GCARES inc. Blog

2008-01-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

SKYWARN
ANNUAL 2008 SPOTTER TRAINING CLASS

SATURDAY March 8, 2008 10:00 AM
TUESDAY April 8, 2008 7:00 PM

Genesee County Administration Building
1101 Beach St. Flint
Third floor in the Auditorium

The Genesee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (GCARES) is sponsoring this year’s annual Skywarn Spotters class. Weather personal from the National Weather Service office in White Lake will be training Skywarn Spotters for the server weather season. This will be a 2-½ hour class and will include a combination of Basic and Advanced Spotters class. There is no charge for the class and is open to anyone wishing to learn what to look for during server weather. You only need to attend one class. There is an age limit for all over the age of 12 and older.

For more information you may contact the following

Bob Byler - KA8IIB Asst. EC for Training GCARES at (810) 241-1609

Greg Ybarra - N8HXQ ARRL Genesee CountyARES EC/RACES RO at (810) 736-2126 or by email at n8hxq@comcast.net or n8hxq@arrl.net

2008-01-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

January 19, 2008

Burton Michigan

ARAY Swap now sponsored by Genese County ARES Inc

16th Annual

_____________________________________________________________

ARAY/GCARES Ham Radio Swap and Shop

Vendors include

Elmers Ham Shack

Dentronics

Tower Electronics

Webster Communications

Amateur Accessories

**************************************************************************

VE Testing at 10:00 AM

Free Parking

Handicap accessable

All Sales Inside

Doors open for Sales at 8:00 AM until Noon

Location

Bentley Middle School

1180 North Belsay Road, Burton Michigan

I-68 to Exit 141 Belsay road 1/4 mile north the school is on the right

Talk in on 147.100+ (100Hz Pl)

Admission $5.00 under 12 Free

Hourly Door Prizes

For More Info and table sales call Greg N8HXQ at 810-736-2126 or email at n8hxq@arrl.net

K-9 One Search Drill as seen by a Ham

2007-10-22T17:49:00.001-05:00

(GC)ARES involvement in the K9-ONE search and rescue (SAR) drill on Saturday was “a good thing” for both GCARES and the K9-ONE group. For GCARES, this drill identified another potential service area to explore, and for the K9-ONE group, this drill gave some newer “non-(GC)ARES” K9-ONE hams an example of some very good amateur radio net operating procedures.

Following a carefully pre-planned and humorous Halloween-based scenario, several search-dog based teams were deployed over assigned geographical sectors in-and-around the Michigan Renaissance Festival property in northern Oakland County. The purpose of this gathering was to drill this all-volunteer K9-ONE SAR group in their charter mission, i.e., to search for and to locate clues toward locating missing persons in unfavorable circumstances. Each team was led by a privately-owned and specifically-trained search-dog that was then followed immediately by the dog’s handler. In turn, this handler was then followed by one or more team support personnel and then, the entire team was followed a GCARES amateur radio operator. Saturday’s several teams were named for their dogs, e.g., Team Emma, Team Emmy, Team Mo, Team Tucker, Team Pepsi and Team Tigger, etc. Each team commenced its search in a specific geographical sector at a place where the quarried individual(s) was last seen (Point Last Seen) or was last known to have been (Point Last Known). The team search dogs were to pick up the scent and the trail at the PLS or PLK, and then pursue the subject as far as possible, hopefully to the successful location of the quarry.

I was initially assigned as the radio-operator for Team Pepsi, but I was quickly reassigned to Team Emmy. Team Emmy’s namesake was beautiful two-year-old tan female bloodhound. Ken, of Ann Arbor Township Fire and Rescue and the K9 Search-Rescue Team, was Emmy’s owner and handler. Since I’d never even seen a bloodhound in my sixty-five years, and had absolutely no knowledge of any dog-based search capabilities, watching Ken work with Emmy was a thrilling experience. The search support-person on Team Emmy was “Cathy”. As we were performing our search quite geographically distant from the K9-ONE base unit, I was Ken’s radio-link for any needs he had. In our case, the initial PLS scent-clue (a shovel) had apparently been inadvertently purloined earlier by a local resident, so base-contact-by-radio assistance was required. Following that matter, Ken required base-contact-by-radio to rule-out the possibility that an empty can of MONSTER JUICE was a location clue. Team Emmy also used our radio-link to address the issue of an off-property lengthy fence in connection with the search territory.

Team Emmy was not as successful as other teams, but I learned that this is one reason for deploying more than one search team. It seemed to me that heavy rain over the previous night, and Saturday’s heavy wind, would be a very understandable negative factor in this type of dog-search. However, I very surprisingly learned that rain and wind are almost non-issues for a bloodhound. “Emmy’s” involvement here was because she had been specifically trained on following a specific scent that she had been given, while other dogs are trained as “air scent” dogs, or as “cadaver” dogs. The Michigan Renaissance Festival terrain was sufficiently varied to simulate actual search conditions.

Except for a right arm scratch that I received while crawling through a heavy thicket following Emmy, I finished the search unscathed. Our search session was followed by a de-briefing session which addressed the search experience and the search results. During mid-to-late afternoon, individual dog-owners worked with other dog-owners in very specific dog-training exercises. I was impressed to see how these various dogs were trained in their areas of expertise. I am not a dog-person, but I now have great respect for search dogs and their very distinct areas of capability. I actually watched a poodle search-dog continually “pester” its too-easy-to-give-up owner-handler until the two of them finally found the target buried under leaves and brush in heavy thicket.

The Saturday weather was perfect, the food was good, and the comraderie was exceptional. During de-briefing, K9-ONE advised that (GC)ARES was a very beneficial and a very welcome supplement to their SAR program. K9-ONE also expressed an interest in building a working relationship with (GC)ARES for use during times K9-ONE was activated in the future. For this particular exercise, GCARES worked on 145.980MHz simplex, apparently the historical K9-ONE operating frequency.

Tom Root, WB8UUJ
Flushing, MI USA

Annual Meeting

2007-10-21T09:15:00.001-05:00

In accordance with the current Bylaws of Genesee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Inc, the annual meeting and election of officers will be held on November 3rd, 2007 at 10:00 AM in the third floor auditorium of the Genesee County Administration Building at 1101 Beach Street.

The Board offices which are open for election this year are Secretary, Director of Engineering, and Director of Specialized communications. Any one wish to run for office must be a member in good standing as of June 1st 2007.

Any one wishing to be considered as a candidate for one of these offices should submit a letter of intent and or resume to the Secretary of the board or Robert Grieve (KA8NOG) the chairman of the nominating Committee no later than 10:00 am on the 3rd of November. Nominations and seconds will be permitted from the floor however the nominee must be present and in good standing to accept the nomination.

Jerry Baker – KD8AYL
Secretary/Public Information Officer
Genesee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Inc.
FEMA Certified ISO 22, 100, 200, 700, 800
ARECC Certified Level 1, 2 & 3

Thanks from Tami

2007-10-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

From: Yorks, Tami
To: N8HXQ
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 4:28 PM
Subject: Storms on 10-18-07

Greg,

Please pass along my thanks to all the ARES spotters for their help last evening during the storms. The ARES participation during such incidents does not go unnoticed by me or our dept. THANKS SO MUCH!

Kudos to all of your volunteers!

Tamara Yorks
Director
Emergency Management/Homeland Security

Michigan Hams Activated Due to Storms and Tornado

2007-09-01T18:23:00.000-05:00

Fred Moses, Sr, KC8UMP, of Holly, Michigan, does ARES duty at the Fenton fire station. [Fred Moses, Jr, W8FSM, Photo]
The parking lot at Deerfield Center had lots of downed trees due to the storm. [Fred Moses, Jr, W8FSM, Photo]
On Friday, August 24 at 5:15 PM (EDT), the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Genesee County. This storm produced two tornados in the mid-Michigan area that caused severe damage to several towns. The greatest damage occurred in the City of Fenton located just south of Flint. The NWS confirmed that an EF2 tornado had touched down and had torn a path 26 miles long and up to 0.5 miles wide through Livingston, Oakland, Genesee and Lapeer County, damaging at least 250 homes and businesses. An EF2 tornado, using the enhanced Fujita scale, is a wind estimate of 110-135 MPH in a three-second gust. More than 12,000 people lost power due to the storms.
ARES and SKYWARN Activated
Michigan's Genesee County ARES and SKYWARN were activated due to a severe thunderstorm watch. The storm moved into the county with such heavy rain that visibility dropped down to zero at several points. Funnel clouds were seen in the western part of the county, but these could not be confirmed. The NWS issued a Tornado Warning based on confirmed sightings in the adjacent counties to the west, as well as reports from their Doppler radar.
As spotters continued to watch the storm, Randy Bond, N8VDS, spotted the funnel heading for Fenton and reported it to the NWS via his ham radio; Fred Moses Jr, W8FSM, confirmed the sighting. Moments later, the Genesee County 911 central dispatch center received a call that the roof on the brand new Tractor Supply Company store in Fenton had caved in and that the tornado had touched down. About half of the Fenton Community Center's roof was blown off, and debris from the building blew across the road to Fenton United Methodist Church.
Genesee County 911 called out the fire departments and activated their Fire Coordination Plan. Ham radio spotters have an agreement with Genesee County fire departments to provide supplemental communications for the departments. Hams were providing communications via the SKYWARN net and the Fire Coordination net.
As the county's fire departments started to move toward the building collapse in Fenton, hams were already on the scene. Bond and Mike Schafer, KB8RVP, shifted gears from weather spotters to Fire Coordination operators. At the request of the fire chief at the scene, Bond went to the Fenton City fire station and, using ham radio, assisted their dispatch center; the storm had damaged their radio fire communications tower, so Bond and Schafer started working dispatch for them using their ham radios until the dispatch center was able to resume normal fire communications.
Jerry Baker, KD8AYL, was next to arrive on the scene at the collapsed building and after meeting with the Incident Commander, Baker was assigned the task to set up radio communications with more ARES volunteers in the Flint region.
As more reports of damage came in, the Fenton City and Township Fire Department became overloaded; their crippled communications tower did not help matters. ARES Emergency Coordinator for Genesee County Greg Ybarra, N8HXQ, coordinated the response during this incident and put out a call for help to District 3 Emergency Coordinator Greg Allinger, WA8OGJ. Allinger contacted other ARES units in the state, and Amateur Radio operators from nine Michigan counties responded to the Fenton area to help.
Evaluation of the damage started immediately after the storm. Baker was reassigned to a relief shelter to aid the Red Cross. What would normally have been a drive of less then 10 minutes took almost an hour due to trees and power lines down everywhere. "Trees as much as 36 inches in diameter and more than 100 years old had been ripped out of the ground by the storm; regular electric power was out and the damage reports just never seemed to end," he said.
The Genesee County Office of Emergency Management activated their Mobile Command Unit. The MCU has an Amateur Radio station in it, as well as radios for all public service organizations. The city set up a command post in the parking lot of the Fenton City fire department and began operations from there. Michigan State Police responded to the area and instituted an 8 PM curfew for everyone. State and local police set up road blocks. Access was restricted to police, fire, National Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army or ARES.
ARES volunteers worked with all aspects of the incident. Damage reports and assessments continued until 1:30 AM Saturday morning when the Incident Commander determined everyone should break until 5:30 AM to get some rest.
Wearing Two Hats
The following morning presented a dilemma for the ARES personnel: They were asked to continue assisting with communications in the clean-up of the tornado, but they also needed to take care of a prior commitment. The Crim Festival of Races was scheduled that day, and ARES traditionally has supplied the communications support, as well as Amateur Radio Television (ARTV) for the Race. "The 'Crim,' as it is known locally, is a festival of races that appeals to just about anyone from the world class runners to little tikes that enjoy the Teddy Bear trot. Each year, ARES volunteers serve in the Med Tent, Command Center, Start and Finish Line, and up to 120 positions through out the course," Baker said.
In the tradition of Amateur Radio, the ham volunteers found ways to cover both activities. The race went on, with hams manning as many stations as possible and supplying ARTV pictures both for the race and County and City 911 dispatch. Those not working the Crim (after only a couple of hours' sleep) were back at the clean-up efforts in Fenton.
The clean-up efforts in Fenton began again at 5:30 AM with ham radio operators joining with fire department members and local utility crews split into eight task force units that went throughout the city, cleaning up the fallen trees and down power lines. Clean-up efforts continued all day Saturday until 8 PM. By then, the great majority of roads through out Fenton and the immediate neighborhoods had been cleared by the team effort of ARES personnel, power company workers and the fire department personnel.
One of the informal mottos of Amateur Radio is "Semper Gumby!" -- always flexible. The flexibility of the Amateur Radio volunteers, using their own equipment, allowed them to respond to the call beginning with a SKYWARN operation, then changing to a Fire Coordination activity, to 911 coverage, then damage assessment and finally to a clean-up operation. -- Information supplied by Jerry Baker, KD8AYL, Public Information Officer for Genesee County ARES

Them Bones

2007-08-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

This has possibly been sent to this reflector many times, but I do not recall seeing it used here as a tool to drum up support within the local Clubs. At almost every Club meeting I attend, (I am a member in two Clubs), I remind people that I may be appointed as a PIO by the Kansas SM that was serving when I showed interest in designing a Club web site, and getting news stories in the local papers. But the fact remains that we are appointed, yet the entire ham community is also a mouthpiece of PR for ham radio. I urge people to get involved to help me out. I am running this prior to officer elections. I hope some of you find this helpful in your area to see what kind of "bones" you have, invokes thought to the community and each individual.
73,
Kent Stutzman,
KB0RWIPIO Kansas Section----

This article has been published many times over the years by many amateur radio news sheets. Each time it is published, the editor adds to or modifies the content to suit his or her Club situation, but the message it contains remains the same.
This message, I hope, will not only be thought provoking but will invoke a little self-criticism where needed.

The structure of an organization is made up of four kinds of bones. There are Wishbones, who spend all their time wishing somebody else would do something about this, or something about that. There are the Jawbones, who do all the talking, but very little of anything else. Next comes the Knucklebones, who knock everything that others are trying to do. Finally, there are the Backbones, who get under the load and do the work. What part of the organization's structure are you? If you are a Wishbone, Jawbone, or Knucklebone, what kind of a Ham are you? Are you happy?

Take a good look at the Backbones in your radio club. These people are not always the board members, but they certainly are the “doers” in the club. I can well imagine that the Backbones also have happy family lives, because it seems that hard work and self-confidence seem to extend into family and working partnerships as well. What constantly amazes me is the number of Backbones who spend long hours representing or working for the club. They seem to never tire making the Club's activities successful.We hear a lot about getting involved. Take it from one who knows, getting involved is the best therapy there is for adjusting to the life of a Ham.

You'll see a change for the better not only in yourself, but in your hobby and your club. You'll suddenly find people are friendlier, there is no spare time to wonder how to fill as there is work to do for each and everyone of us in the club. But, most important of all, you will suddenly realize what you are doing for others. What a beautiful example to set for your children.

So why don't you take a personal inventory? If you are honest with yourself and find you are a Wishbone, Jawbone or Knucklebone, there is no time like the present to make the change so you, too, can become a Backbone. The dedicated, hard working Backbones will welcome you joining them. Only in this way can the Club continue to serve amateur radio and the community.

Reprinted from “QUA/HAMnews” March 1991 which is published by the Bluegrass Amateur Radio Society, Inc. Lexington, Kentucky.

