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The ARES E-Letter

November 16, 2016
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE


In This Issue:

 *  Learn to Use Your Repeater's Autopatch
 *  Notes from California Wildfire Responses; Lessons Learned
 *  Popular TV Show HamRadioNow Adds "EmComm Extra"
 *  Profiles in ARES : Meet Bob Turner, W6RHK, ARRL Orange Section Emergency
    Coordinator
 *  ARES Members: Become a PIO


ARES Briefs, Links

Hurricane Watch Net Honors Bermuda Radio Amateur (11/4/16); National Geographic
 Channel Ham Radio Guide Supports Before MARS Prequel (11/2/16); ARES/RACES
Supports Office of Emergency Management during Presidential Debate (10/27/16);
Philippine Hams Team Up to Confront Back-to-Back Typhoons (10/24/16)

Ecuador Radio Club Recognizes ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager, Ham Aid --
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, was recognized by the
Guayaquil Radio Club (GRC) of Ecuador for coordinating the work of the ARRL and
 of several other radio amateurs to provide Ham Aid equipment to Ecuador this
past spring, following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in April. Read the full
report here.



Learn to Use Your Repeater's Autopatch

On Monday, May 23, 2016 Amador (California) Amateur Radio Club President Paul
Keeton, KI6LZC, was on deployment with the Red Cross in Calaveras county for
the Butte Fire Recovery when he came across a woman lying on the roadway. There
 was no cell signal there, so he used the autopatch available on the Amador
repeater to call 911. This was an excellent example of autopatch use. Keeton
would have had to drive to the nearest town (West Point) to use a phone there.
As he noted, "Autopatch is very handy up here in the mountains." The woman
recovered. - ARRL Sacramento Valley Section ARES News

Radio amateurs in the US enjoy a great privilege -- the ability to interconnect
 their stations and repeaters with the public telephone system. The wisdom of
the federal government in permitting, and even in defending, this freedom has
been demonstrated time and again. There is no way to calculate the value of the
 lives and property that have been saved by the intelligent use of phone patch
and autopatch facilities in emergency situations. As with any privilege, this
one can be abused, and the penalty for abuse could be the loss of the privilege
 for all amateurs. Study the ARRL Autopatch Guidelines here. -- ARRL



Ten Steps to Access Your Repeater's Autopatch

1. Ensure that the repeater is not in use. If it is, but the reason for the
autopatch is to report an emergency, transmit the word "break" to break into
the QSO. An emergency involves the immediate safety of life or protection of
property.

2. State that you are going to use the autopatch - "This is K1FUG, bringing up
the autopatch."

3. Wait a few seconds for any other station to break in with a possible
emergency.

4. Use your mic's DTMF keypad to transmit the repeater's autopatch access code.

5. When you hear the dial tone, push the mic's PTT button, and key in the phone
 number of the party you are calling.

6. Take your finger off the PTT button to receive, and you should hear the
repeater controller confirm by voice that you're making an autopatch, followed
by the called party's phone ringing.

7. When the called party answers, transmit and speak normally. Immediately tell
 the party that you're calling via a ham radio and that they are "on the air"
to head off any inappropriate statements.

8. Explain that the phone call is not duplex; that is, only one party can speak
 at a time. In the event the other party states inappropriate words or
sentences, you can block the party's speech by simply keying your transmitter,
and then terminating the 'patch.

9. Keep transmissions short and the complete call as brief as possible.

10. Finish the call by saying good-bye and enter the autopatch termination code
 provided by your repeater club. (Note: Autopatch access codes are typically
furnished only to repeater club members who support the repeater. Hint: Join
and support your local repeater clubs!). The repeater controller will confirm
autopatch termination. It's common courtesy to then thank the repeater sponsor
for the use of the autopatch.

Remember!

When you use the autopatch, everything you and the called party say is
transmitted over the air for anybody with a scanner or live stream Internet
connection to hear. User discretion is advised! Also, the autopatch is for
short communications, not lengthy, breezy chats - three minutes max! Some
controllers will remind you when you have thirty seconds left. The autopatch is
 usually restricted to local calls only.



