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Subj: ARES E-Letter November 18, 2015
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : ARES@WW
The ARES E-Letter November 18, 2015
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
In This Issue:
Oregon 2015 QuakeEX SETs: A Recap
Maintain a Strict Listening Watch
Typhoon! -- A Lesson in Pacific Island Disaster Relief
Amateur Radio Club Helps Promote Diabetes Awareness
Veterans' Day Month: HDSCS Loses One of Its Own
ARES Briefs, Links
------------------
Hams Support Air Force Marathon (11/6/2015); Putting Contesting to Work for
Your Public Service Team (10/30/2015); Amateur Radio to Have a Presence at
National Tribal Assistance Coordination Group Workshop (10/27/2015);
National Emergency Net Active as Category 5 Hurricane Patricia Nears Mexico
(10/23/2015); Radio Amateurs in Mexico Prepare as Powerful Hurricane
Patricia Nears Landfall (10/23/2015); Amateur Radio Was Part of Typhoon
Koppu Response in the Philippines (10/19/2015)
Oregon 2015 QuakeEX SETs: A Recap
---------------------------------
Next spring, FEMA Region X, county emergency management agencies statewide,
many others and Oregon ARES/RACES will participate in the FEMA Cascadia
Rising exercise. This is a functional exercise that will play out what might
happen should/when a major earthquake strike the Pacific Northwest. The
drill scenario anticipates widespread loss of normal communication modes
such as cell phones, Internet and public safety radio as well as major power
outages.
To prepare for Cascadia Rising, Oregon ARES/RACES conducted two statewide
simulated emergency tests (SETs) patterned after the FEMA scenario playbook.
The spring 2015 SET involved 24 counties, four cities, ten hospitals, about
300 ARES/ACS/other volunteers and moved about 1,700 messages to various
addresses (mostly by HF Winlink Pactor) during the six hour SET. All traffic
went by simplex VHF (no repeaters), HF SSB and HF Winlink Pactor to out of
state gateways. All of this was done from within state/county/city EOCs
statewide. The fall 2015 SET played the same scenario but mostly from the
field on generators/batteries and in stormy weather. The November SET
involved 16 counties and about 250 volunteers.
The differences between the two SETs were striking, proving that operating
from the field, Field Day style, is far more challenging. During high winds
and heavy rain, HF antennas were blown down, tents were flooded and
operators got uncomfortable. We discovered that under field conditions with
no Internet, if you haven't updated your modem firmware lately or obtained
your Winlink password, you are off the air. Repairing broken HF wire
antennas in the wind and rain means that you hope you have that backup
antenna! And if the generator won't start you have no power. If your people
aren't trained or prepared for contingencies, these problems just seem to
multiply.
We've learned that as much as you might think you are "ready" to go into the
field in a major disaster like a magnitude 9 earthquake, it takes constant
preparation and training to be truly "ready." Those that have participated
in Oregon's Quake EX SETs have learned a lot and have a lot more work to do.
It was a realistic training experience. More information is available
on-line at Oregon ARES/RACES on the Cascadia Rising and SET pages. -- John
Core, KX7YT, Oregon ARES/RACES SET Coordinator, KX7YT@arrl.net
Maintain a Strict Listening Watch
---------------------------------
"We have two ears and one mouth and they are to be used in proportion." -
anonymous. In the days where every ship of credibility carried a Morse code
set, the radio operator was required to maintain radio silence on the
international distress frequency of 500 KHz for a three minute interval, at
15 and 45 minutes of every hour. As radiotelephone came into being a 3
minute watch was maintained at 0 and 30 minutes. If the disaster your vessel
encountered fit within the 30 minute schedule, your weak, plaintive CQD
(later, SOS) had a good chance of being heard amidst all the commercial
traffic and noise.
