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The ARES E-Letter

December 21, 2016
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE

In This Issue:

 *  Looking Out for Number One in a Disaster Area
 *  Ohio ARES: A Busy Year in Review
 *  Letters: American Legion's Amateur Radio Program
 *  K1CE for a Final


ARES Briefs, Links

Radio Amateurs Assisting in Wake of Indonesian Earthquake (12/9/16); Emergency
Communication Exercise Uses "Hamsphere(R)" to Introduce Youth to Virtual Ham
Radio (12/7/16); Amateur Radio Volunteers Providing Shelter Communication
Support in Tennessee (11/30/16); Tennessee ARES on Standby in Wildfire
Emergency, Local Amateur Radio Volunteers Assisting (11/29/16); Hurricane Watch
 Net Stands Down after Hurricane Otto Makes Landfall in Nicaragua (11/25/16)

________


2016 SKYWARN Recognition Day is a wrap. The popular annual on-the-air event
celebrates the long, mutually beneficial relationship between weather
forecasters and radio amateurs/spotters. From a banner on the Melbourne,
Florida, National Weather Service website: "Another SKYWARN Recognition Day is
in the record books! Thank you to all of our Amateur Radio volunteers who made
this another successful event! This page will be updated with pictures and this
 year's stats soon." We will publish stats and anecdotes from this year's SRD
as they come in. Watch for February 2017 QST coverage in the Public Service
column, including reports of activity at the Taunton, Massachusetts NWS
facility and operation from W1AW.

______


A new version of the IARU Emergency Telecommunications Guide (September 1,
2016) is available here.
http://www.iaru.org/uploads/1/3/0/7/13073366/...

______


A Rural County ARES Group Planned for Hurricane Matthew -- In preparation for
Hurricane Matthew's arrival on the Florida peninsula in October, Gilchrist
County (a rural county northwest of Gainesville) EC John Greiner, KJ4YPZ,
worked at the county EOC with a good plan for his ARES ops: "to monitor the
147.285 MHz repeater in [the farming town of] Bell, and when conditions
warranted, I would put out a call every hour at the bottom of the hour (30
minutes past the hour) for any emergency traffic. If stations were on emergency
 power, they could call at that time and save power the rest of the hour. At
the top of the hour (on the hour) I would change frequency to the 146.82 MHz
repeater to confer with neighboring Alachua county ARES and EOC where I would
remain for 10 minutes to relay and pass traffic/info as needed." Greiner
planned for ARES to "monitor in place." If shelters were opened, Greiner would
send two radio operators with 2-meter radios, "but I would have the last word
on any deployments necessary."

______


For a California ARES Hospital Communications Group, it gets real after
participating in a major statewide medical drill -- The 2016 Statewide Medical
and Health Exercise took place on November 17 and was scarecely over for a
month when the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS), a
specialized ARES group in Orange County, California, was called out for the
real thing. On Monday, December 12, around 1:15 PM, phones went down at Anaheim
 Global Medical Center. In accordance with the hospital emergency plan, HDSCS
was contacted using the HDSCS Call-Up sheet. The hospital's assistant disaster
coordinator informed the HDSCS contact of the problem and the request for
multiple operators to back-up communications. A call over a local repeater used
 by HDSCS yielded two operators ready to put the system into action. Within a
few minutes a base station was established and a lead communicator was on his
way to the hospital.

The base station and an assistant emergency coordinator made calls using the
HDSCS "first wave" sheet. Over the next 15 minutes another three operators were
 identified and began their responses to the hospital. An additional three
operators were contacted in case more would be needed and indicated their
availability. As the first operator arrived, a hospital command center had been
 established. In under an hour, four communicators were on site with one
operator staying in contact with the base station and the other three backing
up internal communications.

Training in Hospital Incident Command System protocols was helpful for the
radio operators in working with the 213 and 214 ICS forms and the hospital
staff knowing about the job action sheet preferred by Orange County hospitals.
While this facility did have a back up phone system that provided some coverage
 for the most critical departments and some hand-held radios, the radio
amateurs were wanted also: while some patient care staff could make a call on a
 hand-held radio, they couldn't always listen and preferred the HDSCS operators
 to handle communications.

