Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
ARES Past News

ARES Past News

December, 2001 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ

Our last activity of the year was to provide safety communications for the Santa Barbara Down-town Merchants' Association Holiday Parade on November 30th. John Butera, KE6DIE, Claude Gage, KE6JSA, Michael Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, Tom Saunders, N6YX, and Shaw Takeuchi, KF6UCF were positioned on State Street at intersections between Sola and De la Guerra Streets. Noel Alander, KF6LDC, and Steve Crisenberry, N6HSY, assisted the pa-rade coordinator to get all the entries into the correct sequence at the parade's start.

The SBARC Van was entered in the parade and it was decorated with lights, streamers, bows, lighted stars and candy canes, and whatever other fru-fru we could find and it looked quite fes-tive. Bob Levinson, K6CZD, was the van driver while Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, rode shotgun. Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, was net control from the Van and is now certified as "Rolling Net Controller," as she was seated in one of the rolling secretary chairs in the vehicle. She thanked Bob for being a very steady driver because she could envision herself rolling from one end of the Van to the other, tethered only by the mike cord!

At our December ARES meeting, Mike "Jug" Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, gave an excellent and color-ful presentation about remote base operation on our 220 machines. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, up-dated the Repeater Philosophy and Guidelines and the information sheets on operation and con-trol of the 220 repeaters for distribution. New Monday Night Net procedures were distributed and members were asked to sign up to call the net, which we will try to pass around to everyone for practice in net control. 2002 Registration Forms were also distributed and returned.

The SBARC Van's heater was repaired, so we can all stay toasty warm in the cole weather. All the cabinet latches were repaired or replaced.

We are making arrangements with the American Red Cross to provide first aid and CPR training next year to those members interested, with the ARC, ARES, and the member sharing the cost of the training. Several members are taking Red Cross disaster assistance classes to help better un-derstand and work with that agency.

Purchase of yellow safety helmets was approved by the SBARC Board, ordered, and are now in stock for issue to members, or for purchase if desired. Reflective ARES labels are on the front and back of the headgear.

A dozen of the yellow cobbler aprons/vests were modified by Bobbe Dartanner by removing the front pockets and string ties and sewing on strips of Velcro to make it easier to put them on. They will be issued to members, or can be purchased.

We are working with the Santa Barbara Search and Rescue Team to get members of SAR and ARES the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) training, which includes the Incident Command System (ICS). This training is required by the State of California for any or-ganization that receives any funding from the State or who works for any agency that does. While ARES does not receive direct benefit, we do work for the City and County, so we need to be certified.

The next ARES meeting will be Monday, February 11th, 7 p.m. at the County Health Services auditorium, 300 N. San Antonio Rd. If you are interested in ARES, you're welcome to attend our meeting, or you can talk to one of the ARES members (the "yellow shirts") at any SBARC meet-ing.

Top of Page

November, 2001 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ

The last month has almost been like "the good old days" as far as activity is concerned. A sincere thank you to all ARES members who have responded to these "calls for service." You all did a terrific job!

A number of ARES members worked the MS Bike Tour on October 20th, using the event to try new equipment and techniques or practice communications skills. The following Monday Night ARES net featured comments from those participating on what they tried and learned.

On Sunday, November 4th, about 7 p.m. we received a call from Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, of the Santa Barbara Search and Rescue Team, to assist them in a search for two missing mountain bikers overdue on a trip with a group in the back country. We were asked to send out two patrol teams to look for them while SAR teams concentrated on the rugged terrain and trails. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Shaw Takeuchi, KF6UCF, took highway 154 and proceeded on East Camino Cielo toward Gibralter Road. Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, when up Gibralter Road to East Camino Cielo, down toward Romero Saddle, then back westbound on East Camino Cielo. In the meantime, SAR asked for our Van, which was driven to the command post by Bruce Gordon, N6OLT. Bill and Shaw met Bruce at the summit and went over to help him set it up. The van was returned about midnight when the County's van unexpectedly became available and its use presented fewer logistical problems. Dick Johnson, W6DNN, did a superb job pinch-hitting as our net control that evening.

The next morning shortly after 8 o'clock, we were asked to help continue the search by setting up a containment team at East Camino Cielo and Gibralter Road. Bruce, N6OLT, and Wally Linstruth, K7AMI, worked the morning shift. Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ and Shaw, KF6UCF took the afternoon shift and were relieved that evening by Bill, W1UUQ, and John Butera, KE6DIE. In the meantime, Claude Gago, KE6JSA, and Bob, K6CZD, went to the SAR staging area and were assigned to guard the missing men's car to prevent them from coming back without being seen, getting in their car, and driving off (while the search continued). Later Monday afternoon, SAR requested out generator, which was driven over by Harry, K6PDQ, accompanied by Tom Saunders, N6YX. For the evening shift of "car guard duty," Dave Lamb, WB6BRW, and Buzz Davis, KE6BQC, of the Central County (Santa Ynez) responded over. It was a great example of the continuing cooperation between the ARES units and we really appreciated their help. Jack Goodearl, WA6DQK, Frank Reddin, WB6FR, and Bruce, N6OLT were our net control operators on Monday. Not wanting to be left out of the action, I served as the Mission Manager for the search.