2007-07-17T06:22:00.000-05:00

We send our thanks to Marty N8MG as he departs his SEC role and heads off to anew career taking him out of state. Good luck and our thanks, Marty. TheSEC position will now be filled by John WB8RCR who will hold the postconcurrently with that of STM. This will allow a closer bond between ourARES/RACES organization and the National Traffic System. We will nowconcentrate on our successes in improving tactical messaging and the handlingof long-range traffic for our served agencies. We completed another successful ARRL Michigan Section Outing this pastweekend thanks to the tireless efforts of K8ZE, KA8YKK and WB8WJV. John,Debbie and Roger planned and implemented this annual event and held it atWoodlands Campgrounds. Guests included Great Lakes Division Vice DirectorGary KI4LA and Ohio SM Joe K8QOI as well and Midland County Emergency ManagerRoger Garner KB8VSS. Roger was able to present the EM's perspective ofcommunications needs from the ARES/RACES program at one of several forumsheld at the outing. Other sessions included NCS Training by K8AMR, NTS fromWB8RCR, Networking and collaboration from AB8CB, Digital Radio from WB8TKLand an ARRL Forum. An occasional shower did not "dampen" anyone's spirit asa large pole barn adequately houses all of the key activities. The AnnualSection Breakfast was provided by the Michigan Section Staff, and thetraditional Campfire entertainment was enjoyed by everyone. Of Special Note: On Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7, 2007, The SteamRailroading Institute will be conducting its fall excursion from Kawkawlin toGrayling, Michigan. Amateur Radio has been asked to play a significant rolein this event. During the 2005 excursion, it was discovered that cellular coverage alongthe route was very problematic. Therefore, Amateur Radio operators are beingasked to provide periodic reports of train location and handle anyoperational traffic or emergency communications that might arise during theexcursion. Our plan is to place two radio amateurs on-board. One would beequipped with a handheld radio (and spare batteries!) and the other with aportable VHF (two-meter) radio, mag-mount antenna, and power supply.Communications will be provided through assigned stations monitoringexcursion progress via VHF repeaters along the route. "Shore" stations must be willing to place periodic telephone calls andshould have some real experience handling third-party traffic. As this eventoccurs on SET weekend, ARES groups supporting the excursion by providing thisservice can count the activity toward their SET points. The Saturday excursion leaves Kawkawlin at 8-AM and is scheduled to arriveat Grayling at 4-PM. However, one should allow extra time for any delays,which may arise. The Sunday excursion leaves Grayling at 4-PM and isscheduled to arrive at Kawkawlin at 8-PM. Again, volunteers should allow fordelays. We can set this up for two teams, one team for each day, or, ifone team wants to spend the night in Grayling and return the following day,we can accommodate this as well. Grayling will be holding a big event thatweekend, with plenty to do in the area. This is an ideal opportunity for an ARES or NTS member who is also a railfan! A safety certification briefing will be conducted at Owosso in advance ofthe event for those who will be riding the train. This will take placebefore the event, most likely in September. This briefing is required forinsurance purposes and to insure both volunteer and passenger safety. If you are a rail fan or enjoy railroad history, you will not want to missthis opportunity. If you would like to volunteer for this event, pleasecontact Jim Wades, K8SIW at: wb8siw@charter.net For those interested in railroad matters, the excursion will be pulled bythe famous Pere Marquette 1225 steam locomotive. The 1225 was built to haulfast freight between the steel mills of Indiana and Illinois and the "arsenal of democracy" (Detroit) during the war years. The 1225 is, in manyrespects, the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology, having been designedand built at the close of the steam era. Movie fans will recognize the 1225as the authentic "Polar Express" locomotive utilized for the initial filmingand modeling of the animated Christmas move "Polar Express" starring TomHanks. A link to the train's routes can be found athttp://www.mi-arpsc.org/images/Kaw-Gra.gif Don't forget - big doin's at the Mackinac Bridge the 27th and 28th of thismonth - the Mackinac Bridge 50th Anniversary Special Radio Event. Most of uswon't be around for the 75th anniversary, so get involved if you can - it'snot too late. If they have enough operators, the event will open extraoperating positions to accommodate. If you can't work at the event proper,try to work W8M over the air - see the operating plan athttp://www.macbridge50.info for times, modes and suggested frequencies. Thanks to Marv, KC8MLD, Ron, WA8OOH, Hank, N8XX, Diane, WI8K and John, KC8ULEfor their efforts to take this grand bit of Michigan to the world by radio. Station Activity Reports (SAR) for June, 2007: WB9JSR 602, KC8WSE 316,AB8SY 249, K8KV 200, K8AE 164, K8LJG 161, K8AMR 138, KD8AAD 132, WB8RCR 75,K8RDN 48, W8RNQ 45, KD8BGQ 27, AB8WF 25, KC8MLD 15, KC8ZGB 15, WD8USA 13,N8UN 10, K8ZJU 9, K8YB 5, K8KHZ 2, WA8OOH 0, KC8BMV 0. Public Service Honor Roll Reports (PSHRs) for June, 2007: KD8BGQ 280, WU8Y174, K8MFK 140, K8AE 140, K8AMR 123, WB9JSR 120, WB8RCR 120, KC8WSE 120,K8ZJU 104, K8RDN 95, AB8SY 80, K8KV 80, K8VFZ 66. SARs are reports of all the radiogram traffic you have handled in the pastmonth. PSHRs include your net and public service activities for the month.PSHRs and SARs should be filed monthly with WB8RCR. You can access a simplereporting form at: http://www.mi-nts.org/PSHR_entry.shtml to provide yourreports to WB8RCR. June Official Emergency Station reports came in from W8UY and W8WRB. YourOES reports should be filed with WA8EFK. In all cases, reporting byradiogram is encouraged. Packet messages can be routed towb8rcr@wb8rcr.ampr.org and wa8efk@wa8efk.ampr.org73,Dale WA8EFK--------------------------------------------------------------------ARRL Michigan SectionSection Manager: Dale R. Williams, WA8EFKwa8efk@arrl.org

Lapeer County Swap

2007-07-16T07:16:00.000-05:00

***Admission: $5***
Tables: $12 at the Door
$10 in Advance
Mail-in form for admission & tables at
http://www.w8lap.com
***Handicap Accessable***
***Free Parking***
***All Sales Inside***
***Refreshments Available***
***Limited Electricity Available***
***Talk-In 146.620-***
100Hz tone
Swap info: kd8vp@juno.com
Lapeer Mi
7th Annual
Ham & Computer Swap
Sunday, August 27, 2006 at 8:00 AM—1:00 PM
Lapeer Co. Center Building—425 County Center Dr.
(See map on back)
VE Testing
Bring the original and a copy of 2
forms of ID, current license & CSCE
(if any). Contact Al, N8NPR for test
details (810)631-4957.
NO WALK-INS
2006 LCARA Swap Table & Ticket Order
Please Print
Name:____________________________________Callsign_____________
Address:_____________________________________________________
City, State & Zip:_______________________________________________
Phone:_______________________________________________________
Tables are $10 each if purchased before the swap, $12 each the day of the swap
Number of tables:_________ X $10.00 = $_________
Number of tickets:_________X $ 5.00 = $_________ Total $__________
Electricity: Limited & on first reserved basis. Do you wish electricity? Y N
Mail to: LCARA, Box 12, Hadley, MI 48440-0012
For mail-in form - online at www.w8lap.com
August 27, 2006

Swap Directions

Exit 155 (I-69) head NORTH on M - 24 for 1.2 mi., turn right on De Mille Rd. (turns into McCormick Dr.). Go
0.2 mi., turn left onto S. Court St. Go 0.2 mi., turn left to the County Center Building at 425 County Center St,
Lapeer, MI 48446.
GPS: 43.04728N
83.30788W
Lapeer County Amateur Radio Assoc.
P.O. Box 12
Hadley, MI 48440-0012

2007-07-16T07:11:00.000-05:00

FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Correspondence Posted (Jul 14, 2007) -- The FCC has posted additional Amateur Radio enforcement correspondence and documents on its "Amateur Radio Service Enforcement Actions" page. Special Counsel in the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Riley Hollingsworth has sent letters to John C. Kimbrough, WR3S (Warning Notice and Notification of Removal of Automatic Control Privileges); Steve L. Wingate, K6TXH (Warning Notice), and Anthony W. Cranston, WA2HYO (Request for Information). The FCC Enforcement Bureau now posts Amateur Radio enforcement-related correspondence and documents -- with some exceptions -- on its own Web site. Direct all questions concerning the Amateur Radio Service Enforcement Actions Web postings via e-mail only to Riley Hollingsworth in the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Divis

Weaver's Words

2007-07-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

- Ham radio offers too many operating options?
- Coming soon.
- Congratulations Blossomland Youth ARC.
- US House and Senate bills would kill Amateur Radio.
- Division Convention.
- HR 462 alive; needs support.
- One of the many ARRL services to members.
- Got a patch?
- Our letter writing campaign is showing success.
- FCC dismisses RM 11306 without prejudice.
- Tentative Travel Schedule.

++ Ham radio offers too many Options? ++
It can be argued that the most major problem facing Amateur Radio isthat we have been too successful. We have been too successful atobtaining and developing frequency bands, and in developing and using awide variety of modes to use in our operating.To follow the logic, take a moment from reading this e-letter and thinkof the many operating options we hams have. Think, too, about the widerange of frequency bands from 160M through those that are miniscule inlength. To name just a few, there are Morse code, AM, FM, RTTY, avariety of digital modes, FSK, AFSK, variations of TV, facsimile andthen we have frequencies that range through much of the wide world ofspectra. The bottom line is that each of us, if we wish, has manymodes of operation and many frequency choices we can use and enjoy. So, what is wrong with this?The problem is that in our nearsightedness, we have become extremelyfragmented as hams instead of remaining a cohesive group. During thepast few decades we have allowed ourselves in many instances to thinkour personal choices of operating styles, modes and frequency rangesare the only choices "real" amateurs could possibly make. We have, forexample, many VHF aficionados who see no value in HF. We have manydevotees of cutting-edge digital modes who see no value in CW or AM --the older modes of communication.There are SSBers who are so infuriated with AMers they would nearlycommit murder to clear the bands of the AM clutter. But, it isn'talways new mode vs. old mode. Some of our devoted CW ops thinkbroadband digital should be banned because it is nothing more than anuisance. Yes, indeed, we are equal prejudice individuals.I could name additional ham-to-ham prejudices, but I think you get theidea.So, who or what is hurt by these prejudices? Amateur Radio is. Theseprejudices divide us into splinter groups. We have become VHF hams,digital hams, anti-CW hams, anti-AM hams. We are Contesters oranti-Contesters. We are "its my frequency" ragchewers Instead ofpulling together for the benefit of all of hamming, all too manyamateurs feel they hold no stake when "the other guy's" idea of hamradio is threatened by attacks from the government or industry. As oneexample, many HSMM-hams couldn't care less if the FCC proposedabolishing all privileges for Morse code operating. Conversely, manyCW ops would do little more than smile if broadband digital was ruledillegal on ham frequencies.Regardless of the misconception by one "side" or another, all ofAmateur Radio loses any time the FCC begins to withdraw privileges --modes or frequencies -- from another phase. Clearly, I won't now or inthe future vote in favor of any proposals to have the FCC "modernize"Amateur Radio (as some hams would view it) by banning AM or by limitingthe privileges of Morse or other forms of operation preferred byanyone.Unfortunately, Amateur Radio has become a marginally functioning, ifnot nonfunctioning, family in many instances. We find brother hamfighting brother ham, and sister ham bad mouthing sister ham merelybecause their operating preferences are different. This is no way todevelop a winning team whether it is baseball, football, doublestennis, an army . . . or a strong lobbying (advocacy) team.Actually, I will correct my initial supposition. We hams don't havetoo many choices. Worse than this, we have too little maturity inthought to manage the privileges we have been given for our commongood.The real question is, "Why don't we all act like emotionally stablepeople and work together to our mutual benefit?" Just think what aformidable force for each other's good we would make if we would speakand act in unison.

++ Coming soon ++
In a few days, I will send you a "proper" questionnaire. I hope youwill take the few minutes required to answer it. It will provide mewith information on topics that may be discussed while I am inNewington for the Board of Directors meeting later this month. Thisquestionnaire is "proper" because it is a click-on-your-answer,automatically-tabulated one. This questionnaire is being sent to threeDivisions.While the new questionnaire is open, I will be working to review theprevious, low-tech one sent you a few weeks ago.

++ Congratulations Blossomland Youth ARC ++
Congratulations to the Blossomland Youth ARC, W8BYC, of Berrien County,MI. A relatively new club, it is formed of young amateurs who largelycame into Amateur Radio through the fine efforts of Matt Severin, N8MS. Matt, a teacher at Coloma Junior High School in Coloma MI, hasincorporated Amateur Radio into his classes thanks to his personaldrive and the support of his principal and a grant through the ARRLVictor C. Clark Youth Incentive program.As of June 20, Matt had 17 students who had participated in ham cluband Amateur Radio activities. Ten of these students had becomeTechnician licensees through the school program. Six of the Techs areworking toward upgrading to General.Matt, in turn, is planning for a new freshman class this fall and thechallenge of introducing it to the wonderful world of hamming.Great job, Matt. Thanks and continued success with your program.

++ US House and Senate bills would kill Amateur Radio ++

This is what lead stories in QST back in 1910-12 would have read, ifthere had been a QST back then. It was in these years that some dozenand a half bills were presented in the US House and the US Senate tooutlaw Amateur Radio. These bills were backed by the US Navy. TheNavy wanted full charge over the use of ham-free radio waves. Hams andtheir spark gap transmitters caused disruptive QRM to military andimportant civilian communication. One 1912 bill would have placed theownership and control of all transmitting stations under the Navy.With such a political force behind ban-the-ham legislation, why didn'tone of the bills make it through Congress and become signed by thePresident?Hams, themselves, came together to lobby their US Representatives andSenators so heavily and successfully that each of the bills died. Evenback in the early days of Amateur Radio, individual amateurs, bandedtogether in advocacy (lobby) efforts successfully to beat overwhelmingodds against them.There was no ARRL in 1912, but there were a few relatively large localorganizations. Among these were the Harvard Wireless Club, RhodeIsland Wireless Association, Wireless Association of Pennsylvania andJunior Wireless Club which became better known as the Radio Club ofAmerica. The clubs in their individual ways worked nearly as one tolobby successfully against anti-ham legislation. No "no-ham" billsmade it through Congress thanks to the lobbying effort of theburgeoning Amateur Radio fraternity.Finally, a modified bill passed Congress and was signed by PresidentTaft who signed it into law. This first US radio law became best knownfor making frequencies longer than 200 meters off-limits to hams. Thephrase, "200 meters and down" grew out of this feature of the law. Thefeature also relegated amateurs to supposedly-useless frequencies --frequencies that subsequently proved to be the most useful on andsurrounding earth.++ Division Convention ++Don't forget the Great Lakes Division Convention on September 22 inCleveland. This is the day before the Cleveland Hamfest. For fullinformation, go to http://www.2007gldc.com/. One can even makereservations for a hotel room from this site.One feature of these biannual conventions is the special awards thatare made to Division amateurs. Topping the list is the George S.Wilson, III, W4OYI, Lifetime Achievement Award. For you who don'trecall, George is the only ARRL President to come from our Division. He continues to live in Owensville, KY and is a strong support of ARRL. The Convention features interesting and informative seminars onseveral aspects of Amateur Radio topics. These are given by top-notchhams in the respective areas. ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN willspeak at the Convention dinner on Saturday evening. At other times, hewill be available for casual discussion. Watch for furtherinformation. Remaining, prestigious awards that will be given are theAmateur of the Year Award, the Technical Achievement Award and theNewsletter of the Year Award.Nominations for all but the newsletter award are made by GLD ARRLmembers. Nominations need to reach the Awards Committee no later than5 PM, August 17. They may be e-mailed or sent by US Mail. Theaddresses are on the nomination forms. If you know of a deservingnominee, please go to the Convention web site and print out or completethe nominating form. The winning newsletter is selected by anindependent member of the press from among the winners of eachSection's newsletter contest.

++ HR 462 alive; needs support ++

There is still time to write your US Representative urging his or hersupport of HR 462. If you haven't done this, yet, please write, soon. If you need me to send the boilerplate draft letter to you, again, justsend me an e-mail and I'll get it to you right away. We cannot affordthe luxury of remaining mostly an indifferent group if we want the FCC,Congress and the public to respect Amateur Radio and support itslegitimate needs. Each of us who are concerned about Amateur Radioneeds to demonstrate this concern and do what we can to support it. AsI see it, the least we each can do is to send a letter, an e-mail or aFAX.Just a reminder: Do not write to your US Senator at this time. Thetime to urge support for the Senate version of HR 462 will come in thefuture. Don't write to a US Senator about Hr 462, either. This billis in the House, only. Generally, Senators are not even aware of billsthat are in the house.

++ One of the many ARRL services to members ++

George A. Guerin, K8GG, of Ceresco, MI, reminded me of one of the fineservices ARRL offers to members. Members are eligible to receivenotices when it is time to renew their ham licenses. The notice alsogive direction on a quick and easy way to renew them online.George said it took only 12 minutes for him to renew, even though heuses dial up. George is all set for 10 more years.If you haven't signed up for this free ARRL member service, go to theMembership Modification Form (Member Data Page) in Members Only onwww.ARRL.org. Make certain the box in front of "Notification oflicense expiration" is checked. Just as George received an e-mailreminding of his pending license expiration, HQ will e-mail a reminderof this to you.Thanks for the fine comment, George.

++ Got a Patch? ++

A police department shoulder patch is the type being discussed. Itseems that the head of the ARRL DX Department, Bill Moore, NC1L was amilitary police officer. In his life-after-the-military he collectspatches from police departments around the US. Retired-but-still-consulting Blue Ash, OH detective Rick Burdick, K8WWArecently learned this and sent a Blue Ash patch to Bill for hiscollection.I am fairly certain we have still additional police officers among theGLD membership. I am more certain that Bill would appreciate receivinga patch from each of your departments. If you can come up with apatch, please mail it to Bill Moore, NC1L, ARRL, 225 Main St.,Newington, CT 06111. Bill is a great guy, a top-notch ham; anexcellent worker devoted to Amateur Radio and fires-up a mean grill atcook outs.

++ Our Letter Writing Campaign is Showing Success ++

We haven't won the war, yet, but our letter writing campaign on HR 462is showing success. Success, of course, can be judged in many ways. The ultimate in success in this instance is to have a Congressman/womanpony up and co-sponsor the bill. The next level is to receive a replyto your letter that demonstrates the Congressman read, understood andsupports the basic premise that licensed radio services -- includingAmateur Radio -- must be protected from callous QRM from unlicensedservices (Part 15).I haven't seen that any of our Division's Congressmen have becomeco-signers, yet, but feedback from Janet Worthington of Chwat & Companyis there are a few who are considering becoming co-sponsors. Inaddition to these Representatives, others are replying to Chwat and toDivision members with quite intelligent comments that show they arepro-Amateur Radio. This is all good, of course.Even the Representatives who reply with "bonehead" letters help us. They help when you share their replies with Chwat and me. In thesesituations, Janet Worthington and John Chwat are able to forearmthemselves with the knowledge they need in making calls toCongressional offices on Capitol Hill most effectively. They knowbefore they walk into the offices just what form of information willlikely be most effective in bringing our legislators on board with us. In terms of tennis scoring, this means -- advantage, Amateur Radio.To the many of you who haven't yet written to your US Representative onbehalf of HR 462 . . . why not? Even if you take a pessimistic pointof view, there is nothing to lose by writing and their certainly ispotentially a lot to gain.

++ FCC Dismisses RM 11306 without Prejudice ++

The FCC announced it was dismissing ARRL's RM 11306 petition as weDirectors had requested. This was done "without prejudice," whichmeans someone could review the petition and re-file all or part of itat some future time.Interestingly enough, before ARRL requested the Commission to dismissRM 11306, nearly everyone who commented on it expressed strongopposition. However, just as soon as we requested the dismissal, webegan to hear from significant numbers of members who strongly favoredit.This raises the question, "Where were these "fors" when they may havemade a difference?

