Jun 13

Volunteer Communications in SC .. RatPac Presentation on June 9 2022

Topics discussed:

2022 State full scale exercise,  Auxcomm,  FEMA region 4/6 comm exercise.

Presenters:
Gretchen Birt
Dennison Comer
Gabe Turner
Roger Mull

 

click on the picture to watch the RatPac video

Thanks to the RatPac team for giving us the opportunity to present this.

 

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.

Who decides when ARES will be activated?

That would be the agency ARES volunteers are serving.  ARES is a registered trade mark for the ARRL.  The roles in emergency communication is really defined by the agencies, state, county, local government or NGO they serve as volunteer communicator.  Without these served organization ARES has no role to support.

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 or state EOC.

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

 

AUXCOMM:  is not an organization, it is a training standard.

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 organize 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

NGO= Non-Government Organization

*** 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
————————————————————————————————-

Feb 15

RF Line-of-Sight Map

Online tool we can use to see if we have clear line of sight for simplex operation.

Take a look: https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

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 <-
-> Make sure the voltage settings MATCH the battery manufacturer recommendation <-

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

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

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

Jan 24

South Carolina ARES Statewide HF Net

 

New time and frequency has been announced 3.990 at 6pm Tuesdays for the ARES HF net originating out of South Carolina. All are welcome. Check netlogger for the frequency just in case we moved.

In the case of an exercise or actual emergency the frequencies in the Tactical Communications Plan will be followed.

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

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.