A relief operator, identified from the initial call-up, did come on site about
4 1/2 hours into the incident. The system was declared stable just over 6 hours
 after the activation, and with that, the communicators on site were asked to
participate in the debriefing with the hospital staff. This phone outage was
the 123rd emergency and the 97th phone outage to which HDSCS has responded
since 1980. -- April Moell, WA6OPS, District Emergency Coordinator, ARRL Orange
 Section, ARES Hospital Disaster Support Communications System

[Moell added this commentary: "Many groups may drill with hospitals but
typically the hams show up prior to the start of the drill and when the
activity starts everyone is already in place. That is not the real world case
when it hits the fan. The fact that we are always, and I mean always, making
sure hospitals have current activation procedures and names, more than one, is
why we have had timely responses to our hospitals over the years. We were on
site before the phone technicians were in this incident, and it's not the first
 time. Our first wave sheets really help make call-up more efficient. Our first
 calls are to those who are closer and most likely available at certain times
of day to hospitals. Being educated about hospitals and EMS organization and
disaster plans make us valuable additions to the hospitals in the little and
big disasters." -- ed.]



You Can Take It With You -- Build a Go-Box Station

In this article I share both my experience with designing a versatile go-box,
as well as my operating experiences outside of the shack. Consider the variety
of locations you would like to operate from and let this project inspire you to
 enjoy similar experiences and convenience. Having participated in many field
day events, as well as serving in various emergency/disaster communications
response roles, I can attest to the benefit of having all the critical
components conveniently pre-wired in one place. There is an added benefit to
quickly adjust between diverse environments such as home, portable, and mobile
operations without the hassle of installing and uninstalling radio equipment.


Background

Being a requirements engineer, I applied a systems approach to this project
with the goals of developing a go-box that would be capable of HF, VHF, and UHF
 operation; easily transformed between a portable, mobile/rover, or home
operating environment; usable for digital modes, using a sound card device and
software where possible; lightweight enough to carry (e.g., through an airport
terminal); and small enough for aircraft carry-on (i.e., 22x15x9). It was
important for me to maximize the capabilities of my station while minimizing
the weight and ensuring simplicity. The main focus was on packaging the three
basic components of a station: transceiver, antenna tuner, and sound card
interface. At the same time, a decision was made not to include a power supply,
 but rather rely on various power options that were particular to the
environment I would be operating in, thus saving on total weight.

There are a number of HF/VHF/UHF radios on the market that offer multi-mode
capabilities. Add to that a wide variety of sound card interfaces, a computer,
and lastly, a general-purpose antenna tuner and you have the beginnings of a
highly versatile station. As a concept shown in Figure 1, the commonly-used
components could be packaged and pre-wired together in the go-box. Depending on
 the chosen operating environment, the user may substitute various accessories
and antenna(s) as needed. Note: For safety and convenience, especially in a
mobile environment, I recommend using a radio that has remote-head
capabilities.

After some trial and error, I selected the MTM Case-Gard's sportsman utility
dry (SPUD) box, specifically, the SPUD-2 model, as it has a comfortable
carrying handle and provides enough depth, strength, and support needed to
handle the weight of the radio gear.

The components I selected for this go-box were the Icom IC-706 Mark IIG
transceiver, the LDG Z-100 Plus autotuner with the radio interface cable, as
well as the Tigertronics SignaLink USB sound card interface, as seen in Figure
2. A small Anderson Powerpole junction box simplifies wiring. The total weight
of this packaged solution is less than 17 pounds.


Operating Environments

Below are typical operating environments and special uses where you can safely
and effectively operate the station. You should consider how many of these
environments apply to your particular needs before designing your own packaged
solution.

  Home station
  A fully featured system that can be used with a power supply,
  an antenna, and power for the computer.

  Mobile
  A limited set of functions on HF/VHF/UHF with a remote head
  for driver safety and convenience.

  Contesting Station
  Add a headset and foot switch, and laptop computer, and it is
  ready for contest logging, DX Spotting, and digital sound card
  modes. The sound card interface can also act as a digital
  voice-keyer, saving you from calling CQ for hours on end.

  Emergency Station
  Perfect for quick setup, a quick-deploy NVIS antenna, and VHF
  vertical antenna for operating HF, VHF, or the popular e-mail
  over radio software such as Winlink Express.

  Boating
  Since many of the sensitive components are packaged securely, it
  is possible to operate this in a marine environment as well -
  consider harsh environments when designing your go-box.

Additional Benefits of a Good Design:
 *  Security of being able to easily remove the go-box from a vehicle when
    not in use
 *  Quickly adaptable among various operating environments
 *  Allows hams to only need one radio that serves multiple purposes


Design Considerations

Topic                    Best Practice
Component Monitoring     Bolts/nuts are best for installation,
                         but Velcro should be sufficient for
                         smaller components. Another option is to
                         tie wrap components on to sanded plywood
                         for good results. Mount radio on lower
                         portion of box, using rubber feet to
                         raise angle of radio for less strain
                         when using controls. Put less-used
                         materials on the top shelf. When
                         mounting SO-239 connectors through the
                         case, use star washers to keep the
                         connectors in place.