The two men were rescued successfully by Sheriff's helicopter Monday night (thanks to some terrific flying by Gregg Weitzman, KF6RXX).

We had another "alert" to be on standby for containment teams the following Monday, when another set of mountain bikers was overdue from an overnight trip. They were located safe when they walked out.

On Thursday, November 15th, we participated in a statewide medical and health disaster exercise. As was usual in these events, we supported the County Emergency Medical Services by having communicators at all six hospitals in the county, EMS headquarters, and Direct Relief International. In addition, the city of Santa Barbara used the occasion to do their FAA-required airport certification drill, requiring an additional assignment. We had 15 ARES members participating - probably a record number in recent years for a mid-week training. Participating at EMS were Wally Linstruth, K7AMI, and Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, and in the Van at EMS was Claude Gago, KE6JSA and Bruce Gordon, N6OLT. At St. Francis Hospital were Mike "Jug" Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Steve Crisenberry, N6HSY; at Cottage Hospital were Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ, and Bill Tefft, KG6DHK; at Goleta Valley were Shaw Takeuchi, KF6UCF, and Bernie Wright, W9ROH; at DRI was Harry Rouse, K6PDQ; and at the Airport were Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Tom Saunders, N6YX. Jack Goodearl, WA6DQK was our Net Control and I took the opportunity to visit each location to see how things were going. EMS threw us a real curve ball when they informed us at the briefing that they did not want to use written message forms and all traffic would be "tactical." I think we managed to meet the challenge pretty well and in retrospect, this is probably how things will be if we have a real disaster. There were some rough spots but this is good because we found out about them during a drill and can work on solving the problems.

Lastly, we now have a new document, still being fine-tuned, called ARES Orientation. Wally, K7AMI, Bruce, N6OLT, and I met with our newest members, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Bernie Wright, W9ROH, John Butera, KE6DIE, Shaw Takeuchi, KF6UCF, and Bill Tefft, KG6DHK. We had a nice round-table discussion as we went over the information, which tells them what ARES is, what it does, policies and procedures, legal issues, operating practices, etc. It worked out so well that we will take all our new members through it as they come in and include some of our "old timers" with each session so we can get everyone updated. It's a great way to get to know each other, too.

Ending November on the 30th is the Downtown Merchants' Holiday Parade. The Van will be participating and ARES members will be providing safety communications.

Top of Page

February 26, 2001 - ARES Report by George Richardson, K6HOZ

It has been slow for all ARES teams in the section, and our team no exception.

Our by-monthly meeting are held on the second Monday of even numbered months. We had our meeting in February and like most of them they are training orientated to sharpen the teams skills during an emergency. This meeting was shared with the National Weather Service and was "Weather Spotter Training" by our friends at the NWS Oxnard Office. They are in desperate need of more eyes and spotters in the remote areas of the Tri-Counties.

The SBARC/ARES van is in for a new retrofit of a Honda generator. No longer will we have to grab four volunteers and a dog to lift the generator out of the van to set up for long term power requirements. The new system will be installed in the same location but enclosed, will be automatic start-up, run off the van gas tanks, have more power and be quieter. Also being installed is a new transfer switch and breaker panel. Bruce, N6OLT again is heading up this project. On another note by the time the generator in completed we hope to have the new seat belts with cross the chest harnesses (requested by a couple of van drivers)! Try and find harnesses for a vehicle of this age that never had them as original equipment. But, thanks to good old JC Whitney they had DOT approved units for RVs and Vans.

On March 13 all the ARES team ECs and assistants in the section will be at the Santa Barbara County disaster Preparedness meeting at Vandenburg AFB. This is the group that is responsible for the County Agencies are prepared to deal with major emergencies. ARES is an integral part of their communications network system.

If you want to put something back into the community and ham radio, come join our team and be ready and trained to be a knowledgeable communicator during area emergency. Just drop me a line or call.

73, George K6HOZ
South County EC
V.P. Emergency Services

Top of Page

February 4, 2001 - ARES Report by Bill Talanian, W1UUQ

Date: 2/4/2001 Approx: 1445 hours local time.

Reported by: SBARC ELT Site Monitors. All stations heard the signal on 121.5 with first alarm being heard by Talanian from the Santa Cruz Island site. SCI also had the signal on 243.0 but it was reported as somewhat weak. B.Gordon also had strong signal with a 270° bearing. L.Dartanner polled all reporting stations and passed this information to Dispatch for SAR response.

Team Response: Tangel and Talanian were assigned by Frank as Team 1. Team 1 went thru the Signature Aviation zone and walked directly to the aircraft. Aircraft cabin door and baggage hatch were locked. Engine compartment was warm to the touch. Talanian stayed with the aircraft to intercept pilot in case he returned. Meanwhile Tangel went to Signature to see if the transients had signed in. As suspected they were at the Elephant Bar for lunch and returned in about 30 minutes. Trichler, with 2 SAR team members then joined the final phase for some last minute field practice.

