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On Saturday, October 11th, we participated in the Emergency Preparedness Fair at the Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta. While attendance at the fair was down from last year, we did get the opportunity to meet many interested people and had a chance to introduce Amateur radio to them. One visitor said her father was a ham back in Boston and Tom Saunders, N6YX, was able to locate someone who got Dad to come up on HF and talk to his daughter, son-in-law, and kids. That was a thrill for us all and got our visitors interested in getting licensed.
We had volunteered to provide power to any exhibitor who needed it, but the only request came from Southern California Edison - yes we powered up the power guys! They set up a display next to us to show people what happens when articles touch power lines (they arc) and the resulting QRM made HF communications pretty difficult at times.
In addition to Tom, thanks to the following who helped work this event: John Butera, KE6DIE, Ken Cox, KA6GJP, Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, Sig Wathne, K6LGK and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ.
*****
Only one ELT alarm that required a field response. About 10:30 a.m. on October 20th, the system alarmed to an ELT, which appeared to be on Santa Barbara Airport. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, responded and quickly located the beacon on a Socata Tampico being worked on at ASB Avionics near the airport tower.
*****
Dr. John Butera, KE6DIE, was guest speaker at our October 13th general meeting. He brought the first aid kit from the Van and went over the various supplies contained in it and also explained some additional supplies he carried with him. We got some good ideas about some items we could add to our kits at home and in our cars.
*****
Be sure to watch for the van in all its glorious holiday decorations in the Downtown Merchants Christmas Parade on Friday, December 5th., starting at 6:30 p.m.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta will begin again on September 19th. They're a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, coffee, or just conversation, around 5:30 p.m.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
October 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
I have two big announcements this month! (Drum roll and trumpet flair, please!)I'm very pleased to announce the appointment of two new Assistant Emergency Coordinators for the Santa Barbara South County Amateur Radio Emergency Service unit: Tom Saunders, N6YX, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK. They were introduced at the recent Section meeting in Solvang and warmly greeted by all the tri-counties ARES representatives attending. After a number of Emergency Coordinators announced the retirements and departures of their ECs and AECs, it was welcoming news to the group to see these two fellows stepping forward to take on leadership responsibilities.
The other exciting news is an article that appears in the October issue of CQ magazine in the Public Service column, in which SBARC and local ARES activities were featured. Written by Gordon West, WB6NOA, the article challenges Amateur radio operators to put their "fox hunting" skills to work helping search and rescue folks locate emergency transmitters. You probably know SBARC has an extensive monitoring system to listen for beacons on the 121.5 MHz distress frequency. Now, in addition to those on aircraft and boats, Personal Locator Beacons were authorized for use by people venturing into the back country. The article gives a nice description of the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system and the new PLBs. I want to thank Gordon for inviting me to contribute information on the SBARC monitoring and our District's ELT search program to his article. We hopes we will be able to assist other Amateur groups in developing their own programs for this very worthwhile and potentially life-saving activity.
*****
ELT activity was relatively quiet this month, although an alert on September 24th by La Cumbre Peak, Santa Ynez Peak, and Figureroa Mountain caused a field response by the Central County ARES unit. Pete Nicklin, K6TOD, responded and met up with Juanita Smith of Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue. The signal appeared to be coming from the Santa Ynez Airport, but before the team arrived there, the ELT went off the air. About this time, the Coast Guard called Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, the Mission Manager, and said they had a signal reported 15 miles east of Point Conception. We listened on our system and had no signal and the Coast Guard was going to check and call us back if their signal was still on the air. Apparently is wasn't, because they did not call back.
*****
At a recent County Health Department Disaster Preparedness Advisory Committee, we were informed the statewide Medical & Health Disaster Exercise will be held on November 13th. All our local hospitals and medical responders will be participating, as will all ARES units in the county. This will be a biological terrorism incident and the exercise will take three days for the medical particpants. Our part will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on the 13th, when mass casualties hit clog the system, testing the medical resources' ability to manage large numbers of patients in various stages of illness. Our regular October ARES meeting will feature training by our own Dr. John Butera, KE6DIE, who will go over items in the Van's medical kit as well as give us some tips on keeping ourselves healthy under emergency conditions.
*****
The recent major earthquake in Japan reminds us that seismic activity in California has been extremely quiet in a number of years. Now is a good time to do an inventory of your disaster preparedness level. Check your homes to make sure all heavy furniture and appliances (including computer equipment) are strapped down so they don't fall in an earthquake. Be sure beds aren't under windows or items that could fall on occupants. Update your family disaster plan (don't depend on cell phones to stay in touch). Take a look at the food and water supplies. Take a few minutes to do some things to prepare for an earthquake that you've been putting off! You can get a few ideas from the Disaster Preparedness page on the ARES section of the SBARC web site (www.sbarc.org).
To give you an idea of what can happen during a major earthquake, here are some excerpts from a book "Assembling California" by John McPheel, copyright 1993, published by The Noonday Press, New York. These descriptions are from experiences in the Loma Prieta quake.
