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Ärende: The ARES E-Letter for April 19, 2017
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            The ARES E-Letter

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

April 19, 2017

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

==> HURRICANE CONFERENCE AMATEUR RADIO SESSIONS THIS MORNING! CHECK  
THEM OUT -- SEE BELOW FOR SCHEDULE.

In This Issue:

IN THIS ISSUE

- Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Sessions This Morning! Check Them
Out -- See Below for Schedule.
- This Morning! Attend or Live Stream Amateur Radio Sessions at the
National Hurricane Conference, New Orleans
- Puerto Rico Radio Amateurs Active in Major Caribbean Tsunami Exercise
- Amateur Digital TV for Emergency/Disaster Response Presentation in
Honolulu, by Pioneer
- Local and State Drills and Exercises Roundup
- Article Links Amateur Radio Growth to Emergency Communications

==> THIS MORNING! ATTEND OR LIVE STREAM AMATEUR RADIO SESSIONS AT THE  
NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE, NEW ORLEANS

Starting at 8:30 (Central Daylight Time; 9:30 Eastern Time) this
morning, Amateur Radio sessions will be presented by leading panelists
at the 2017 National Hurricane Conference
<http://hurricanemeeting.com/>in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference
theme is hurricane preparedness. All Amateur Radio sessions are free.
If you are in the New Orleans area today, or can live stream video,
consider attending or watching these sessions:

NHC Session #1 - 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM (all times in CDT). Bob Robichaud,
VE1MBR, of the Canadian Hurricane Centre will present on
hurricane/meteorological topics and a brief overview of Canadian
Hurricane Centre operations. National Hurricane Center station WX4NHC
<http://w4ehw.fiu.edu/> Assistant Amateur Radio Station Coordinator
Julio Ripoll, WD4R, will present on WX4NHC operations. Hurricane Watch
Net <http://hwn.org> Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, will speak on the
Hurricane Watch Net, personal weather stations, backup power and
antennas. Louisiana ARRL Assistant Section Manager Matt Anderson,
KD5KNZ, will provide a local ARRL and emergency/disaster response
communications update.

NHC Session #2 -- 10:30 AM to 12:15 PM. Dr. Rick Knabb, Director of the
National Hurricane Center <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/>, will present on
the importance of Amateur Radio surface reporting. Director of
Operations, VoIP Hurricane Net	<http://www.voipwx.net/>and ARRL ARESr
Eastern Massachusetts Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator Rob
Macedo, KD1CY, will present on the VoIP Hurricane Net and best
practices in SKYWARN and tropical systems reporting. National SATERN
<http://www.satern.org/ss/index.php> (Salvation Army Team Emergency
Network) Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH, will give a presentation on SATERN
health and welfare message systems and response during hurricanes. A
Q&A session will follow the sessions and door raffle prizes will be
offered.

Amateur Radio presentations will be recorded and live streamed. The
presentations for 2017 will be published on You Tube. The livestream
links will be as follows:

http://www.nsradio.org/stream

http://www.voipwx.net/files/stream.htm

ARES Briefs, Links

ARRL 2016 International Humanitarian Award Winners Honored
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-2016-international-humanitarian-award-winners-ho
nored>
(4/10/2017); Radio Amateurs Supporting Colombia Landslide Disaster
Relief and Recovery Effort
<http://www.arrl.org/news/radio-amateurs-supporting-colombia-landslide-disaster
-relief-and-recovery-effort>
(4/3/2017) NVIS Research Paper Available
<http://www.arrl.org/news/nvis-research-paper-available> (3/23/2017)

ARES Monthly Report and Archives Available On-Line

To see the monthly ARES report from HQ and archived ARES Annual Reports
please visit ARES reports
<http://www.arrl.org/ares-annual-monthly-reports>.