Today, satellite communications systems have forced these "antiquated"
structures into retirement, but not entirely. A few years ago I enjoyed a
tour of a huge container ship at Boston Harbor. After pleasantries with the
Captain I asked for permission to meet his Radio Officer. "Our Engineer
holds that title," he told me, "but in reality," with the Captain putting
his hands on a piece of satellite gear, "this is our Radio Officer." Paying
deference to the captain and the high tech gear, I then headed straight for
the radio room - thankfully they still had one -- and was warmly greeted by
a middle-aged man of professional bearing in full white uniform. There, in a
large space, were three racks, each with a high powered HF transmitter. The
wise officer revealed his best-kept secret to safety: "Should we be going
down," he said, opening a small desk drawer, "I'm using this." A rather
sturdy Morse hand key was revealed, and there began an understanding between
us. "The satellites don't talk back," he told me. "This does."
Quiet Periods, Listening Watches and Amateur Radio
He knew about the quiet periods and listening watches of old and the stories
of lives lost and saved. He also knew that the necessity of maintaining a
strict listening watch has not been lost to time and technology. In fact,
it's a greater necessity than we may have considered in our own Amateur
Radio service. The very first Amateur Radio public service event I was
responsible to organize included this concept. "Let's keep an ear on the
radio, so we might be less tied up with getting your attention and have more
time to pass actual traffic." Time and experience reveals that other
problems such as the limitations of newer digital modes are mitigated by the
maintenance of the strict listening watch.
My local club, the Police Amateur Radio Team (PART) of Westford,
Massachusetts, operates a 2-meter analog repeater that is a fantastic
performer. It's reliable. It has a wide reach. It is well maintained. Still,
there are instances where the combination of interference, distance from the
repeater site, and operator technique combine adversely.
The Boston Athletic Association Boston Marathon communications system offers
excellent fodder for study. With almost 300 communications volunteers and a
few dozen unique repeaters and other radio-communication systems all pressed
to the limit within a very short time span, anything and everything that can
go wrong generally does go wrong. I have, as a volunteer (this is my 15th
year), listened in pain to dreadfully long attempts at getting a simple
message between two units, which generally begin with several unanswered
calls, adding to the mess. In 2015, in a leadership capacity, I targeted the
only variables within our immediate control: the operator on both ends of
the circuit. Maintaining a strict listening watch became a mantra, and it
will continue as long as we hold a radio in one hand and a cup of coffee in
the other.
At a public service event many of us clip our radio to the belt. Body
fading, the same physical phenomena that aids us in Fox Hunting, attenuates
what's coming in and of course what goes out. I now encourage my Net Control
Operators (NCO) to request that field units "raise the radio over your head
and try again" in the first instance where that unit is unreadable. This
solves the input problem in almost all cases. With sufficient practice, it's
hoped that awareness will spread, and the reminders be made obsolete.
The output problem - the ability to receive the repeater output in the field
- is rarely that the (stronger) repeater transmission cannot be heard. It's
simply that the operator is not focused, not listening for the call. The
operator is chatting with friends, tired and glazed, or listening to other
communications. One volunteer insisted that he bring along another radio so
he might "listen in on public safety." "That's nice," I replied, "but it's
not in our job description." I feared that, while lost to more exciting
radio banter, my volunteer would lose awareness - of our situation and
responsibility -- so necessary to maintain. I was right. He was often
difficult to reach and generally ineffective. Hopefully it was a lesson
learned.
Sure, our work can sometimes involve simply waiting for that one call, and
this can be boring. But think of how interesting we can make our listening
watch when we form a picture in our mind of what's happening at the event
overall, and what has happened in the past, to grasp that we perform a life
or death function. 100% focus on our duty and assignment is critical to our
"client" event officials being able to secure the public's safety as best
they can, at the rest stop, intersection, or Red Cross facility to which we
are assigned.
Maintaining that strict listening watch repeatedly overcomes the limitations
inherent in our technical communications method, promotes situational
awareness, improves our effectiveness to the teams we support, and in the
end is a discipline that keeps us focused on the reason we're standing
underneath that silly orange hat in the first place: to provide instant,
reliable communications.
So maintain that strict listening watch. Your performance and overall
satisfaction, and public safety at the next public service event will be all
the better for it. -- Mark Richards, K1MGY [Richards serves as a member of
the Boston Athletic Association Communications Committee, and is a frequent
public service event volunteer and organizer. He is employed in the
technical design and product development of hand-held environmental
monitoring instrumentation].
