The K5WLF Blog

I was prowling around on the Internet the other night, following up another one of my many interests. This time it was the history of marine radio. No, not how the US Marines use radio, although that’s a fascinating study in itself. Rather, I was researching the history of radio and its use among the ships and shore stations of the merchant marine service. In the process, I discovered a riveting story and met a fellow ham through the collection of copper wire, fiber-optics, DSL modems and DNS servers that make up the Internet.

On 4 October 1980, the Holland-America Line’s “MS Prinsendam” cruise liner experienced an engine room fire while cruising in the Gulf of Alaska, about 120 miles south of Yakutat, Alaska. As I perused the article, I remembered hearing about the incident at the time, but I’d forgotten it in the intervening years. However, the news reports of the time that I heard never divulged the details that I read in the on-line article by David J. Ring, Jr. (N1EA) who was one of two amateur radio licensees serving on-board the US-flagged tanker “Williamsburgh” as Radio Officer (RO) on that night.

If you’re interested in reading the whole story and following the exploits of the crew and passengers of the “Prinsendam” as the fire proved uncontainable and the Captain finally gave the dreaded order to “Abandon Ship”, consigning the passengers and crew to lifeboats in the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska, I recommend you start with David’s excellent narrative at http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/. That’s the article that started me on the trail of a story that merits consideration by every amateur radio operator. Follow the links and do a bit of searching on Google and you’ll read the recollection of a night of terror and heroism. I’m going to relate in this post primarily the portions of the event that apply to the future of our amateur radio service. But, I will tell you that all 535 passengers and crew were rescued with no loss of life.

What David Ring discloses in his article is the fact that as the fire spread and the situation became untenable for the passengers and crew of the “Prinsendam”, and the need arose to declare an emergency, the government mandated SATCOM (satellite communications) distress system installed on the “Prinsendam” failed. Using proper procedure, the RO on the cruise ship reverted to the 2182 KHz SSB distress frequency and was met with no response to his “MAYDAY” call. In desperation, he turned to the traditional (and now much ignored) 500 KHz CW frequency. His “SOS” on that venerable calling frequency was heard by David on-board the “Williamsburgh”.

Here’s the link to an audio file of the actual CW “SOS” from the “Prinsendam”, recorded in real-time on the “Williamsburgh” –

http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/sos_de_pjta_small_file_size.mp3

Listen to it carefully, then listen to it again and ask yourself if you could have pulled the “SOS” out of the QRM and QRN on the freq. Answering honestly, I could not. My friend, David (K5DDL), was sitting here with me as I listened to it, and admitted that he couldn’t have either. Both of us were further motivated to continue to polish our CW skills and become more adept in this traditional and highly effective mode of communications.

Inspired by the history of the event, I emailed David Ring and told him I thought he had a “hell of an ear” to be able to hear that “SOS” call. His response was quite a shock. He informed me that the band conditions that night were actually fairly common on the frequency and that they dealt with that kind of QRM/QRN all the time. David included links to other recordings of marine comms on 500 KHz.

Listen to this recording of 500 KHz traffic in the English Channel –

http://mikea.ath.cx/www.n1ea.coastalradio.org.uk/Tea_Party.mp3

David also sent me this link which has several similar recordings –

http://mikea.ath.cx/www.n1ea.coastalradio.org.uk/index.html

You may be asking why I’m talking about marine radio and CW on an amateur radio blog. That’s a fair question, which I’m glad to answer. I mention it because we’re seeing a decline in the use of CW — good ol’ Morse Code– on the amateur bands. The FCC has rescinded the requirement for us to learn, and show competency in, the code in order to receive our licenses. That has resulted in a large number of  “no-code” Generals and Extras. There are a few traditional hams who ridicule the “no-code newbies”, but I don’t hold with that. I welcome every new ham and every upgrade that our ham community gains. And I will never ridicule or disparage anyone for a lack of Morse knowledge.