"near the Loma Prieta School, a man goes up in the air like a diver off a board. He lands on his head. Another man is thrown sideways through a picture window. A built-in oven leaves its niche and shoots across a kitchen. A refrigerator walks, bounces off a wall, and returns to its accustomed place; a man, in bed under the covers, is still under the covers after his house travels a hundred feet and ends up in ruins around him"
"Driveways are breaking like crushed shells. Through woods and fields, a rippint fissure as big as an arroyo crosses Morrill Road. Along Summit Road, a crack three feet wide, seven feet deep, and 1700 feet long runs among houses and misses them all. Roads burst open as if they were being strafed. Humps rise. Double yellow lines are making left-lateral jumps."
"The [earthquake] waves move to San Mateo, where a woman in a 16th floor apartment has poured a cup of coffee and sat down to watch the third game of the World Series. When the shock arrives, the apartment is suddenly like an airplane in a wind shear. The jolt whips her head to one side. A lamp crashes. Books fall. Doors open. Dishes fall. Separately, the coffee and the cup fly across the room."
"Generally speaking, shaking declines with distance from the hypocenter, but where landfill lies on loose sediment, the shaking can amplify, as if it were an explosion set off from afar with a plunger and a wire. If a lot of water is present in the sediment and the fill, they can be changed in an instant into gray quicksand - the effect known as liquefaction. Compared with what happens in bedrock, the damage can be something like a hundredfold. In San Francisco, the temors this time will last 15 seconds. As the ground vilently shakes and the sand boils off the Marina discharge maerial from the liquefying depths, the things they spit up include tarpaper and bigs of redwood - the charred remains of houses from the earthquake of 1906..."
"..In a fourth floor apartment, a woman [prepared to] watch the World Series. As the building shakes, she moves with experience into a doorway and grips the jamb. Nevertheless, the vibrations are so intense that she is thrown to the floor. When the shaking stops, she will notice a man's legs, standing upright, outside her 4th story window, as if he were floating in air. But the three floors below her no longer exist, and the collapsing building has carried her apartment to the sidewalk."
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta have begun again. They're a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, coffee, or just conversation, around 5:30 p.m.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
September 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Fortunately, it was a very quiet month, activity-wise, in August. Many of our members were away on vacation, business trips, and otherwise busy.
We did have an enjoyable and interesting August ARES General Meeting with "Show and Tell" night. We gathered in the parking lot of the County Health Department and shared our mobile installations, field equipment, and other ideas.
First up was Harry Rouse, K6PDQ. Some of us saw Harry's vehicle on display at Hamfest, but here's his description of how he sets up his HF installation (definitely not recommended for in-motion DX!). The vertical PVC support tube in the left rear corner of my truck bed was born of necessity: 1) the 44' HF doublet I use, courtesy of Paul Sheffield, K6VLM, (SK), requires a non-metallic mast (or else a sky hook), since it would be detuned if placed next to a metal mast or tower (the feedline is twinlead, not coax), and 2) I had a very nice auger that Carmen (xyl) bought by mail order for me. This worked very well with my 33' MJF telescoping fiberglass mast until I tried to screw it into some hard, rocky soil and the corkscrew-shaped part, the auger, snapped off.
"So, I had to have something else to anchor my mast until I receive a replacement pole auger. That mast tends to collapse within itself and the upper sections are of small diameter and extremely flexible, so I don't use the top 10 feet or so. Instead, I slip the base of the fiberglass mast over the aluminum tube sections extending up from the truck bed and they support the mast and antenna up to about 38 feet above grade. This seems not to disrupt the functioning of the doublet. On a good day, I can erect the mast and doublet in under 15 minutes and then be ON THE AIR."
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, didn't want to drill holes in her Rav 4, so her Elmer Bruce, N6OLT, came up with a way to install her dual band antenna. The Rav has a single piece rear door, so Bruce installed a gutter mount and ran the cabling along the wire route used by the door's stop light. Lou showed the folks the direction finding equipment and accessories.
We will definitely do this again!
*****
We say good bye this month to Stefan Landfried, KG6KkQ, who has joined the Navy and reported to basic training. Good luck, Stefan, in your career with the Navy.
*****
ELT activity was very quiet this month, with a few alarms but none requiring a field response.
*****
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, presented a PowerPoint program on Amateur Radio and ARES to the Santa Barbara FireSafe Council on August 21st. Several people attending expressed an interest in becoming Amateurs, so we may see a new ham or two from this group some time in the future.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta will begin again on September 19th. They're a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, coffee, or just conversation, around 5:30 p.m.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
August 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Our major activities in July were fire watch patrols on July 4th and 5th. As we have done for a number of years, ARES assisted the US Forest Service with a fire works watch and fire patrol in the Santa Ynez Mountain ridgeline and front country. This year, the County Fire Department requested we help them by running a patrol team in the Mission Canyon area, which has been experiencing very high fire danger ratings, and up and down Highway 154, watching for roadside fires.
Forest Service Battalion Chief Mike Pressmeyer participated in our briefing before the teams took the field on July 4th. He updated us on fire conditions and what the Forest Service wanted us to accomplish. The weather was variable from extremely hot, dry, and windy to warm (even cool) and calm, changing with altitude and location.
Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and John Butera, KE6DIE, worked West Camino Cielo and Highway 154 assignment. Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, and Dave Hackleman, K6VML, drove Mission Canyon. Working East Camino Cielo were Roy Phillips, AD6PO, and Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, who drove between Highway 154 and La Cumbre Peak, detouring down Painted Cave Road on one leg of the route; Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, worked La Cumbre Peak to just short of Romero Saddle. Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Ken Cox, KA6GJP, drove Gibralter Road to Camino Cielo. Claude Gago, KE6JSA, was out net controller and Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, staffed the van, which was parked next to the County Dispatch Center. We activated the Van's switchboard and gave the fire dispatcher a portable phone so we could talk to them without using a runner. We also had the APRS and slow scan computers running and each team was assigned an APRS unit.
Friday was pretty uneventful, fortunately, and the teams had a good opportunity to practice transmitting weather data and locations to Operations in the Van. We worked until about 2200 hours. As we left the Sheriff's Department, the weather was cool and breezy. Three miles to the west it was 81 degrees and calm. Go figure!
We had not planned to go out on Saturday, but the weather didn't improve and at the last minute the County Fire Department requested we go out again that night. We dropped the patrols on West Camino Cielo and Gibralter Road, but retained the other assignments.
Patrolling Mission Canyon were Dave Hackleman, K6VML, and Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, and Sig Wathne, W6LGK, drove Highway 154 from Cathedral Oaks/Foothill to Vista Point near Cold Springs Bridge. Taking the East Camino Cielo assignments were Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, and Bob Ward, KB6CEY, from 154 to La Cumbre Peak, and Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Bob Levinson, K6CZD, from La Cumbre Peak to near Romero Saddle. Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, was net control and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, was the Mission Manager.
Only two incidents were handled that weren't routine. The Mission Canyon team smelled smoke and tracked it down to a home on Foothill Road that was having a barbecue. We notified Dispatch so if anyone called in a report of smoke, they would know about the barbecue. The other call came from Dispatch who had received a call from a resident in the foothills who had seen a very bright light near La Cumbre Peak. A nearby team checked it out, but there was no indication of anything amiss in the area. The team on the western end of Camino Cielo kept a watch for outbound vehicles, but saw nothing unusual, either. Dispatch was happy we were able to check out the report without their having to send a patrol car all the way up there. A day or two later, the news media reported we had been having a meteor shower, so it's possible that the resident saw a bright "falling star".
As on the day before, everyone got the opportunity to send SSTV and weather information, It was quite interesting to see the trends in temperature and humidity and we will be refining our methods of tracking this information to be of more use to the fire departments.
On both days, those participating got lots of practice sending information over the radio. By the end of the weekend, they were quite proficient and were doing a great job.
Thanks to everyone who took time from their holiday weekend to participate in Fire Watch 2003.
*****
Our ARES group received a nice letter from County Fire Chief John Scherrei, thanking us for participating in the Public Fire Education Outreach. We assisted the County Fire/OES Pre-Fire Mitigation Task Force and the FireSafe Council in their Saturday morning door-to-door fire prevention program. We provided safety communications between the teams and from the teams back to the staging area. The teams were composed of volunteers from homeowners associations, Red Cross, Explorer Scouts, etc., and from on-duty fire and law enforcement agencies.
*****
We had several ELT alarms this month, one of which required field response. On July 10th, the Santa Cruz Island monitor alerted to an ELT. Downtown had a weak signal and Santa Ynez had a moderate signal with a southeasterly bearing. Considerable checking around resulted in no resolution in the signal and it had all appearances of being offshore, so the information was relayed to the US Coast Guard. However, later in the day, the Civil Air Patrol was activated. They called Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and traded information. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, was diverted from a trip to Oxnard to check it out and he located it in a boat parked in a yard in Summerland. The Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Team was notified and responded to assist in getting it shut down. The battery was disconnected and the signal silenced.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are on summer vacation until the club meetings resume in September. If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
July 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Another Hazardous Materials incident exercise in the City of Santa Barbara was very interesting. The scenario involved an overturned van full of nasty chemicals. The exercise was held on June 24th at the Santa Barbara City Fire Department training grounds behind Chase Palm Park.
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, staffed the our radios at the City's Emergency Operating Center at the City Police Department. They set up slow-scan on the computers.
Mike "Jug" Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Stefan Landfried, KG6KKQ, reported to Cottage Hospital. Because the Hospital's EOC was in a different room and away from our antenna drop, Jug set up a cross-band radio at the outside antenna so they could then talk easily to the other locations from anywhere in the hospital.
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and David Hackleman, K6VML, reported to the 'incident' scene. We were prepared to take slow scan pictures and to provide wind speed and direction information if needed. It turned out that all three of us got lots of practice sending the SSTV pictures back to the City EOC. Bruce reported the folks there were very impressed and excited to think they could get real-time pictures from the field. In fact, Sgt. Aspland, the Public Information Officer, heard about it and walked in the room just as a picture was coming in. He was so excited he just about knocked Bruce off his chair as he stuffed a disk into the machine, grabbed the mouse, and made copies of the pictures.
We also met Sean Grady of the State Office of Emergency Services, who was on scene observing. I had a chance to speak with him briefly and explained the SSTV (another very impressed official), and also how we handle the ARES/RACES organization in this ARRL Section. Basically, we are RACES when working for government agencies during an actual emergency and ARES for all other activities. Same people, same job.
Jack Goodearl, WA6DQK, was our net control and logger for the exercise.