Typhoon! -- A Lesson in Pacific Island Disaster Relief
------------------------------------------------------
With a population of 103,000, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in
the Pacific is comprised of four states -- Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap.
There are more than 600 islands, spanning 1800 miles from east to west and
several hundred miles north to south. On the night of March 31, 2015, super
typhoon Maysak struck Ulithi Atoll in Yap State. With winds of more than 160
mph and gusts greater than 210 mph, Maysak was a Category 5 storm. A major
storm surge resulted and on most islands, infrastructure including schools,
homes, power and communication systems, suffered major damage or were
destroyed completely. No fatalities occurred on Ulithi.
I have a home there (on Falalop Island) and my job is to develop computer
systems for schools. I also teach technology to the schools' students and
train their teachers. I also provide humanitarian services with the help of
our local radio club, the Big Island Amateur Radio Club. I was off the
island when the typhoon hit, but was ticketed to fly home on April 10 - my
mission upon arrival would be disaster relief.
I packed communications equipment, emergency power sources, antennas, tools,
spare parts, survival equipment, and enough emergency food for my adopted
family of 14 (including ten hungry high school students from Satawal Island)
for a period of five weeks. Some of the supplies were shipped to Yap just
before I left Hilo, Hawaii, but 11 bags had to be taken on the plane.
(Hawaiian Airlines waived all excess baggage fees). There were some customs
hang-ups to be dealt with.
My house survived, but power lines were down and the diesel generator power
house was partially destroyed. The International Office of Migration (IOM)
loaned me two 60 amp/hour batteries and gave me a ride to my home. Richard
Darling, AH7G, and Barbara Darling, NH7FY, had provided funding for a Renogy
100 watt suitcase folding solar panel, inverter, battery pack, and toolbox.
By morning, I had set up the batteries and solar power systems, and an Icom
IC-718 HF transceiver. Fiberglass masts and antennas were erected. I then
contacted Richard Darling, AH7G, and William Radolfetheg, V63YWR, as
scheduled, with good propagation and signals. We ultimately conducted 35
health-and-welfare phone patches from Falalop, Ulithi, and another 38
patches from Federai back to Hawaii and beyond.
ARRL Pacific Section Manager Bob Schneider, AH6J, procured an ARRL HF Go Kit
from ARRL HQ to be set up as a secondary station at the dispensary. The kit
contained four VHF hand-held radios, which proved useful for local
communications.
Falalop Island was devastated, with vegetation gone, including food plants.
There was no shade. Our household had only 48 hours' supply of potable
water. Much of the water catchment systems on the island were destroyed. In
many cases, remaining standing water was contaminated and amoebic dysentery
became a problem. The water problem was solved when IOM set up a
desalinization plant. Water was then transported to the people by
wheelbarrow or by whatever containers could be found. Relief food and
supplies started to arrive from Guam.
Many had no houses left and the houses that remained had no roofs. The
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sent tarps for
temporary roofs. Most of the island's HF, SSB and VHF communications were
down for an extended period -- there was no power and most of the antennas
were destroyed. We got the dispensary's VHF communication systems up and
running again with emergency repairs on its antenna.
Insult to Injury
On Monday, May 4, tropical storm Noul hit us, and the next morning it hit
the rest of Yap as a full category 1 typhoon. Our 20-meter vertical was
blown almost horizontal, but continued to hang in there. During this storm,
we remained in communication with Darling, Radolfetheg, and Ray Gibson,
KH2GUM on Guam. Granola bars were the food of the day. Between 8 pm and 10
pm that night our dining hut with my antenna still attached finally blew
away. The next day, after the storm had blown by, we gathered all of the
pieces of the hut and rebuilt it. The vertical antenna and mast had survived
but the radials had broken. After more work, everything was repaired and we
were back up on the air. Unfortunately, all of the USAID tarps on the roofs
had blown down so we were back to square one with no roofs to protect many
of us. A week later, typhoon Dolphin came along, but thankfully it missed us
on Ulithi by a few hundred miles. It did hit Guam.
