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AE5ME > ARES 23.04.16 01:09l 59 Lines 9187 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : LCG4PQRMARYR
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL ARES E-Letter April 20th Part 1 of 3
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N6RME<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160422/2244Z 36156@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
Oregon Amateurs Aid SAR Mission
?ARRL to offer Understanding Local MOU's webinar
?Tip: FEMA Daily Operations Briefings, Other News, Alerts, Available by E-Mail
?Baker to Vegas Relay Challenge Supported by Mass of Southwestern Hams
?Letters: ARDF and SAR
?Tech Tip: ARES/RACES Powerpole Configuration
?Letters: Of Tone Squelch Systems and Alerts
?Letters: Check Laws before Spiking the Ground
?FEMA Bulletin: Learn to Protect Yourself in a Tornado Situation
?Parting Shots
ARES Briefs, Links
FEMA Official Tells ARRL Delaware Section Conference that Her Agency Values Amateur Radio (4/14/16); Sign up for FEMA alerts, news, briefs here, see story below; Ohio SEC Hoping to Expand "NVIS Antenna Day" Activity this Year (4/6/2016); Hurricane Watch Net Seeks Net Control Operators (3/30/2016); Washington National Guard Communications Exercise Involves Use of 60 Meters (3/30/2016); Puerto Rico ARES Volunteers Take Part in Caribe Wave 2016 Exercise (3/21/2016)
The Florida Statewide Hurricane Exercise, tentatively scheduled for May 18, includes Amateur Radio support for this year's event: the plan calls for every county ARES group to send a simple message to the State EOC at Tallahassee via HF or SARNet (UHF). Details will be forthcoming from ARRL section leadership. An ARRL West Central Florida Section press release calls for ARES members statewide to contact their local Emergency Coordinator for information on how to participate.The State EOC has requested that individual amateurs are not to contact the State EOC or Division of Emergency Management concerning the exercise.
The ARRL Northern Florida Section ARES Communications Plan has been revised and updated for NIMS compliance, new technologies and modes, and will be released in time for implementation before the statewide hurricane exercise. -- ARRL Northern Florida Section Manager Steve Szabo, WB4OMM
At the 25th DuPage County (Illinois) Advanced Severe Weather Seminar on March 12, one of the sessions was a retrospective of the event, being its 25th anniversary. During that session, presenter Tom Mefferd paid tribute to Bob Hajek, W9QBH (SK), whose contributions to SKYWARN in the NWS/Chicago coverage area were numerous, including the transmission of the NOAA Weather Wire on 147.06 MHz and the Amateur Radio presence at the Weather Service office during storm events. "I considered Bob a friend and mentor, and it was good to hear his contribution woven into the history lesson," said ARRL Illinois Section Manager Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN.
The ARRL Maine Section is promoting free critical radio-communications on-line courses from Tait Radio Academy, an educational site sponsored by Tait Communications, a radio and repeater source for LMR devices. The Maine Section is recommending the courses on Basic Radio Awareness, Introduction to DMR, and Introduction to P25. According to the ARRL Maine Section News column, those that pass the final exams with 80% or better will be issued a certificate of successful completion.
Oregon Amateurs Aid SAR Mission
Mike Moore, W7ECX, of Joseph, Oregon was relaxing with his family on Sunday night, March 20, 2016 when he received a galvanizing call at 9:30 PM through the local repeater: Mike Musia, KG7MVI, a member of Wallowa County Oregon Search and Rescue (SAR), was calling Moore with a report of a missing snowmobiler in the rugged Salt Creek Summit (SCS) area of the Wallowa Mountains, 36 miles southeast of Joseph. The Wallowa County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) had unreliable communications in this area and Musia wanted a solid link back to SAR Incident Command. Moore immediately linked the local VHF repeater to the Salt Creek Summit UHF repeater and VHF remote base. Both of these facilities are owned and operated by Scott Hampton, KB7DZR. Musia was on his way to the summit to check for what might be the missing snowmobiler's vehicle on advice from the SAR dispatcher.