Notes from California Wildfire Responses; Lessons Learned

California, and the west in general, has suffered wildfires of epic
proportions. Recently, a few ARES and other amateur responders wrote about
their experiences and lessons learned.

Lou Arbanas, NJ6H, District EC for Monterey County, California, reported that
this past summer's Chimney and Sobranes fires posed challenges for the amateur
community. For many operators and CERT teams who had not drilled previously
with Monterey County ARES prior to the fires, county ARES protocols and
processes in the first weeks of the fires were confusing. The fires affected
only sparsely populated areas, and existing, normal communications
infrastructure remained intact, thus significant ARES assistance was not
indicated. Amateurs did not self-activate or self-deploy, which was a positive,
 and critically important for any incident, but more training during controlled
 exercises and communications operations for public events is clearly indicated
 for the future.

In Monterey county, its sheer size challenges the communications structure
within the ARES organization. ECs were able to text (short message service --
SMS) each other where VHF/UHF links were not possible. In the first hours of
the fires, ECs texted photos and messages to the EOC, which proved valuable
there as reports from "eyes on the ground." ECs maintained communication with
their operational areas (OA) and provided their ARES volunteers with
information as needed. Lesson learned: The use of the most efficient and
effective mode/service of communications is always indicated, regardless of
whether it is the amateur service or not, including social media! Other
efficient systems can and should be employed whenever possible; for example,
Web EOC was fully active and functioned well on keeping radio traffic down. As
the hours turned into days, days to weeks, and weeks to months, Web EOC allowed
 operators to stay connected, contributing from their offices and homes without
 having to spend hours physically at the EOC.

Liaison was quickly forged with San Luis Obispo County and Salinas Valley
repeater owners in the first days of the Sobranes Fire. Mutual aid arrangements
 were made with the Santa Clara OA through Brandon Bianchi, NI6C, Section
Manager, and Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Carr, KE6AGJ; thus, Monterey
County ARES was in an elevated state of readiness and prepared to function,
with support available.



Butte Wildfire 2015

The Butte Fire raged southeast of Sacramento, California, in the Stanislaus
National Forest region last year. Amador County ARES supported the Red Cross
shelter with radio communications for 102 hours in September, 2015. Daniel L.
Edwards, KJ6WYW, Amador County EC, reported that three operators deployed to
the shelter on short notice, and set up a station from a go-box and a 2-meter
band antenna. Shelter staffers provided chairs, table and extension cords for
the operation. ARES ops erected a pop-up tent over the table. A net was
announced, and ARES members checked in. An NCS rotation and roster was
announced, with shifts limited so that operators would not become fatigued.
Each shift consisted of two operators: One manned net control and the other
provided liaison with the shelter personnel. Handi-talkies were used for
communication between these individuals. Operators also monitored a Cal Fire
channel. ARES set up a communications trailer with a third mobile unit/station
and alternative power sources. Yolo County ARES volunteered support as did
Sacramento ARES, for well-received mutual aid.

No official messages were sent or received but ARES net operators did
disseminate situation reports and observations on the location and movement of
the fire, the closure of roads and the areas being evacuated, which proved
valuable to agencies struggling with coordination. With the ARES station's
prominence in the shelter's parking lot, ARES operators found themselves
becoming the first point of contact for evacuees coming to the shelter. To
insure that the repeater was kept clear for network traffic, it was announced
each hour that the repeater was under net control for traffic
limited to fire-related messages and reports. Cooperation of regular repeater
users was outstanding. A positive outcome was that the repeater manager will
program the repeater to include automated statements for use in future
incidents.



Los Angeles

ARRL Los Angeles (LAX) Section Manager Diana Feinberg, AI6DF, reported that Los
 Angeles County (which with 10.2 million residents comprises the entire ARRL
LAX Section) Amateur Radio operators were not activated during any large-scale
fires or disasters to-date in 2016. There was, however, a CERT-like Amateur
Radio group in a mountain community that did an outstanding job of undertaking
their own radio operations for two days during a 400-acre brush fire in June
caused by a car accident, with the disaster Amateur Radio group at a nearby
Sheriff's Station also activated for about a day.

