Jan 24

EmComm Power, Solar & Battery

Batteries,  solar panels and solar charge controllers.

Which is best for EmComm ?

RF Quiet solar charge controller, Series vs Parallel panels, PWM or MPPT, which is best ?

View Vimeo Video: https://vimeo.com/669261305

Provided by the RatPack group.

Suggestions to live by:

-> Never plug a solar panel directly into a battery <-

-> Make sure the solar charge controller is configured to MATCH the battery chemistry <-

-> Always plug the battery into a solar charge controller BEFORE the solar panels <-

Difference between ARES, RACES and Auxcomm, in South Carolina

ARES:
FCC Licensed Amateur Radio Operators who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment, with the local ARES leadership, for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. ARRL/ARES provides basic training curriculum and exercise opportunities. The list of agencies a volunteer might end up serving is long but could include a County EOC/CERT, Hospital radio room, Red Cross ERV/Shelter, Nursing Home radio room, NWS office.  Once you register with an agency your training & credentialing will be completed with them.

Leadership is provided by the county EC and the state SM
Click on the LEADERSHIP DIRECTORY tab above for contacts.

RACES:
Amateur Radio Operators that  have registered with their EOC for volunteer communications service should the President of the United States order the shutdown of all amateur radio transmissions per FCC rule 97.407 ***
RACES operators are allowed to transmit only by order of the EOC they volunteer for.
Each RACES volunteer must be endorsed by the respective county EOC or state EOC

Leadership is provided by each EOC / RACES Officer, county or state.

AUXCOMM:
An all inclusive term used to describe the many organizations that provide various types of communication support to emergency management, public safety and other government agencies as described in themselves. This includes but is not limited to Amateur Radio, Military Radio, Citizens Band Radio, DMR, DMRS, FRS, SatCom, Skywarn and many others.
Members of Auxcomm all have the title of Auxiliary Communicator.
Auxcomm is a position specific specialist certification.

Leadership is provided by the State EOC/DEC and the state EMD
Click on the LEADERSHIP DIRECTORY tab above for contacts.

The above information is specific to South Carolina, a home rule state, some states have organized these three groups differently. An example is some states may not organized RACES with the county EOC.  Check with your local EOC for direction.

EC = Emergency Coordinator
SM = Section Manager
EM = Emergency Manager
EOC = Emergency Operations Center
DEC = District Emergency Coordinator
EMD = Emergency Management Division
ARES = Amateur Radio Emergency Service
RACES = Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

*** It has been reported that FCC part 97.407 was removed from law at some point in the past. This was investigated and found to be an opinion. FCC 97.407 is still in effect as of Sept 2021 here is the link if you would like to check for yourself.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97/subpart-E/section-97.407
————————————————————————————————-

SC Emergency Management Division AUXCOMM program for Amateur Radio Operator volunteers

View Video: https://vimeo.com/590153252
Download Video: https://vimeo.com/user107547861/download/590153252/f697f7a109
Documents: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5y3ibk6b1zquux9/AAAq5sKztpxikh1pIDgxlMkAa?dl=0

“There is a lot to like in this talk.  Most of it is role model/best practice”

Erik Westgard NY9D

 

The insurance question is at time stamp 53:40

 

South Carolina is a home rule state: Home rule in the United States generally signifies a shift of governing power from the state to county or municipal governments to implement principles of local self-government. … Several states grant some degree of home rule to local governments organized under the general law.

—> Provided by RATPAC…Radio Amateur Training Planning and Activities Committee  8/19/2021

Integrating Amateur Radio DMR into a State Communications Plan

 

View Video: https://vimeo.com/586961385
Download Video: https://vimeo.com/user107547861/download/586961385/f71194f2a6
Documents: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xpk08dm5nw69a0l/AACiHHyaaMqr0ANPy2BcasKma?dl=0
—> Provided by RATPAC…Radio Amateur Training Planning and Activities Committee 8/12/2021

When to self ID

Riley Hollingsworth is the ARRL guy managing the Volunteer Monitor program and he has cleared up a few things about when you must self ID.  This applies to operating on amateur radio frequencies ONLY.  If you are operating on a frequency outside of the amateur radio bands you will follow the direction given by the local leadership.

You must self ID once every 10 minutes if:

  1. You are using your own callsign
  2. You are using a club callsign, like W4CAE or K4EMD
  3. You are using a special event tactical callsign, like the ones used for Harbison 50K or Tour De Cure
  4. You are using an ARES/Auxcomm tactical callsign, Like LEX EOC or State EOC

Of course you will self ID sooner if the event coordinator directs you to. In some events you might be asked to self ID on every transmission you make. An example would be “Net Control LEX EOC message body goes here K4LLE“

You must self ID every 60 minutes if:

You are using an FCC issued 1×1 special event callsign. An Example is K2L. It is also suggested that instead of every 60 minutes you self ID every 30 minutes just to be on the safe side. You should always follow the direction of the event coordinator.

FCC article on FCC issued 1×1 callsign, CLICK

There is no need to say “for ID” just say your callsign

Jul 30

EmComm (Winlink HF & FM) Training group

While this group of folks is not associated with ARES they are committed to emergency comms specifically Winlink ICS traffic. So if you need some training and practice this group is the place to spend your free time.

EmComm-Training Group

Apr 30

Are you ready for Communications Duty ?

This one hour 22 minute video from the RATPAC Planning team is a must see for ARES and Skywarn volunteers.  All statewide emergency frequencies are listed in the tactical communications plan,  download it,  print it out,  keep it next to your radio.

 Click on the picture for the video.

Q&A starts at the 46 minute mark, some very good questions.

Apr 14

Comm Academy 2021 Presentations

Just in case you missed it here is the complete list of Comm Academy presentations. Just CLICK here.

I recommend:  Pandemics and Power Outages – What next?
Presented by Brian Daly – ARRL Georgia Section, Technical Specialist

 

Jan 21

Local ARES net menu tab

If you would like your ARES net added to this list please send an email to Pete K4LLE at pete.emmel.k4lle@gmail.com with all the info and I will get you on the list.

Jan 28

Field Guide for Handhelds (HT)

 

Everyone in Emergency Management should know about this book. Consider if

you are at a deployment and someone shows up with an HT that needs to be

programmed to be useful. But nobody is familiar with the HT and the

owner forgot how to program by the keyboard.

This book contains minimal keyboard programming info on 85 different

HT’s  It  isn’t a replacement for a nifty guide but does provide info on

frequency, offset, tone etc programming. Absolutely essential. We now

have a copy in the Aiken EOC trailer.

CLICK….Available on Amazon for $22.95

Dave, WB5NHL