++ Tentative Travel Schedule ++

Jul 12: Mahoning Valley ARA, Youngstown, OH - Gary
Jul 19: Programs & Services Committee Meeting, Newington, CT - Jim
Jul 20-21: Board of Directors Meeting, Newington, CT - Gary & Jim
Jul 28: UP Hamfest, Escanaba, MI - Jim
Sep 8: GRAHamfest, Grand Rapids, MI - Jim
Sep 9: Findlay Hamfest, Findlay, OH - Jim
Sep 22: Great Lakes Division Convention, Cleveland, OH - Gary & Jim
Sep 23: Cleveland Hamfest, Cleveland, OH - Jim
Oct 2: OH-KY-IN ARRL Night, Cincinnati, OH - Jim
Oct 8: Portage County ARS, Kent, OH - Jim
Oct 16: Branch Co. ARC, Coldwater, MI - Jim
Nov 14: Hazel Park ARC, Hazel Park, MI - Jim
Nov 19: Southern Ohio ARA Christmas Dinner, Russell, KY - Jim
Dec 1: Motor City RC 75th Ann., Wyandotte, MI - Jim

2008
Jan 17: Programs & Services Committee Meeting, Newington, CT - Jim
Jan 18-20: Board of Directors Meeting, Newington, CT - Gary & Jim

Jim Weaver, K8JE,
DirectorARRL Great Lakes Division
5065 Bethany Rd.
Mason, OH 45040
E-mail: k8je@arrl.org;
Tel.: 513-459-0142

ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is!Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

MI Ham Call Letter Plates Available in Lansing

2007-06-13T08:51:00.001-05:00

Hams are still having trouble getting amateur radio plates in Michigan. We have been told to go to the Secretary of State offices. However sometimes when we go there, the clerk does not know what amateur radio plates are and cannot service us. For example:
Rick NE8Z went to the Secretary of State to get ham call letter plates. They looked at the sample plate form to try to find what he was asking for. They found the amateur radio plate as a "sample" and told him they would sell him a plate for $10. The plate he would receive would say "AMATEUR RADIO" down the left side, his call sign and "MICHIGAN" in the blue stripe across the top just like the sample plate on the form at this link: Sample Plate . They emphasized what it said on the form "These plates are for display purposes only - not for vehicle registration" and that it would say N8EZ instead of "SAMPLE" . They added that if he was caught driving with that on his car he would be arrested.
They told him that it was illegal to drive a car with the call letter plate that says AMATEUR RADIO down the side. They offered to sell him a regular vanity plate for $30 extra that would say NE8Z. It would not say "AMATEUR RADIO". They said that was all that was available. He then sent out an email to the amateur radio community saying that he was informed by the Secretary of State office that if you have a plate that says "AMATEUR RADIO" and your call, it is an illegal plate and a sample and if you are caught driving with that on your car, you would be arrested.
Amateur radio call letter plates are issued by the Distributed Services Unit of the Secretary of State office - a special division located in Lansing. This unit issues specialized plates like: amateur radio,clergy, physicians, etc. To get an amateur radio plate you must fill out a form. This form should be available at the local Secretary of State office or online at ARO Plate Form .
Only 2 types of amateur radio plates are available: MICHIGAN blue stripe or Spectacular Peninsula. You must indicate on the form your choice. They both will say "AMATEUR RADIO" on the left side with your call letters.
To complete the process you must:
Fill out the form
include a copy of your amateur radio license
include either $2 for the regular MICHIGAN plateor $7 for Spectacular Peninsula plate [ABOVE THE NORMAL REGISTRATION FEE (if you don't know then contact your local Secretary of State office )
Send all documents and money to the address shown on the form
You will receive a license plate in the mail with your call letters on it, "AMATEUR RADIO" down the left side and either "MICHIGAN" blue stripe or Spectacular Peninsula design (depending on what you ordered) with a current Tab.
All plates with "AMATEUR RADIO" on the left side and your call sign with current Tab and "MICHIGAN" the across the top or the Spectacular Peninsula design ARE LEGAL. These are white background with blue letters.
Should you have any trouble you can call the Distributed Services Unit directly at 517-322-6274. I find they are most helpful in resolving issues like Rick had. They also will fix it if you do end up ordering a vanity plate my mistake and need to get a refund and order your regular amateur call letter plates.
NOTE: the number on the bottom of the form is for the general Secretary of State's office in Lansing and not the direct line to the Distributed Services Unit as shown above.
Also, to clear up some more license plate confusion, as of January 1, 2007 the Secretary of State is issuing new plates. These new plates will replace your old blue background with white letter plates and also any plate issued before January 1, 2007 even if it has a white background. These new plates have a new special reflective paint applied to them that makes the license plates completely reflective and are supposed to be better for safety and that is why the state is offering them. When you apply for any new tabs, you will receive this new plate. It will say www.michigan.gov and only pay for a license Tabs at no extra charge.
If you are an amateur radio operator and want to be recognized by state officials in time of emergencies while driving your car, then you need an amateur call letter plate. That is what identifies you as an amateur radio operator. We lobbied hard to get these plates at a reduced cost from the vanity plates.
Vy 73,John Fleming K8UP

ARRL, DoD, FCC Try to Come to Terms with Pave Paws

2007-06-12T08:50:00.000-05:00

The ARRL has sent out more than 100 letters to repeater owners/trustees who have repeaters affected by the "Pave Paws" radars (PPR). Citing an increasing number of interference complaints, the US Air Force has asked the FCC to order dozens of repeater systems to either mitigate interference to the Pave Paws radars or shut down. The ARRL is working with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to develop a plan to mitigate alleged interference from 70 cm ham radio repeaters to this military radar system on both coasts.

The situation affects 15 repeaters within less than 100 miles of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more than 100 repeaters within some 140 miles of Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California.

ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, stresses that the Defense Department acknowledges Amateur Radio's value in disasters and emergencies and is being extremely cooperative -- and a wholesale shutdown of US 70 cm Amateur Radio activity is not on the table.

The Amateur Radio Service is a secondary user in the 420-450 MHz band, both by the Table of Frequency Allocations and the FCC Part 97 regulations. As such, Amateur Radio licensees, jointly and individually, bear the responsibility of mitigating or eliminating any harmful interference to the primary user, which in this case is the Government Radiolocation Service that includes the DoD Pave Paws systems.

The letters sent to affected repeater owners/trustees give them an up-to-date briefing on the ongoing negotiations with the US Air Force, as well as outlines the DoD's plan. The DoD has indicated a willingness to try a mitigation proposal, but they have also indicated their need is for these issues to be resolved sooner rather than later. With that expediency in mind, the proposed mitigation strategy is as follows:

• All repeaters on the DoD list in the affected areas will immediately reduce power to 5 W transmitter power output (TPO). Each repeater licensee/trustee should contact Henderson to confirm this once this has been done for their system. Confirmation of this being done is needed from each repeater owner by Friday, June 15, 2007.

• The ARRL will provide the Longley-Rice calculations for each repeater to the DoD by June 15, 2007. The DoD will provide engineering data to the ARRL and FCC by June 15, 2007. These studies will be reviewed by the DoD, the ARRL Lab and the FCC to determine the amount of mitigation necessary for each repeater. Based on this review by the DoD, additional mitigation proposals for individual repeaters (including further power reductions, lowering of antenna heights, use of more directive antennas and other possible mitigation techniques) will be provided by the ARRL as needed to individual repeater owners. If there is a disagreement on the conclusions, a conference call will be held to resolve any outstanding issues.

• All interference must be resolved no later than August 1, 2007.

• Beginning in August 2007 (and continuing on a periodic basis), the DoD will have a follow-up engineers study at each PPR site to ensure corrective actions have been taken and to ensure that successful mitigation continues.

ARRL Working Closely on Plan to Mitigate Interference
According to the DoD, the in-band interference from Amateur Radio fixed FM voice repeaters has increased to an unacceptable level. Pave Paws radars are used for national security functions, including early detection of water-launched missiles. They are critical to our national defense and are in use 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The goal of the ARRL has been to develop and implement a plan that would mitigate the interference, and at the same time to permit the repeaters to continue operation and to operate on as liberal a basis as possible. To do so, the League has offered to work closely with the two involved repeater coordinating groups, as well as the individual repeater owners, sharing information and dealing with this issue on a coordinated basis with all stakeholders.
The League has also been in contact with representatives of the FCC. They have the ultimate responsibility for enforcing any mitigation plan, up to and including ordering specific repeaters to shut down operations. The FCC is aware of the complex nature of this problem and the mitigation strategy being proposed by the DoD.

As secondary users on the band, the ARRL has few options, and all options involve cooperation with the DoD. It is hoped the Longley-Rice calculations from the ARRL and the DoD's engineering studies will provide enough data to allow as many of the repeaters in the affected areas as possible to remain on the air at reasonable power levels.

It is entirely probable that even with extreme mitigation techniques, some repeaters in close proximity to the PPR sites may have to be shut down permanently. If that happens, official notice would come from the FCC. It is also possible that some repeaters might be required to operate permanently at a lower power level in the areas near these Air Force bases. In those cases, the League will be in contact with the individual repeater owners with that information and the FCC will be notified.

Repeater Owners/Trustees Need to Comply
Henderson requests that all repeater owners/trustees affected by this issue immediately implement the 5 W TPO for your repeater/s; please contact his office by June 15 indicating if you have implemented the power reduction. This will allow the ARRL to have voluntary compliance on hand that can be used to show the cooperation of the amateur community.
Henderson stresses that it is to each repeater's long-term advantage to implement the power reduction as soon as possible. The DoD indicated they will be collecting engineering data during June. This presents the opportunity to assess a repeater's actual impact at the lower power level and a more honest determination of its continued potential for harmful interference to the PPR sites. If any repeaters are running at higher power levels, then the determinations can only be based on assumptions rather than on actual data.

Contact Dan Henderson, N1ND (860-594-0236) with specific questions or issues associated with this situation.

Faker Alerts National Weather Service to bogus weather reports

2007-06-12T07:16:00.000-05:00

Associated PressPublished June 11, 2007, 12:40 AM CDT

MILWAUKEE -- Someone has been submitting fictional reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service, causing unnecessary alerts and frightening people.The areas affected have included Milwaukee, La Crosse, Chicago, and Lincoln, Ill., said Tom Schwein, chief of the National Weather Service's systems and facilities division for the central region in Kansas City, Mo.

The person started sending reports in mid-April through an online form on the service's Web site."We've been detecting a regular pattern of a person who has been submitting false severe weather reports that are constructed in a way that seem very realistic," Schwein said. "Whoever this person is seems to have knowledge of severe weather reports."Schwein said reporting severe weather is like calling in a bogus bomb threat or unnecessarily pulling a fire alarm."People had to take cover, media interrupted their broadcasting for hours -- we've alerted people unnecessarily and frightened them. This person has really misled us," Schwein said.More than 25 pretend reports were submitted from the same computer over one weekend this month, and the service typically gets 40 to 50 a month from that source, Schwein said. It does not appear that any phony reports were sent during Thursday's severe weather, according to Pat Slattery of the Weather Service.The public can use a form on weather service local Web sites to anonymously report weather. The agency recently added a notice at the top of the form that submitting false statements is a federal crime, with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.Schwein said investigators have traced the Internet protocol address of the faker's computer. The FBI is helping subpoena records to figure out who is registered for the computer IP address, he said.On April 25, a report came in stating that a tornado causing damage and injuries had hit Blue Mound, Ill. Local NBC affiliate WAND-TV in Decatur, Ill., interrupted normal broadcasting for approximately three hours, said Lee Davis, chief meteorologist with WAND-TV."We were getting warnings from the National Weather Service which seemed inconsistent with the data I was showing on my radar," Davis said.Severe weather was already present in that county. The county's Emergency Management Agency issued a tornado warning based on spotter reports, said Phil Anello, the emergency agency's coordinator for the county. Nevertheless, the reports of damage and injuries were false.The person usually submits the false reports when severe weather is already present, Schwein said."The time and location of the report will line up very well with our satellite and radar data," Schwein said. "They'll report damage that fits the structure of the storm."Forecasters consider radar, environment and spotter reports before alerting the public of severe weather, said Rusty Kapela, warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service's Sullivan office."We need two out of three in most cases to push the meteorologist past the point where they'll issue a warning," Kapela said.The false reports coming through the public Web site differ from reports from trained spotters who register with the weather service and must log in to sites with a password.
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

Make a Disaster Kit and a Family Plan

2007-06-08T19:18:00.000-05:00

Release Date: June 8, 2007Release Number: FNF-07-030
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Now is an excellent time for residents to make sure their home has a disaster supply kit and a family communication plan. FEMA is urging everyone to act now to assemble their family's emergency supplies and develop a plan.
Every home should be stocked with a supply kit. When storing the supplies, keep them easily accessible in case of an evacuation. Keep a full tank of gasoline your car. Gas stations may be closed during emergencies and may be unable to pump gas during power outages. Plan to take one car per family to stay together and reduce highway congestion and delay.

Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind. Locate the safest areas in your home. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your own home but another within your community. Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. These routes should be measured in tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles. Choose a meeting location. Should your family become separated during a storm, have a pre-determined rendezvous point at which everyone can rejoin the family.

Make sure each member of the family has contact information for family members, work and school, meeting locations and emergency services. Choose an out-of-town contact who family members can call to let them know where they are, especially if the family is separated. Everyone should know this contact's phone numbers. After a disaster, it is often easier to make a long-distance call than a local call from the disaster area.

Visit www.fema.gov and www.ready.gov for a thorough look into disaster preparedness and a more detailed list of emergency supplies. Also, www.ready.gov/kids is an excellent resource for information on how to involve children in the process of assembling the family's disaster supply kit.

A Disaster Supply Kit should contain the following:

Water - at least one gallon per person for three to seven days

Food - at least enough for three to seven days: non-perishable packaged or canned food; juices; foods for infants or the elderly; snack food; non-electric can opener; cooking utensils; fuel; paper plates and plastic utensilsMapsBlankets and pillows

Clothing - seasonal, rain gear, sturdy shoes Medical supplies - first aid kit, medicines, prescription drugs, a spare set of eye glassesSpecial Items - for infants and the elderly

Toiletries - toilet paper, hygiene items and plastic bags for sanitary disposalMoisture wipes and anti-bacterial hand sanitizerFlashlight - extra batteries Radio - battery-operated and NOAA weather radio

Cash - (Banks and ATMs may not be open or available for extended periods.) Important documents - in a waterproof container: insurance, medical records, bank and credit card account numbers, birth certificates, social security cardKeys

Toys, books and games ToolsPet care items: proper identification, immunization records, ample supply of food and water, a carrier or cage, medications, muzzle and leash

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

ARRL to FCC: Shut Down "Grossly Noncompliant" Ambient BPL Pilot Project

2007-06-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 1, 2007 -- The ARRL has again demanded that the FCC shut down Ambient Corporation's broadband over power line (BPL) pilot project in Briarcliff Manor, New York. On May 21 the FCC called on the BPL equipment maker and system operator to demonstrate it's complying with all terms of the Part 5 Experimental license authorizing the system, or face possible enforcement action. In a May 31 letter to FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn S. Berthot, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, contended that it's "long past time that the Commission enforce its own rules," and again objected to the Commission's "inexplicable inaction" in the face of evidence the system is noncompliant. Imlay pointed out that the FCC's May 21 letter made no mention of Condition #1 of Ambient's Part 5 Experimental license.
"That condition requires that if any interference occurs, the holder of the authorization will be subject to immediate shutdown," Imlay wrote. "Interference has repeatedly occurred, and it has been witnessed and verified by a member of the Commission's Enforcement Bureau staff. Yet no action has been taken whatsoever to terminate this experimental authorization over a period of more than two and one-half years. This is inexcusable."
Ambient operates the Briarcliff Manor BPL pilot program under Experimental license WD2XEQ. ARRL testing as recent as late May indicated the system is operating outside of the parameters of its FCC authorization.
Too Little, Too Late
The League called the FCC's most recent push to get the company to comply with the terms of its Experimental license "too little, too late and an abdication of the Commission's responsibility to protect its licensees from interference from unlicensed RF devices."
"The Commission's obsessive compulsion to avoid any bad news about BPL has clearly driven its multi-year inaction," the League continued. "Had this been any other experimental authorization dealing with any technology other than BPL, the experimental authorization would have been terminated long ago."
The League's complaints regarding interference to Amateur Radio communication from the Briarcliff Manor system date back to October 2003 and included supportive technical reports and test results.
As it stands, the League maintained, the FCC should have shut down Ambient's BPL system a long time ago. The ARRL further objected to Ambient's "repeated misrepresentations in its six-month reports claiming that its Briarcliff Manor BPL system meets FCC emission limits."
Third Time Not the Charm
New measurements done May 24 by ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, conclusively establish that the Ambient BPL system, in Hare's words, "continues to operate well above the Part 15 emission limits that are stipulated as a condition of its Experimental license." Hare said his latest excursion marked the third time his emissions testing in Briarcliff Manor showed the system to be operating significantly above Part 15 emissions limits.
"The spectral masks in this system intended to protect some radio services from interference work poorly enough in this generation-1 equipment, but when the system is operated at excessive levels, strong interference is an inevitable outcome," he commented. "By operating this system above the Part 15 emissions limits, Ambient is making it impossible for any electric utility to use results from this experiment to reach any conclusions about the technical and commercial viability of BPL."
Under the Radar
The ARRL further argued that the Ambient BPL system should not be permitted to continue operating under the radar with an Experimental license instead of under the FCC's Part 15 BPL rules, adopted in 2004. The Briarcliff Manor system does not even appear in the FCC's BPL database, the League noted.
"Causing Ambient to operate in accordance with the BPL rules rather than allowing it to hide behind its experimental authorization would at least be consistent with the Commission's regulatory plan for BPL, however inadequate that plan is in terms of interference avoidance," Imlay's letter concluded.

New England Ham Honored

2007-06-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

New England Ham Honored for Work with Handiham Program (Jun 6, 2007) -- Phil Temples, K9HI, ARRL New England Assistant Director and Affiliated Club Coordinator for the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section, was recognized by Boston College for his work with the Courage Center Handiham program and participation in the Read Aloud program in the Boston school system. Temples, an employee in the Boston College Computer Science Department and a Handiham volunteer instructor, received BC's 2007 Community Service Award at a recognition dinner in May. "You have been recognized for your efforts in recruiting, organizing, teaching and mentoring at the non-profit Courage HandiHam System Camp in Lake George, Minnesota and Cupertino, California," wrote William R. Mills, Jr., Director of Community Affairs at Boston College. "We know you consider yourself a privileged man to be able to serve others because you believe that people should have the right to live, work and learn in a community based on abilities, not disabilities."

