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Subj: ARES E-Letter July 19, 2017
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From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : ARES@WW
The ARES E-Letter July 19, 2017
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
In This Issue:
- RACES Supports Famed Ocean City Air Show
- Letters: "Communications Resiliency"
- If You Don't Document It, It Never Happened
- FEMA Region IV Seeks Hurricane Matthew Reports
- Editorial: Be Civil and Respectful
- N9BA For a Final: On Recruiting Younger Members
ARES Links, Briefs
------------------
Amateur Radio Volunteers in British Columbia Reported Assisting Relief
Agencies (7/8/17); Pikes Peak ARES at Right Place, Right Time (6/27/17)
Amateur Radio Volunteers Support Michigan's "One Helluva Ride" Bicycle Tour
(7/12/17)
Georgia ARES© has added a mutual assistance team service and protocols to
its program. From its website: "Georgia ARES Mutual Aid Team is a volunteer
team of highly trained local ARES members that are ready to share their
communication skills to help fellow ARES groups across the State and in
adjacent states." Its website features a repository of information and
YouTube training programs. Please click here for more on the Georgia ARES
MAT program.
Illinois Section Emergency Coordinator Fritz Bock, WD9FMB, was selected by
Jim Dwyer, Vice President of the Illinois Emergency Services Management
Association (IESMA) to join their organization, providing liaison to amateur
operators in Illinois. "This is a big step towards our common goals for
making our services known," said Illinois Section Manager Ron Morgan, AD9I.
IESMA is the voice of local emergency management in Illinois. Since 1965 it
has been their mission to coordinate the efforts of members in a common
cause to help protect the lives and property of those it serves. Check out
their website for additional information.
RACES Supports Famed Ocean City Air Show
----------------------------------------
Last year, the Office of Emergency Management in Ocean City, Maryland (OCEM)
asked Sussex County, Delaware Emergency Management for assistance at the
famous Ocean City Air Show, held over a weekend each year in June. Sussex
RACES was asked to provide radio communications support, and the Ocean City
EM was pleased with the RACES group's service. The event was managed under
the Incident Command System in Ocean City; the RACES operation was conducted
under the Operations Section.
Last month, RACES was back and better prepared, thanks to lessons learned
from last year's operation. The amateur service communications system
installation included a Diamond X-50 dual band antenna mounted on a mast
near the boardwalk at an elevation of fifteen feet, fed with LMR-400 coaxial
cable. The net control station employed a Yaesu FT-7800 dual band
transceiver, with a Heil Traveler single ear headset with boom mic. Coverage
on 2-meter simplex was good -- five to six blocks on low power for both the
net control's radio and all deployed field operators' hand-held radios. A
deep cycle battery provided sufficient power for the duration of the event,
with no need for recharging.
The net control station was issued an 800 MHz public safety radio set to the
interoperable channel selected for the air show. This frequency was not the
same channel being used by law enforcement, but rather by all the members of
the Incident Command team; law enforcement was reached through Operations,
which was the amateurs' contact for any issues that may have arisen.
The RACES mission was to put "feet on the street" to observe for medical
issues, lost persons, suspicious packages and hazardous conditions. Field
operators also answered general event questions from spectators. Any
situations were to be relayed to net control for relay to Operations on the
public safety radio. Net control also had contact with deployed CERT
personnel that had been assigned jobs by OCEM.
Knowledge and understanding of the Incident Command System is mandatory for
participation in Sussex RACES, which can be obtained by taking FEMA's
Independent Study courses IS-100, 200, 700, and 800. The interaction with
OCEM validated this need when operators were tasked with completing ICS
forms needed for records, and following protocols ordered by OCEM.
Consequently, the RACES operators dovetailed effectively with the OCEM
officials and incident communications ran smoothly and efficiently. All
group members filled out the ICS-214 form for the record and the completed
forms were left with OCEM. The adage, "if it isn't written, it didn't
happen" applies here. --Jerry Palmer, N3KRX, former District Emergency
Coordinator, Kent County, Delaware, Official Emergency Station and Official
Relay Station; current Kent County Assistant RACES Radio Officer and
Assistant Emergency Coordinator (photo by Frank Hunt, KB3WZG, who worked
with RACES and CERT teams for the OC Air Show)
Letters: "Communications Resiliency"
------------------------------------
I'm a retired IBM/GE/Air Force worker, turned STEM evangelist in Newport,
Rhode Island. During the school year, I teach (as a volunteer) cyber
security to middle school kids as part of the CyberPatriot (National Youth
Cyber Education Program) competition and then put the same group of kids
through a Technician licensing class. (When learning of cyber
vulnerabilities, these students understand the critical need for, and
develop a keen interest in, auxiliary back-up communication systems and
services, including the Amateur service). In the last two years, I've helped
more than ten kids get licensed and then linked them up as youth members of
the Newport County Radio Club (W1SYE).