Richard Abrams of the County OES, who originally asked us to participate, sent an e-mail: "Thank you for your time, effort, and cooperation from the planning to the execution of today's drill." He was also impressed with the SSTV capability and we provided him with a CD of photos taken by both SSTV and digital camera, which he will take to a presentation he will make to the State on July 10th.
*****
We have received word that the ARRL is an official affiliate of the Department of Homeland Security's Citizen Corps. The agreement was signed at the ARRL's National Convention on June 21st. Citizens Corp Liaison to the White House Liz DiGregorio said, "You [Amateur Radio operators] are there. You are part of that very, very first response when it happens locally," especially in the initial stages of an emergency or disaster. She urged Amateurs to explore ways to expand their role in the community beyond being the last resort when other communications systems fail.
*****
Chief Mike Pressmeyer of the US Forest Service spoke to the FireSafe Council on June 19th. He mentioned how valuable the Amateur radio folks were on their fire patrols. He said they relied on the extra eyes as well as it being good public relations as well as fire prevention and deterrent factor for mischief. He said the fire season for this area should be about normal this year, but resources may be reduced as departments send mutual aid help to other areas. One important lesson to take from this meeting: Grass is fast! Grass is fatal! The dry grass is abundant and thick this year, so never try to outrun a grass fire!
*****
We had three ELT alarms this month, none of which required field response. One ELT was at Camarillo Airport and our phone call alerted them so they could shut it off.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are on summer vacation until the club meetings resume in September. If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
June 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
The most exciting news this month was the honor bestowed the ARES group by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. We were one of a number of individuals and groups acknowledged at the Department's Citizens Recognition Luncheon on May 28th for volunteer service to them. I accepted a plaque bearing the Certificate of Appreciation "of Outstanding Service to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department."
On Monday, May 19th, the County Department of Public Health Emergency Medical Services held a disaster preparedness exercise, featuring a "dirty bomb" explosion at Carpinteria High School. This was quite different from previous exercises in several ways. First, it was confined to the south county; second, it was handled in a "real time" fashion. Other than the "victims" at the high school, all participants waited until the incident started to respond to their respective assignments. We 'fudged' a little by sending Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Claude Gago, KE6JSA, to the EMS headquarters a few minutes early so they could set up the slow scan TV receiver. 
After the incident began, I responded from home and checked in with the Incident Commander on scene. The fire department was already in the process of laying hose lines and attending to the 'victims,' who not only needed medical evaluation and assistance but decontamination. With no decon shelters, the fire department parked two engines parallel to each other and used water from the trucks to create a shower. The 'patients' were actually processed through the shower, then, cold and went, went to the triage area.
We started off sending slow scan pictures, at the request of EMS, and were able to get quite usable photos to EMS. As soon as I spoke to the IC, I requested our ARES members on standby to respond. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was the first to arrive and took over the SSTV duties. When Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, got on scene, Will gave him a turn on the camera. Since this was a dirty bomb incident, it was important to the fire department to keep track of wind speed and direction to calculate 'evacuation' needs. Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, was sent to the area of Carpinteria State Beach to get weather readings for the helicopter landing zone and Bob Ward, KB6CEY, was sent to the Carpinteria Boys Club across the street from the high school for weather readings. Jack Goodearl, WA6DQK, was our logger and also gave us some wind speed and directional information.
Three ARES members observed a helicopter training conducted by local fire departments on May 17th. Helicopters from several agencies were involved and the day-long session featured safety around the aircraft and firefighting activities with them. Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, attended.
On Saturday, May 31st, the final Pre-Fire Outreach was held in the Riveria area of Santa Barbara City. Volunteers from local fire agencies, law enforcement, homeowners associations, and similar groups met at Fire Station 7 on Stanwood Drive. By 10 a.m. they were out going door-to-door talking about fire prevention, disaster preparedness, evacuation plans, etc., to local residents. ARES provided safety communications between the groups and back to the staging area, ran errands for the participants, etc. The ARES members also practiced with the new sling psychrometers and Kestrel wind meters. Field members were Claude Gago, KE6JSA, David Hackleman, K6VML, Michael Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and Norm Salzman, KA6UHP. 
Sig Wathne, W6LGK, drove the van and Mike Wood, KG6GLK, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ were the operations crew in the van. We had several visitors, including Chief McGrew and Ann Marx of the City Fire Department, who were very impressed with our capabilities and intrigued with both APRS and Slow scan.
We took delivery of three Taylor sling psychrometers and three Kestrel 1000 wind meters. This equipment will supplement our existing weather instruments that are used for operations with the fire department. The psychrometers allow us to measure relative humidity, which is very important to the fire people. The wind meters are impeller driven and register wind speed, highest gust, and average wind speed.
For the first time, ARES and several other private groups participating in the Pre-Fire Outreach program were invited to the Tri-County Fire Chiefs' meeting at Skofield Park on May 29th. Representatives from all local fire agencies were present, as well as the U.S. Forest Service, Calif. Dept. of Forestry, Cal Trans, County dispatch, public utility companies, State Parks, and Santa Barbara Police Dept., among others. Many gave presentations on things of interest to the others about the upcoming fire season. Dave Lamb,, WA6BRW, Dave Higgins, KG6OWE, and I represented ARES and I was asked to give a short briefing on what ARES offers the fire service. Highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a $32,550 check to the Fire Safe Council for their outreach program.