Large Amateur Radio Volunteer Contingent Supports Boston Marathon This
Week

As this issue is being compiled, Monday morning, April 17, the running
of the world class Boston Marathon <http://www.baa.org/> for 2017 is
being conducted with major Amateur Radio communications support. From
the Ham Radio Boston <http://hamradioboston.org/> website: "Prompted by
the tragic bombing in 2013 and a subsequent increase in public safety
concerns, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) formed a Communications
Committee late in 2014 with a mandate to review and improve the entire
communications program at the Boston Marathon. Security and operational
challenges had increased, requiring Amateur Radio to function in a
highly-structured environment, one following guidelines of the National
Incident Management System and the Incident Command System (ICS).

"In 2015, as a result of its review, the Committee presented a set of
recommendations to the BAA which were accepted and implemented. These
included changes specific to the requirements of BAA and its

    public safety partners, resulting in a considerable body of
training, planning and operational documentation and a management
structure to support and execute the plans during event day."

The Core 2017 Amateur Radio Communications Committee consists of the
following members: Matthew Forman, K6MCF; Rob Macedo, KD1CY; Jim
Palmer, KB1KQW; Mark Richards, K1MGY; Brett Smith, AB1RL; Ralph Swick,
KD1SM; and Matt Brennan, NM1B. -- Ham Radio Boston
<https://www.hamradioboston.org/?q=node/2>

ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, worked

    the starting line segment at the Athlete's Village. See his photos
at right. We hope to have a complete report on Amateur Radio's
involvement in this week's running in the next issue. -- Ed.

==> PUERTO RICO RADIO AMATEURS ACTIVE IN MAJOR CARIBBEAN TSUNAMI  
EXERCISE

Puerto Rico amateurs participated in the Caribe Wave
<https://www.weather.gov/ctwp/caribewave17> tsunami exercise on
Tuesday, March 21, 2017. CARIBE WAVE is the annual tsunami exercise of
the UNESCO Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the
Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. Its major objective is for countries,
emergency management stakeholders and communities at risk to test,
validate and update their tsunami response plans. A purpose of the
exercise is to improve Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program
<https://www.weather.gov/ctwp/> efficacy, serving tsunami warning
centers and other focal points. The exercise tests and evaluates the
operation of the regional early warning system, to continue the process
of communication with the NOAA/NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
(PTWC), and to validate the readiness to respond to a tsunami. The
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, was formed
in 1949 following an unwarned tsunami from the Aleutian Islands that
struck Hawaii on the morning of April 1, 1946, killing 159 people.
[Click here
<https://www.weather.gov/media/ctwp/PDF/PRVI%20User's%20Guide%20-%20Version%201
.1.pdf>for
background]. From a NOAA/NWS report, "Tsunami occurrences are
relatively infrequent in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The most
significant historical events happened in 1867 and 1918. However, the
Puerto Rico Trench and other seismic zones in the Caribbean region are
all capable of generating tsunamis. Further, vulnerability within PRVI
is very high due to the fact of a high population density near the
coast and tourist activities concentrated at the coast."

In Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, the Caribe Wave exercise is
conducted in coordination with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network (Red
S¡smica de Puerto Rico), UNESCO, NOAA, and the Puerto Rico Emergency
Management Agency (PREMA-AEMEAD). The scenario selected for this year
was an earthquake with the epicenter located at the east of the island
of Antigua, generating a tsunami incident for the entire Caribbean.
Exercise information can be found on the Tsunami Zone
<http://www.tsunamizone.org> website.

Historically, Amateur Radio has been an important part of this exercise
at an island-wide level with various island radio groups participating
on an array of VHF/UHF and HF frequencies. Puerto Rico Section
Emergency Coordinator Juan Sepulveda, KP3CR, noted that some Caribbean
island nations, such as St. Lucia for example, also conducted their own
drills. Other Caribbean islands checked into the Puerto Rico net
established on 40 meters.

At 10:05 AM on March 21, the exercise commenced with the Emergency
Alert System (EAS) being activated on broadcast radio, TV and cable
outlets on the island, announcing the drill scenario. Sirens were
tested in all of Puerto Rico's coastal cities and towns. Many
government and community administrations co-conducted evacuation
drills.