You may have heard of the ongoing Rockefeller Foundation funded, global
initiative of building resiliency. Locally, I'm finding success in promoting
Amateur Radio by first having a consciousness-raising discussion on the
topic of "communications resiliency." Economic development officials are
trying to fashion this region into an attractive "resiliency" center of
excellence and as part of their efforts have shown interest in AREDN
(Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) mesh networking, for example. In
other efforts, one local city is moving forward with a solar-based
"microgrid" and a hydroponic lettuce farm.
As our small group of local hams look for potential AREDN node sites atop
buildings, I'm finding it easier to work with and gain acceptance from city
officials who think in terms of resilience in general as opposed to the
traditional selling of the Amateur Radio value proposition to an
overstretched, risk adverse EMA director.
I'm actively encouraging my local ham friends to begin using the phrase
"communications resiliency" when trying to generate interest in the service.
The resilience concept seems to propel the conversation beyond the usual
preconceived Amateur Radio emergency communications stereotypes.
Another related "value prop" that may help drive AREDN tech into the
community is by encouraging middle/high school students and teachers who are
participating in CyberPatriot and/or software coding to use and deploy
services sitting on the mesh network, such as VOIP phones, Raspberry Pis, a
Minecraft game server, IP cameras, chat, etc. Elected officials seem to be
tripping over one another promoting job-producing, coding and cyber skill
building opportunities. A capable AREDN node, powered by 100 amp/hour
battery/solar, could be deployed on a school roof for around $750. Small
client nodes can go into classrooms for $75. Once school usage ramps up,
then it could be the right time to invite the "resiliency" pols and EMA into
a mesh-equipped classroom with the message that this capable radio Internet
can be all theirs when schools are closed.
"I have a grant proposal in the hopper to deploy 3 nodes in 2018. I will let
you know if it gets funded by a foundation interested in Rhode Island
resiliency AND building STEM skills." -- Mike Cullen, K1NPT, Newport, Rhode
Island
[Editor's note: Cullen works with fellow Rhode Island amateur Denis Couture,
KD1HA. Couture is a retired PD officer and has been working closely with
Providence EMA, doing yeoman's work since 2014 on championing the placement
of mesh nodes around the Providence area. Cullen popped up in 2016 and
started approaching this from the classroom coding/cyber/teacher/economic
development side because "I could see the growing political support with
this kind of use case."
Cullen sees more opportunity for the amateur service: "The National
Governors Association met in Rhode Island last week, where Virginia Governor
Terry McAuliffe rolled out his #MeetTheThreat campaign -- 'States Confront
the Cyber Challenge.' A major element is building a cyber-skilled workforce.
For ARRL, this could be met by more hams working with CyberPatriot and its
executive director Bernie Skoch, K5XS, and then offering the same, motivated
cyber-concerned students a Technician licensing class." (The Newport County
Radio Club offers a half price youth membership and gives new licensees a
free, programmed HT if they pay for a two year membership).
The Rhode Island chapter of Infragard, the FBI-sponsored critical
infrastructure info sharing organization, was briefed on AREDN in June to
very strong interest. Cullen has an important follow up meeting with a
healthcare agency. He strongly encourages amateurs with links to critical
infrastructure to join Infragard (it's free and is an excellent place for
networking across sectors). Cullen says "This is an excellent time for the
Amateur Radio community to be at the table of a governor's cyber task force,
offering decentralized auxiliary communication services."
The efforts discussed above have had the support of ARRL Rhode Island
Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, who as a VE, according to Cullen, "gets
a kick out of seeing middle school age kids pass the Technician class exam,"
and also from newly appointed SEC Paul Silverzweig, N1PSX.]