ARES was also invited to attend a meeting called by the County Office of Emergency Services to discuss options for improving communications among first responder agencies throughout the county. The purpose was to find a practical, efficient, and cost-effective way to approach the issue of enhancing first responder communications.
We want to thank Gordon West, WB6NOA, for inviting us to offer comments on an article is his writing for some national magazines on the new Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs). These beacons are like ELTs and EPIRBs but are designed to be taken by individuals to the backcountry to summon assistance in an emergency. We're also written an article on the SBARC ELT monitoring system and our ELT response program that may also see publication.
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are on summer vacation until the club meetings resume in September. If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
May 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
April was a very busy month for the ARES members, primarily working with the local fire departments in their fire prevention outreach program.
On April 10th we met at the US Forest Service fire station in Carpinteria, where representatives from all local fire departments, the Forest Service, sheriff's department, Highway Patrol, Red Cross, and volunteers from homeowner groups received their briefing. They were assigned to small groups and dispatched to several neighborhoods in high fire danger areas, where they went door to door talking with residents about fire prevention, brush clearance, etc., and leaving brochures with advice for before and during a fire emergency. ARES personnel provided safety communications between the teams on foot and back to the officials at the staging area. We took the opportunity to do a little reconnaissance ourselves by locating sites that had good visibility for spotting fires and smoke during fire watch patrols or for ELT searches. Participating were Ken Cox, KA6GJP, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, David Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ, Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, Sig Wathne, W6LGK, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ.
The next Saturday we met at Cold Spring School for the Montecito area. Because it was the same day as the MS Walk and Run, many ARES folks worked that event, so we asked the Central County ARES for assistance. Art Polan, KD6VSD, Ava Polan, KG6DWI, and Dave Higgins, KG6OWE came over to help us. Santa Barbara ARES members were Bill Berger, K6WHB, Ken Cox, KA6GJP, Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Stefan Landfried, KG6KKQ, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Paul Sheffield, W6VLM, Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ, Mike Wood, KG6GLK, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ.
We issued the portable APRS units to each vehicle that went in the field on both days. The van was a very popular place for the fire folks as they took tours and were wowed by the APRS and Slow Scan capabilities. We will be participating in another outreach for Santa Barbara Fire on May 3rd, at which time we will practice getting humidity readings with our new sling psychrometers.
This is the second year the fire departments and the Fire Safe Council have conducted the door-to-door outreach program. It was a great opportunity for ARES to meet and work with the people we will be assisting this summer and fall during the fire season. It was also beneficial to have them see our capabilities so they are likely to remember us when they need resources we can provide.
On March 31st, we held an on-the-air exercise in traffic handling. Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW, planned the training, which took place at the SBARC station at the Red Cross. Will Tefft, KG6DHK was the net control. After roll call, Joe passed a piece of traffic containing three items of geographical coordinates, magnetic bearing readings, and times to a Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ. The idea was to use a different band with each relay, starting with 10 meters, then 75 and on up through the VHF/UHF bands and coming back to the Club Station on the 146.79 repeater. Other relay stations were Tom Saunders, N6YX, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, and Harry Rouse, K6PDQ. We were able to hear the traffic as it was forwarded. It took about 45 minutes to complete the round and there were a few 'glitches' in the message when it came back.
April's ARES general meeting featured a review of Red Flag Fire Alert checkpoints, the Pre-Fire Outreach program and a review of the on-the-air exercise. We discussed message handling, prowords, phrasing, read-back, etc.
We would like to thank some people who have made donations to our ARES unit this month. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, contacted the nice folks at Abbeon Cal about our fire watch program and they donated six sling psychrometers. Roy Dugger, KF6QEJ, gave us a hand-held Garmin GPS and a Rand-McNally Navman GPS receiver. Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, delivered five high-quality yellow safety helmets surplused by the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Team. Mike Williams, KC6DSH, Wildland Residents Assn., contributed one of their new color Mountain Mapbooks of the areas off Highway 154, including the Trout Club, Painted Cave, Rosario Park, Camino Cielo, and Paradise Canyon. Mike also gave us a supply of a quick reference Emergency Evacuation Plan and Preparedness Pocket Guide, which they are providing to residents of the area.
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, or coffee (or just drop by to say hello) around 5:30 p.m. before the regular SBARC meeting.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
April 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
It's been a pretty interesting month for the local ARES group. Activities range from ELT responses to decontamination procedures.
March started out with a training and orientation session for ARES members with the SBARC Emergency Communications Van, which was reported last month. We decided to set aside the first Saturday of each month for specialized training. We will have a follow-up training on the van in April, and perhaps a session at the Club Station in an upcoming month.
The next week was support for the Central ARES (Santa Ynez) group for the SCOR Century and Half Century Bike Ride. Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, and Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, went out as Rovers or SAG wagons, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, helped with net control. There were about 5,000 bike riders, so you can imagine the logistics problems encountered on the trek from Solvang to Santa Maria and back through the country roads. In general, things went quite smoothly, thanks to great planning by the Santa Ynez people. We brought two of our APRS units for use by the Rovers.
