Merry Christmas

Have a safe day and enjoy.

Gear

Paperwork

After a few delays, we have completed more of the required paperwork on our way to becoming an actual bona fide radio club. We are hoping to have our first meeting in December and I will send out an email to all those who have expressed an interest.

73 de W4LHQ
David

Jefferson County HARES

Forming a group to operate at 9 local hospitals across Jefferson County. Much more information on its way.

Wilderness Protocol for Outdoor Adventure

Article from David Coursey's blog @ http://n5fdl.com/

Wilderness Protocol for Outdoor Activities

Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 06:56PM

Ever heard of the “Wilderness Protocol”? It is an effort to provide emergency communications help in areas beyond normal repeater coverage or whether local repeaters are off-the-air. (After the “big one” Los Angeles might qualify as wilderness).

Where is some information provided by the ARRL as a reminder:

The purpose of this initiative is to offer stations outside repeater range an opportunity to be heard when it is needed the most!

The Wilderness Protocol suggests radio operators in the Amateur service should monitor standard simplex channels at specific times in case of Emergency or priority calls.

The primary frequency monitored is 146.52 MHz; secondarily or alternatively 52.525, 223.5, 446.0 and 1294.5 MHz respectively. The idea is to allow communications between hams that are hiking or backpacking in uninhabited areas, outside repeater range an alternative opportunity to be heard.

NOTE- Though it’s mainly used in the wilderness settings, it’s NOT just for hikers, back packers, or similar situations….it is also available for ANYONE to use at ANYTIME… Folks may need assistance outside of camping as well!

Recommended procedures for “Wilderness Protocol”

MONITOR THE MAIN CALLING FREQS: *146.520* and/or any of the SECONDARY FREQUENCIES.(52.525, 223.500, 446.00, 1294.500)

MONITOR TIMING: Every 3 hours starting from 0700 HRS ..on the hour until 5 (five) minutes past the hour.(7:00-7:05 AM, 10:00-10:05 AM, …, 10:00-10:05 PM).

ALTERNATE TIMING: 0655 to 0705, Etc 5 before till 5 after.. (to allow for differences in peoples watch settings). You can always listen for longer if you want.

ENHANCED MONITORING: Fixed stations or portable stations with enough battery power levels LISTEN EVERY HOUR. (Obviously Continuous Monitoring is also an option.)

LISTENING / MONITORING: Listen to the calling frequencies until 4 minutes past the hour, then make a few calls asking if there are stations listening that may need assistance. This calling traffic should only start at 4 minutes after the hour preceded by listening for 30 seconds… Unless of course your the one making an emergency call. LISTEN FIRST- CALL CQ with short transmissions. LISTEN FIRST! always a good idea!

NOTE- 146.52 IS A CALLING FREQUENCY…. Make your Calls, and then move off the frequency so others can use the frequency. Suggested frequencies to move to; 146.55, 146.43, etc. etc.

PRIORITY TONE SIGNALS: Suggested for Priority Radio Transmissions ONLY.

USE the LONG TONE ZERO (abbreviated LiTZ). Begin calls for assistance with about 10 seconds of TONE with the LiTZ signal. Do this by keying up and holding down the zero key to continuously transmit the zero DTMF tone ( hence: LONG TONE ZERO ). Then proceed to make your emergency call. This would help those listening recognize that an emergency or priority call is coming through.

Let's get real

We, the mighty few, are proceeding with the formation of the Cahaba Radio Club as a real entity with paperwork and bylaws. If you are interested in becoming a founding member please contact us via the comment button below.

As stated in one of the early posts, we do not intend the CRC to compete with other established clubs, in fact we are all members of at least one local club already. Our desire is to establish a service focused group committed to public safety, emergency response, and community education.

By choosing the name Cahaba Radio Club we wish to open the membership to a greater geographic audience, we also hope to employ technology to host virtual club meetings allowing more people to participate without the burden of travel.

ARES Blog

Alabama ARES Blog

Tools of the Trade

I have come across an emergency management tool that is pretty complete. Please take a look and if you are interested I can send you a sign up code. It allows for many of the items we have all been struggling with and it combines them in a nice interactive dashboard. Mapping, team credentials, training, deployment, resource logistics, etc.

Take a look and let me know if you are interested.

Decisions for Heros

EmComm Links

Here are some useful links to EmComm (Emergency Communications) websites. If you have others that you think should be added, please post a comment.

• ICS-ARCT GUIDE
• WRRL ARCT Page
• TRAFFIC HANDLER’S CHALLENGE
• TRAINING ARCHIVES
• OPERATING PROCEDURES
• PHONETICS
• RADIOTELEPHONE PROCEDURES
• GEAR AND EQUIPMENT LIST: (Click on GEAR CHECK LIST)
• FEMA TRAINING COURSES:
• FEMA TRAINING COURSE IS-700.a (NIMS):
• ARRL FSD-218. The famous “pink card” that contains (almost) “everything you ever needed to know about RADIOGRAMS”.
• NTS page by W7ARC
• NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM (NTS) Methods and Practices Guidelines:
• PACIFIC AREA TRAFFIC NETS
• MARITIME MOBILE SERVICE NETWORK
• BEAUFORT WIND SPEED SCALE
• STANDARD TIME ZONE SCALE
• HOSPITAL DISASTER SUPPORT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM:(HDSCS)
• NOAA WEATHER AND STORM FORECAST