XPost: rec.radio.amateur.misc

********************************************
The ARES Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League ********************************************

April 20, 2022

Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE <k1ce@arrl.net>

IN THIS ISSUE

- EARTHQUAKE!
- Check off the Auxiliary Communicator Task Book Tasks
- ARRL/ARES Section News
- Trending in Event Communications
- K1CE for a Final: Field Day Prep Session
- ARES Resources
- ARRL Resources

ARES� Briefs, Links

The Emcomm Training Organization <https://www.emcomm-training.org/>
(ETO), now 2,500 strong, is planning its semi-annual Nationwide Drill
for May 14. This drill will be focused on use of Winlink, but the ETO
is branching out into fldigi <http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp/> and
other modes in the coming months. The ETO's popular Winlink Thursdays
are continuing, and have as many as 800 participants. For more
information, visit the ETO website and also go to the ETO's groups.io <http://groups.io/> page to sign up and receive continuing messages and
updates <https://emcomm-training.groups.io/g/main>.

A webinar will be held to discuss the role of amateur radio and AUXCOMM
in an upcoming Department of Defense communications exercise. Paul
English, WD8DBY, Program Manager for the Military Auxiliary Radio
System (MARS) reports that the webinar will take place with
representatives from the US Army Network Enterprise Technology Command
at 19:01 Central time on Thursday (tomorrow), April 21, 2022 (0001 UTC
on April 22). The unclassified presentation, which will be held via
Zoom <https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86398593554?pwd=OHhCR0xZOXNvb3M2bGphdXFzbVNHZz09> (Meeting ID: 863 9859 3554 and Passcode: 195695), will review the
concept for the upcoming Department of Defense communications exercise
22-2, which will take place May 2 - 7. Army representatives will
describe the exercise and how amateur radio operators and Auxiliary Communications (AUXCOMM) personnel can participate in this training
event. Presenters will answer questions throughout the session. "The
Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) is a valued partner of ARRL's
ARES� and our wider emergency communications community," said ARRL
Director of Emergency Management, Josh Johnston, KE5MHV. "I encourage participation in this presentation and training, and the ongoing
cooperation between ARES volunteers, MARS, and our other served agency relationships."

The 2022 National Hurricane Conference Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop
was held on Monday, April 11, 2022. The proceedings can be found on a
new YouTube video posting
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTKJz9FpSAs>.

Comm Academy 2022 took place on April 9, 2022 with the proceedings of
the full Academy <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGe_mRjsC_M> posted
to YouTube. Comm Academy is a free, virtual training conference for
anyone interested in learning more about emergency communications
technologies and practices. Comm Academy 2022 featured a lineup of
experienced emergency preparedness and emergency communications
personnel with great information, stories, and ideas to share. More
than just a collection of online presentations, Comm Academy 2022 was
an interactive event, with participants able to converse with
presenters and other attendees via YouTube chat. The first
Communications Academy (as it was formerly known) took place in 1998.
Based in the Pacific Northwest, the Academy was primarily a regional
event organized by the Western Washington Medical Services Emergency Communications team <https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ww7mst.org%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AOvVaw3ARb328SQTBi6G17dTAxqv>.
Over the years, it gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the West
Coast's premier emergency communications training events.

Two IARU Region 2 Emergency Communications Workshops <https://www.iaru-r2.org/en/iaru-r2-emergency-communications-workshops-april-9-and-10/>
were held virtually on April 9 and 10, as announced by Region 2's
Emergency Communications Coordinator Carlos Alberto Santamaria, CO2JC.
Programs included "How emergency communication differs from one region
to another," by ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY;
"Dealing with local disaster communications on a regional or national
level,", by ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston,
KE5MHV, and "Recognition of emergency communications at an
International level," by Jason Tremblay, VE3JXT, from RAC. The
proceedings are expected to be published online.

The Coastal Plains Amateur Radio Club (CPARC) April meeting program was presented by Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, on The Importance of Ham Radio in
Disasters <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7t9UOwGm74>. Fugate is a
two-term FEMA Administrator and current, active advisor and participant
in the amateur radio emergency communications community.

Colorado State University gives extended range forecast of Atlantic
seasonal hurricane activity and landfall strike probability for 2022 <https://tropical.colostate.edu/Forecast/2022-04.pdf>: CSU anticipates
that the 2022 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have above-normal
activity. Current weak La Ni�a conditions look fairly likely to
transition to neutral ENSO by this summer/fall, but the odds of a
significant El Ni�o seem unlikely. Sea surface temperatures averaged
across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic are currently near
average, while Caribbean and subtropical Atlantic sea surface
temperatures are warmer than normal. We anticipate an above-average
probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental
United States coastline and in the Caribbean. As is the case with all
hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes
one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them.
They should prepare the same for every season, regardless of how much
activity is predicted. (April 7, 2022 forecast)

EARTHQUAKE!