Additional Accessories   As a convenience, add an external
                         speaker, volt meter, USB port to charge
                         small devices, and a dual-band DB-J2
                         roll-up antenna.

Documentation            Consider adding a manual or guide for
                         your radio or create your own document
                         for nontraditional (set and forget)
                         settings (i.e., port speed for radio to
                         computer communications, operating
                         various digital modes software, and
                         preferred audio settings for each).
                         Print the document on laminated paper to
                         fit neatly into the go-box.

Labeling                 Don't forget to label all connectors.
                         Also, print labels with your name and
                         call sign inside the box and cover.

Mobile Use               If you wish to use the go-box as a
                         mobile rig, the radio should have
                         remote-head capability. Mounting the
                         head unit remotely will provide
                         additional space inside the box.

Air Travel               The go-box fits the aircraft carry-on
                         bag size requirements; however, consider
                         what you store in the case as there is
                         an ever-growing list of prohibited items
                         that cannot be transported on a
                         commercial flight.


The Guts of it All

The internals are very simple. A thin high-grade plywood shelf slides between
parallel guides as seen in Figure 3. The power, coax, and braided cables need
to be long enough to slide out with the shelf when accessing the components.
Optional internal fused circuits for protection, or a small fan for cooling
that may be needed during mobile operation, are not shown.

The top shelf holds less frequently-used components such as the SignaLink and
auto tuner. Therefore, the bottom shelf is reserved for more frequently used
items such as the transceiver, thereby reducing arm muscle strain when in
operation. Note, in Figure 4, there is a 1½" hole in the top shelf for passing
wires through the shelf to the bottom of the go-box.

The bottom shelf is mainly for the radio with storage space for remote head or
other accessories.


Pennsylvania QSO Party, 2016 - the shake-down

I traveled from my home in Oregon to operate in Pennsylvania with Randy George,
 N3ZK and Frank Bobro, N3FB, to test out my new go-box under multi-operator
contest conditions. I was able to transport the go-box on board as an airline
carry-on (with no fuss from airport security) easily fitting in the overhead
compartment. For contesting in the Pennsylvania QSO Party, I used a Heil
headset, foot switch, and tablet computer. I was surprised that with running
pileups for two hours straight, the heat dissipation from the go-box was
sufficient and no additional fans were required. The N1MM contesting software
allowed sending digital voice recordings through SignaLink, which worked very
well.

The only additional piece of equipment I needed was a small folding table to
hold the go-box, my computer, and I still had ample room for food and drink!


Conclusion

Building a go-box can be very rewarding and will definitely draw attention from
 fellow ham club members. Hopefully, I have inspired you to build your own
go-box for those times when an out-of-shack operational need presents itself.
Just to reiterate, it is important when designing your go-box to consider
various operating environments; you never know when an emergency situation may
arise that could depend on your services for communication to the outside
world. -- Paul Lusardi, N0VLR, Corvallis, Oregon; member, Benton County ARES,
Search and Rescue, and Oregon Disaster Medical Team



Looking Out for Number One in a Disaster Area

All of us who have had even minimal experience at the scene of any form of
disaster, man-made or natural, know just how rapidly things can change in that
environment. We have our "go bags" ready for what we believe we will need to
get us through the situation/deployment. But have we given any thought about
what would happen if, during our deployment, something were to happen to us,
both on a minor scale and a larger scale?

For the minor scale issues, I suggest what I call a personal comfort pack. This
 would include items such as pain killers, cough drops, Antacid, lip balm, sun
screen, any prescription drugs you may need, a few Band-Aids(R), a few granola
or power bars, and anything else you think may make your deployment a little
easier and more comfortable for you, such as eye drops if you wear contact
lenses.

All of these items can fit into a small pouch: I use a nice weather proof
camera case I found in a local thrift store! Many of the items listed can be
found in small quantities in the travel section of some stores. These smaller
versions are ideal for your kit. Of course your kit doesn't have to be small.
If you want more comfort items than can fit into a small pouch you could always
 go bigger. Popular now in some sporting goods stores are the plastic military
style "ammo cans." These would also be a good choice for your personal comfort
kit. They are inexpensive, light weight and have a rubber gasket around the lid
 to give it some degree of water resistance. These "cans" can even hold a
bottle of water if you wanted one.