The role of Amateur Radio licensees was to gather reports from others
on how the EAS Alert was heard or learned of, by radio, TV, CATV, NOAA
Weather Radio, social media, smartphone apps and/or any other media,
and if any heard sirens for alerting along the coasts of the island. A
summary of the reports gathered were delivered to PREMA officials
during a post-exercise meeting with SEC Sepulveda and ARRL Section
Manager Oscar Resto, KP4RF.

The primary repeater system used for communication of the requested
reports was the Movmiento Radioaficionados de Puerto Rico, comprised of
13 VHF and UHF repeaters island-wide. The exercise net was controlled
by the Patriot Amateur Emergency Radio Club
<https://www.facebook.com/Patriot-Amateur-Emergency-Radio-Club-1743694429208287
/?hc_location=ufi>,
an ARRL Affiliated Club, with the call WP4PQK. The HF net was run by
Section Traffic Manager Pedro Irizarry, KP3PI, on 7188 kHz, the regular
frequency of the daily Friendly Net, a popular meeting place for
Caribbean radio amateurs. Local and neighboring Caribbean stations
reported into the net. The other active VHF net was held on 147.090
MHz, controlled by the Radio Operators of the South
<https://www.facebook.com/radiooperadoresdelsurpr/>, Puerto Rico (Radio
Operadores del Sur - ROS), which also served as a clearinghouse for
reports.

New PREMA Executive Director Abner G¢mez Cortés hailed the Caribe Wave
2017 exercise as a success during a visit to the John F. Kennedy
Elementary School in Toa Baja, which was practicing evacuation measures
-- the school is situated near the coast. -- Angel Luis Santana D¡az,
WP3GW, Public Information Coordinator and Assistant Section Manager,
ARRL Puerto Rico Section

==> AMATEUR DIGITAL TV FOR EMERGENCY/DISASTER RESPONSE PRESENTATION IN  
HONOLULU, BY PIONEER

Last summer, Jim Andrews, KH6HTV, of Boulder County ARES, Colorado, was
contacted by ARRL Pacific Section Manager Joe Speroni, AH0A, who had
learned of the nationally recognized digital high-definition amateur TV
operations in Boulder, Colorado (Boulder County ARES,
<http://bouldercountyares.org/> BCARES), which has served the area
emergency management community so well. Speroni invited Andrews to
visit Hawaii to introduce the system and service concept to the state's
radio amateurs and public safety/emergency management administrators.
In January, Andrews flew to Honolulu to make the presentation.

Andrews prepared and presented to two Power Point presentations, with
the first entitled TV in ARES and the second, Amateur High Definition
Digital Television. Andrews set up a live operating exhibit featuring a
hi-def TV camera, a 70 cm DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting -
Terrestrial standard) TV transmitter and a DVB-T receiver.

Section Manager Speroni arranged for Andrews' presentation to be given
to the largest club in Honolulu -- the Emergency Amateur Radio Club
<http://www.earchi.org/> (EARC). The club meets at the Naval Fleet
Reserve building, near Pearl Harbor. Fifty radio amateurs attended the
presentation, including Boulder ARC member Ed Brookshire, W0HB, and his
wife who were vacationing in Hawaii at the time. Andrews had

    the live TV demo running prior to the meeting with a TV camera
looking out on the crowd and the hi-def image being displayed on a
large, flat screen monitor. The exhibit generated much interest prior
to the meeting and during the meal break. Andrews gave both slide show
talks with a break between the two for questions.

Andrews discussed the BCARES TV service and program and the leading
success BCARES members have had in providing TV coverage for public
safety agencies, starting in 1990. Andrews discussed the history of
amateur TV starting in the 1920s to present day and DTV, emphasizing
their use of the European terrestrial broadcast standard DVB-T. Andrews
explained the technical details of the equipment he had brought for the
display and live demo.

The next day, Andrews visited the state Emergency Operations Center
(EOC), which is located in an old Army bunker within Diamond Head
crater. There, Andrews met with employees of the State of Hawaii
Department of Defense, Civil Defense, Emergency Operations Center, and
the key radio amateurs in Honolulu ARES and RACES. Andrews again set up
his live DTV demo and gave both talks.