FEMA and ARRL Partnering

2007-05-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

FEMA And American Radio Relay League Partner In Preparedness Through Citizen Corps
Release Date: June 21, 2003Release Number: HQ-03-138
Washington, DC -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced an official affiliation between the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and President Bush's Citizen Corps initiative. At the ARRL National Conference, sponsored by "Ham-Com," celebrating its 25th anniversary in Arlington, Texas, an affiliate partnership was signed between ARRL and Citizen Corps. The signed partnership will raise public awareness about the use of Amateur Radio as a public safety resource, provide training and accreditation for Amateur Radio Emergency Communications, as well as assist Citizen Corps Councils with public education, training and volunteer service opportunities that support first responders, disaster relief organizations, and community safety efforts.
"The affiliation between Citizen Corps and the American Radio Relay League will help raise public awareness about public safety through the use of Amateur Radio," Brown said. "I look forward to working with the American Radio Relay League to expand the role citizens play within their community to be more secure and better able to respond to disasters of all kinds."
The agreement adds the ARRL as an affiliate to the four charter Citizen Corps programs: Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), and Medical Reserve Corps. The ARRL joins the National Safety Council, Points of Light Foundation, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, National Volunteer Fire Council, National Fire Protection Association, Save A Life Foundation, and The U.S. Junior Chamber as Citizen Corps affiliate programs.
Under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, Citizen Corps is a community-based initiative to engage all citizens in homeland security and community and family preparedness through public education and outreach, training opportunities, and volunteer programs. Programs under the Citizen Corps umbrella include federally sponsored programs and other activities that share the goal of helping communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to all-hazards. Citizen Corps encourages all Americans to take an active role in building safer, stronger, and better-prepared communities.
The ARRL is a non-commercial membership association of radio amateurs organized for the promotion of interest in Amateur Radio communication and experimentation, for the establishment of networks to provide communications in the event of disasters or other emergencies, for the advancement of the public welfare, for the representation of the Radio Amateur in legislative and regulatory matters. ARRL is the principal organization representing the interests of the more than 650,000 U.S. Radio Amateurs. Because of its organized emergency communications capability, ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) can be of valuable assistance in providing critical and essential communications during emergencies and disasters when normal lines of communication are disrupted. ARRL conducts emergency communications training and certifies proficiency in emergency communications skills.

Memo of Undestanding between FEMA and ARRL

2007-05-31T11:49:00.001-05:00

Memorandum of Understanding
Between
The Federal Emergency Management Agency
The American Radio Relay League, Incorporated
I. Purpose
The purpose of this document is to state the terms of a mutual agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Radio Relay League, Incorporated (ARRL), that will serve as a framework within which volunteer personnel of the ARRL may coordinate their services, facilities, and equipment with FEMA in support of nationwide Sate and local emergency communications functions. It is intended, through joint coordination and exercise of the resource of ARRL, FEMA, and Federal, State and local government, to enhance the nationwide posture of emergency communications readiness for any conceivable emergency. This agreement shall serve to promote and recognize the potential and capability of Amateur Radio operators to provide local, national and international communications expertise and assistance.
II. Recognition
The American Radio Relay league recognizes FEMA as the Agency chartered as the central point of contact within the Federal Government for a wide range of emergency management activities in both peace and war time. FEMA is dedicated to working closely with all the members of the emergency management community to achieve a realistic state of preparedness and an increased capacity to respond to emergencies of all types.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency recognizes that the ARRL is the principal organization representing the interests of many of the more than 600,000 U.S. Radio Amateurs, and because of its organized emergency communications capability, ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), can be of valuable assistance in providing critical and essential communications to state and local governments during emergencies and disasters when normal lines of communication are disrupted.
III. Organization of the American Radio Relay League
The American Radio Relay League is a non-commercial membership association of radio amateurs, organized for the promotion of interest in Amateur Radio communication and experimentation, for the establishment of networks to provide communications in the event of disasters or other emergencies, for the advancement of the radio art and of the public welfare, for the representation of the Radio Amateur in legislative matters, and for the maintenance of fraternalism and a high standard of conduct. A primary responsibility of the Amateur Radio Service, as established by the Federal Communications Commission's Rules and Regulations (47 C.F.R. Part 97), is the rendering of public service communications for the general public, particularly in times of emergency when normal communications are not available. Using Amateur Radio operators in the Amateur frequency bands, the ARRL has been serving the general public, both directly and through government and relief agencies, for more than 50 years. To that end, the ARRL organized the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), and created the National Traffic System (NTS).
The League's Field Organization covers the United States, including U.S. possessions and Puerto Rico. The Field Organization is administered under an elected Section Manager in each of the 71 ARRL "sections" (a section is a League-created political boundary roughly equivalent to States or portions thereof). The Section Manager appoints a Section Emergency Coordinator, who (along with appointed local and District Emergency Coordinators) directs ARES/emergency communications preparedness activities in each section. The Section Manager also appoints a Section Traffic Manager to supervise NTS/formal-message traffic operations in each section. Many ARRL members are also licensed RACES operators. The League advocates dual membership and cooperative efforts between ARES and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Groups whenever and wherever possible.
IV. Organization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA's national headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. There are ten Regional Offices throughout the United States, as well as five Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) detachments. These offices provide technical assistance to State and local governments to enhance their emergency planning, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and communications capabilities. The Director of FEMA reports directly to the President and works closely in emergency management matters with the National Security Council, the Cabinet and the White House staff, as well as the state and territory governors.
V. Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is sponsored by FEMA and is a part of the Amateur Radio Service that provides radio communications service to state and local governments during periods of local, regional, or national emergencies. All of the authorized frequencies and emissions allocated to the Amateur Radio Service are also available to RACES on a shared basis. In the event that the President invokes his War Emergency Powers, RACES operators are authorized to use specially authorized frequencies. RACES members are appointed by state or local government officials and may be used to supports all hazards. Many state and local government officials have authorized ARES members to be an integral part of RACES, so as to maximize the communications service and capability available to the public.
VI. FEMA Interface to Amateur Radio Service
In order to facilitate communications with Amateur Radio stations in an emergency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued distinctive Amateur Radio call signs to FEMA. These call signs will be used primarily on the high frequency (HF) bands and will allow more directly with the RACES and ARES resources when required.
VII. Method of Cooperation
In order that communications resources of the ARRL Field organization may be coordinated and utilized to the fullest advantage during disasters and emergencies, and to the extent permitted or required by law and regulation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Radio Relay League have agreed to the following:
A. For national-level liaison between ARRL and FEMA, the points of contact are:
ARRL HeadquartersNewington, CT 06111
FEMAInformation Technology Services DirectorateRACES Program Manager, IT-EO-DOP.O. Box 129Berryville, VA 22611
B. FEMA, through its Regional Offices, will encourage State and local emergency management officials to interact with ARRL Section Managers and other appropriate ARRL Field Organization officials, in an effort to establish cooperative relationships, and closer ties with ARRL Field Organization volunteers. FEMA recognizes that, when these relationships develop at the local level, effective service to the public is significantly enhanced.
C. FEMA and ARRL will encourage the use of Amateur Radio resources in the development of state and local emergency operating plans and the use of those plans to support exercises.
D. FEMA and ARRL will distribute copies of this agreement through channels to FEMA Regional Offices, state and local emergency management agencies and ARRL Field Organization officials respectively.
VIII. Implementation
This Memorandum of Understanding shall take effect upon signature by authorized officials of the ARRL and FEMA. This memorandum may be amended by mutual agreement of both parties, and will remain in effect until terminated. ARRL and FEMA will periodically review this agreement and coordinate such revisions as may be necessary. Upon 90 days written notice, this memorandum may be terminated by either party.
Ronald E. Miller /s/
2/27/2002
Ronald E. Miller
Date
Chief Information Officer
Office of the Chief Information Officer

Jim D. Haynie /s/
2/27/2002
Jim D. Haynie
Date
President
The American Radio Relay League, Incorporated
Footnote: This version incorporates minor editorial, non-substantive changes. The MOU is in the process of re-execution to reflect these changes.
Page last modified: 11:46 AM, 13 Mar 2003 ETPage author: webmaster@arrl.org Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Letter of Affiliation between FEMA and ARRL

2007-05-31T07:14:00.000-05:00

Photos of the Linden Fire

2007-05-29T13:38:00.000-05:00

Photos taken by Frederick Shannon, GCAFC photographer & technical specialist

ARRL Files Federal Appeals Court Brief in Petition for Review of BPL Rules

2007-05-29T05:42:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, May 24, 2007 -- The ARRL has filed a federal appeals court brief outlining its case and requesting oral arguments in its petition for review of the FCC's broadband over power line (BPL) rules. The League has petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to review the FCC's October 2004 Report and Order (R&O) in ET Docket 04-37 and its 2006 Memorandum Opinion and Order. In its brief filed May 17, the ARRL contends, among other things, that the FCC's actions in adopting rules to govern unlicensed BPL systems fundamentally alter the longstanding rights of radio spectrum licensees, including Amateur Radio operators.
"For the first time ever, the FCC has permitted new unlicensed devices to operate in spectrum bands already occupied by licensees, even if the unlicensed operations cause harmful interference to the licensees," the League said in stating its case. "The orders under review reverse nearly seven decades of consistent statutory interpretation and upset the settled expectations of licensees without so much as acknowledging the reversal, let alone justifying it."
The ARRL argues that the FCC's approach to adopting rules to govern BPL flies in the face of Section 301 of the Communications Act, which requires that operators of devices that emit radio frequency energy first obtain an FCC license. "For years, the FCC has consistently read Section 301 to apply to unintentional radiators, such as BPL devices, and has expressly embodied that interpretation in its rules," the League's brief recounts.
The Commission then compounded its error by asserting that BPL devices do not fall within Section 301 at all, the League said. "This hail-Mary attempt at justification is another unexplained departure from prior policy that independently requires invalidation of the orders," the ARRL remarked in its brief.
The ARRL contends that the FCC orders under review "jeopardize the license rights of ARRL's members and other license holders by authorizing providers of a new device -- Access Broadband over Power Lines, or 'BPL' -- to send radio signals across the electric grid in the frequencies the license holders occupy, but without having to obtain an FCC license."
In his "It Seems to Us . . ." editorial, set to appear in July QST, ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, says the League's brief "sets out the history of how the FCC has treated unlicensed devices since they were first authorized in 1938 and demonstrates that the new [BPL] rules change the bundle of rights and protections that radio licensees enjoy without a shred of the 'reasoned analysis' that legal precedent requires."
FCC Withholding Crucial Information
The League's brief further asserts that the FCC "has failed to discuss or disclose significant information in the record that potentially contradicts its key interference findings." The Commission not only withheld its internal studies until it was too late to comment, the ARRL alleges, but has yet to release portions of studies that may not support its own conclusions. The FCC has claimed that these are "internal communications" that it did not rely upon in reaching its decision to adopt the BPL rules.
The ARRL wants the appeals court to determine if the Commission acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner for not disclosing "significant information that potentially contradicts its key interference finding," the League said in its brief.
"If the Commission's claim of nonreliance on the redacted material is taken at face value, then its failure to consider the contrary evidence from its own engineers' field tests strongly suggests a willful blindness toward any information not in accord with its preferred outcome," the ARRL's brief contends. "If, as seems more likely, the Commission actually considered and rejected the information contained in the redacted portions of its studies, then it had a duty to disclose the information and reasons for rejecting it. Either way, the FCC acted improperly."
BPL Measurement Standard Also at Issue
The League also has taken issue with what it argues is the FCC's "arbitrary and capricious" adoption of a BPL emission measurement standard that's unsupported by the record in the proceeding and ignores contrary evidence. Additionally, the ARRL says, the FCC rejected a proposed alternative without even considering it.
Said Sumner in his editorial: "The Commission's penchant for ignoring contrary evidence is illustrated even more vividly with regard to how quickly RF emissions are assumed to decay as one moves away from the source. This is important because if the signal is assumed to decay more quickly than it really does, the interference potential of the emissions will be underestimated."
As Sumner notes, the FCC has claimed that "many parties" have presented experimental data supporting a 40 dB per decade (10 times increase in distance) rate.
"In fact, there is no such evidence in the record -- and empirical evidence supporting a lower number was ignored," Sumner asserts.
The League maintains that the Commission failed to consider the ARRL's sliding-scale alternative that would have avoided what Sumner calls "the logically indefensible situation that now exists in the rules: the extrapolation factor is 20 dB/decade at 30.001 MHz and 40 dB/decade at 29.999 MHz."
In addition, the ARRL wants the court to determine if the FCC was arbitrary and capricious in failing to limit BPL providers "to frequencies where interference was less likely to occur without materially harming BPL deployment." The League argues that the FCC ignored evidence that restricting BPL to the 30-50 MHz frequency range would have obviated interference to long-distance HF communications without causing problems for public safety services.
FCC Concedes that BPL Can Cause Interference
The ARRL brief asserts that, for the first time ever, the FCC "has authorized the operation of unlicensed devices that it concedes interfere with licensed devices" and has declared that such devices "may continue operating even where proven to cause interference."
The FCC, ARRL contends, has concluded that BPL's acknowledged interference risks are manageable, but it bases that conclusion -- which ARRL calls "the linchpin of the challenged orders" -- on FCC studies the Commission has declined to make public in unedited form.
"It is clear," the ARRL contends in his brief, "that the withheld pages contain information" that is at odds with the FCC's conclusion to adopt the current rules governing BPL deployments.
League Not Opposed to BPL As Such
"ARRL is not trying to stop the deployment of BPL," the League's brief concludes. ARRL and other commenters have provided the FCC with alternative proposals -- ones that have been demonstrated to work in the real world -- that would have allowed BPL to prosper without harm to licenses or to Congress's licensing regime."
"What is perhaps most unfortunate about the FCC's radical actions in this case is that they were entirely unnecessary."
The FCC's response to the League's brief is due July 2.

FCC Desgnates Heaings on three Amateur Radio Applications

2007-05-29T05:40:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, May 25, 2007 -- The FCC has issued hearing designation orders (HDOs) to Amateur Radio license applicants in three unrelated cases. All three HDOs released May 24 hinge on licensee "character" issues. The Commission notified David O. Castle, WA9KJI, of Evansville, Indiana, that it was designating his license renewal application for hearing in the wake of alleged misconduct extending back several years and continuing at least until earlier this year.
"Since 1998, Castle has been warned repeatedly to refrain from intentionally interfering with radio communications; broadcasting without communicating with any particular station; causing interference on amateur repeaters; using amateur repeaters without authorization, and using indecent, slanderous or harassing language," the FCC said in the HDO it issued to Castle. "We find that Castle's continuing course of conduct raises questions as to whether he possesses the requisite character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee."
In March, FCC Special Counsel in the Spectrum Enforcement Division Riley Hollingsworth warned Castle to abide by a request to refrain from using repeaters owned by the Tri-State Amateur Radio Society.
The FCC also designated for hearing two applications for new Amateur Radio licenses. In the case of Frank C. Richards of Mooers, New York, the Commission says the applicant apparently had attempted in 1995 to hijack the license of a Frank C. Richards, KB4VU, who lives in Ft Meyers, Florida. The New York Richards was initially successful, and the FCC granted him KG2IC, but after the Florida Richards contacted the FCC to say he'd never moved nor modified his license, the FCC directed the New York Richards to explain. On June 2004, the New York Richards turned in his license. While the FCC did not pursue further enforcement action the, it did tell the New York Richards that the circumstances of the apparent abuse of the license system could become a factor if he ever applied for an Amateur Radio ticket in the future.
The New York Richards applied for a Technician license last June 28, and accompanied his application with a letter. The FCC Enforcement Bureau said it was unable to determine whether the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau should grant the application, however, so it now has been designated for a hearing.
"The Commission and the courts have recognized that 'the FCC relies on the honesty and probity of its licensees in a regulatory system that is largely self-policing,'" the FCC said in the HDO.
"The attempt of Frank Richards (NY) to change the address and other information for call sign KB4VU, and his subsequent cancellation of the license in lieu of responding to EB's inquiries regarding the renewal/modification application raise substantial and material questions of fact as to whether he made false certifications, misrepresented the facts to the Commission, and/or demonstrated a lack of candor in order to claim the identity and operating privileges of Frank Richards (FL)," the FCC said.
In a third case, the FCC has designated for hearing the new Amateur Radio license application of Jack R. Sharples of Florida. In its HDO, the FCC identified Sharples as "a convicted felon and registered sexual predator."
"Sharples's felony conviction for at least one sexual-related offense involving children raises material and substantial questions as to whether he possesses the requisite character qualifications to be a Commission licensee," the FCC said. "Although Sharples's felony adjudications occurred more than seven years ago, the nature of the criminal misconduct and the fact that the Amateur Radio Service is particularly attractive to children call into serious question whether he should be permitted to obtain an Amateur Radio authorization."
Castle, Richards and Sharples have 20 days to file a "written appearance" with the Commission. Failing to do so would lead to dismissal of the pending application.

The Week of 5/14/07

2007-05-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

Wednesday May 16th started out as a wet and dreary day. At 10:00 am it started going down from there. The Fire Pager went off announcing that emergency Coordination for Genesee County Fire Departments had been activated for an airplane incident at Bishop International Airport. Two aircraft had been reported to have crashed into one another and there were many dead and injured. Thus began the annual Genesee County Michigan Disaster Drill with ARES operator right in the middle of it.