However, I’m going to take this opportunity to encourage all my fellow hams to achieve, regain or retain (whichever applies), a reasonable competence in International Morse Code. CW is the most efficient, and requires the least bandwidth, of any mode of operation available to amateur radio operators. It also requires less complicated radio gear than any other mode available to us. You can actually build a primitive spark-gap transmitter from components found under the hood of your pickup. And, yes, you’ll be able to drive the pickup after the QSO.

Continuous wave (CW), or Morse Code, is an intrinsic part of our amateur radio history and an invaluable resource in our “bag of tricks” as we strive to provide reliable emergency communications (EmComms) to our served agencies and the citizens of our communities in time of need.

I was first licensed in 1966 and passed (barely) my 5 wpm code test to achieve my Novice and Technician licenses in the same session. I got active on 6 meter AM and rarely used my old ARC-5 80 meter CW transmitter for its intended purpose. College and life in general got in the way and when my license lapsed in ’71, I didn’t renew it. Fast forward to almost the present day. After I was hired on at Tarleton State University, Gene (K5IIY) found out that I used to be a ham. He’d come to my office, kick my desk and tell me “You need to get your license again”. So, I studied for the Tech exam and aced it, found my listing in an old callbook and was grandfathered in for my General and then tested for my Extra. I’m glad I did. It’s absolutely wonderful to be a member of the ham community again. Thanks, Gene.

In the intervening years, I’d pretty much forgotten the code and with the code requirement removed by the FCC, I achieved an Amateur Extra class license without being required to relearn it or show competence. I hadn’t been particularly enamored with Morse when I was first licensed, but the more I thought about it after I got my Extra Class license, it just didn’t seem right to hold the ultimate class of license without being competent in CW. It felt like I was letting our history and our traditions down.

So, I set out to remedy that. I’m working to regain and improve on my CW skills. My personal goal is to be able to comfortably converse at 25 wpm. I had a cheap straight key, but it just didn’t motivate me — so I gave it away to Robert (K5HIX) and bought a Vibroplex Vibrokeyer. That motivates me. When you spend $200 for a key and cable, it’s a heck of a motivation to gain the skills to use it for its intended purpose. I love the Vibroplex bugs, but I figure it’ll be easier for the folks listening to me to let the keyer in my FT-897D polish my dits and dahs just a bit. With my luck, my fist on a bug would turn out to be some unintelligible cross of a Lake Erie and banana boat swing that no one could decipher. So, I picked the Vibrokeyer. It’s got a fantastic feel and adds a wonderful traditional look to the desk in my shack. As I gain skill and confidence, I may decide to get a bug too.

I’m working with the ZL1AN morse trainer and with the K7QO code course to relearn the code and get my speed up to where I won’t be embarassed to key up on the air. I’ll be there shortly. Learning Morse is actually learning another language and it’s easier for some folks than others. I’m having to work for it, but I know it’s going to be a great satisfaction when I’ve accomplished my goal. And I will.

If, like me, your code skills have deteriorated, please join me in relearning the code and making it a vital part of your ham radio experience. The code is a portion of our amateur radio history that we cannot afford to lose. I believe that it is essential that we, the amateur radio fraternity, maintain and improve our ability in CW to continue to provide our service to our communities and our nation. It is the first digital mode and still the most efficient.

Join me, if you will, my fellow hams and work to bring the code back to its formerly respected and widely used position in our avocation. Encourage those you teach and the new hams that you “Elmer” to learn and use the code, even though it’s no longer required. Dust off the old straight key or that bug you’ve ignored for so long, take the repeater directory off the paddles and get back on the air with our first mode. I’ll see you on the bands shortly.

73,
ldb
K5WLF

PS — To read David Ring’s presentation to the US Congress regarding the advantages of CW over the Federally mandated FGMDSS SATCOM distress system, see the following link –

http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/sos.htm

It’s a nice Friday evening here in Stephenville, TX USA — well, the local PD is staying a bit busy tonight from folks getting drunk and being stupid — but other than that it’s a really nice evening. The WX for the weekend promises to be cool and mostly clear and I’ll be out working on the mobile unit. It’s nothing fancy; a ’93 Dodge Dakota extended cab that’s a bit paint-challenged. But I picked it up about four years ago for a grand from a friend of mine who was moving to Austin, and it’s given me great service so I can’t grumble. Or, as my Irish friends say, I can’t whinge about it.