If You Don't Document It, It Never Happened
-------------------------------------------
Most of us hate paperwork. That being said, anyone who has ever held a
position of leadership, be it in the military or in a company, or just from
our own personal lives knows that paperwork, especially reports, have to be
done. In the Amateur Radio community, everyone knows that to score on Field
Day, get a Worked All States (WAS) certificate, or to get a QSL card, you
have to do some reporting, even if it is electronic. In ARES, it is no
different, and it is perhaps even more important.
Here is a scenario: You are lobbying for a new law regarding antenna
restrictions or to use radios while driving. One of the selling points may
be that the Amateur service can be critically valuable during disasters and
emergencies. If you have never compiled hard data on how many operators
there are in your area or have signed up for ARES, if you have never logged
how many person-hours your area contributes each year to the community, and
so forth, then you are just making unsubstantiated claims. Maybe you will
have a couple of anecdotal examples, but they don't paint much of a picture.
As they used to say in school, "Anecdotes are not data!" So, compile the
reports and data now and continually.
In ARES, we have several reports that need to be filed, including event
reports, monthly reports, and annual reports. Event reports are the ARES
Form 1 "Public Service Activity Report" and Form A and B "Simulated
Emergency Test Report." These should be completed and filed within a few
days of any kind of ARES support for a public service event,
emergencies/disasters, severe weather, or even exercises/training and an
SET. The Form 1 is very important to fill out as it will help the local
Emergency Coordinator and District Emergency Coordinator compile and
complete their monthly reports as well as alert the ARRL HQ staff to any
high interest events that they may want additional information about; for
example, an ARES response to a local tornado breakout.
The monthly reports include the ARES Form 2 "Monthly DEC/EC Report" and ARES
Form 4 "Monthly Section Emergency Coordinator Report." These reports provide
a snapshot of your number of members, how much training you have done, how
many operations you supported, and the number of volunteer hours expended
during the month. These data are crucial for the ARRL leadership as they
give hard numbers to use for spectrum defense, changes to laws, and so on.
The ARES Form 3 "EC Annual Report" is similar to the monthly report, but it
focuses primarily on membership to help the Section EC understand the
capabilities of each district or area in their jurisdiction.
All of the reports should be sent to the SEC, though some, like the Form 1,
can be sent directly to the ARRL as well. It is the SEC's responsibility
(ref section 1.2, ARES Manual, 2015) to make sure the reports are being
filed and to ensure that accurate reports are compiled and sent to the ARRL.
There are over 70 sections and most are sub-divided to districts and local
areas, so you can imagine the nightmare of having just a couple of staffers
at ARRL HQ trying to compile reports from every EC and DEC. This means not
only do the SECs need to see these reports for their own awareness, but also
to compile summaries to reduce the number of reports being sent to ARRL HQ.
While most of the reports originate at the EC/DEC level (ref section 1.3 and
1.4, ARES Manual, 2015), if the SEC does not file the section reports or
ensure EC/DEC reports are being filed, then the ECs and DECs have little
reason or motivation to file their reports. There are even cases where ECs
and DECs are not even aware that there are reports or that they are
responsible for reporting, simply because the SEC never told them and never
asked for any reports.
All forms can be found on the ARRL website at
http://www.arrl.org/public-service-field-services-forms The ARRL has also
hosted some webinars to help explain why and how these forms are used, and
how to fill them out. See the ARES Forms webinar archived on YouTube.