ARES in Los Angeles County is largely committed to providing back-up
communication for hospitals during major disasters (the amateur service is
seventh of the eight protocols for disaster response communication with the
County health services department.) Many LAX ARES members participate in the
annual Statewide Healthcare Exercise testing hospital operations and
communications in disaster situations. [This year's exercise will be held
tomorrow, November 17].

On the RACES front, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has a large
group of disaster communications-prepared Amateur Radio operators as Sheriff's
Volunteers across 23 Sheriff's Stations that have fully-equipped Amateur Radio
rooms, radios and antennas on the Station towers (Feinberg serves as the
countywide training chief for this organization). Five of these stations also
have specialized volunteer mountain search and rescue teams to find lost or
injured hikers and motorists -- and Amateur Radio operators at those Sheriff's
Stations have often been called up to provide
auxiliary communication in back country areas. Additionally, almost half the
County's 88 incorporated cities including the City of Los Angeles have their
own disaster Amateur Radio group. ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director
Marty Woll, N6VI, also serves as Training Officer for the City of Los Angeles'
Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) radio organization.

Volunteer radio groups were not activated for the 41,400-acre Sand Fire that
raged in north L.A. County for over a week during July 22-31, 2016. A stated
reason for not using any volunteers then was safety concerns following
shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas, and elsewhere during the
previous weeks. Additionally there were no significant disruptions to normal
communication systems. Unlike some other areas in the United States, all fire
departments in Los Angeles County are completely staffed with 24/7 full-time
professionals (plus some low-risk inmate wildfire teams). Only two small
communities rely on volunteer firefighters for fire-suppression assistance
while leaving paramedic services to full-time professionals.

For the most part, the volunteer disaster Amateur Radio organizations in Los
Angeles County train regularly, heavily focused on a major earthquake scenario.
 I expect all these disaster Amateur Radio groups will be fully involved then.
- Diana Feinberg, AI6DF, ARRL Los Angeles Section Manager



SKYWARN Recognition Day Webinar

The 18th SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) will be held December 3, 2016 from
0000UTC to 2400UTC. SKYWARNTM Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the
National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. It celebrates the
 contributions that SKYWARN volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection
of life and property. Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of
the SKYWARN volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also
provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal
communications become inoperative. During the SKYWARN Special Event operators
will visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators across the world.

This year, in the week before SRD 2016, there will be a webinar that covers the
 basics of the event, how to participate, and a few changes that are in store
for 2016. The webinar will be November 29 at 8pm ET. Registration for the
webinar can be found here. As with all ARRL webinars it will be recorded and
posted to the ARRL YouTube channel afterward.



Popular TV Show HamRadioNow Adds "EmComm Extra"

The popular TV show/YouTube show/Podcast HamRadioNow is adding presentations on
 emergency and disaster response communications subjects. HamRadioNow is an
online television show, webcast, podcast, and a YouTube show for and about
Amateur Radio. The host is Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, a radio amateur and broadcaster
for 50 years. The show is recorded, not live, and there's no set schedule.
Viewers can watch the show at any time on the Episode Pages on its website, or
on its YouTube Channel. Or listeners can download just the audio and listen on
their phones with the RSS feed. The format is primarily a talk show with a pair
 of hosts and a series of guests. Co-host is David Goldenberg, W0DHG, an
Emergency Coordinator. (Pearce has an ARES/PIO background).