I’ve actually spent more money on the modifications to the vehicle than I paid for it, and it’s become quite a work of art. If you perceive art to be synonymous with technology. Which I do. The most obvious modification is the rack which holds 2 X Uni-Solar US-64 PV panels. You can see the video about that at:

http://wedothatradio.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/green-radio-we-do-that/

Since Robert (K5HIX) and I made that video back in 2008, there have been a lot of changes made to the pickup. Probably most obvious of those is the lightbar. We’ve had a few near misses with our Skywarn spotters nearly getting hit by other vehicles in severe WX, and many of us here have gone to full-size lightbars so we’ll be more visible to the folks we call “the civilians”. We won’t do anybody any good out there if we’re involved in an accident. I modified the lightbar with some onboard relays (and some outboard relays, too) so that the rear-facing reds act as high stop and turn until I flip a second switch. Then they go wig-wag. I can tell you from experience that there’s something about 55 watt halogens as auxiliary stoplights that make folks tend to quit tailgating!

Also since the video was made, I’ve added a 100Ah SLA battery that’s charged by the PV panels. As soon as the new console is finished, the radios will be powered by that battery and the pickup’s SLI battery will only run the original loads and the lightbar. There’s also a Powerstream charger that runs off the pickup’s SLI system and charges the SLA battery if needed. The Powerstream unit is needed because the SLA battery requires a much different charging protocol than the flooded lead-acid battery under the hood in the pickup. So, if we’re working at night or in inclement WX we can maintain the charge in the radio battery by charging it off the vehicle system.

As soon as the new console is finished, and I buy one more radio and antenna, I’ll have a completely autonomous mobile station that’s working from 160m to 70cm, with redundant capability on 2m and 70cm. The radio inventory in the new console will be: 1 X Yaesu FT-8800R & 1 X Yaesu FT-857D. The 857D is a “DC to daylight” rig that works from 160m to 70cm and the 8800R is a 2m/70cm rig that includes cross-band repeat capability. We’ll have full radio re-broadcast from both radios and the scanner in the dash through the speaker in the lightbar. Oh, by the way, the HF antenna I’m going to get is a High Sierra Sidekick.

I’m using a Radio Design Labs ST-MX3 audio mixer to feed the three radio outputs to the Signal Vehicle Products SS670 siren head. It’s going to be a neat system when it’s all done. It’s designed for two things: 1> to give me the ultimate capability to communicate — regardless of the conditions — in an emergency situation and, 2> to afford me an almost unlimited opportunity for recreational communications during ‘normal’ times.

So, why am I telling you all about this system? It’s certainly not to brag. There are a multitude of folks who could outspend me and build a much more extravagant system. It’s merely to demonstrate what can be done on a moderate budget, by someone whose only hobbies (and primary interests) are amateur radio and renewable energy. It’s also to make you aware of what it takes to build a mobile radio system that will meet most any EmComm need that may arise, and keep the expenditure to a reasonable level. And to me, EmComm is the most important facet of amateur radio.

We must always remember that one of the primary reasons for the existence of our service is to provide emergency communications when required. Take a look at Part 97. You’ll see that emergency communications is a prominent item on the list. I can’t remember if it’s the first one or not, but it’s the first one that I think of when I consider our reasons for being. It’s good to increase the knowledge and to make friends around the world, but EmComms is the most important contribution that we can make to our fellow Americans; and in many cases to other citizens of the world.

As you enjoy the varied aspects of amateur radio; the DX, the contests and the ragchews, please don’t forget EmComms. For it is mainly through this facet of our avocation that we prove our worth and justify our continued existence as the only radio service that does not return a revenue to the FCC. If we become lax in our preparation and our participation in EmComms, we may find that our frequency allocations will have been given to another radio service that will provide the government with a profit. And that would be a two-fold loss — first, to us and also to the citizens of our country. And the world.