"QST...QST...QST. This is the Net Control station for the Pleasant Hill (California) CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Simulated
Emergency Exercise." So began the exercise on Saturday, February 12,
2022, in support of the CERT program in the area. Conducted by the
CERT's leadership team of Jim Bonato, KJ6ULG, and Gordon Doughty, the
2-hour exercise was the culmination of months of planning with the
scenario of a response to a simulated earthquake.

The first challenge was facilitating communications among the
three-person search teams in the field (neighborhoods) and with their respective Incident Commanders (IC). The city had been divided into
four areas: northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. Each area
had an Incident Command Post (ICP) with its own incident commander. The
second challenge was enabling communications between the ICPs and the
EOC located at the police department.

Of all the trained CERT volunteers in the city, only a fraction had
their amateur radio license. Most CERT members had Family Radio Service
(FRS) radios and a few had General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) radios.
Prior testing of the FRS/GMRS radios demonstrated that FRS radios could
reach the ICPs from the neighborhoods. (The ICPs did have vertical
antennas available). But they were not able to reach the EOC with
sufficient reliability.

With the first challenge solved, the obvious answer to the second
challenge was to use amateur VHF FM. The job then became finding and
recruiting the hams within the CERT, and determining their equipment inventories and levels of experience with net operations. The exercise
had been promoted to all CERT members starting in November 2021.

Each of the four Area Coordinators had a list of CERT volunteers who
were radio amateurs, and each one was asked to participate. A donated
dual band (VHF/UHF) radio in a small metal suitcase became the
"suitcase station" that would be located at the EOC. A 2-meter antenna
on top of the police station was already in place, so all that was
needed was a power supply, 10 feet of coax, and the appropriate coax
adapter to the suitcase.

Jim Hirahara, KK6KGQ; Logan Bodzin, WA4MGY, and Steve Donovan, WB6SAI,
worked on the assembly of the EOC/police station to get it ready for
the exercise. Donovan and Bodzin served as net control operator and
scribe. The CERT organization wanted to attempt to conduct the exercise
on simplex.

Stephen Maris, N6BDW; Robert White, K6RWW; Molly Weden, KJ6LNJ; Mark
Gilkey, KI6BQC; Dirk Bridgedale, KM6UXE, and Larry Loomer, KI6LNB,
responded to the call for ham volunteers. They were to report initially
to the EOC for deployment and assignment to the ICPs. All had
handhelds. If the EOC could establish reliable communications with the
ICPs using only handhelds on 2-meter simplex, we felt confident that we
would be well positioned in the event of a real emergency.

The last question was how well these volunteers would perform in a
net-based operation. It turned out that the experience level was better
than expected and the learning curve for the others was very fast. The
people who were new to net operations picked up on the protocols
immediately: they waited their turn for transmitting; there was very
little doubling; messages handled were clear and concise. And, there
was minimal communications among area ICPs on the net.

The complete QST announcement (as above) went out on the morning of the exercise at 9:30 AM and three of the four areas were able to establish immediate communications with the EOC with no problem. A more
remote/distant area had difficulty reaching the EOC due to an
intervening hill. The ham at that location resolved the problem by
simply walking from the ICP to a more open spot in the parking lot,
held his speaker/mic to his mouth, and raised his handheld radio up at
arm's length

in order to establish a readable contact. Problem solved.
(Subsequently, mag-mount antennas were purchased to use on top of metal
sheds at the ICPs, so that whenever an ICP is activated, the assigned
ham simply slaps the mag-mount antenna on top of the shed. The CERT now
has full-quieting signals on simplex using only a handheld between each
Area ICP and the EOC.

The Net Control station handled nearly continuous messages back and
forth on simulated fires, broken gas lines, injured neighbors, and so
forth.

Lessons Learned

�-� More training on message composition is needed, with the goal of
keeping messages short and concise, and using phonetics when necessary.

�-� Message prioritization: More training is needed on what information
needs to be communicated and to whom.

�-� More training is needed on how to make ham handhelds more
effective. The typical "rubber duck" antenna can be easily upgraded to
boost effectiveness, by using a longer antenna, a portable J-pole
antenna, a mag-mount antenna with a 1/4 or 5/8 wavelength whip, etc.

�-� The FRS/GMRS radios experienced some interference from other
conversations that were not part of the exercise. Protocols to respond
to this issue need to be developed, such as having radio operators move
to a secondary channel.

