Drill Experience
----------------------------------------------------------
I participated in the November 14 nationwide Red Cross drill described in
this issue. In anticipation of sending my ARC-213 templated message via
Winlink to the American Red Cross southeast divisional clearinghouse, I
rehearsed my effort on the previous day by successfully and quickly sending
a test message to my regular email address using the WINMOR protocol on the
Winlink Express software. There were a number of 40-meter Radio Mail Server
(RMS) stations available with predicted good paths. I connected via an RMS
station in Texas, and my message was almost instantly routed to my home
email account.
I used the ARC-213 template - the American Red Cross message form -
according to the easy-to-follow instructions provided by the drill
organizers and I uploaded it to my Winlink message outbox. On the day of the
exercise, I spent the morning trying to connect to an RMS to send my ARC-213
message with no luck. All of the 40-meter band RMS stations were clearly
busy with other traffic, so I tried again later in the day in hopes of
finding a free station, again with no luck.
WINMOR was retired as a Winlink mode earlier this year, although reportedly
there were some RMS stations that still accepted it, so I decided to try the
ARDOP mode, a more efficient, faster, and robust virtual TNC mode. I was
unable to configure the mode to accept my PTT com port, COM3. (Where I
should have been able to select or enter "COM3" in the com port, there was
only a pulled-down empty white box with no choices listed nor ability to
type it in.) I went back to WINMOR with no luck in sending my message. At
the end of the day, I did send my message via the Winlink regular internet
mode Telnet Winlink, but it felt like a bit of a hollow success.
I deemed my effort a success, however, in that I had brushed up on my
Winlink operation, which I had sidelined after discovering FT-8 last year,
and I had illuminated issues to be corrected for the future, which is the
purpose of drills in the first place. I was limited to the 40-meter band as
that is currently the only HF antenna I have up. And it is surrounded by
woods. I might also have been limited by my decision to use lower RF output
of 50 watts, given that the mode's duty cycle was somewhere around 50% it
seemed.
I need to put up a multiband antenna and get up to speed on how to set up
and use the more robust Winlink modes. And, simply use Winlink more for
experience. It has emerged as the most popular digital mode for emergency
communications, with agencies such as emergency management and the Red
Cross, offering a connection to the internet for hybrid radio and internet
message handling.
The Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc., has done an amazing job of
developing Winlink as a service to the amateur community, and to federal
government stakeholders.
At the beginning of every Winlink Express session, a small window pops up
asking the user to register their name and call sign, and make a donation to
the ARSF of $24. They graciously give the program and development free of
charge to the amateur community, and you can simply click the "Remind me
later" box, and the software continues to the operating platform. As I type
this editorial, however, I started my Winlink Express, registered my name
and call sign, and made the $24 donation instead of clicking the "Remind me
later" box. I am grateful for the ARSF's monumental efforts on behalf of all
radio amateurs, and also for the lessons I learned from my personal efforts
on this past weekend's excellent Red Cross Winlink drill: it was well worth
my time.
Special thanks to Wayne Robertson, K4WK, of the American Red Cross, Mike
Walters, W8ZY, of Connecticut ARES, and the other organizers of this past
Saturday's American Red Cross Nationwide Emergency Communications Drill.
From what I heard, it was enormously popular and successful. - Rick Palm, K1CE
_____________________
ARES Resources
--------------
¶ú Download the ARES Manual [PDF]
¶ú ARES Field Resources Manual [PDF]
¶ú ARES Standardized Training Plan Task Book [Fillable PDF]
¶ú
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