73,
ldb
K5WLF

A short bit of shameless self-promotion here — design and fabrication of renewable energy power systems and integrated comm systems, either base, portable or mobile, are available. Contact k5wlf@rebelwolf.com for more info.

I rolled out at 0500 last Saturday morning (14 Nov) and met Gene (K5IIY) at the curb for the ride to Azle. After a misguided breakfast stop at a place I shall leave unnamed, but which featured inedible food and undrinkable coffee, we arrived early at the Azle Community Center. The doors weren’t open yet, so we took the time to look around the tailgate vendors area and talked to a few hams we hadn’t seen since last year.  A few minutes before 0800, the doors opened and my first stop was the coffee pot. The coffee was hot and fresh and well worth the requested one dollar donation. I could finally wake up!

Azle isn’t a large event, and there were no manufacturers exhibiting there. However, there were quite a few tables of used gear and a couple ham supply stores were there as well. This event is targeted toward EmComms and the available seminars reflected that. I chose to attend two of them. One was presented by Mike Heskett (WB5QLD), the volunteer coordinator for NWS FWD Skywarn. Mike reminded us of what the NWS is really looking for during storm spotting sessions, and encouraged those of us who act as NCS for the storm nets to help our operators in the field “keep it tight” and transmit only the vital and needed information. A few humorous reminders of what not to say were included in Mike’s presentation also. For example, “I’m out here about a quarter-mile past Mary’s windmill” is a locational description that does NWS no good at all. Yeah, that one actually came over a WX net.

The other seminar I attended was presented by Roy Rabey (AD5KZ), the Official Observer leader for our district. Roy enlightened us as to the mission of the OO team and explained how to apply to become an OO for those interested. He made it very clear that the FCC expects us to police our own ranks and that the proper way to deal with an operator in violation of Part 97 is NOT to directly contact the FCC, but to submit the violation (with evidence) to the local OO and then allow ARRL HQ to follow up on it if needed. It may well be solved by a note from the local OO. Complaints about operational violations should be allowed to be investigated by the ARRL and if they deem it necessary, HQ will submit a complaint to the FCC. Individual hams should not take it upon themselves to involve the FCC before the ARRL has had a chance to perform the function they have agreed with the FCC to do. Roy made it very clear that if we are to continue to be able to be self-policing, we must follow the agreed-upon protocol and not involve the FCC until ARRL HQ has investigated the complaint. ARRL HQ is the only entity which makes the decision to call in the FCC.

In the headline, I mentioned a look ahead. Actually, there are two. First, we’ll take a look at the current trend of some commercial organizations to buy amateur radio equipment and get some of their employees licensed as hams for “emergency communications”. There is a very fine line here between compliance and non-compliance with Part 97. Many of the hams who work for these organizations gained their licenses in one-day, “teach for the test” classes. It is vitally important that we draw these new hams into the everyday activity of the amateur radio community. For if they remain dormant until an emergency arises, they will be thrust onto the air for (possibly) the first time in a crisis situation. Lacking the experience and confidence built only by a daily exchange of QSOs and regular operation on the amateur bands, they will not be efficient and effective operators at a time when precision communications is needed more than any other. Also, without the experience and knowledge that is derived only from regular operation in the amateur radio service, they may well act in violation of Part 97, to the detriment of our service.

We of the practicing amateur community must, to preserve our service, make every effort to include these new hams into our daily activities and prepare them for the time when we will be activated to deal with an actual emergency situation. We must also do all within our power to ensure that our amateur radio service is reserved for those times when, truly, “all else fails” and is not allowed to become a “cheap and easy” solution for organizations which rightly must operate under another radio service to conduct their business.