In a meeting with the County Health Department's Disaster Preparedness Advisory Committee (DPAC), we learned that there will be an exercise in May. Instead of being a county-wide event, they will let each community's hospitals hold a drill to work on procedures they feel they need more experience handling. The Health Department's office of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will participate in each one, so the Santa Barbara group will probably have to support each of the exercises.
Our Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) monitoring system alerted to a few signals this month, only one of which required a field response and the other resulted in the launching of a Coast Guard helicopter, which found a sunken vessel. On March 3rd at about 8 p.m., the signal caused response by two ARES teams. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, made up one team and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, and Tom Saunders, N6YX, were the second team. Bill and Bob located the signal near the Coast Guard residences on the Mesa. Just as they walked down the sidewalk, a very embarrassed man met them with the beacon in hand, which he thought was not working. Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, also assisted from home. On March 29th, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, who monitors the 223.92 MHz repeater at his home, was awakened to an EPIRB emergency signal about 2:30 a.m. He called the Coast Guard, and, working with Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, the Coast Guard launched a helicopter based on the information received by our ELT monitoring system and the interpretations made by Bill and Bruce. The helicopter located the EPIRB in the water about two miles off the coast of Pt. Hueneme. The crew picked up the beacon and also saw debris and an oil slick, but could not locate a survivor. Details of the incident were not known. The satellite system had made one pass but had picked up only the 121.5 MHz signal and no action was being taken due to lack of substantiating information.
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, conducted a Basic ELT Location Course in Solvang on March 22nd. Six members of the Central County (Santa Ynez Valley) group, two from the north County (Santa Maria area) unit, and one from South County successfully completed the all-day class. As we were conducting the field exercise in a residential area, no fewer than eight curious people inquired what we were doing walking around with those strange-looking antenna arrays, poking in the bushes and tromping through the weeds. Homeland security (or neighborhood watch) is alive and well. Attending from North County were Dennis Daniel, KM6DF, and Chuck Wells, KC6JYK; from Central County were Buzz Davis, KE6BQC, Wayne Heil, KB6OQJ, David Higgins, KG6OWE, Pete Nicklin, K6TOD, LuAnn Nicklin, KG6OWC, and Art Polan, KD6VSD; and from South County was Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL.
All county hospitals have been provided with portable decontamination shelters, which could be used for an incident of weapons of mass destruction or a chemical accident at a local industrial or educational facility. They can be quickly set up and have a small section for victims to undress, who then proceed to a shower section (which sprays warm water), then to a larger section for them to dry and dress in clean clothing. Joe Guzzardi, planner at the County Office of Emergency Services (OES) invited all ARES people to observe the training that was to be conducted at each hospital. Eight Santa Barbara ARES members took advantage of the Goleta Valley Hospital's training. The four-hour class, given by Capt. Mike Schlags of County Fire, was interesting, informative, and entertaining. We learned how to be safe around those incidents, and became familiar with terminology and procedures that would be used. We adjourned to the emergency room parking lot where the ARES people set up one shelter and the hospital staff set up the other. (The hospital crew was much more efficient!) All class members made up individual decontamination ponchos from black plastic trash bags. We modeled them in front of the hospital (getting more than a few strange looks at our Halloween-like march) for a photo shoot and then took them off, folded them, and gave the to the hospital so they would have a supply in the emergency room. Attending the class were Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, David Hackleman, K6VML, Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK.
On March 29th, Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW, attended a Santa Barbara Section ARES meeting at Cachuma. After briefings by Ventura, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara County ARES districts and groups and a break for lunch, the subject of conversation turned to liability and workman's compensation insurance issues and ARES mutual aid responses. Bruce demonstrated slow scan TV and then from under its cover of a blanket came "ta ta" the Ticket Picker! Some of you might remember it from a few years ago at an SBARC meeting. The gizmo performed admirably and picked winning tickets for a few prizes. Proceeds from the raffle went to the Santa Ynez Valley ARES unit to help pay for lunch (delicious enchiladas made by Jayne and Suzanne).
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, or coffee (or just drop by to say hello) around 5:30 p.m. before the regular SBARC meeting.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
March 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Our February 10th general meeting featured disaster preparedness. Joe Heumphreus,
K6DXW, provided several excellent videos from the American Red Cross. Just about everyone attending was taking notes on things they needed to do to get themselves and their families ready for the next disaster. Everything from storing food and water to making a family plan in case members are separated from each other were discussed. The second video, Disaster Psychology, was a topic most of us had not had much exposure to. It explained the various psychological phases victims go through in dealing with any disaster situation, from awareness to recovery. It showed us how, as "second responders" we can be of more comfort and help to those going through the trauma of a severe emergency situation. We also discussed putting together a "get-away " or "ready bag" with personal supplies to keep each of us going for at least 24 hours but compact enough to keep in the car. If you'd like more information about this topic, please visit the SBARC web site (www.sbarc.org). Our next meeting will be on Monday, April 14th. Guests are welcome.
On Saturday, March 1st, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW, Mike Jogoleff, WA6BMZ, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Paul Sheffield, W6VLM, and Ken Cox, KA6GJP, met at the van for a familiarization and training session. They reviewed the electrical system, radio system, phone and intercom, and shown where everything is kept. They fired up the generator and went over the proper procedures for raising and lowering the tower. It is hoped this will become a once-a-month van training session, held on the first Saturday of the month.