The Scenario starts with the planes crashing into each other at the end of the southern runway. At that report the Fire Coordination teams of Genesee County are toned out and Genesee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Inc. is a major part of that team. This group of ARES Volunteers provides additional communication to all Genesee County Fire Department as well as the Office of Emergency Management/ Department of Homeland Security. Their function at this drill was to do just that. Team members were assigned to the Incident Commander, The Operations Officer, Medical, Genesee County 911 Dispatch, Flint City Dispatch all three Hospitals in the area as well as transportation services, public information officer, staging and more. The newest position to be filled was the Amateur Radio Operator for the new Genesee County Mobile Command Unit which house command communications for all Emergency responders as well as the Office of Emergency management.

During the drill local school students played the roll of dead and injured plane passengers that had to be treated, decontaminated and transported by Bus and or ambulance to the three local Hospitals. All Fire departments from Genesee County participated in the drill which included and actual burning aircraft which had to be extinguished.

Public safety communication in Genesee County is a mix of VHF for the City of Flint and 800MHz for the out county areas. Thus the 30 Amateur radio operators from Genesee, Oakland and Livingston County played a major roll in get information to and from the various contact points.

ATV Amateur Radio Television played an even larger roll then expected. Have set up three camera positions they were able to feed video to the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of the Genesee County Administration building as well as the Mobile Command Unit with Broadcast Quality Video. One of the operators even set up a wireless link from his camera back to his van where he did a DVD recording of the entire scene while transmitting to the ATV repeater on top of McLaren Regional Hospital which retransmitted to the EOC and the MCU.

Another aspect of the drill this year was that Civil Air Patrol had planned to over fly the site and take photos which would be transmitted by Slow Scan Television to a local Amateur Radio Station who would in turn email them to the Emergency Operations Center. However due to the inclement weather CAP was not able to fly. However that did not stop the Hams. The Operator of the SSTV station found some photos from a couple years ago and sent them to the EOC just like they had got them from the Civil Air Patrol.

In the middle of the drill we even had a couple of actual incidents regarding the Students that were being transferred to the Hospital’s. And to Coin a phrase “Amateur Radio was there!” It turned out that because there were ARES Operators on the busses where the unplanned minor injuries occurred. Hams reported the injuries and maintained updates without ever going through the Public Service Radio system.

Following the Drill at the debriefing both Greg Ybarra N8HXQ the EC for Genesee County and Grace Ranger KC8BOE, Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for Genesee County were very pleased with the way things went and how the little problems were handled.

Sadly just a few days on Friday May 18th the Fire Coordinators and ARES were once again activated. This time it was not a drill; the Historic City of Linden Michigan was on fire. The “Union Block” which was built more than 100 years ago was on fire. 25 Fire departments from all over Genesee County and from Northern Oakland County fought the blaze for over 9 hours.
Many of the ARES members had gone south to the Dayton Hamvention the day before so operators were thin but available. As in any major incident Ham Operators pulled together. The Genesee Co. EC Greg Ybarra N8HXQ staffed the fire scene with the operators that he had on hand. After 8 hours the call went out to the neighboring counties for assistance through the District 3 EC Greg Allinger. As relief operators were being set up the Fire Coordinators declared the fire under control and start releasing Fire Stations. Shortly after that ARES operators were released to go home in the earlier hours of Saturday May 19th.

Again Amateur Radio operators provided a vital service of communications to the Emergency Service Personnel of Genesee County. The Fire Chief and citizens of the City of Linden have expressed their gratitude to the County Fire Coordination Teams for their quick response and ability to control the fire to only one of the many historic building of Down Town Linden.

FOR SALE!

2007-05-23T00:35:00.000-05:00

From GCRC:
FOR SALE

I have the following equipment for sale. It was given to the Genesee County Radio Club in the will by Carl Miller, KF8Y and was announced at the May meeting of the club.
Kenwood TS-940 HF Transceiver $700.00
Kenwood TS-430S HF Transceiver
with SAY Electronics power supply $225.00
Kenwood SP-820 External speaker $ 50.00
Dentron Clipperton L Linear Amplifier $300.00
Hustler MO-2 mast (new) $ 30.00
Hustler BM-1 bumper mount (new( $ 20.00
Hustler RM-10 resonator for 10 meters $ 10.00
Hustler trunk mount with 2 meter antenna $ 20.00
Kenwood MC-80 Microphone $ 50.00
Electro Voice 664 Dynamic microphone $ 10.00
Bell & Howell Oscilloscope $ 25.00
Coax approx. 65 feet of RG-58U $ 6.50
Coax approx. 100 feet of RG-58U $ 10.00
If you have any interest in any of the above equipment, please e-mail me at

K8VW@ARRL.NET

K8VW
Verle D. Winningham
Treasurer
Genesee County Radio Club

posted by wc5b

From the Linden City Fire Chief

2007-05-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

-----Original Message----- From: bwill@charter.net [mailto:bwill@charter.net]
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 3:59 PM
To: Curtis St.John
Subject: Our Community says thank you Approximately 1 year ago we closed the streets of downtown Linden with the assistance of 3 other departments. We practiced this incident hoping that someday it would not come to a reality. The exercise surfaced numerous obstacles that included water supply, overhead high voltage power lines above the alley and the facts of a 100+ year old building. Unfortunately the problems were x 4.
The community at large, City officials and the Linden Fire Department would like to give their gratitude and thanks for the overwhelming response to our incident on Friday.The task of trying to contain a historical building of this size with exposures involved was amazingly contained without any further damage to other nearby historical buildings.
I am proud of the way our County coordination system works, the number of firefighters, apparatus and equipment that was in one form or another involved in this incident. Each time another obstacle arose, someone stepped up and solved the issue to ensure the safety of our firefighters and protection of the buildings nearby.
There is no question that without this system and experienced personnel the loss of history would have been much greater.
Thank you again, to the endless list of people and businesses that participated in this overwhelming event.
Brian Will,
Fire Chief Linden City Fire Department

DHS Completes Key Framework for Critical Infrastructure Protection

2007-05-22T07:48:00.000-05:00

Release Date: May 21, 2007
For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryContact: 202-282-8010
Fact Sheet:National Infrastructure Protection Program Sector-Specific Plans
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today the completion of 17 Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) in support of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). The NIPP outlines a comprehensive risk management framework that defines critical infrastructure protection roles and responsibilities for all levels of government and private industry. Each SSP is tailored to the unique risk characteristics of that sector to promote greater consistency of protective programs and resources within the sectors.
"The consequences of an assault against America's vast network of critical infrastructure sites could be dire, both in loss of life and in economic impact," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "At the same time, we must avoid imposing onerous security measures that would damage or make economically impractical the very systems that we're trying to protect. The security roadmap announced today reflects unprecedented coordination among the public and private sectors. These plans are already significantly strengthening vital infrastructure and reducing vulnerability to all hazards – terrorist attack and natural disaster alike."
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 identified 17 critical infrastructure and key resource sectors that require protective actions to prepare for, or mitigate against, a terrorist attack or other hazards. The sectors are: agriculture and food; banking and finance; chemical; commercial facilities; commercial nuclear reactors, including materials and waste; dams; defense industrial base; drinking water and water treatment systems; emergency services; energy; government facilities; information technology; national monuments and icons; postal and shipping; public health and healthcare; telecommunications; and transportation systems including mass transit, aviation, maritime, ground or surface, rail and pipeline systems.
The vast majority of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry. SSPs define roles and responsibilities, catalog existing security authorities, institutionalize already existing security partnerships, and establish the strategic objectives required to achieve a level of risk reduction appropriate to each individual sector. Each SPP also establishes a sector-specific risk-reduction consultative network to exchange best practices and facilitate rapid threat-based information sharing among the federal, state, local, tribal and private sectors. Strategic objectives include:
Protecting critical sector assets, systems, networks and functions prior to a terrorist attack or natural disaster;
Rapidly reconstituting critical assets, systems and networks after an incident;
Planning for emergencies and updating response plans;
Ensuring timely, relevant and accurate threat information sharing between the law enforcement and intelligence communities and key decision makers in the sector; and
Educating stakeholders on infrastructure resiliency and risk management practices.
The NIPP and SSPs were developed through a collaborative process involving the federal sector specific agencies, private sector owners and operators, state, local, and tribal entities, and other security partners. Non-sensitive SSPs, SSP Executive Summaries, and the NIPP are available at: www.dhs.gov/nipp.

Message from FEMA

2007-05-22T07:45:00.000-05:00

National Hurricane Preparedness Week
President Bush has declared May 21-25 “National Hurricane Preparedness Week.” This is an opportunity for governmental agencies, private organizations, schools, and the media to raise awareness of steps that can be taken to help protect citizens, and their communities and property. (Read More)

Thank Youi

2007-05-22T05:17:00.001-05:00

From: Curtis St. John
To: Curtis St. John
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 9:54 PM
Subject: Thank you
On behalf of the Genesee Twp. Fire Department I want to thank all county fire departments, the Genesee Twp. Police Department, the Coordinators, the Haz Mat Team, Emergency Management, Central Dispatch, the Salvation Army, Consumers Energy and the Genesee County Road Commission for the fine job they did in assisting us at the incident on N. Saginaw St. May 20, 2007. Everyone worked together in an extraordinary show of teamwork. Specific individuals come to mind, but I will refrain from listing names for fear I will forget someone. Again, thank you for a great job. We could not have done it without you.

Chief Roger Bobb

The ARRL Letter

2007-05-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

***************The ARRL LetterVol. 26, No. 20May 18, 2007***************
IN THIS EDITION:
* +Repeater interference mitigation plan goes to Defense Department
* +Emergency communication tops IARU Administrative Council agenda
* +Scarborough Reef DXpedition logs now online
* +Settlement means loss of amateur ticket for Indiana man
* +Results mixed for Amateur Radio as FCC ends two proceedings
* Solar Update
* IN BRIEF:

This weekend on the radio
+ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
+ARRL reprising Dayton Hamvention blog
+ITU okays Montenegro, Serbia call sign prefix agreement
+AMSAT issues first call for Symposium papers
+KD5PLA to succeed KD5PLB aboard ISS
+QCWA, Newsline to collaborate in mentoring program
"Strange Antenna Challenge," special event set

We stand corrected+Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>=============================================================>Delivery problems: First see FAQ<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/faq.html#nodelivery>, then e-mail==>Editorial questions or comments only: Rick Lindquist, N1RL,n1rl@arrl.org
=============================================================>
ARRL SUBMITS PLAN TO MITIGATE REPEATER INTERFERENCE TO MILITARY RADARSThe ARRL has submitted an interference mitigation plan to the US Departmentof Defense (DoD) as part of an effort to resolve reported interference fromdozens of 70 cm amateur repeaters to US military radar systems on bothcoasts. Since Amateur Radio is secondary to government users from 420 to 450MHz, hams must not interfere with primary users and, under the rules, can beforced to cease operation. Earlier this year, the US Air Force asked the FCCto order dozens of repeater systems to either eliminate interference to its"PAVE PAWS" missile and satellite detection and tracking radars inMassachusetts and California or shut down."We are waiting the response of the DoD representative to the proposal andwill continue to provide information as to its status when it becomesavailable," commented ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson,N1ND. The interference mitigation plan has four primary steps. * All repeaters the DoD has identified as potential interferencesources will immediately and temporarily reduce transmitter power output(TPO) to 5 W. * The ARRL will conduct Longley-Rice studies on each repeater system todetermine what further mitigation techniques might apply to individualrepeaters. These could include relocating the system, the use of directionalantenna systems to create nulls towards the PAVE PAWS site, permanent powerreductions or a combination of these techniques. * The DoD will review ARRL's studies to determine if the proposals willmeet DoD's unspecified field strength requirements to mitigate the potentialinterference satisfactorily. * Once the DoD reviews and approves the proposals, the ARRL willprovide the recommendations to respective repeater frequency coordinatinggroups and the FCC.The situation affects 15 repeaters within less than 100 miles of Otis AirForce Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more than 100 repeaters withinsome 140 miles of Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. PAVEPAWS facilities occupy essentially the entire 70 cm band -- one factor thatmakes mitigation difficult. Feeding upward of 1800 active antenna elements,the broadband radar transmitters emit an average power output of more than145 kW.Henderson says repeater owners and trustees ultimately would be responsiblefor implementing the mitigation proposals or for developing alternativesthat protect the radar systems to the same extent.Cooperation will be the key to a successful resolution of the situation,Henderson says. "Although ARRL has no means to compel compliance with themitigation strategies, each repeater is absolutely obligated not tointerfere with these radars," he emphasized. "Failure to implement themitigation strategy or otherwise eliminate interference attributed to anindividual repeater will result in immediate FCC action."Henderson points out that the FCC is aware of and monitoring this situationand will act as necessary to protect the radars from interference. Hestresses, however, that the US military is aware of the critical roleAmateur Radio repeaters play in disasters and emergencies, and a wholesaleshutdown of US 70 cm Amateur Radio activity is not under consideration.A US Air Force contractor identified the allegedly problematic repeatersystems last summer, but the situation didn't become critical until the AirForce contacted the FCC in March. ARRL officials met with Defense Departmentrepresentatives later that month to discuss alleged interference to the PAVEPAWS radar sites, and last month Henderson contacted Amateur Radio frequencycoordinating organizations in both affected areas -- the Northern AmateurRelay Council of California (NARCC) and the New England Spectrum ManagementCouncil (NESMC).Contact Dan Henderson, N1ND ; (860-594-0236), with specificquestions or issues associated with this situation.==>EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION LEADS IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL AGENDAThe Administrative Council of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)<http://www.iaru.org> held its annual meeting May 14-15 in Boston,Massachusetts. Topping the agenda was the IARU's upcoming participation inthe Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference, GAREC-07. Theinternational gathering will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, inmid-August -- just prior to the ARRL National Convention there. The AdministrativeCouncil's primary goal is to enhance the coordination and promotion ofAmateur Radio's worldwide disaster response capabilities.During the Boston gathering, the Council received a draft strategy paperfrom IARU International Coordinator for Emergency Communications HansZimmermann, HB9AQS/F5VKP. The body will seek additional information frommember-societies on the national regulatory position of the Amateur Servicein preparing for and providing emergency communications, with an eye towardidentifying problem areas and developing solutions.The Administrative Council meeting took place earlier in the year than usualin order to complete the review of preparations for the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07)in Geneva this fall.The Council also received reports of the other IARU internationalcoordinators and advisers: International Beacon Project Coordinator PeterJennings, AB6WM/VE3SUN; Satellite Adviser Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV;Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Adviser Christian Verholt, OZ8CY, andInterim Monitoring System International Coordinator Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG.Coordinators and advisers were reappointed for three-year terms.A further progress report was received from an ad hoc committeeinvestigating the IARU's future role and structure. The Council resolvedthat the work to date represents an appropriate direction for planning, andit requested that the committee continue its work to address remaining openissues, including consultation with member-societies.The Council recognized a need for greater international coordination on EMCmatters, and it adopted conclusions and recommendations arising from a studyof how to accomplish this objective.Continuing the strategic planning initiative begun in 2003, the Councilreviewed and renewed progress on a three-year plan for the development ofsupport for Amateur Radio frequency allocations for 2008 through 2011. Somedetails are pending until after WRC-07.The Council identified ITU meetings that will require IARU representationover the coming year, and it reviewed plans for representation. Theprincipal focus continues to be on WRC-07 preparations.A report on the status of the IARU member-society in Bosnia and Herzegovinawas received from the Region 1 representatives. The Council determined thatit requires additional information to clarify whether the member-society isable to adequately represent the interests of all radio amateurs of Bosniaand Herzegovina in the IARU.The Council reviewed the budget for 2008-2010 as presented by theInternational Secretariat (ARRL). The budget includes provision forfinancial contributions from the three regional organizations to defray aportion of the expenses, in accordance with previously adopted policy.A working document describing the requirements for radio spectrumallocations to the amateur and amateur-satellite services was reviewed.Council members will take a comprehensive look at the document followingWRC-07.In other business, the IARU Administrative Council: * reviewed and endorsed a plan to revitalize the IARU Worked AllContinents (WAC) award program. * selected "Amateur Radio: A Foundation for Technical Knowledge" as thetheme for the next World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2008. * received and discussed reports from each of the three IARU regionalorganizations.The next regional conference will be Region 2's in Brasilia inmid-September. The next scheduled Administrative Council meeting will be inGermany in June 2008.Attending the Boston meeting were IARU President Larry Price, W4RA; VicePresident Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA; Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ; regionalrepresentatives Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Don Beattie, G3BJ, Hans BlondeelTimmerman, PB2T, Rod Stafford, W6ROD, Reinaldo Leandro, YV5AMH, DanielLamoureux, VE2KA, Michael Owen, VK3KI, Joong-Geun Rhee, HL1AQQ, ARRLPresident Joel Harrison, W5ZN, on behalf of the International Secretariat,and recording secretary Paul Rinaldo, W4RI.==>BS7H SCARBOROUGH REEF DXPEDITION LOGS AVAILABLE ONLINEThe BS7H Scarborough Reef DXpedition team reports it logged 45,830 QSOsduring its weeklong stay on the South Pacific rocks. All BS7H logs now areavailable online <http://www.scarboroughreef.com/srlog.html>.