Now that you have taken care of the little things, what can you do to help
yourself if something more serious happened to you during your deployment and
you were unable to communicate? Most Emergency Medical Technicians are used to
looking at a person's wrist or neck for a medic alert bracelet or necklace, so
I got a very small brightly colored flash drive and labeled it on both sides,
"Mike B. MEDICAL."

Since there are laptops everywhere now, from mobile data terminals (MDT's) in
the squad emergency transport vehicles to the desks in the trauma center, you
can communicate a great deal of information without being conscious by having
it readily available on the little flash drive.

On mine, I have the following: Page one has my name, address, home phone and
date of birth. It also lists the names and cell phone numbers of my wife and
daughters. At the bottom, in red and in all caps, I have listed no allergies
and my blood type. The next few pages list my personal medical history to
include the type of medical incident (broken bones, surgeries, etc.) the
attending physician's name, the date and location of treatment. After that I
have a sheet with a copy of the labels of all prescription medications I am
currently on. This gives the hospital the type of medication, dose, and the
name of the physician who prescribed it.

Next I have a page that has a copy of all my doctor's business cards, from my
family doctor to a specialist, my dentist and even my optometrist. I provide
this so that if a trauma center or ER doctor has a specific question, he/she
can contact my doctor directly. Lastly I provide a page of family medical
history. Depending on what has happened to you, this information could be very
important.

You might say, well I have a card in my wallet with my spouse's contact
information -- they can just call him/her and get the information needed, and
you would be correct, they could. However, in some medical situations, time is
of the essence and if they had any difficulty contacting your spouse, they are
using up critical time.

Conclusion: It takes very little effort to put together a personal comfort pack
 and personal medical information onto a flash drive. Do it for yourself and
your family. -- Mike Burg, N8QQN, Emergency Medical Technician [Burg retired
recently as Chief of Police. One of the first things he did after making Chief
was to install a 2-meter radio and station in the department. Burg said, "Since
 the department is one of the three 9-1-1 centers in the county, we have a
massive generator that runs the entire building in the event of a power outage.
 By putting the station there, my club was always able to get on the air."]



Ohio ARES: A Busy Year in Review

In addition to providing radio communications in support of public safety and
security at the Republican National Convention in July, the ARRL Ohio section
doubled its involvement in public events and incidents over the activity of the
 previous year. Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Broadway, N8BHL, credited
his team of local and District Emergency Coordinators for their participation
in long planning meetings, intense preparations and successful operations. Ohio
 ARES solidified its relationships with numerous emergency management agencies
and Red Cross offices over the course of the busy year.

The number of Ohio ARES members completing FEMA IS-100, 200, 700 and 800
courses steadily increased: a database shows more than 500 ARES members now
holding 3,263 course certificates. In Ohio, ARES volunteers who report to an
EOC or incident field operation must hold the NIMS/ICS course completion
certificates.

Some Ohio groups are developing MESH (2.4 GHz) digital networking systems while
 others are working on applications in Winlink, the hybrid Internet/RF-based
email system. In several counties, ARES organizations are upgrading, expanding
and developing stations in their local EOCs. The Ohio state EOC station is
being fitted with all new radio equipment -- the remodeling and installation is
 expected to be completed before the end of the year. Many other groups were
busy upgrading communications trailers for emergency/disaster response, some in
 cooperation with CERT programs.

ARES members again participated in Ohio's NVIS Antenna Day, testing the ability
 to communicate within the state using HF radio frequencies. In 2015, ARES
members participated in their first ARES VHF Contest, designed to test and
improve local communication capabilities for those times when all else,
including repeaters, fails. The next Ohio ARES VHF Contest will be held on
January 14.

SEC Broadway said about the year, "From bringing aid to a stricken hunter
outside of cell phone range to being a standing backup during the RNC, to
activating to help at an EOC, our ARES volunteers won the confidence of EMA
directors, and assumed a higher position of trust."



Letters: American Legion's Amateur Radio Program

I'd like to pass along some information that I had only recently discovered,
and I suspect that many amateurs are unaware of: The American Legion has an
active Amateur Radio club and program that seems to parallel what we do in
ARES. I thought it was interesting that veterans are involved in public service
 via the conduit of Amateur Radio also. It's a great story and it made me feel
good to join them, along with being an ARES member. You can find more about the
 American Legion program here. - Joe Wright, KG7CWG, Forks, Washington



K1CE for a Final

Happy holidays from your editor and staff on the ARES E-Letter editorial campus
 here in Daytona Beach, Florida, "The World's Most Famous Beach"! 73, Rick
Palm, K1CE

_____


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)\/(ark

Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it
wrong...
... An amusing concept no doubt but the dish itself will brutalize your soul.
---
 * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)