Bottom Line

Andrews' presentations were well received, generating much interest
both with the hams and the state EOC administrators. As a result, they
made the decision to implement a similar hi-definition amateur DTV
capability on Oahu for public safety purposes. The state EOC chief
communications engineer, Robin Liu, AH6CP, also made the decision to
implement a cross-band (70cm in/23cm out) DTV repeater system to be
installed on

    the rim of Diamond Head crater where it would provide excellent
coverage of most of the city of Honolulu. The hams at the EOC requested
a list of the necessary items and sources, which was provided. Key
items included the DVB-T modulators and receivers from Hi-Des
<http://www.hides.com.tw> in Taiwan. Andrews also received purchase
orders from ARES/RACES members for his own RF linear power amplifiers
(both for 70 cm and 23 cm bands), and 23 cm preamps. Andrews' Power
Point slide shows are available as .pdf files and can be downloaded
from his KH6HTV  <https://kh6htv.com/application-notes/ >web site. An
extensive set of application notes, all related to amateur TV, both
analog and digital, are also available on the web site.

==> LOCAL AND STATE DRILLS AND EXERCISES ROUNDUP  

Alabama Starts New Rapid Response Drill Program

The ARRL Alabama Section is initiating a new program of Rapid Response
Drills (RRD) meant to test the portable capabilities of operators on a
county by county basis.The program is in response to the need for more
simulations that accurately represent real world conditions in an
emergency/disaster response.The key to the drill is to have
stations/operators under the Incident Command System operating
remotely, portable/mobile. Stations operate "off the grid" and conduct
the drill using VHF frequencies without the use of local repeaters;
operating simplex is another way to test the capabilities of traffic
handling as close to emergency/disaster conditions as possible.

Each county EC is encouraged to select at least one location in their
county that has the potential to be a "ground zero" for a local
emergency/disaster event.The goal is to set up a station there and
begin attempting contacts. This effort initially starts with direct
contacts and then other contacts by relay, again testing the
capabilities of the operators. Once the VHF net has been established
and stations have successfully mapped the coverage area for their
direct contacts (contacts by relay are in theory unlimited) the drill
can then migrate to HF frequencies.The move to HF is also based on real
world experience as once the situation has been stabilized, contact
outside the affected area is needed. The Rapid Response Drill
encourages operators to make their VHF contacts with the Incident
Command Net Control station(s) and then using HF to attempt contacts
outside their home operational area. The VHF frequency 146.520 MHz --
the National Calling Frequency -- is the initial or primary frequency;
for HF operations, the 3.965 and 7.290 MHz frequencies were selected.

This is a developing program and the first drill was conducted on
Saturday, April 15, 2017. There were some outstanding operations,
successes and frustrations, as was expected. In the coming weeks, the
Section leadership will be surveying ECs across the state to record
lessons learned, gather success stories and capture opportunities for
improvement. The instructions for this initial drill were intentionally
sparse leaving more of the details to the ECs so the event could be
tailored to their local conditions. In Alabama there are coastal
communities, urban centers, rural farm land, rivers, lakes, earthquake
zones, nuclear power stations, major rail lines and etc., so the
operating environments are quite diverse.

Another important component was the time frame for the exercise. It was
chosen to have the event limited to two hours because as with all
emergencies/disasters the first few hours are the most chaotic. Also,
limiting the time commitment for a drill allows more focus and
participation by local operators.

Prior to the drill, operators were introduced to the rapid response
program idea during presentations at hamfests across the state and
social media sites dedicated to Amateur Radio. One topic from these
introductions was Go-Kits and what it means to operate off the grid,
what does portable mean, and how "rustic" should the drill be in terms
of equipment. The answer to those questions was, of course, "it
depends." The RRD presents the challenge: what gear to use and where to
set up are the two biggest questions that face communicators in any
disaster. For the RRD we encourage each county EC to make those
decisions either before the drill started or immediately after.