The DXpeditionto the world's most-wanted DXCC entity, which got under way April 29 andconcluded May 5, has been approved for DXCC credit. The Daily DX<http://www.dailydx.com> says if you don't find your call sign in the onlinelog search but are confident you had a solid QSO, send a QSL card to SteveWheatley, KU9C, PO Box 31, Morristown, NJ 07963-0031 (or via the QSLBureau). Attach a brief explanatory note. KU9C will search the logs to seeif an error occurred, Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, says. Do note-mail KU9C. The BS7H logs have not yet been uploaded to ARRL's Logbook ofthe World.As might be expected, 20 meters was the bread-and-butter band, with 21,858contacts on CW, SSB and RTTY completed. BS7H logged just 54 contacts on 160meters and 334 on 80 meters, since weather conditions prevented deploying aweather balloon-supported wire until the last few hours. The team netted3548 QSOs on 40 meters, 3374 on 30 meters, 6774 on 17 meters, 6057 on 15meters, 876 on 12 meters and 1565 on 10 meters. In all, 19,319 BS7H contactsoccurred on SSB, 24,799 on CW and 322 on RTTY. Complete statistics areavailable on the BS7H Web page<http://www.scarboroughreef.com/srstats.html>.The DXpedition operators worked long shifts from stations set up on tinyplatforms that rose just above each of the four Scarborough Reef rocks thatare exposed during high tide. Once they shut down, the BS7H DXpedition teamrapidly dismantled the gear and platforms and soon were en route by shipback to Hong Kong.Team member Mike Mraz, N6MZ, will be at Dayton Hamvention<http://www.hamvention.org> and will deliver a presentation on the BS7HDXpedition during the DX Forum Saturday afternoon. No QSL cards are expectedto be available at Hamvention, however. The Daily DX reports that teammember James Brooks, 9V1YC, will be producing a video on the DXpedition,available later this year.QSL BS7H via KU9C. US stations are reminded to include 41 cents first classpostage on the return envelope. To expedite your BS7H card, include separateSASEs when requesting cards from other DX stations that KU9C manages.Scarborough Reef's status as the top most-wanted DXCC entity prompted someops to go to extremes, such as erecting new antennas, just to work theDXpedition. The Daily DX says Frank Letton, W6JTI, "qualifies as a true-blueDXer" by going the extra mile, as it were. As things turned out, he'dalready finalized plans for a three-week trip to visit his mother in SanAntonio, Texas, during the period the DXpedition was to be on the air.Undeterred, Letton shipped a transceiver, accessories and a two-element20-meter Yagi ahead. Once there, he erected the Yagi on a 35-foot TV mast hepurchased locally, and strung up a dipole beneath the beam. The Daily DXreports W6JTI snagged BS7H on both 40 and 20 CW.According to The Daily DX, W6JTI needs four more entities: Palestine,Montenegro, Yemen and North Korea. He's worked 333 current entities whilerunning just 100 W.Additional photos of the DXpedition are available on the BS7H Web site<http://www.scarboroughreef.com/srphotos.html>.

==>LOSS OF AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE IS PART OF SETTLEMENT WITH FCCAn Indiana radio amateur will have to surrender his General ticket under theterms of a Settlement Agreement reached with the FCC stemming from allegedcorporate and personal misdeeds. In addition, Timothy M. Doty, WB9MCD, of WTerre Haute, will have to yield his General Radiotelephone Operator License,and Commercial Radio Service (CRS) Inc, in which he's an equal partner withhis brother, Gary, will have to surrender its Land Mobile Service licenses.In a Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O)<http://www.fcc.gov/eb/revocations/files/FCC-07M-12.pdf> in EB Docket06-168, released April 26, the FCC said the settlement spares all partiesfrom a lengthy legal proceeding, although according to its terms, neitherthe Dotys nor CRS admit to any violation of the Communications Act of 1934or FCC rules."Suffice it to say, approval of the Agreement will obviate the need for aprotracted hearing, thereby conserving the resources of the Commission andthe private parties," the FCC said in its MO&O. "In addition, approval ofthe Agreement will provide for a fair and equitable resolution of thisproceeding."The agreement stipulates that neither Doty will be able to apply for or hold"any attributable interest in any Commission license or authorization" forfive years. CRS and the Dotys also will make a "voluntary donation" of$10,000 to the US Treasury. If the matter had gone to hearing, CRS couldhave been liable for fines approaching $100,000.In an Order to Show Cause last August, the FCC ordered Timothy Doty and CRSto show cause why their respective Commission licenses should not berevoked. The FCC cited information it had received suggesting that CRS maynot have properly disclosed information about Timothy Doty's felonyconvictions in applications the company filed with the Commission.In several proceedings in recent years, the FCC has considered a licensee'sor applicant's character among factors it takes into account whendetermining whether an individual possesses the requisite qualifications tobe a Commission licensee.As the agreement recites, in 1991 Doty was convicted in federal court of afelony that involved manufacture and possession of unauthorized satellite TVdescrambling devices. He received three years' probation and a $2000 fine.In 2001, Doty was found guilty in state court on a felony count ofpossessing a controlled substance and sentenced to 18 months incarcerationwith all but 30 days suspended."It appears, therefore, that the concerns raised by the Commission in itsorder designating this case for hearing will have been resolved," the FCCconcluded. The Settlement Agreement is on the FCC's Web site<<http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6519409544>.

==>FCC'S TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS A MIXED BLESSING FOR HAM RADIOThe FCC's recent termination of two aging proceedings has some favorable andless-than-favorable implications for Amateur Radio. As part of a recenteffort to clear the decks of languishing proceedings, the FCC closed out aNotice of Inquiry and Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NOI and NPRM) in ETDocket 03-237 <http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-237/>, aimed atestablishing an "interference temperature metric" as a model for managinginterference and "to expand available unlicensed operation" in certainbands. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, referred to the interference temperaturemodel as "a flawed concept" and said the May 4 termination Order<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-78A1.pdf> is goodnews. The FCC appeared to agree."Commenting parties generally argued that the interference temperatureapproach is not a workable concept and would result in increasedinterference in the frequency bands where it would be used," the Commissionsaid in its termination Order. "While there was some support in the recordfor adopting an interference temperature approach, no parties providedinformation on specific technical rules that we could adopt to implementit."The Commission further conceded that "with the passage of time" the November2003 NOI and NPRM and the record in the proceeding "have become outdated."The termination was "without prejudice," suggesting the Commission couldresurrect the concept later.The FCC asserted four years ago that the new metric "could represent afundamental paradigm shift" in its spectrum management approach by using astandard that takes into account "the cumulative effects of all undesired RFenergy" at a given instant. It initially wanted to implement the concept intwo microwave bands, suggesting that it the interference temperature limitfor a band "would serve as an upper bound or 'cap' on the potential RFenergy that could be introduced into the band."When the ARRL filed comments<http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-237/> in the proceeding in2004, it called the interference temperature concept "highly premature" andsaid it should not go forward. The ARRL contended that the FCC didn't haveenough information to put such a model into place, and it should not try totake a shortcut, as it did in the broadband over power line proceeding.In a second Order<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-79A1.pdf> releasedMay 4, the FCC also terminated its inquiry, in ET Docket 03-65, into whetherit should "incorporate receiver interference immunity performancespecifications into spectrum policy decisions on a broad basis." Sumnercommented that immunity standards for consumer electronics devices,including receivers, have long been an ARRL objective. The Commission againasserted that "the passage of time" had rendered out of date its Notice ofInquiry <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-54A6.doc>and record in the proceeding."Further, to the extent receiver interference immunity performancespecifications are desirable, they may be addressed in proceedings that arefrequency band or service specific," the Commission remarked in the Order.The FCC also left the door open to consider the issue again down the road.In its July 2003 comments<http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-65/ARRL-ET-03-65-cmts.pdf> inET Docket 03-65, the ARRL told the FCC that improved interference standardsfor consumer electronic devices is the most-pressing need as the Commissionconsiders the interference immunity performance of receivers. Whilerecommending "either mandatory receiver immunity standards or at leastguidelines" in most other services, the ARRL said no receiver immunitystandards are necessary or practical in the "essentially experimental"Amateur Service."With the current explosion of consumer electronics and unlicensed devices,"the League said, "the Commission must establish interference rejectionstandards for unlicensed home electronic equipment and systems."==>SOLAR UPDATERa the Sun god Tad "Sunshine, Sunset" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington,reports: This week saw a rise in sunspot numbers, with the average dailyvalue up by more than 11 points to 29.3. On May 16, the daily sunspot numberwas 56, the highest daily reading since last December 5, when it was 59.This week's average sunspot number was the highest since the January 4-10,2007, reporting week.Keep in mind that a tremendous day-to-day variation in sunspot numbers isnormal, so this should not be viewed as an indicator that sunspot trendshave turned around, and we’re already into Cycle 24. Of course, increasedactivity may follow; this just isn't an indicator that higher sunspotnumbers are due in the very near term.The bottom of the cycle, late last year predicted for the past couple ofmonths, has moved out as far as a year in the most recent general consensusof the scientific community. With predictions revised so often, it would beuseful to keep an eye on each week's release of the Preliminary Report ofSolar and Geophysical Data <http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/>.For the near term, we’ll probably see sunspot numbers higher than the recentperiods when it was 0 or 12, but declining a bit, with the next probablepeak around May 25-30. Unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions areforecast for the beginning of that period, and we may see some mildlyunsettled activity around May 20.Sunspot numbers for May 10 through 16 were 20, 24, 21, 18, 29, 37 and 56,with a mean of 29.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 71.2, 71.5, 71.4, 73.5, 72.9,76.9, and 77.1, with a mean of 73.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 3,2, 3, 3, 3, 6 and 4, with a mean of 3.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indiceswere 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 4 and 3, with a mean of 2.3.For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL TechnicalInformation Service Propagation page<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>.

IN BRIEF:* This weekend on the radio: The US Counties QSO Party (SSB), His Majestythe King of Spain Contest (CW), the EU PSK DX Contest, the ManchesterMineira All America Contest and the Baltic Contest are the May 19-20weekend. JUST AHEAD: The Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is May 21. The RSGB80-Meter Club Championship (CW) is May 24. The CQ World Wide WPX Contest(CW) is May 26-27 weekend. See the ARRL Contest Branch page<http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info.*

ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration:Registration remains open through Sunday, June 3, for these ARRLCertification and Continuing Education (CCE) online courses beginningFriday, June 15: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 2 (EC-002),Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 3 (EC-003R2), Antenna Modeling(EC-004), HF Digital Communications (EC-005), VHF/UHF -- Life Beyond theRepeater (EC-008) and Radio Frequency Propagation (EC-011). These courseswill also open for registration Friday, June 1, for classes beginning FridayJuly 20. To learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing page<http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the CCE Departmentcce@arrl.org.*

ARRL reprising Dayton Hamvention blog: The ARRL again has a DaytonHamvention blog <http://www.arrl.org/blog/Dayton%20and%20ARRL%20Expo>. ARRLPublications Manager and QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, says his "ramblings"for the 2007 Dayton and ARRL Expo Weblog begin where last year's ended. The2006 blog, which remains on the site, was extremely successful, he said. "Wehad more than 6000 individuals reading the blog throughout the event," Fordnoted. "This year's effort will be much the same, possibly with a newwrinkle or two." The League's Dayton and ARRL Expo Weblog, part of an effortto add personal touch to the Hamvention experience, will chronicle news andimpressions of Dayton Hamvention and ARRL EXPO 2007. Hamvention annuallyattracts upward of 25,000 visitors.*

ITU okays Montenegro, Serbia call sign prefix agreement: Although itbecame a country -- and a DXCC entity -- in its own right last June,Montenegro has not had an Amateur Radio call sign block to call its ownuntil this month. According to The Daily DX, the InternationalTelecommunications Union (ITU) did not want to give Montenegro an entirelynew prefix, so it required the states of Montenegro and Serbia to agree uponone or two prefixes from the five (4N, 4O, YT, YU and YZ) assigned to theformer Serbia-Montenegro. An agreement was reached May 11, and the ITU nowlists 4O (that's "four Oscar") as Montenegro's prefix. This means Montenegrostations may use 4O0 through 4O9, while Serbia stations will continue to useYT and YU prefixes for all call districts, 0 through 9. The ITU has takenback the former 4N and YZ prefixes for future reassignment. The ITUreportedly wants the two nations to complete the transition to new call signblocks as soon as possible. The Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR,recommends that DXers update their logging software carefully to reflect thechanges.*

AMSAT issues first call for Symposium papers: AMSAT has announced itsfirst call for papers for the 2007 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting,October 25-28 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2007/index.php>. The organizationsolicits proposals for papers, symposium presentations and posterpresentations on any topic of interest to the Amateur Satellite community.An emphasis this year is an educational outreach to middle and high schoolstudents. In particular, papers are sought on students and education, theAmateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, AO-51,Phase 3E, the Eagle project and other satellite-related topics. A one-pageabstract is due by June 1. Camera-ready copy on paper or in electronic formis due by September 1 for inclusion in the symposium Proceedings. Sendabstracts and papers to Daniel Schultz, N8FGV n8fgv@amsat.org.*

KD5PLA to succeed KD5PLB aboard ISS: NASA has announced that US astronautClay Anderson, KD5PLA, will succeed Suni Williams, KD5PLB, as InternationalSpace Station Expedition 15 Flight Engineer later this spring. Anderson willarrive aboard the ISS aboard the shuttle Atlantis, set to launch June 8. Thesame shuttle mission, STS-117, will carry Williams back to Earth afterseveral months aboard the space outpost. NASA originally planned theastro-swap for the STS-118 shuttle mission, first set to fly in June but nowtargeted for an August launch. Unexpected hail damage to Atlantis' externalfuel tank forced the change in plans, and NASA managers approved the revisedcrew rotation April 26, after determining that it would have no impact onspace station operations or future shuttle mission objectives. AMassachusetts native, Williams has been in space since early December.During her ISS stay, she's set a record for spacewalks by a femaleastronaut, conducting four excursions for a total of 29 hours, 17 minutes.Upon her return, she will have accumulated more time in space than any otherwoman. She's also logged 20 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station(ARISS) school contacts so far. Anderson, a Nebraska native, is making hisfirst spaceflight. He'll return home next October.*

QCWA, Newsline to collaborate in mentoring program: The Quarter CenturyWireless Association (QCWA) and Amateur Radio Newsline(ARNewsline) have joined forces in cosponsoringthe Roy Neal, K6DUE, Amateur Radio Mentoring Program. ARNewsline launchedthe post-licensing educational service in 2004. It's designed to pairnewcomers with veteran radio amateurs who can share their skill andexperience. "Amateur Radio is a tremendously complex arena", says NewslineExecutive Producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. "We have hams who are trulyexperts in numerous fields [and] we want to take advantage of that talentpool to help educate the next generation of operators and generations tofollow." The collaboration with QCWA makes thousands of veteran radioamateurs available as potential mentors -- each with at least 25 years ofexperience in the hobby. QCWA President John B. Johnston, W3BE, called thearrangement "a good deal for all of Amateur Radio." A retired FCC employeeand Dayton Radio Amateur of the Year, Johnston says he believes that it isimportant to keep ham radio traditions alive. ARNewsline and the QCWA arenow seeking both new radio amateurs and potential QCWA mentors -- or Elmers.E-mail your name, call sign, address with ZIP code,telephone number and a convenient time to call.*

"Strange Antenna Challenge," special event set: Operation over MemorialDay weekend, May 26-28, by special event station K0S will highlight the 2007Strange Antenna Challenge. Sponsors say K0S will employ out-of-the-ordinaryantennas to promote Amateur Radio and making do with what might be availableduring an emergency. Individuals and clubs may participate as "satellitestations" by using anything but wire or pipe for a radiating element andadding "/K0S" to their call signs. Details are on the KØS, Strange AntennaChallenge Web site . Strange antennas used in pastevents, dating back to 2002, have included folding chairs, paint easels,ladders, tape measures, dog kennels, fences, cots and chicken wire (photo)with a trampoline as an apparent ground plane. "More people share in the funeach year," says Erik Weaver, N0EW, a Strange Antenna Challenge founder. "Ihope you give me a call this year with your very own strange antenna. Nowlet's play radio!"* We stand corrected: A paragraph in the story "Ham Radio Instrumental inPacific Maritime Rescue," in The ARRL Letter, Vol 26, No 19, containedincorrect information. It should have said: "Another report credits MMSN NetController Rooney Polack, 6Y5RP, in Jamaica with intercepting the Mayday andassisting via intermittent radio contacts and relays during the first fewhours of the event to get information to the Coast Guard. (Polack is theAmateur Radio Emergency Coordinator for Jamaica and works closely with bothemergency management and the weather service there.)

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The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the AmericanRadio Relay League: ARRL--the National Association For Amateur Radio, 225Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259;. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential and general newsof interest to active radio amateurs. Visit the ARRL Web site for the latest Amateur Radio news and news updates.The ARRL Web site also offers informative featuresand columns. ARRL Audio News is aweekly "ham radio newscast" compiled and edited from The ARRL Letter. It'salso available as a podcast from our Web site.Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole orin part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be given toThe ARRL Letter/American Radio Relay League.==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!):letter-dlvy@arrl.org==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org==>ARRL News on the Web: ==>ARRL Audio News: or call860-594-0384==>How to Get The ARRL LetterThe ARRL Letter is available to ARRL members free of charge directly fromARRL HQ. To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your address for e-maildelivery:ARRL members first must register on the Members Only Web Site. You'll have an opportunity duringregistration to sign up for e-mail delivery of The ARRL Letter, W1AWbulletins, and other material. To change these selections--includingdelivery of The ARRL Letter--registered members should click on the "MemberData Page" link (in the Members Only box). Click on "Modify membershipdata," check or uncheck the appropriate boxes and/or change your e-mailaddress if necessary. (Check "Temporarily disable all automatically sentemail" to temporarily stop all e-mail deliveries.) Then, click on "Submitmodification" to make selections effective. (NOTE: HQ staff members cannotchange your e-mail delivery address. You must do this yourself via theMembers Only Web Site.)The ARRL Letter also is available to all, free of charge, from thesesources:* ARRLWeb . (NOTE: The ARRL Letter will beposted each Friday when it is distributed via e-mail.)* The QTH.net listserver, thanks to volunteers from the Boston Amateur RadioClub: Visit Mailing Lists@QTH.Net. (NOTE: The ARRLcannot assist subscribers who receive The ARRL Letter via this listserver.)