Goldenberg and Pearce have announced that they are planning to produce a show
whenever an incident occurs that warrants discussion of lessons learned. "The
goal is to provide an interesting, entertaining and useful look at
emergency/disaster response activity in the context of Amateur Radio," said
Pearce. "We do in-depth shows (usually an hour or more), and can go way beyond
a cursory summary of an event or drill," he said. Spurring this new aspect of
the show was Hurricane Matthew. "We did an off-the-cuff show as HamRadioNow
Episode 270, then a more formal show (Episode 274) featuring Emergency
Coordinators from Florida and South Carolina in the storm's aftermath," Pearce
said. There have been emergency/disaster response themed shows before,
collected and published on an "EmComm Playlist" on the YouTube Channel. -- Gary
 Pearce, KN4AQ, Cary, North Carolina, HamRadioNow



Profiles in ARES: Meet Bob Turner, W6RHK, ARRL Orange Section Emergency
Coordinator

Bob Turner, W6RHK, is the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) for the ARRL
Orange Section [The Orange Section is part of the ARRL Southwestern Division,
and is made up of four counties: Inyo County, Orange County, Riverside County,
and San Bernardino County, in California. Carl Gardenias, WU6D, has served as
Section Manager since 2003, with the section continuing to grow with 40 clubs
now active.] Turner first served as a local Emergency Coordinator, then as
District Emergency Coordinator overseeing activities in Riverside County. As
part-time faculty with Moreno Valley College in the Public Safety Education and
 Training department he has taught courses in Introduction to Homeland
Security; Preparedness for Emergencies, Disasters and Homeland Security
Incidents; and Recovery in Emergencies, Disasters and Homeland Security
Incidents. As one of the Subject Matter Experts, Turner helped write the
curriculum for all six Homeland Security courses that Moreno Valley College
offered.

Turner earned a B.S. degree from Rochester Institute of Technology with
concentrations in Disaster and Emergency Management, and Technical
Communications. He is a certified Emergency Management Specialist through the
National Association of Safety Professionals. Through the American Board for
Certification in Homeland Security, Turner is a Certified National Threat
Analyst, a Certified Intelligence Analyst, and holds a Level IV certification
in Homeland Security. He serves as a Terrorism Liaison Officer for the Joint
Regional Intelligence Center and is a member of the Los Angeles section of
Infragard, which is a partnership with the public and private sectors and the
FBI for critical infrastructure protection. With Infragard, he is involved in
the Electromagnetic Pulse and Government Facilities Special Interest Groups.
Turner is a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, the
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (an ARRL partner
organization), and the Southern California Earthquake Alliance. His regular job
 is as the Director of Risk Management for the Alvord Unified School District.
- ARRL Sacramento Valley
Section News



ARES Members: Become a PIO

Assume a dual role in emergency/disaster response theaters of operation -
become an ARRL Public Information Officer (PIO) for your ARES group. It's a
natural fit. ARRL Public Information Officers (PIOs) are appointed by their
Section Manager and report to their ARRL section Public Information Coordinator
 (PIC). Training for PIOs is typically provided regularly on a sectional or
regional basis by the PIC and/or other qualified people.

One of the most important responsibilities of the PIO is to serve as a liaison
between the media and the ARES Emergency Coordinators involved in an
emergency/disaster response where Amateur Radio is playing an active, critical
role. Other responsibilities include:

· Establishes and maintains a list of media contacts in the local area; strives
 to establish and maintain personal contacts with appropriate representatives
of those media (e.g., editors, news directors, science reporters, etc.).

· Becomes a contact for the local media and assures that editors/reporters who
need information about Amateur Radio know where to find it.

· Works with Local Government Liaisons to establish personal contacts with
local government officials where possible and explain to them, briefly and
non-technically, about Amateur Radio and how it can help their communities.

· Maintains contact with the Emergency Coordinator and/or District Emergency
Coordinator. Helps prepare an emergency response PR kit.

· Keeps the section PIC fully informed on activities and places PIC on news
release mailing list.

Public Information Officer Training Course PR-101

The PIO course provides an overview of public relations. Experts in various
aspects of public relations provide Public Information Officers with basic
skills. PR-101 covers drafting a basic news release to website and video
development/production. The materials can also be used as a handbook. Special
sections cover emergency communications and the media - what Amateur Radio
wants the world to know and how to position it for best results. ARES members
can download a copy of the course here. Upon completion, contact the Continuing
 Education Program at cep@arrl.org to request the URL and password you'll need
to take the online final exam.



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____________________________________________________________________________


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