I met with Bob Ward, KB6CEY, and several officials of The Samarkand retirement community regarding a establishing a communications plan for the campus and also to tie five other local not-for-profit retirement communities together using a method other than cell phones or commercial phone service. Because of its excellent location, Samarkand can be the liaison between these facilities and the County Health Department's Emergency Medical Services during a disaster. These communities have the capability to assist each other in accepting evacuated residents, sharing supplies, etc. The folks at Samarkand will be working with the other communities and with County Health Department's representative for the vulnerable population. It is hoped we can recruit amateur radio operators in the facilities, or to motivate some residents and staff members to get their licenses, so they can become part of our emergency communications network.
As a result of our recent training on Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) response, we have a number of ARES members able to go out on these missions. In order to resolve issues concerning Disaster Service Worker worker's compensation insurance, I met with members of the County Office of Emergency Services and County Sheriff's Department to update our Memorandum of Understanding on ARES response with the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Team. Thanks to them I think we will soon have an MOU that will be beneficial to everyone.
We had several ELT alarms on the local monitoring system, one of which resulted in an ARES field response. On Tuesday, February 18th, the Santa Cruz Island receiver alerted with a strong signal. The La Vigia Hill, La Cumbre Peak, and UCSB library were hearing a weak signal. The Santa Ynez Peak had a moderate signal with a northeasterly direction. This was somewhat consistent with what we should find with an ELT on Camarillo Airport, except La Cumbre Peak should not be hearing it. A few phone calls and it was confirmed it wasn't on any of the airports. We sent Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Bob Levinson, K6CZD, to get some bearings to assist search and rescue and the US Coast Guard. They responded to Campus Point then to the mesa area to get a bearing. During this time, it was learned that a Cessna 172 had crashed near Oat Mountain. The nightly news carried the story of the incident. The pilot had used her cell phone to report the crash, giving her position as "on the Porter Ranch near the area where they used to film "Little House On The Prairie.'" This was enough information to get a rescue helicopter into the area. The pilot and passenger, both seriously injured, were hauled out by stretcher then air lifted to a local hospital.
What makes this such an interesting incident was that our ELT Monitoring System would have made the initial alerting of this crash to search and rescue if the pilot had not been able to use her cell phone. A satellite monitoring the emergency frequency had not made a pass in over two hours. While one was due shortly, search and rescue crews would not have been alerted as a result of a single satellite pass unless there were other reasons to believe a plane was missing.
Our before-the-SBARC-meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, or coffee (or just drop by the say hello) around 5:30 p.m. before the regular Friday SBARC meeting.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
February 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Most of the activity this month has centered around ELT activity. You might have heard Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, or me bringing up the various SBARC repeaters to listen to some strange-sounding beeps. These sounds come from emergency beacons that are carried on aircraft and boats.
Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) are installed on aircraft and are designed to activate automatically after a crash. The marine equivalent, EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) will float free when the vessel sinks below about 10 feet and automatically start sending its signal. Personal Locator Transmitters (PBLs) will be authorized for use by the general public on July 1st of this year and can be carried by people who go into the backcountry. They are manually activated by the individual. All types of emergency beacons can be heard by polar orbit and geo-stationary NOAA satellites. We generally use the term ELT to include all three classes of beacons.
SBARC has an ELT monitor receiver at each of its repeater sites. (There is also one on Figueroa Mountain on the Santa Ynez Valley Club repeater.) It can be interrogated by touch-tone codes and allow the audio being received to be heard on the repeater. The receiver monitors the emergency frequency and if a signal is received for longer than about 10 minutes, the repeater will sound an alert tone.
The system has been active for about 14 years and in the first 11 years it alerted 315 times. Six were signals from actual crashed airplanes, three were actual marine emergencies, 52 were located on airports, and 22 were found on harbors or marinas, 16 were found on land in residences, businesses, yards, dumps, etc. The remainder were moving targets or from unknown sources.
There are similar ELT monitoring systems at other Amateur repeaters in the United States but the one sponsored by SBARC is the oldest and most extensive.
The Santa Barbara District (County) ARES group has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Santa Barbara County [Sheriff] Search and Rescue Team to assist in locating and turning off inadvertently-activated ELTs. ARES can also assist SBCSAR in searching for an ELT on a missing or downed aircraft. ARES has also helped the US Coast Guard by giving them information from the ELT monitoring system as well as fielding teams to give bearings from land to a location offshore.
Bruce Gordon explains the proper operation of a direction finding receiver.
On January 30th, Bruce and I conducted a Basic ELT Location Course to train ARES members in the art and skills of searching for these beacons. Nine members received the classroom training and eight participated in a field exercise on the following Saturday morning. The field exercise consisted of practicing the basics of using the direction finding equipment, followed by two "hidden transmitters," one found by using DF antennas on vehicles to get close, and the other an ELT hidden under a dumpster (a rather common place to find one!). Completing the course were Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK.
ARES members practice the basics of using their direction finding equipment.