ARRL Submits Plan to Mitigate Interference to Military Radars

2007-05-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, May 11, 2007 --The ARRL has submitted an interference mitigation plan to the US Department of Defense (DoD) as part of an effort to resolve reported interference from dozens of 70 cm amateur repeaters to US military radar systems on both coasts. Since Amateur Radio is secondary to government users from 420 to 450 MHz, hams must not interfere with primary users and, under the rules, can be forced to cease operation. Earlier this year, the US Air Force asked the FCC to order dozens of repeater systems to either eliminate interference to its "PAVE PAWS" missile and satellite detection and tracking radars in Massachusetts and California or shut down.
"We are waiting the response of the DoD representative to the proposal and will continue to provide information as to its status when it becomes available," commented ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND. The interference mitigation plan has four primary steps.
All repeaters the DoD has identified as potential interference sources will immediately and temporarily reduce transmitter power output (TPO) to 5 W.
The ARRL will conduct Longley-Rice studies on each repeater system to determine what further mitigation techniques might apply to individual repeaters. These could include relocating the system, the use of directional antenna systems to create nulls towards the PAVE PAWS site, permanent power reductions or a combination of these techniques.
The DoD will review ARRL's studies to determine if the proposals will meet DoD's unspecified field strength requirements to mitigate the potential interference satisfactorily.
Once the DoD reviews and approves the proposals, the ARRL will provide the recommendations to respective repeater frequency coordinating groups and the FCC.
The situation affects 15 repeaters within less than 100 miles of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more than 100 repeaters within some 140 miles of Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. PAVE PAWS facilities occupy essentially the entire 70 cm band -- one factor that makes mitigation difficult. Feeding upward of 1800 active antenna elements, the broadband radar transmitters emit an average power output of more than 145 kW.
Henderson says the two frequency coordinating organizations involved would be expected to disseminate individual mitigation strategies to applicable repeater owners and trustees. They, in turn, would be responsible for implementing the proposals or developing alternative proposals that protect the radar systems to the same extent as the mitigation strategy would.
Cooperation will be the key to a successful resolution of the situation, Henderson says. "Although ARRL has no means to compel compliance with the mitigation strategies, each repeater is absolutely obligated not to interfere with these radars," he emphasized. "Failure to implement the mitigation strategy or otherwise eliminate interference attributed to an individual repeater will result in immediate FCC action."
Henderson points out that the FCC is aware of and monitoring this situation and will act as necessary to protect the radars from interference. He stresses, however, that the US military is aware of the critical role Amateur Radio repeaters play in disasters and emergencies, and a wholesale shutdown of US 70 cm Amateur Radio activity is not under consideration.
A US Air Force contractor identified the allegedly problematic repeater systems last summer, but the situation didn't become critical until the Air Force contacted the FCC in March. ARRL officials met with Defense Department representatives later that month to discuss alleged interference to the PAVE PAWS radar sites, and last month Henderson contacted Amateur Radio frequency coordinating organizations in both affected areas -- the Northern Amateur Relay Council of California (NARCC) and the New England Spectrum Management Council (NESMC).
Contact Dan Henderson, N1ND (860-594-0236), with specific questions or issues associated with this situation.

Ham Radio Instrumental in Pacific Maritime Rescue

2007-05-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

Gunnar Hansen aboard the Sailabout. The couple had to abandon their sailboat at sea.
Grethe Haraldsen and Gunnar Hansen in happier times aboard the s/v Sailabout.
NEWINGTON, CT, May 11, 2007 -- Amateur Radio played a critical role May 4 and 5 in rescuing two people from a foundering sailboat that had been en route to Colombia. Members of the Maritime Mobile Service Net (MMSN) and Intercontinental Net on 14.300 MHz were involved in getting the man and woman aboard the 35-foot s/v Sailabout to safety after they ran into trouble some 700 nautical miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands in the South Pacific.
The couple, identified as Gunnar Hansen and Grethe Haraldsen, both Norwegian nationals and neither an amateur licensee, put out a Mayday call on the Intercon/MMSN 14.300 MHz frequency the morning of May 4 after Sailabout sustained damage to its bow -- possibly as a result of losing a forestay, which helps to keep the mast upright -- and started taking on water. Thanks to its efficient pumps, the sailboat remained afloat.
The main concern was for the mast, which supported the antenna for the vessel's HF radio. Fortunately, it remained standing. The conversation on the MMSN reportedly was widely monitored by others in the sailing and cruising communities. The Sailabout had only recently been equipped with an HF SSB transceiver.
According to an account Assistant MMSN Manager Tom Job, VE3II, posted on the net’s Web site, handling the incident involved multiple stations and relays to contend with problematic propagation. Sonny Sides, N5OTB, on s/v Valentina, and Doug Reinthal, W7DUG, relayed the Sailabout’s Mayday on 14.300 MHz to Intercon Net Control Station Wes Mullenax, KI0A, in Texas. Because of poor propagation, however, KI0A had rough copy on the vessel’s signal, so he turned the frequency over to Fletcher Henderson, KA4BPR, in Alabama. Another report credits MMSN Net Controller Rooney Polack, 6Y5RP, in Jamaica with intercepting the Mayday and assisting via intermittent radio contacts and relays during the first few hours of the event to get information to the Coast Guard. (Polack is the Amateur Radio Emergency Coordinator for Jamaica and works closely with both emergency management and the weather service there.)
Amateur Radio relays alerted the US Coast Guard at Alameda, California, to the Sailabout's predicament. At the Coast Guard's request, relayed via ham radio, Hansen set off the vessel's Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). Job says Henderson -- assisted by several other stations -- passed critical information to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard contacted and attempted to divert two vessels to the Sailabout's assistance, although only one, m/v Belnor -- a Norwegian freighter -- eventually reached the distressed vessel.
Another private vessel, s/v Damarri, reported some 50 miles distant, learned of the situation. MMSN says Sailabout was able to get under way and changed its course toward Damarri, which was sailing into the weather, in an effort to rendezvous with Sailabout. Once on scene, the Damarri's crew kept watch through the night from a safe distance to avoid collision in the rough seas but did not attempt to take Hansen and Haraldsen aboard. At that point, outside radio contact was essentially impossible because the band had closed, and the MMSN secured operation for the night.
MMSN said the Coast Guard had planned to dispatch a P-3 Orion aircraft to drop survival gear and a life raft to the couple, but, for a variety of reasons, that did not occur. At the time, the distressed vessel was contending with 14-foot seas and 25-knot winds.
The m/v Belnor arrived the next morning and took the couple aboard, while Damarri's crew confirmed the rescue via radio. The couple was reported to be in good health and spirits but had to abandon their vessel. The Belnor is believed headed for Panama.
Throughout the ordeal, various Amateur Radio stations were instrumental in updating the Coast Guard, which never had direct contact with Sailabout. MMSN says KB1DEC on s/v Shamal kept the family of Sailabout's crew advised via telephone, while Gene Brown, KI4EYF, on s/v Queen Mary in Honduras, who had good copy on all vessels and net controllers, relayed critical information to the net, which sent it on to the US Coast Guard.
"Without Gene's assistance, this situation would have been much more difficult to deal with under the poor radio conditions," Job said in his report. "Well done, Gene!"
SOURCES: MMSN/Intercon Net; Jack Richards, W4QVA; SailboatOwners.com, Aftenposten; s/v Sailabout Web site; John Emery, KG4RQO

Weaver's Words

2007-05-12T06:47:00.000-05:00

- Look Whose Coming to Dayton
- Great Lakes Division Reception Area
- Amateur of the Year and Special Achievement Winner at EXPO
- Code Proficiency Field Testing Begins
- Legislative Action Volunteers Attention
- Repeater Directory Oops
- Tentative Travel Schedule
- Wireless vs. BPL
++ Look Whose Coming to Dayton
With the Hamvention(r) just around the corner, you may want to know which ARRL HQ folks are scheduled to be there. This will be a golden opportunity to meet and speak with the managers who head the day-to-day operation at HQ. In addition to me and other ARRL officials from Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, you can expect to see over 22 additional directors, vice directors, officers and key staff members at Dayton.
Among these are President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, COO Harold Kramer, WG1B, PR Director Allen Pitts, W1AGP, CDO Mary Hobart, K1MMH, Membership & Volunteer Program Manager David Patton, NN1N and Contest & DXCC Director Bill Moore, NC1L.
There will plenty of people around who can answer any question you may have or discuss any issue you may wish to have clarified.
The ARRL EXPO area is just past the 400 series of booths, immediately inside the Ballarena entrance to the hall.
In case you've been occupied with other things lately, the Hamvention is May 18-20 -- in Dayton, Ohio.
++ Great Lakes Division Reception Area
Don't forget to stop by the Great Lakes Division reception area. Plan to stand around or sit and eyeball with your old friends or new friends you've not yet met. You can expect to see any number of Section and Division officials from the Great Lakes Division. Bring your questions and discussion topics to chew over with these reps.
The GLD reception area will be in the ARRL EXPO area just inside the Ballarena entrance and just past the 400 series of vendor booths.
++ Amateur of the Year and Special Achievement Winner at EXPO
How often is it that one can meet and talk with the Hamvention(r) Amateur of the Year and the winner of a Special Achievement Award at ARRL Expo? You can do it this year. ARRL Past President Jim Haynie, W5JBP is the Amateur of the Year designate. ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI has been named winner of the Special Achievement Award.
Stop by the ARRL EXPO and congratulate Jim and Ed on their well-deserved honors.
++ Code Proficiency Field Testing Begins
The ARRL Code Proficiency Program field test that I've discussed in recent e-letters is set to begin in June. This field test is being run only in the Great Lakes Division and only in four pilot-test areas.
Now that demonstrating proficiency in Morse code is no longer required by the FCC, a number of amateurs and aspiring amateurs have indicated they would like to get in on the fun of Morse code. Now is their chance.
The field test will be run in the following areas. For information on dates and times of these Code Proficiency Runs, contact the persons indicated.
Lexington, KY -- Contact Fernie Williams, KE4MAI, ke4mai@arrl.net.
Brighton, MI -- Contact Jim Kvochick, WB8AZP, wb8azp@arrl.net.
Akron-Canton-Massillon, OH -- Contact Gary Kline, WC8W, wc8w@arrl.net.
Toledo, OH -- Contact Steve Stalker, KC8TVW, kc8tvw@arrl.net.
A few final tidbits of information:
- There is no charge for this testing.
- Successful candidates will receive a receipt to demonstrate they passed and the code speed passed.
- The receipt may be submitted to HQ to obtain a nice certificate or an upgrade sticker for any certificate you already have. There is a fee for processing certificates and stickers.
- Code speeds will be from 5 through 40 wpm in 5 wpm increments.
- Passing is based upon 1 minute of solid copy. The question and answer method will not be used.
- The code proficiency runs will be managed by teams of ARRL VEs; however, these runs are in no way related to FCC examinations and do not provide FCC accreditation for code proficiency. The runs are simply for our personal pleasure to demonstrate accomplishment.
- Non-hams (Scouts, friends) as well as hams are invited to join the fun.
++ Legislative Action Volunteers Attention
Legislative Action Assistants and Coordinators are requested to stop by the Great Lakes Division booth in the ARRL EXPO. We hope to have your certificates and business cards available. In addition, a special folder, an Amateur Radio information leaflet and a copy of the Amateur Radio Today CD will be available for one member of each LAA team to pick up. Your help by obtaining these supplies at the Hamvention will be appreciated.
++ Repeater Directory Oops
It has been discovered that the printer of the pocket edition of the new Repeater Directory let a few bad copies slip into the distribution chain. Some groups of pages were assembled out of order. The printer discovered the error and has destroyed most of the bad copies. If you happen to buy one of these mis-assembled copies, you may keep it and consider it a collectors' item, or you may have ARRL replace it.
++ Wireless vs. BPL
News forwarded by CEO Dave Sumner, K1ZZ shows a very clear superiority of wireless broadband over BPL in public acceptance. New wireless broadband company, Clearwire, added a net of 52,000 subscribers in the first quarter 2007, giving it about 258,000 subscribers. This is up from 99,000 a year earlier.
In three months this single company -- operating only in about 45 cities -- added ten times as many new customers as the total customer base of all BPL providers, nationwide. In terms of customers served, Clearwire alone is now 50 times the size of the entire BPL industry.
Clearwire uses licensed spectrum around 2.5 GHz.
This information is from the Warren Telecom News Ticker for May 11.
++ Tentative Travel Schedule for KI4LA and K8JE.
2007
May 18-20: Dayton Hamvention, Dayton, OH. - Gary & Jim Jun 17: Monroe Hamfest, Monroe, MI - Jim Jul 12: Mahoning Valley ARA, Youngstown, OH - Gary Jul 19: Programs & Services Committee Meeting, Newington, CT - Jim Jul 20-21: Board of Directors Meeting, Newington, CT - Gary & Jim Jul 28: UP Hamfest, Escanaba, MI - Jim Aug 18-19: ARRL National Convention, Huntsville, AL - Jim
Sep 8: GRAHamfest, Grand Rapids, MI - Jim
Sep 9: Findlay Hamfest, Findlay, OH - Jim
Sep 16: Cincinnati Hamfest, Cincinnati, OH - Jim Sep 22: Great Lakes Division Convention, Cleveland, OH - Gary & Jim Sep 23: Cleveland Hamfest, Cleveland, OH - Jim
Oct 2: OH-KY-IN ARRL Night, Cincinnati, OH - Jim
Oct 8: Portage County ARS, Kent, OH - Jim
Nov 19: Southern Ohio ARA Christmas Dinner, Russell, KY - Jim
Dec 1: Motor City RC 75th Ann., Wyandotte, MI - Jim
2008
Jan 17: Programs & Services Committee Meeting, Newington, CT - Jim Jan 18-20: Board of Directors Meeting, Newington, CT - Gary & Jim
Tnx, 73,
Jim, K8JE
Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director
ARRL Great Lakes Division
5065 Bethany Rd.
Mason, OH 45040
E-mail: k8je@arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Great Lakes Division
Director: James Weaver, K8JE
k8je@arrl.org

ARRL Congratulates centenarian Member

2007-05-11T06:01:00.000-05:00

(May 10, 2007) -- The ARRL has extended its congratulations to League member Harvey Baalke, W9HNX, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, who celebrated his 100th birthday March 23. Wrote ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, on the League's behalf: "I seldom have the privilege of writing to an ARRL member on the occasion of their 100th birthday! Please accept belated congratulations on behalf of the Board, staff and your fellow members of the ARRL. I know you have seen many changes since you were first licensed. One thing that has not changed is the unique camaraderie among radio amateurs of different generations and cultures. Best wishes from the worldwide Amateur Radio community. Sincere 73." Baalke first joined the ARRL in 1936.

FCC Cites Tower Products of Saugerties, NY

2007-05-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

FCC cites distributor for marketing unauthorized RF device (May 10, 2007) -- The FCC has sent an official Citation to Tower Products Inc of Saugerties, New York, for marketing an unauthorized RF device capable of operating on 70 cm Amateur Radio frequencies. The FCC contends that the product in question, the "Laird Telemedia model LTM-WAVE-AG Wireless Monitoring System" (LTM-WAVE-AG), requires FCC certification. As an "intentional emitter," the device cannot be operated legally under Part 15 rules. The device is not a Part 97 transmitter, which would not require FCC certification, because it can transmit on spectrum not allocated to the Amateur Radio Service. Additionally, the devices, the FCC said, bore an FCC identification number assigned to another device. The FCC said Tower has acknowledged that the LTM-WAVE-AG is not certified and that it marketed the device in the US, apparently in violation of §302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and §2.803(a) of the FCC rules. In addition, the FCC asserts, Tower apparently violated §2.2304(a) of the rules by importing an RF device that did not meet one or more of 10 specified import conditions, and §2.1204(b) by being unable to document compliance with import conditions. The FCC warned Tower that future such violations could lead to fines of up to $11,000 "for each violation or each day of a continuing violation."