After Musia arrived at the summit, he found a vehicle, took its license plate number, and radioed Moore through the SCS repeater system. Musia asked that Moore relay the license number to WCSO Deputy Paul Pegano for identification, who subsequently informed Moore that the vehicle registration matched the identification of the missing snowmobiler. Pegano requested help from SAR to mount a search and rescue mission. Pegano also requested that Moore join SAR Incident Commander Jim Akenson at the SAR IC trailer in Enterprise to provide ad-hoc training for rescuers on radio communications technique and their multi-mode radios before they departed for the search area.
Although Moore's involvement was scheduled for only one or two hours, he eventually stayed on with Incident Commander Akenson to ensure that all communication systems were running properly and that the search teams were versed in the use of their radios. In addition, Moore set up several SAR-owned GPS trackers for each SAR member to carry as an added safety measure.
Salt Creek Summit posed temperatures in the mid-30s with winds of 10 MPH, and a mix of rain and snow. The area was completely snowed in with the exception of the summit access road from a nearby highway. Access to the rest of the area from the summit is limited to tracked vehicles, skis, and snow shoes. The SAR team operated with snowmobiles hauled up on trailers via the access road to the summit.
As Musia and other SAR team members entered the search area, Musia maintained contact with Moore through the remote VHF base. On advice from the missing man's son, searchers started scouring the most likely route the snowmobiler might have taken. At 3:00 AM, Musia radioed back to Moore that they had found the missing man. Musia reported that the man was wet, cold, and dehydrated but otherwise in good shape. Moore then contacted deputy Pegano who then contacted the man's wife. The missing man's snowmobile ignition had failed several miles down the trail and he had walked back two miles in a snow storm to a temporary shelter. After a quick medical check, searchers brought the man back to the summit and immediately returned to Enterprise, where the man's wife was waiting.
Deputy Pegano told Moore that he was thoroughly impressed with the reliability of Amateur Radio installations around the county. Pegano went on to say he was gratified by the willingness of Amateur Radio operators to help out in an emergency.
During the search, Scott Hampton, KB7DZR, Moore's wife Joy, K7DMK, and Musia's wife Anna, KG7CWW, kept in contact via their radios and telephones, relaying information and brain storming ideas to further serve the effort. -- Story written by Tom Bingham, WB7EUX, Joseph, Oregon, with information provided by Mike Moore, W7ECX, Joseph, Oregon
ARRL to offer Understanding Local MOU's webinar
ARRL Headquarters will be offering a training session for ARES Emergency Coordinators, District Emergency Coordinators and Section Emergency Coordinators on local, section, and state level Memorandums of Understanding for ARES. The training webinar will be Tuesday May 24, 2016 at 8pm Eastern Time. You may register for the webinar here. The webinar will be recorded and made available online afterward. All EC's, DEC's and SEC's are encouraged to participate. -- Mike Corey, KI1U, ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager.
Ad
Tip: FEMA Daily Operations Briefings, Other News, Alerts, Available by E-Mail
Thanks to a tip from ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, I signed up last year to receive FEMA daily operations briefings by e-mail. These briefings contain a quick summary of national weather forecasts, U.S. fire weather outlooks, and hazards outlooks for three-day periods (examples: much above normal temperatures, heavy rain or snow, severe weather). A Space Weather report covers geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, sun spot activity, and a world map and graphs of impacts on HF communications and radio blackouts.
A table on disaster requests and declarations is furnished in the report. For example, in the current briefing, there are three declaration requests being processed: one for flooding in Louisiana, another for severe drought in the Marshall Islands, and one for severe storms and flooding in Illinois. Another map of the U.S. shows which FEMA field offices are open. Two tables on FEMA readiness - one on deployable assets/teams, and the other on national/regional teams - round out the report.
The briefing is, well, brief - a lot of valuable information is presented mostly graphically, rendering the report easy and quick to scan and read. I can get through it in just a minute or two. I recommend to ARES, RACES and other program members to sign up for this daily FEMA mailing for national, regional and local situational awareness.
Other FEMA Mailings
I've signed up for other FEMA mailings, too. I receive updates to emergency and major disaster declarations, CERT program updates, and a host of other topics. There is a wealth of information that would be of interest to ARES leadership and registrants. Readers can learn more and sign up for e-mailings here. Check it out! [I've reproduced a typical FEMA educatonal e-mail bulletin on tornadoes below] - K1CE
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