The second look ahead is of a much lighter nature and promises to be a lot more fun.  On 15 & 16 January 2010, the third annual Cowtown Hamfest will be held at the Lockheed Martin Recreation Area, 3400 Bryant Irving Road, Fort Worth, TX 76109. I’ve been to both of the preceding ones, and I intend to be at the next one. It’s not a large event, but it’s a good one. A whole lot of activity packed into a relatively small venue. What you might call “high density enjoyment”. There are a lot of used-gear vendors there and I got some great deals on small and hard-to-find parts. It’s also where I discovered Bob (KZ5R) of Balun Designs and finally solved the problem of RF in the shack from my folded dipole, with a beautifully designed and constructed feedline choke. So, don’t miss the Cowtown Hamfest. See you there. http://www.cowtownhamfest.org/

One last observation. Gene and I had the chance to spend about a half hour talking to David Woolweaver (K5RAV), our ARRL West Gulf Division Director. It was a very enlightening and very encouraging conversation. David is an active ham who is very concerned about the current status and the future of our hobby. Our conversation with him indicated that, unlike some previous times, the amateur radio service and the FCC do not currently have an adversarial relationship. At this time, the FCC is willing to stand back and allow the ARS to take the lead in assuring that our service is in compliance with Part 97, the rules under which we operate. This does not mean that they will tolerate gross indiscretions, nor does it allow us to be lax in enforcing the rules within our ranks. We must do our best to ensure that our operations conform to the regulations, and we must exercise special care in the case of emergency drills by those organizations which have recently adopted amateur radio. After the recent R&O, the FCC is waiting to see how we will respond and how our actions (and theirs) will affect the mandate of our service as emergency communicators. Our actions at this time may determine our future. Let us proceed in our avocation, doing as we have always done by providing essential communications when called upon; but let us make sure that we do not ignore or overstep the boundaries within which we must operate. Our spectrum allocations are always under attack by commercial entities, and to preserve them, our operations must be exemplary.

We must never forget that the FCC is forever subjected to a relentless barrage of demands by those same commercial (and revenue producing) entities to sacrifice our frequencies in the interest of profit and, only by showing on a daily basis that we are worthy, will we be allowed to retain them. In the long run, it will only be by the demonstration of our ongoing value by our actions, and by the continual intervention of the ARRL, that we will be able to keep our frequency allocations. Let us remember, each time we key up, that our words may influence, either positively or negatively, our survival.

73,
ldb
K5WLF

The Azle hamfest is tomorrow. It’s always a good one and I’ll be there. They offer seminars in addition to the vendors, so you can learn something as well as buy a new (or used) toy.  It kicks off at 0800 and runs until 1300, so getting there early is a must.  Hope to see you there. Here’s the URL for more info:

http://www.wc5c.org/WC5CClub/NCTECH/tabid/152/Default.aspx

Now, the observation I promised you. Most of us go to the big hamfests regularly. Here in my part of North Central Texas, the “big” ones are Ham-Com in Plano, in June of each year; and the Belton Ham-Expo, held in spring and fall. These are pretty much a “can’t miss” event for most hams. But, we shouldn’t overlook the many smaller hamfests that are held throughout the year.

There are smaller hamfests held all over the area and I try to make them all. Gene (K5IIY) and I have headed out at some pretty early hours for places we’ve had to look up on the map; and when we get there, we find a good hamfest. Note that a “good” hamfest doesn’t necessarily mean “big”. Sure we all love Ham-Com, where the manufacturers have booths set up and we can actually put our paws on the transceiver we may never be able to afford. But, the true measure of a hamfest is the camaraderie and friendship of our fellow hams and I promise you — you’ll find that at every hamfest you go to, regardless of the size. So, have some fun, prowl the backroads of your area and find the smaller hamfests. You’ll enjoy them, guaranteed.

And let’s not forget one more reason, a very important one, for attending the smaller events. If we fail to support them, they will go away. I don’t think that many of the small events are making much money, many are probably lucky to break even. If we fail to attend them, and they begin to consistently lose money, the organizers will no longer hold them — and we will have lost another place to enjoy the company of our fellow hams. Let’s support the small events as well as the big ones and help keep the magic of our hobby alive.