Dayton Hamvention 2007

2007-05-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

ARRL EXPO 2007 at Dayton Hamvention to Showcase League, Ham Radio
Astronaut Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, speaks during the AMSAT Space Symposium banquet last fall. He’ll be a special guest on Friday, May 18, during ARRL EXPO 2007 at Dayton Hamvention.
ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, will summarize the work of the ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee during the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Forum, Saturday at 8 AM.
ARRL Membership Manager Katie Breen, W1KRB, will take part in the ARRL Membership Forum Saturday at noon.
The retail counter at ARRL EXPO: Buy a book, join the League or renew your membership. Don’t forget your free Dayton 2007 souvenir pin! NEWINGTON, CT, May 10, 2007 -- In just a little more than a week, all eyes in the Amateur Radio community -- well, most of them, anyway -- will be on Dayton, Ohio. The 56th Dayton Hamvention gets under way Friday, May 18, at Hara Arena and continues through Sunday, May 20. ARRL EXPO will return for a third year in the Ballarena Hall, showcasing the League's activities and membership services as well as topics of interest to the Amateur Radio community at large. ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, says ARRL EXPO is akin to taking the entire organization to Dayton.
"Attending ARRL EXPO is a great way to become familiar with many of the programs, services, staff and volunteers that comprise ARRL," Inderbitzen said. "Besides having a fun time, many hams use the opportunity to learn more about the ARRL and about Amateur Radio."
Ham-Astronaut Will Be League's Guest of Honor
On Friday, May 18, International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR -- the most active ham-astronaut ever to live aboard the space station and the first to work all states from space -- will be the League's honored guest. McArthur will be on hand at the ARRL EXPO area to meet and greet visitors.
McArthur has been praised for inspiring others by his ham radio activities from NA1SS. Over the course of his ISS duty tour, McArthur, a veteran of four spaceflights and spacewalks, also established a yet-to-be surpassed milestone of 37 ARISS school contacts.
In addition, he put 130 DXCC entities into the NA1SS log and has continued collecting the necessary QSL cards to qualify for an honorary DXCC. He and Expedition 12 Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev also released SuitSat-1 into orbit.
The ARRL Stage Comes Alive!
Live presentations -- mini forums -- on the ARRL Stage at ARRL EXPO 2007 will offer plenty of opportunities to enhance and extend your knowledge about various facets of Amateur Radio. Presentations will take place every half hour throughout Hamvention 2007. Topics this year will run the gamut from ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW) to HF digital voice techniques and protocols, radio frequency interference, broadband over power line (BPL), going mobile, clubs, ham radio instruction techniques, Amateur Radio rules and regulations, contesting, public relations, good operating practices and more.
Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, will head up the youth activities at ARRL EXPO 2007.
Amateur Radio Direction Finding, one of the youth activities at ARRL EXPO.
FCC Special Counsel in the Spectrum Enforcement Division Riley Hollingsworth will be among the ARRL Stage speakers.
During one mini forum, McArthur will take the stage to discuss his six-month duty tour aboard the ISS, among other things telling how he managed to rack up more than 1800 VHF and UHF contacts from space. He'll also be featured during the Ham Radio Aboard the International Space Station Forum, Friday, 10:30 AM, in Room 3.
ARRL Forum Participation
ARRL staff members and officers also will take part in Hamvention forums throughout the weekend. For example, ARRL Antenna Book editor Dean Straw, N6BV, will participate in the Antenna Forum, Friday, 2:30 PM, in Room 1, moderated by Tim Duffy, K3LR. Straw also will be among the staff instructors at "Contest University," held a day before Hamvention officially opens, on Thursday, May 17 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton.
ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, will be among the speakers at the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Forum, Saturday, 8 AM, in Room 3. She'll summarize the work of the ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC) and update other emergency communications developments.
ARRL staff members will conduct the ARRL Membership Forum Saturday at noon in Room 2. The complete ARRL Exhibit & Activities Guide is available on the ARRL EXPO 2007 Web site.
ARRL Passport, Internet Café are Back
The popular ARRL Passport scavenger hunt will be back again this year, with an expanded list of possible prizes. Passports are limited to the first 5000 visitors! Also returning is the ARRL Internet Café, which will feature free wireless Internet access. If you don't have your laptop along, ARRL EXPO will have a few computers available to access your e-mail or surf the Web while you're at Hamvention.
Of course, ARRL EXPO 2007 at Dayton Hamvention will feature a huge retail area where the League's most popular products and publications will be on sale. While there, visitors can renew their League memberships or join for the first time.
Youth Welcome!
Younger hams and prospective hams will find a lot to do at ARRL EXPO. Seventeen-year-old Goldfarb Scholarship winner and youth editor Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, will head the team organizing youth activities and hosting the Youth Lounge, as well as the third annual ARRL Dayton Youth Dinner on Saturday evening. Come to the Youth Lounge for the free snacks, stay for the fun activities and to just hang out.
EXPO 2007 to Continue at ARRL National Convention
In August, ARRL EXPO 2007 will return during the League's National Convention, held in conjunction with the Huntsville Hamfest in Alabama. Preparations are in high gear for this year's national, August 18-19, at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Preceding the event on August 16-17 will be the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference. This will mark the first time the GAREC has been held in the US. Stay tuned for more details on the ARRL 2007 National Convention in Huntsville.

Rick Lindquist to Retire

2007-05-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, to Retire
ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, will retire June 1.
Rick chats ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, while covering the 2006 AMSAT Symposium/Amateur Radio on the International Space Station International Conference in San Francisco.
Rick operates QRP CW as YS1/N1RL from Sonsonate, El Salvador, while there for a church-sponsored house building project in July 2004.
ARRL News Editor Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA. NEWINGTON, CT, May 9, 2007 -- ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, will retire from the Headquarters staff on Friday, June 1. Assistant Editor Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, has been named ARRL News Editor, effective May 1. Lindquist, who turns 62 this month, came to the League from The Roanoke Times in Southwest Virginia 12 years ago. He began his Headquarters tenure as QST "Product Review" editor while juggling News Bureau duties on the side. A couple of years later, he shifted to covering Amateur Radio news fulltime as part of the League's initiative to feature news and features on its Web site.
"It's been a great ride, and -- thanks to the great folks on staff -- I've learned a lot, but it's time to throttle back, shift into the slow lane and coast a bit," said Lindquist, who lives with his wife Jean Collier, N1MJC, in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. "For starters, I hope to get on the air more frequently and attend to our somewhat neglected clock collection." Lindquist has dabbled in collecting, restoring and repairing vintage clocks for several years and says it's been a great second hobby. A radio amateur for 49 years, he's also is a mobile CW, contesting, vintage radio and boating enthusiast.
During his time at League Headquarters, Lindquist has prepared and edited the "Happenings" news column for QST plus most of the news items and announcements appearing on the ARRL Web site. In addition, he has compiled and edited The ARRL Letter, a weekly Amateur Radio newsletter. The former radio and TV broadcaster also has voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News, a Web/podcast he launched in 1997, and he has edited the Web site youth, QRP, "The Amateur Amateur" and the Amateur Radio Direction Finding columns.
The ARRL Letter now circulates to some 66,000 League members each week, while the Webcast airs over nearly 240 repeaters and other on-air outlets in the US and around the world.
ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, said it's been his privilege to work with Lindquist. "Rick has been our news editor and reporter through many of the major events in Amateur Radio, including 911, Katrina, and the elimination of the Morse code requirement," Kramer said. "He has been the print and audio voice of the ARRL both during these events and he has reported them accurately, incisively and engagingly."
After June 1, Lindquist will continue his association with the ARRL as a freelance writer/editor. He will also take over from Keane as Managing Editor of National Contest Journal (NCJ).
Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, Takes News Bureau Reins
An ARRL Life Member, Keane joined the Headquarters staff a little over a year ago, arriving at the ARRL by way of Texas, California and Chile. She and her husband, Michael, K1MK, live in Watertown, Connecticut; Michael is the ARRL Connecticut Section State Government Liaison. Keane has served as Public Information Coordinator, but will step down to Public Relations Officer in June.
Keane took and passed her General class exam before the licensing rules changed in February. "Michael has been licensed for almost 40 years, and after you've been married to an avid ham for 14 years, you find you've picked up quite a bit along the way," she said.
A proud graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas (hence the call sign!), Keane majored in journalism, history and English, with a minor in photography. She has previously led political campaigns in Connecticut, worked for the Boy Scouts of America and headed up the news department for her local newspaper.
At ARRL Headquarters, Khrystyne prepares and edits feature articles for the ARRL Web site, including "Surfin'," as well as for QST and for NCJ. She currently serves as Managing Editor for NCJ. She's also been a contributor to ARRL Audio News, which she'll be taking over on a regular basis.
She and her husband have two sons. "Sean loves ham radio," Khrystyne says of her seven-year-old. "He knows more country prefixes than I do, and Lynn, 9, is getting into it, too. They love Field Day and going up to Massachusetts to 'play radio' at K1TTT's station."
In what's left of her spare time, Khrystyne is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and serves as an officer in her chapter. She enjoys reading -- including perusing ham radio catalogs -- and completing a needlepoint rug she started more than 10 years ago when she lived in Chile.
"Working at the League is something I have wanted to do ever since I learned about the ARRL," Keane commented. "You could say that this is a dream come true. I am honored that I was chosen to fill Rick's shoes. His help and the guidance of the editorial staff here definitely will make a challenging job easier."

Ed Galipeau WA1LRL - Silent Key

2007-05-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

With great sadness I have to report that Ed Galipeau WA1LRL passed away last night.
Ed had been battling Amaloydosis. Last I spoke with Ed he was down to only 115 pounds and was very weak and joked about how a light breeze could blow him over. His spirits were still good, but Ed knew this disease did not have a good prognosis. He was being treated by the Mayo clinic in Boston where they have experience with this disease. Sadly, unless caught very early and treated very agressively, few survive it :(
Peggy and I lost a close relative to this disease a little over a year ago. I really didn´t expect Ed to pass this quickly.
Ed had been a very active member in the Packet community from way back in the 1980´s. Ed worked with Hank, W0RLI in Boston in the early development of the W0RLI BBS software. Ed later moved to Brighton Michigan where he quickly became active, setting up a Packet BBS system and working with others to do the same. Ed was instrumental in dividing the state into the four quadrants (#SEMI, #SWMI, #NEMI, #NWMI) for more organized distribution of heirarchical BBS mail.
Ed was one of the early adopters of NOS and TCP/IP and helped in IP address space planning. He was also involved in setting up ROSE/FPAC nodes and linking Michigan with the European continent.
Most recently Ed was instrumental as a member of the WinLink development team where he ran our Michigan PMBO and worked on the software used in the CMS nodes deployed all around the world. Ed ran the Detroit CMS. He was also responsible for the automated monitoring we see on the Winlink webpages, showing the up-to-the-minute status of that network.
Ed served as the DEC in charge of Amateur activities at the NWSDTX
(K8DTX) White Lake NWS weather service and was responsible for many functions there such as assuring that an operator would always be present during any Skywarn event involving the 17 counties served by that weather station. Many of us would hear Ed´s voice on the MICON repeater network during bad weather events.
Ed was the System Operator (SysOp) of the Hamgate.LivCo.AMPR.org JNOS Hamgate node at his home in Fenton, providing TCP/IP routing for Livingston, Genessee, and Oakland counties. He was an active member of the DRG, helping to set standards and work through issues in the formative days of that organization.
Ed will be missed....

--- Jay Nugent WB8TKL
Chair, ARRL Michigan Section "Digital Radio Group" (DRG)
[www.MI-DRG.org]

Three States Set Sights on Amateur Radio Anten na Legislation

2007-05-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, May 8, 2007 -- North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma have -- or soon will have -- Amateur Radio antenna legislation in play. Radio amateurs in all three states are hoping to have the essence of the limited federal preemption known as PRB-1 incorporated into their states' statutes. The North Carolina bill, H 1340, appears to be on the fastest track at this point. The measure was reported favorably out of the House Ways and Means Committee on May 3, and a vote by the full House could happen today. North Carolina ARRL Section leadership has been urging the Amateur Radio community to urge their lawmakers to support the bill.
"In most other states it's taken three to four years for an antenna bill to make it to the floor of the legislature for a vote," says North Carolina Public Information Coordinator Bill Morine, N2COP. "We are fortunate here in North Carolina to make it on the first try. Don't let this golden opportunity slip by!"
ARRL North Carolina Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, notes that the House has a very full agenda, so there's a chance the PRB-1 bill vote could be rescheduled. "Thanks to all of you who have already contacted your representative and helped build support for this important bill," Slay said. Online audio of the House session is available via the General Assembly Web page.
Morine says North Carolina radio amateurs can locate the name of their representatives via the North Carolina General Assembly Web site (scroll down to "Who Represents Me?" and plug in your full nine-digit ZIP Code, including the hyphen between the fifth and sixth digits. He suggests a telephone call followed up by an e-mail.
H 1340 calls on municipalities to require ordinances based on health, safety, or aesthetic considerations regulating placement, screening or height of Amateur Radio antennas or antenna support structures "must reasonably accommodate Amateur Radio communications and must represent the minimum practicable regulation necessary to accomplish the purpose" of the city or county. In addition, the measure would establish a minimum regulatory height of 90 feet "unless the restriction is necessary to achieve a clearly defined health, safety, or aesthetic objective" of the city or county.
Elsewhere ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section Manager Eric Olena, WB3FPL, has alerted members in his section to a pending piece of legislation in the works for that state. He credited the efforts of George Brechmann, N3HBT, of Bucks County who has been working with Pennsylvania Sen Stewart Greenleaf, the pending bill's sponsor.
At this point, the measure has not been introduced. Radio amateurs are hoping their proposal may be integrated into an update of municipal codes now under way in the General Assembly. The proposed bill would restrict municipalities from adopting "an ordinance, regulation or plan or take any other action that precludes Amateur Service communications" or that fails to comply with PRB-1.
Meanwhile, radio amateurs in Oklahoma are still trying to get PRB-1 language on the books in that state. House Bill 1037 (HB 1037) moved out of the General Government and Transportation Committee with a "do pass" recommendation, but it failed to make the House calendar for a vote.
ARRL Oklahoma SM John Thomason, WB5SYT, tells ARRL that the language of HB 1037 has been attached to a Senate Bill, SB 426, which involves municipal annexations. ARRL West Gulf Division Director Coy Day, N5OK, has urged Oklahoma radio amateurs to get behind the legislative maneuver. SB 426 now is in a conference committee for action, and Thomason says one of the committee members is a radio amateur. Eddie Manley, K5EMS, who tracks FCC and governmental actions for the Oklahoma Section, has suggested that Oklahoma radio amateurs contact the authors of both the House and Senate bills as well as members of the conference committee considering SB 426.
To date, 23 states have adopted PRB-1 legislation. While PRB-1 requires reasonable accommodation, it does not specify a minimum height below which local governments may not regulate. Four states -- Alaska, Wyoming, Virginia and Oregon -- have legislation in place that specifies antenna support structure heights, below which municipalities may not regulate.

Amateur Radio Awareness Week

2007-05-08T05:22:00.001-05:00

Week of June 23, 2007 Proclaimed Amateur Radio Awareness Week in MI

Submitted by kb6nu on Thu, 2007-05-03 14:49.

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has once again proclaimed the last week in June to be Amateur Radio Awareness Week. Here's the proclamation:

State of Michigan Certificate of Proclamation

On behalf of the citizens of Michigan, I, Jennifer M. Granholm, do hereby proclaim the week of June 23, 2007, as Amateur Radio Awareness Week.

Whereas, Amateur Radio provides a bridge bewtween peoples, societies, and countries by creating friendships and the sharing of ideas; and,

Whereas, Amateur Radio Operators provide services to many of the state's Emergency Response Organizations including FEMA, The Michigan Department of Human Services, and the Office of Emergency Management, and also serve as weather spotters in the Skywarn program of the National Weather Service; and,

Whereas, in 2005, Amateur Radio Operators provided emergency communications during the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States and in the tsunami catastrophe overseas; and,

Whereas, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the leading organization for Amateur Radio in the USA; and,

Whereas, this year's Amateur Radio Field Day, taking place June 23-24, will be a 24-hour emergency encampment exercise and demonstration of the Radio Amateurs' skills and readiness to provide communications; and now therefor be it,

Resolved, that I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the week of June 23, 2007 as Amateur Radio Awareness Week in Michigan.

signed,

Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor

Amateurs Serve those Displaced by Kansas Twisters

2007-05-08T00:08:00.000-05:00

NEWINGTON, CT, May 7, 2007 - A tornado with a magnitude of F5 swept through southwestern Kansas this past weekend, almost completely wiping out the town of Greensburg. The town, population 1500, lost its hospital, schools, churches and all of its business and infrastructure, according to Greensburg Town Administrator Steve Hewitt. Hewitt lost his home in the storm.
F5 is the highest level of an actual tornado on the Fujita Scale, a classification system used by the National Weather Service. An F5 tornado is labeled an "Incredible Tornado," having wind speeds from 261-318 MPH. In such a tornado, strong frame houses are lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate, automobile-sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 400 feet, trees are debarked and steel reinforced concrete structures are badly damaged.
The tornado's damage path at its widest point was about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers), and it tracked for 22 miles (35 kilometers).
A team of hams entered the area on Saturday morning and began setting up communications, according to District 6 Emergency Coordinator Godfrey Flax, KC0AUH. District 5 Emergency Coordinator Robert Hanke, WG0Q, activated ARES in Pratt, Stafford, Reno and Barton Counties over the weekend.
According to ARRL Kansas Section Manager Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, repeaters on the air but they are some distance from the affected area. He and other hams were monitoring 3920 early Saturday morning in case there was radio activity.
"Virtually the entire city has been destroyed," said Maj Gen Tod Bunting of the Kansas National Guard on Monday. "It's as bad as anything I've seen." He said in some ways the damage is worse than Hurricane Katrina, because the entire city of Greensburg lies in ruins.
Nine people were killed in the twister, eight from Greensburg. The town is located at the junction of Routes 54 and 183, about 45 miles east of Dodge City. It is the county seat for Kiowa County. A ninth person, a sheriff's deputy, was killed in Stafford County, northeast of Kiowa County.
The Red Cross said about 90 percent of Greensburg was destroyed or heavily damaged. The storm stripped trees of most of their branches and destroyed all the town's churches, the Associated Press reported. Gov Kathleen Sebelius told the AP on Sunday that Kansas' response to the disaster will likely be hindered because equipment such as tents, trucks and semitrailers is now in Iraq.
The entire town was evacuated Friday night. More than 400 people are in shelters in the town of Haviland, about 11 miles east of the devastated town, and Pratt, about 31 miles east. The Salvation Army dispatched canteen units from Dodge City and Hutchinson, about 87 miles east of Greensburg. A shelter was also opened in Mullinville at the high school gym, about 10 miles west of Greensburg. On Sunday night, the Red Cross requested operators to provide communications between the hospital in Pratt and the shelter in Haviland.
The Salvation Army will be conducting logistics nets on 75 meters several times each day. Kansas and Western Missouri SATERN Coordinator June Jeffers, KB0WEQ, says SATERN members will be utilized in Kiowa County to support Salvation Army canteens and the Service Center in Haviland.
Greensburg residents were expected to be allowed to return to what's remaining of their homes Monday morning, according to The Associated Press. Searchers spent the weekend sifting through the debris and are still hoping to account for residents who fled as the storm approached.
"Some of this rubble is 20, 30 feet deep and that's always a challenge, Bunting said Monday. "That's where we've spent all our efforts, and we'll do it again today."
Hewitt said it's "hard to tell" if anyone is trapped in the rubble, but "it's a possibility. The search and rescue continues and it will continue until ... we find everything and have everything organized. We need to make sure we've found everybody and everybody is safe and accounted for."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is on site with two mini Emergency Operations Vehicles (EOV), and two mobile Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) with satellite communications. They are currently considering staging areas for travel trailers and mobile homes. In anticipation of state requests, water, MREs, and tarps in are waiting in Pratt.
President Bush declared Kiowa County, Kansas, a major disaster area, making federal aid available to people and communities affected by the storm. "Our hearts are heavy for the loss of life in Greensburg, Kansas," Bush said Sunday. "I declared a major disaster for that community, and I hope that helps. It's going to take a long time for the community to recover."
Some information from www.cnn.com and the FEMA NationalResponse Coordination Center (NRCC).