I was then tasked by the Yap State Department of Education to assist in
rebuilding and restarting the schools that had been destroyed. All of these
buildings were constructed with concrete!
The Value of Amateur Radio
There were two amateurs on Federai Island: William Radolfetheg, V63YWR and
Albert Haped, V63YAH. Richard Darling, AH7G, Ray Gibson, KH2GUM, and I were
in communications with Federai every evening as the storm approached. We
remained in communications until four hours before the storm made landfall.
As a result, the Federai community took our warnings very seriously and was
well prepared: Roofs were tied down with large ropes, school computers were
stored in the new dispensary, and families with children were sheltered in
the dispensary building. While Federai also had a lot of storm damage, they
fared much better than the other islands. The point is that Amateur Radio
communications can be even more valuable in advance of and leading into a
disaster like this where there is time for preparations to be made. Amateur
Radio communications in remote locales like this is more effective and
efficient than all other communication systems -- both before and after the
onset of the effects of the disaster. The health-and-welfare phone patches
alone were of great humanitarian value.
A technical note on antennas: the elevated ground plane antenna with
resonant radials performs very well. It's an inexpensive, effective,
efficient antenna, easy to transport, and easy to assemble. It is more
resilient than other antennas.
See the V63JB page on QRZ.com for photos and more information on typhoon
responses. -- John Bush, KH6DLK/V63JB; and Bob Schneider, AH6J, ARRL Pacific
Section Manager [Bush is the 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian Award
winner - ed.]
Amateur Radio Club Helps Promote Diabetes Awareness
---------------------------------------------------
Members of the University of Mississippi Amateur Radio Club (UMARC) provided
on-course communications for the annual Walk For Diabetes held in Oxford on
Sunday, November 8. The walk, sponsored by the Diabetes Foundation of
Mississippi, began at the Lyceum Loop on the university campus and continued
to the downtown area before returning to the Lyceum.
UMARC members took up positions at rest stops and key junctions, calling in
status reports on the progress of the more than 150 walkers via the club
repeater located on the campus.
The Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi conducts these and similar events to
raise awareness of diabetes and raise financial support in helping them
provide care for Mississippians who have diabetes.
Sarah Abraham, Program Coordinator, made the request to UMARC for supporting
the event. A number of walkers assembled in groups, each distinguished by
colorful tee shirts showing their support for a loved one who has diabetes.
All who finished the walk received a medal to wear and most got a tee shirt
promoting diabetes awareness.
Located on the university grounds, UMARC operates with station call sign
W5UMS. Members provide similar coverage for other local events such as the
annual Double-Decker Fun Run and anticipate a continued partnership with the
Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. -- Ron Lefebvre, W1IBL, President,
University of Mississippi Amateur Radio Club
Veterans' Day Month: HDSCS Loses One of Its Own
-----------------------------------------------
On November 6, the ARES-affiliated Hospital Disaster Support Communications
System, Orange County, California, lost member Roman Kamienski, KG6QMZ, a
Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves and active Army MARS operator. He was
remembered in a military memorial service complete with flag presentation to
his wife and a 21 gun salute. Only 56, he died of complications from a
ruptured cerebral aneurysm. During Roman's 12 years with HDSCS he
participated in almost every major drill. He also communicated in some
actual emergencies, including a 2004 phone failure caused by a power
interruption at an Anaheim Hospital. In 2005 he was on site for a standby
operation during phone work at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, which then
turned into an all-night emergency when the system did not come back on
line. In addition to a display of his military certificates and medals,
including the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf cluster for
distinguished achievement presented in 2007, Roman's wife added his HDSCS
blue vest, name badge, certificates related to HDSCS service and an HDSCS
commemorative challenge coin numbered 73. We were honored to have had him in
HDSCS as a communicator and antenna team member. - April Moell, WA6OPS,
District Emergency Coordinator, Amateur Radio Emergency Service; Hospital
Disaster Support Communications System, Orange County, Cailfornia
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