PIREP: Aircraft was school rental from Van Nuy's Airport. Pilot said he did not experience a hard landing. He said he did not hear the ELT on the tower frequency but did hear the bleed over on ground frequency. However, he did not realize the swept tone was from his aircraft. Pilot commented that he had only read about ELT's during training but was unfamiliar with it's tone or operation.

Weather: Clear, good visibility, no turbulence reported.

Observation: Pilot located the ELT and noted it was in the armed position. Unit was ACK Technologies type, s/n 037895. Talanian asked the pilots permission to release the ELT from its bracket behind the baggage area. Pilot agreed. It was noted that the coax cable installation was totally unsatisfactory. The coax cable was dangling amongst the control cables running the length of the fuselage. The coax did not have one cable clamp or tie wrap along the entire run. It was floating in mid air. The Antenna was totally loose and could be turned in all directions. Both items were pointed out to the pilot so he could report this to the school. The ELT was returned to its original position, antenna reconnected and unit rearmed. Pilot departed for Van Nuy's after conversation with team members.

Top of Page

February 1, 2001 - ARES Report by Bill Talanian, W1UUQ

Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue and ARES join forces in locating errant ELT. On 1 February 2001, at 0145 hours, an ELT alarm was heard from the SBARC Santa Cruz Island monitoring station. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, was awakened by the faint ELT signal. He then polled the other 3 monitoring stations for activity. The only other station receiving the signal was at UCSB which was loud and clear. Search & Rescue was immediately notified through the Sheriff's Dispatch. After assembling the search personnel at the Sheriff's Office the search teams received their field assignments. The mobile teams quickly set up a search perimeter around the airport. Within minutes the first field team utilized conventional direction finding techniques to locate the aircraft which was parked near the Elephant Bar. The ELT was located in the empennage of a King Air B-200. However, this particular aircraft had a small opening in which the ELT switch could be set to the off position. The aircraft hatch handle was placarded to indicate to the owner that the ELT was deactivated.

Photo showing access to ELT function switch.

Empennage of B-200 King Air showing location of ELT (white print on blue stripe).

Photo of Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, of Search & Rescue placing a red placard on the hatch handle.

Top of Page

January, 2001 - V.P. Emergency Services Report / ARES Report

I felt a good way to start off the year would to revisit what ARES is and it’s involvement in the community and with SBARC. So here is “ARES 101" for old and new Hams.

ARES PURPOSE and ORGANIZATION

The Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) is a volunteer organization of radio amateurs who come forward utilizing their equipment and communications skills to assist the community during emergencies and disasters. Every licensed radio operator (18 years of age or older), regardless of other affiliations, is eligible for membership in ARES. The only membership qualification, other than holding a valid radio operators license, is a Sincere Desire to Serve and Train in the public interest. Providing emergency communications when lives are involved is a tremendous responsibility for a volunteer organization. This responsibility requires that ARES volunteers train to the highest level of expertise possible in order to be ready to serve their community in time of need. May I also add, that we do have fun!

Everyone has their own expertise and these individual skills can be utilized by the local ARES Team. We have regular training meetings and outings with other volunteer groups who have the same dedication to our community. In order to be recognize in the filed by other groups and the government officials that we serve, we wear our yellow shirts which are the standard issue though out the Tri-Counties for all the ARES teams. Note: All new ARES members get their first shirt FREE.

Our local group is referred to as The South County ARES Team. SBARC provides financial support and equipment such as the Van, radios and generators to our local ARES team. This last elections I was again elected to the post of V.P of Emergency Service. This obviously makes me an SBARC officer and board member. However, I also hold the position as Emergency Coordinator for The South County ARES Team. This is not a club position but an appointment by the ARRL & ARES League officials.

Most members of our ARES team are members of SBARC, even though it is not required with exception of some insurance issues dealing with the Van and generator trailer. Within our team we have four Assistant E.C.s, that cover for me when I'm out of town, (which is very rare!). If you are interested in joining our ARES group you can contact myself at 965-9896 or the following AECs: (Applications are also available on the SBARC web site http://www.sbarc.org/publicservice/ares/ares.html )

• Lou Dartanner N6ZKJ (967-4859)
• Bruce Gordon N6OLT (967-3174)
• Wally Linstuth K7AMI (685-7067)
• Wayne Lauritsen WA6CBG (969-3127)

We here bi-monthly training meetings held at the Santa Barbara Medical Auditorium 300 N. San Antonio Road at 7:00pm. These meeting are open to all interested individuals. Here is the meeting topics for the coming year:

• Febuary 12: Van Training with follow-up on Saturday with the Van.
• April 9: Slow scan TV training with our new portable handheld units
• June 11: Fire Watch Training (every year we provide this service to USFS)
• August 13: MOU Sites and operating procedures
• October 8: Search Procedures and ELT training.
• December 10: Field Communications, Crossband, Simplex and Porta-peater

So come out and join the group, develop your communications skills, have fun leaning new technologies and enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling you get providing a needed community service.

73, George K6HOZ
V.P. Emergency Service
Emergency Coordinator South County ARES

Top of Page