73,
ldb
K5WLF

I’d loaded most of the gear into my pickup the night before, so I didn’t really have to get up early Saturday morning to make the 0700 breakfast call that kicked off our annual SET. I rolled out at 0600, got myself awakened and ready, put the remaining gear in the pickup and headed out, realized a block from the house that I’d forgotten to grab the 70cm HT from the charger, turned around, got the HT and headed out again. The Departure, Take 2, was a success. Not everybody made it to breakfast, but we had a decent group and by 0830 we were fed and coffeed; ready to meet the rest of the crew at our net control location in a local park. We choose this park for two reasons: 1> it’s one of the highest elevations in the city and, 2> the place we set up is about 50 yards from the diner we eat breakfast at.

Last year, Ma Nature wasn’t too good to us and the temp was about 27°F for our SET. This year, we had a forecast of about 73° and sunny with a light wind. It was about 60° when I got up, so I figured the forecast was right. By the time we assembled for our briefing in the park, the temp had dropped about 10° and the wind was about 20 knots. We got our scenario packets and instructions and headed out for our assigned locations. We would all be working from our mobiles for the exercise, so we didn’t really care what the WX was doing.

Well, except for Bill (WA5PB). Bill was NCS this year and our usual enclosed travel trailer wasn’t available, so he was stuck working from our open, rather utilitarian, tower trailer. We can crank up a 40′ tower from the trailer, but it’s just an open frame with an operating desk built into it. It wasn’t long before he was asking for delivery of a parka to the NCS. Nobody had one, but Dave (WA5KCP) was stationed right next to a donut shop near the NCS and delivered a big cup of hot coffee to Bill. I’m happy to report that Bll survived his open-air stint at NCS and the SET was a success.

The format of our SETs is scripted in that we write a series of cues for the participants, with a time attached to them. Each cue is placed in an envelope with the time of the cue written on it and the operator opens each envelope at the appointed time. Here’s a sample cue:  “1038 — There is a multi-vehicle accident near your shelter. One of the vehicles is a tanker with placard # 1963. It is overturned, but is not leaking at this time.” The operator reports that to NCS, who responds appropriately and then, a few minutes later, follows up with a report of the emergency responders on the way, or not, depending on how busy the scenario up till that time has been keeping the (imaginary) emergency crews.

We had a wide variety of cues this year. Fires, flooding, tornados, vehicle accidents, missing children, missing parents, grid power failures, victims trapped in collapsed buildings and sunken cars, broken water mains and more. Pretty much everything but the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Last Plagues.

The purpose of the SET is to help us improve our communications skills in emergency situations. We practice with simulated emergencies so we’ll be ready for the real ones. With cues written for an average of every two minutes, from one operator or another, the pace of the exercise keeps the pressure on. And that’s what it takes to improve. You can’t get better if you practice the status quo. You must practice just beyond your current skill level to improve.

Herewith a quick look at areas where I belive we did well…

• Net Control Station — Bill was operating alone at NCS and did a great job. NCS gets busy enough that we usually have two folks there. A ‘talker’ and a ‘note-taker’, but we were a bit short-handed this year and Bill did a yeoman job solo. Kudos, Bill.
• Ad-libbing and improvising — The cues are written a bit cryptically since they’re just short statements of “fact”. It adds immensely to the realism of the event when operators embellish their reports with ad-libs — reporting the situation ‘as it happens’, so to speak. Everybody did that very well this year and we didn’t have the stilted effect that results from just reading the cues as written. It sounded as if the events were really happening. Well done, everyone.
• Staying on the timeline — When things get hectic, it’s easy to miss a cue or not meet the timing. With very few exceptions (and those were minor), the entire exercise stayed right on time. The exceptions were inevitable; caused by the necessity to further develop or respond to earlier cues. Good job, all.
• Equipment reliability — Our only equipment failure this year was simulated. David (K5DDL) got a cue which ‘failed’ his mobile. He reported the failure on his HT and about a half hour later (on his own initiative) simulated a ‘repair’ of his mobile and was back on the air with the FT-8800R.  Good work, everyone on the condition of your gear and a tip of the call-letter ball cap to David for the ad-libbed repair.