�-� A study needs to determine how to effectively recruit more CERT
members into the ham community and capture their interest in emergency communications.

�-� The message form needs to be upgraded to make it more intuitive,
with as many check-the-box options as possible for efficiency and standardization.

The CERT is already scheduling meetings to discuss and address key
takeaways. "This was our first time conducting this kind of a city-wide exercise, and we performed remarkably well. Our assessment was largely confirmed by the professional consultant hired by the city to observe
and assess the exercise. And best of all, we all had fun. Our motto is 'Pleasant Hill, California CERT -- The Greatest Good for the Greatest
Number.'" -- Steve Donovan, WB6SAI, Pleasant Hill (California)
Community Emergency Response Team

CHECK OFF THE AUXILIARY COMMUNICATOR TASK BOOK TASKS

The AUXC Position Task Book <https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA%20AUXCOMM%20PTB%20-%2012162020%20-%20508.pdf>
(PTB) documents the performance criteria a trainee must meet to be
certified for the AUXC position in the Incident command System
structure. The AUXC is both the person (Auxiliary Communicator) and the Incident Command System (ICS) position used to provide auxiliary communications. Trained Auxiliary Communicators are a valuable
communications resource tool that can be used by local, county,
regional, tribal or state agencies/organizations. AUXCOMM is Auxiliary Communications, an all-inclusive term used to describe the many
organizations that provide various types of communications support to
emergency management, public safety, and other government agencies.
This includes, but is not limited to, amateur radio, military radio,
citizens band radio (CB), etc. AUXCOMM covers a broad range of systems
that could potentially be used by an AUXC during an incident to
include: HF, VHF, UHF, satellite communications (SATCOM), microwave,
Wi-Fi, digital, video, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and other
modes. Trainees must demonstrate completion of required tasks, which
require evaluation.

Evaluators observe and review a trainee's completion of PTB tasks,
initialing and dating each successfully completed task in the PTB.
Evaluators complete an Evaluation Record Form after each evaluation
period documenting the trainee's performance. A trainee's supervisor
may evaluate the completion of PTB tasks. The final evaluator is an
AUXC leader or an AUXC subject matter expert appointed in writing by
the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC) or authorized state certification committee, who verifies that a trainee has completed the
PTB and met all requirements for the position. A final evaluator is
generally qualified in the same position for which the trainee is
applying. When possible, the evaluator and the final evaluator should
not be the same person, but in situations with limited resources, the
evaluator can also serve as the final evaluator. Once the final
evaluator has completed the Final Evaluator Verification, he/she
forwards it to the states version of a Qualification Review Board (QRB)
along with supporting evidence that the trainee has completed all
position requirements. It is recommended that states have at least one
member of the QRB be an experienced Auxiliary Communicator with Public
Safety experience. After the QRB review, the AHJ completes the
Documentation of Agency Certification form as appropriate.

[Regardless of whether or not the AUXC PTB is signed off on, the book
provides excellent examples of activities that would serve any ARES or
other group as a model for training exercises. Check it out! --Ed.]

ARRL/ARES SECTION NEWS

The ARRL Orange Section is part of the ARRL Southwestern Division. The
large southern California Section is made up of 4 counties: Inyo,
Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. This covers over 38,000 square
miles with a population over 7 million. For the period ending February
2022, the Orange Section ARES program has supported 24 public service
events. This represents 116 volunteer hours at a cost savings to the
public of $3,200. ARES volunteers have also supported one emergency
operation with 15 service hours for a cost savings of $414. For the
2021 calendar year the ARES program had supported 30 public service
events. This represents 587 volunteer hours at a cost savings to the
public of $16,182. ARES had also responded to 15 emergency operations
for 2021. This represents 82 service hours, at a volunteer cost savings
of $2,262 for the same period.

[Why is this data important? It puts a dollar amount on services
rendered by radio amateurs, data that county and city governments look
at when supporting volunteer programs that save taxpayer monies. It
also helps the amateur community defend our precious spectrum before
the FCC and legislative bodies. --Ed.]

Georgia

The Georgia Section ARES Hospital Emergency Team <https://gaares.org/docs/HospitalTeamOverview-2019a.pdf> has published
a wealth of resources for hospital emergency operators <https://www.gaares.org/heop.php>.

Letters

TRENDING IN EVENT COMMUNICATIONS

My team supported eight formal events in the last year. These are some
topics that are trending for us:

� First Aid Training - to address ongoing healthcare volunteer resource shortages. Daniel McNulty, W0EIB, told me recently that his group
received first aid training and are now overwhelmed with event support requests.