Alabama is committed to a few more Rapid Response Drills this year and
each one will be building on the previous exercise. The goal is to
create a flexible, reliable and nimble skill set among our operators
who can respond in the first moments after the onset of a disaster and
begin communicating accurate, actionable information in service to our
community. --ARRL Alabama Section Manager JVann Martin, W4JVM
<w4jvm@arrl.org>

Rural Northern Florida ARES Group Supports Mass Casualty Exercise

A small, but vitally active Madison County, Florida, ARES group was
asked to participate in a mass casualty exercise this month. Madison
county is a rural county in the state's Big Bend region. The role of
ARES was to establish two-way radio communications between the County
Dispatch Center and the Lee School where an alternate care facility
would be established in a disaster. The scenario was a tornado that had
overturned a bus near the intersection of Hwy 255 and Interstate I-10
south of the town of Lee, Florida.

At 3 PM, ARES operators began moving to various staging areas awaiting
the "Code Red" telephone alert, which was issued at 5:53 PM, received
by telephone with the recorded request for radio operators to check-in
to the Lee repeater on 145.19 MHz. Madison County EC Pat Lightcap,
K4NRD, commenced the initial net, calling for check-ins. Five members
who remained at the staging areas checked in. At 5:57 PM, a call was
received from county Emergency Manager Alan Whigham, KI4IFH, requesting
operators and communications service at the Lee School care facility
and the County Dispatch Center. At 6:20 PM, EC Lightcap established UHF
communications at the Dispatch Center by employing a handheld and
accessing the 442.000 MHz repeater on the North Water Tower in downtown
Madison. That system was proved to link Dispatch to the Lee School via
a crossband mobile repeater in the school parking lot to Bob Downey,
WA1TCC, in the school who was using a handheld radio on VHF. By 6:49
PM, all players left the school; there was no additional need for radio
communications. The exercise was concluded and the ARES members were
demobilized, standing down.

Lessons Learned

1. While waiting for the exercise to begin, ARES members evaluated
proposed communications paths and links, discovering gaps in coverage.
They found that signals transmitted from within the Lee School on VHF
were attenuated, rendering communications challenging -- the school was
constructed of metal. The group was, however, successfully able to
contact radio amateurs in the state capital of Tallahassee, Valdosta
(Georgia), Live Oak, Perry, and Lake City (Florida) to confirm access
to hospitals in those cities. FM simplex/mobile operation provided
reliable links from Dispatch to Lee School with relays only requiring
three vehicles.

2. Transmitting signals out of the Dispatch Center on a handheld to the
Madison UHF repeater was also challenging. The plan had been to use a
crossband mobile repeater to send UHF to the car and then VHF to the
Lee repeater, which was near the school. The equipment to do this was
not available as had been expected.

3. Exercise players at the school did not seem to know why ARES was
there -- no message was generated from the school. Better coordination
in the future is needed.

4. Amateur Radio operators from eight counties were involved, with
three counties represented on-site, representing excellent cooperation
and coordination.

5. Antennas on-site at the school and Dispatch need to be researched to
see if they are available for Amateur use on short notice. - Madison
County (Florida) ARES After Action Report (AAR)

==> ARTICLE LINKS AMATEUR RADIO GROWTH TO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS  

An April 11 article
<http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase-i
n-Amateur-Radio-Operators.html>,
"Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators,"
in Emergency Management magazine links the growth in Amateur Radio
numbers to interest in emergency communications.

"There has been a tremendous amount of interest in emergency
preparedness since 9/11 and Katrina, and this is true for the Amateur
Radio community as well," ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike
Corey, KI1U, told the publication. "Emergency communications is a
gateway into Amateur Radio, and many join our ranks through an interest
in being better prepared themselves and as a way to serve their
community."

The article cites numbers from ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, who
notes that 2016 was the third year in a row that the total number of
new licenses exceeded 30,000.

The article also cites ARRL Colorado Section Manager Jack Ciaccia,
WM0G, who agreed with the premise that the uptick in new licenses is
due to Amateur Radio's emergency capabilities.

"Interest really peaks after a large-scale event where ham radio has
been utilized," Ciaccia said. "When regular phone service fails,
Amateur Radio operators fill the communications gap with their
independent transceivers and battery power backups," said the article,
which also discusses the ARES program. -- ARRL News

______

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