The day after the classroom training, some of the students got to test their skills when a signal was heard by Santa Cruz Island and Santa Ynez Peak. The general direction appeared to be to the west, which is quite unusual. A call to the Coast Guard revealed they were working a beacon about 4 miles west of Pt. Arguello. We could determine from the signal being received that it was coming from either an aircraft ELT or a marine survival-raft (personal) EPIRB. There was a possibility the signal could be coming from an airplane crash on land, so Search and Rescue was notified. ARES was given permission to assist the Coast Guard by fielding one team (Bill Talanian and Bob Levinson) to the Gun Club on West Camino Cielo, and one team (Bruce Gordon and Claude Gago) to Jalama Beach. Buzz Davis from Central AREA joined Bruce and Claude to make the trip to Jalama. Search and Rescue fielded two teams, including Bob Tangel, to go to Santa Ynez Peak and to Surf Beach. I was Incident Commander, coordinating the activities.
Last minute instructions before tracking down a hidden transmitter.
In addition to a Coast Guard Cutter already on scene, a Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to the area. Bill had brought up the Santa Cruz repeater and after about three sweeps the signal went off the air. So none of the teams had the opportunity to hear and get a bearing on the beacon. The Coast Guard called and said they had tracked the ELT to a helicopter that had landed on Platform Hildago, about 6 miles offshore of Pt. Arguello.
We had two other ELT alarms during January. One was in an aircraft flying over the Santa Barbara area and the other was at Camarillo airport. Neither resulted in field responses.
In addition to our ELT activities, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, assisted the Central County ARES group with their public service communications for the AYSO soccer tournament on the 25th. We will probably have several people helping them on the SCOR bike ride through the valley in March.
With no rain in January, we are all wishing for a wet February or a March Miracle. If not, we will undoubtedly have a very busy summer helping the fire departments on fire watches.
Our before-the-SBARC-meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun with enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, or coffee (or just drop by the say hello) around 5:30 p.m. before the regular Friday SBARC meeting.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater.
January 2003 - ARES Update by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
The Van participated in the Downtown Holiday Parade on December 6th and Bob Levinson, K6CZD, David Hackleman, KC6VML, and I braved the rain to decorate the vehicle with lights, bows, and garland. Miraculously, the rain stopped as the parade began and the number of spectators was far greater than I've seen in recent years. The poor van did suffer a terrible indignity when the announcer called it a "bread truck!" Don't they know a milk truck when they see one???
Our field activity this month was confined to several responses for Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) that alarmed the Santa Barbara ELT Monitoring System.
On December 1st, the system alerted to an ELT that was at or near Santa Barbara airport. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, responded, but the signal went off the air before they arrived.
Another mystery occurred on Sunday evening, December 8th. All monitors, eventually even Figueroa, had a strong ELT. It was very strange in that the swept tone modulation would stop approximately every 50 seconds for about 8-14 seconds, but a carrier would continue. We through it might be a strange 406 ELT, but the Rescue Coordination Center had no report and our 406 receiver downtown didn't hear it, even though the signal was strong and the 406 burst would be 5 watts (compared to about 100 mW for the 121.5 homing signal). Anyway, it became obvious it was airborne and eventually made its way north and went off the air.
The other airborne signal occurred on December 26th. On December 27th, Santa Cruz Island alerted to a 406 MHz EPIRB. None of the other monitors had the signal and it was turned over to the US Coast Guard in Long Beach.
However, we were able to find a couple of others and shut them off. The first of these was on December 19th at 1035 hours when a strong signal tripped all the South County monitors. It was located on a Cozy 3 experimental airplane on Santa Barbara Airport. The aircraft had been moved from the south to the north side of the field to escape expected flooding during a series of storms. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Bob Levinson, K6CZD, responded and located the signal source.
The next morning at about 0830, another strong signal was coming from Santa Barbara Airport. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Bob Tangel, WD6ESU, responded to this mission. They quickly located it coming from a twin-engine Piper parked near the airport tower. A mechanic was summoned to shut the ELT down.
As a result of my working with the very kind people at Direct Relief International on our DRI/ARES MOU, we got the opportunity to develop another MOU with them to allow us to store our tower trailer and the diesel generator on their property free of charge. The MOU was approved at last month's board meeting and it is now signed by both organizations. This is a great opportunity for us to be able to store these vehicles on a paved lot behind a locked gate.
Our bi-monthly ARES General meeting was December 9th. Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, put together an elaborate table-top exercise for sending and receiving written messages. The group was divided in to two teams, the Blue Net and the Green Net. Each person given a tactical location (such as a city emergency operating center) and two messages to send to other locations. Each team was assigned to either an simplex frequency or the portapeater (which was stationed in the parking lot) and the nets were run simultaneously, complete with net controls. The communicators did a nice job in sending and receiving the messages, but the exercise did show everyone how tricky a seemingly simple task can be! After the exercise, the group critiqued themselves and all agreed it was very beneficial and fun and were anxious to do another one.
Our before-the-SBARC-meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta will resume in January and are a lot of fun with lots of enjoyable conversation. Come join us for dinner, dessert, or coffee (or just drop by to say hello) around 5:30 p.m. before the regular Friday SBARC meeting.
If you're interested in ARES, we cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month), see one of us at the SBARC meeting (look for the yellow shirts), visit the SBARC web site and look at the ARES page (www.sbarc.org), or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/146.79 K6TZ repeater.
SBARC ARES Past News
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