� Dashboards and databases - faster real-time data access and decision
making. Samuel Henige, KD8BGL, wrote a medical tent capacity front end
to our database.

� Mash-ups: Hams + US Coast Guard Auxiliary + Community Volunteers --
we integrated two teams of US Coast Guard Auxiliary members in our
Marathon Race Operations Center and Family Medical Information Center
in 2021.

� Teaming with VOADS -- volunteers helping volunteers. We are
developing a role for ARES members and clubs' "Communications Teams" --
I informally call this our "VOAD Radio Club"-- we provide "gap glue"
for missing communications, logging/reporting and technology support
needs.

� IP and Mesh Video - tactical situational awareness for first
responders and leadership, and streaming to show events without an
in-person large crowd.

� Supporting Google Docs/WhatsApp/Zello/Teams -- Agencies and events
have tools and processes - we use those as directed.

� Duties as assigned -- This should be self-explanatory. I filled a gap
for an AV expert at the Loppet Foundation; last week I got to spend 2
days learning about outdoor three-phase power systems.

� Embedding hams in agencies -- We discussed this in a recent VOAD
tabletop with the State. A way to get hams credentialed is to provide a
list to the Volunteer Reception Center at the incident. If everyone has
to sign in, we sign in. You get your Volunteer Assignment Card and you
are good to go.

� CERT Training -- First aid, triage, cribbing and damage assessment.
This is part of light search and rescue in the Community Emergency
Response Team program, and a way to get hams into the Everbridge
callout system.

� Bring your own mobile repeater - Can you always get written Trustee permission to use a given, fixed repeater in an emergency situation -
maybe not.

� Monthly "Hams in the Park" sessions - These provide an outdoor meet
and greet with the public we serve, and facilitate equipment and
procedure testing. - Erik Westgard, NY9D, Minneapolis, Minnesota [The
author is Chair of Medical Communications for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, Red White and Boom Half Marathon and Loppet Winter Festival].

K1CE FOR A FINAL: FIELD DAY PREP SESSION

In my home county, I had the pleasure of participating in the Columbia
Amateur Radio Society's (CARS) Field Day Prep Session this past
Saturday. Hosting the session, which ran from 9 AM to 2:30 PM, was new
Columbia County Emergency Coordinator Brad Swartz, N5CBP. The practice
and prep session was run as an incident under the Incident

Command System (ICS) protocols. The session was well worth the
effort, with Field Day operators transporting and setting up
field-expedient antenna systems, solar and generator power systems,
and, of course, radios and ancillary gear, all ahead of June's big
event. The session also gave new hams and club members the chance to
meet team members, and gain some practice with modes likely to be used
on Field Day, including FT8, and SSB voice.

Set-up was accomplished efficiently, and participants gained experience
with the Radiogram message format and sending radiograms into the
National Traffic System, a function that will gain the team bonus
points on Field Day.

And lastly, we all had a lot of fun and enjoyed the camaraderie of our
fellow radio amateurs.Think about conducting your own group's prep
operation! Field Day is fast approaching. -- Rick, K1CE

ARES RESOURCES

� Download the ARES Manual [PDF] <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/ARES/ARESmanual2015.pdf>

� ARES Field Resources Manual [PDF] <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ARES_FR_Manual.pdf>

� ARES Standardized Training Plan Task Book [Fillable PDF] <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/ARES/ARRL-ARES-FILLABLE-TRAINING-TASK-BOOK-V2_1_1.pdf>

� ARES Standardized Training Plan Task Book [Word] <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/ARES/ARRL-ARES-STANDARDIZED-TRAINING-TASK-BOOK-V1_2_2.doc>

� ARES Plan <http://www.arrl.org/ares-plan>

� ARES Group Registration
<http://www.arrl.org/ares-group-id-request-form>

� Emergency Communications Training <http://www.arrl.org/emergency-communications-training>

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service� (ARES) consists of licensed
amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and
equipment, with their local ARES leadership, for communications duty in
the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur,
regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national
organization is eligible to apply for membership in ARES. Training may
be required or desired to participate fully in ARES. Please inquire at
the local level for specific information. Because ARES is an amateur
radio program, only licensed radio amateurs are eligible for
membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable,
but is not a requirement for membership.

How to Get Involved in ARES: Fill out the ARES Registration form <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/fsd98.pdf> and submit
it to your local Emergency Coordinator.

ARRL RESOURCES

Join or Renew Today! <http://www.arrl.org/join> Eligible US-based
members can elect to receive QST <http://www.arrl.org/qst> or On the
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Subscribe to NCJ -- the National Contest Journal
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_________

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