A few things I hope are different next year…

• Number of hams participating — We didn’t have as many folks working the SET this year as we have in times past. It’s to be expected that participation will vary from year to year. Amateur radio is a hobby and those who participate in it are volunteers with lives and obligations outside of the hobby. It actually adds to the realism, because we can’t guarantee that all the hams in town will be available when an emergency occurs. In an exercise, as in the real thing, you adapt to the resources you have available and carry on. Still, I always hope for maximum participation in the exercises, because I want all our hams to have the experience of working a SET (or more) before the need comes to do it “for real”.
• Participation by Served Agencies — Occasionally, I read about emergency exercises that encompass all the public service agencies in a county, plus the hams, and I get “SET Envy”. Those exercises are wonderful experience, because they involve all the emergency resources in an area and give them the experience of all working together under the Incident Command System (ICS). We haven’t reached that point here in Erath County yet, but I keep hoping and we’re going to keep trying to get the interest up and get that kind of exercise on the calendar.
• The Weather — I know, it seems a bit petty to whine about the WX, but it’d be nice sometime to have shirt-sleeve temps for a SET. I know Bill would have appreciated it this year. In Mother Nature’s defense though, I should point out that when we left the Agave, where we’d had lunch after the SET, the temp was up around 73° and made for a beautiful afternoon to work on outside projects — like installing an auxiliary battery in the pickup. So I did.

The TAARC Annual SET was a total success this year. I know I said in a previous post that we’d make mistakes and there would be gaps in our responses. There weren’t really any mistakes made this year worth mentioning. What does that mean? It means that we’re pretty darn good at the skill level this years’ exercise demanded. It also means that next year, we’re going to have to figure out a way to ratchet up the pressure a bit. In order to improve, we must push ourselves beyond our current skill-set and our current comfort level. So, next years’ exercise will have to be more demanding. Hmmm…maybe cues every minute instead of every two minutes…

73,
ldb
K5WLF

EmComm Tip — In a situation where cell phone calls are not getting through, try texting. Texting is a “store and forward” technology, meaning that your SMS message is stored on the server until a path is available for it to be transmitted to the recipient. SMS messages will, many times, get through when voice calls, which require a ‘real-time’ connection, will not.

It’s 2318 and I’ve just finished loading most of the gear in my pickup for tomorrow’s annual Tarleton Area Amateur Radio Club Simulated Emergency Test. These exercises are fun, but more importantly, they’re one of the most important ways in which we maintain our proficiency in actual field operations. The others are the four bike races we provide comms for each year and, of course, the ARRL Field Day.

Of all of our ‘outside’ exercises, the SET is my favorite, since it involves (no surprise here) simulated emergencies. I helped write the script outline for tomorrow’s exercise, but I have no idea which clips of the scenario I’ll be receiving when the packets are handed out at our 0830 briefing. That adds to the fun.

We’ll be working VHF, UHF and HF freqs and the SET script has just about every catastrophe that could befall a small North Texas town. We’ll have a tornado or two, fire, flood, auto accidents, water main breaks and a hazmat spill. Then, just to help tweak the adrenalin levels; over-crowded shelters, hungry victims and the need to improvise an LZ for a med-evac chopper. It’s good practice for an actual disaster,

Some of our group, myself included, have actual emergency deployment experience. Mine was at the Cross Plains Fire in 2005. Cell phones and landlines were down and for the first 72 hours, ham radio was the only way the shelter in Cross Plains could communicate with Red Cross facilities in Brownwood and Abilene. We ran two hams per 12-hour shift and I was fortunate to be teamed with Gene (K5IIY), who’s as solid a working partner as I could have ever wanted.

After the SET tomorrow, we’ll have a hotwash (ICS term for the debriefing immediately following the exercise) and then an exercise report at our next club meeting. There will be mistakes and gaps in our response. There always are. But I’m confident there will be fewer than there were last year. And this year’s scenario will push our skills harder than they were pushed last year. So, we’re getting better. But, we’ll never rest. We’ll never say, “We’re good enough”.

There will be another SET next year. With an even more demanding scenario. And we’ll improve our emcomm skills even more. We have to. When all else fails, we are Amateur Radio. And we must not fail.

73,
ldb
K5WLF