The bottom line is the old adage, "If you don't document it, it never
happened." -- John Bloodgood, KD0SFY, Emergency Coordinator & Public
Information Officer, Region 2 District 2, Colorado ARES (Pikes Peak ARES)
FEMA Region IV Seeks Hurricane Matthew Reports
----------------------------------------------
A FEMA official from Region IV has requested reports on the amateur
community's responses to Hurricane Matthew last Fall. [FEMA's mission is to
support first responders and works to build, sustain, and improve capability
to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all
hazards. FEMA Region IV is responsible for these efforts in Alabama,
Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Tennessee.] In an e-mail to ARRL Northern Florida Section Manager Steve
Szabo, WB4OMM, FEMA Region IV official Jo Robichaud wrote "Any stories about
active involvement in response to Hurricane Matthew from the amateur radio
community would be greatly beneficial. While working in my Federal ESF#2
[Communications] position during Hurricane Matthew, I was aware that the
amateur operators and groups were monitoring nets. I wasn't able to get
immediate specific feedback on how successful their operations were. . . . I
feel that FEMA needs to have more involvement with ham operators and Amateur
Radio groups during disasters. I'm starting at the local levels to gather
success stories. This is my driving force to get Amateur Radio visibility at
the federal level. I'm a ham - KJ4DRV -- and so is my co-worker. For the
first time in history, FEMA Region IV had two volunteer ham operators
working along with us during Hurricane Matthew and I want this to continue
for every disaster. It's vital to our mission of saving lives and a
foundation for interoperability. Thanks for your help!" /s/ Jo Robichaud,
FEMA Region IV, Telecommunications - RF [Northern Florida Section Manager
Steve Szabo, WB4OMM, reports he has solicited reports for response to the
FEMA appeal. -- ed.] -- ARRL Northern Florida Section News
Editorial: Be Civil and Respectful
----------------------------------
On the way home from the Spring 2017 West Central Florida Section ARES
Meeting, I was running my handheld radio on APRS as a mobile tracker. I
received the following text message from someone: "Hey dummy, program your
radio correctly." Apparently someone did not like a parameter that was set
on my radio and took exception to it. The question I asked myself after the
comment had disturbed me was the following: What if I had been a new amateur
licensee? If so, I might have become discouraged and bitter as a result of
that comment. I might have quit.
There is a lesson to be learned from this incident. We in the amateur
community should always be civil to one another. This does not mean you
cannot disagree, but you can state your disagreement and remain
respectful/civil about it. It does not offend me if someone does not agree
with what I say or what I do, if it is in a civil manner. Lack of civility
is sadly a sign of the times we live in. Far too often today when one states
their viewpoint, even when they state it with civility, it is met with
rudeness or even with a vitriolic response. In Amateur Radio we should be
the exception to this trend and be civil to one another both on the air and
in person, as an example to our peers and to the next generation.
Another lesson to be learned here is to be aware that sometimes operators
have either technical issues with their equipment or procedures (AC hum on
the microphone, cracking sounds, wrong parameters programmed on digital
modes, improper operating procedure, etc.). It is okay to point an issue out
to them if you know what the problem is, but remember to be civil about it,
in a positive, helpful way. A new amateur may not have learned all of the
proper procedures yet. Talk to them in a respectful manner, preferably off
the air. In the case of most people, if you approach them with a modest and
humble attitude, they will listen to what you have to say. If I have a
problem, I would want someone to tell me, because I may not know about it.
One more lesson: We all have our favorite modes of operation and parts of
the service we enjoy more than others. Don't put down or demean another
amateur's interests. It's okay to invite other hams to join your part of the
hobby but if they say no, don't feel slighted. They might on the other hand
say yes, but you will not know until you ask. Also, if someone tells you
about their favorite mode, take the time to listen. You may decide it is not
of interest to you and say "No thank you" and that is perfectly okay. But on
the other hand you may say "yes."
The Amateur's Code was written by Paul Segal, W9EEA, in 1928 after another
time in which Amateur Radio had a tumultuous period before regulations fully
took effect in the mid 1920's. The Fourth point in the code says: "FRIENDLY
with slow and patient operation when requested, friendly advice and counsel
to the beginner, kindly assistance, co-operation and consideration for the
interests of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit". For the
full text of the code, please see http://www.qcwa.org/amateur-code.htm --
Darrell Davis, KT4WX, ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager, reprinted
from The WCF Presser and West Central Florida Section News
N9BA For a Final: On Recruiting Younger Members
-----------------------------------------------
How do we get more people, especially youth, involved? I am sure this is a
question that your local radio club or ARES team has asked many times. There
isn't any easy answer because what works in Vanderburgh County may not work
in Allen County. But, in general: You must give people and hams something
meaningful to get involved with and provide them with a sense of belonging.
All too often I have attended club meetings where they read the minutes from
the last meeting, read the treasurer's report and of course vote on both.
Then it is on to old and new business for a lengthy discussion. This format
for a club meeting isn't interesting to the younger generation. They want an
environment where they can learn. Limit the business portion, and have
hands-on live demos of hardware and software!
For the ARES teams across the section, hams want to belong to your team. If
you aren't having regular meetings and providing some sort of training, then
no one will want to be involved. A monthly training session is an excellent
way to build team cohesion and a sense of belonging. If you need training
ideas, please reach out and ask. -- Brent Walls, N9BA, ARRL Indiana Section
Manager, Indiana Section Newsletter, May 2017 issue
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