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Six Saturdays July 26th - September 6th |
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
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| 2005 |
January 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
ARES members provided safety communications for the Downtown Merchants' Association Holiday Parade on Friday evening, December 3rd. All went well and it was a good communications exercise on good operating practices and communicating in a very noisy environment of marching bands and cheering crowds.
Operators were placed at each intersection and at the staging area to help the parade marshals keep the parade moving. The event had more entries this year than in the past and was two blocks longer.
The Mission Manager for the operation was Tom Saunders, N6YX and communicators were noel Alander, KF6LDC, Claude Gage, KE6JSA, Bruce Coffman, KG6NRW, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, Michael Ditmore, W7HUT, Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, and Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH.
*****
Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, had a timely question of the day on her Monday Night ARES Net on December 27th. She asked net participants how much fuel they had in their vehicles and when the last time they updated their "get-away" emergency packs. Everyone responded with more than a half tank of gasoline and they had selected different dates for updating their supplies, from the first of the year to Thanksgiving.
Everyone should have a simple survival pack in his or her vehicle at all times. You never know when you might be away from home or separated from your family in the event of a disaster, such as an earthquake or flood or mudslide. If you'd like to get some ideas on what you can put in your kit, visit our website at www.sbarc.org, and click on public service.
*****
We held our annual end-of-the year holiday party on December 13th for members and guests. After a PowerPoint presentation showcasing many of our 2004 activities, we enjoyed refreshments and conversation. We also held a raffle and the winning tickets were picked by the infamous Ticket Picker, winner of the Gizmo Trophy a few years ago. The device was a big hit at the gathering, particularly interesting those who had never seen it before. It picked the winning ticket for a $50 gift certificate to AES held by Tom Saunders, N6YX, and the runner-up ticket for a "cold heat" soldering system, held by Carmen Rouse. In addition to Carmen, guests included Barbara Goodearl and Mike Williams, KC6DSH, (Wildland Fire) and of course our "den mother," Bobbe Dartanner, who gets special thanks for her home-made goodies.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, coffee, dessert, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859.
February 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
Shortly before 1630 on January 10th, I was informed by Joe Guzzardi of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services (OES) that they had opened their Emergency Operating Center (EOC) and requested the ARES unit to come down and set up its equipment and establish communications with the Santa Barbara City EOC, which we had earlier been notified was open.
Ten ARES members answered the page on the 146.79 MHz repeater and indicated their availability to immediately respond to the EOCs. The personnel were assigned on the basis of where they lived in relation to the EOCs, since this would probably be where they would normally respond. This allowed them to get familiar with the equipment they would be using as well as check out the status of the radios and computers at the EOCs.
Reporting to the County EOC were Bruce Coffman, KG6NRW, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, David Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and Tom Saunders, N6YX. At the City EOC were Michael Ditmore, W7HUT, Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK. On standby were Claude Gago, KE6JSA, and Harry Rouse, K6PDQ. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, was the ARES Incident Manager. They participated for a total of 60 hours.
We were able to establish and maintain communications between the two EOCs, as well as with the American Red Cross communicators. In addition, the ARES members at the County EOC were able to establish direct VHF communications with Santa Ynez, Lompoc, and Santa Maria ARES stations through the Figueroa Mountain repeater.
Our resources remained at the EOCs until around 2300 hours, when the heavy rains expected did not materialize. ARES had a dozen local members ready to work the next day in Santa Barbara and/or Ventura, in addition to another dozen from units in Santa Ynez, Lompoc, and Santa Maria.
Joe Guzzardi asked ARES to announce on our frequencies the status of the evacuation in the old San Marcos Road area. Rumors were spreading that there was a mandatory evacuation and a flood was underway, which was not the case. We announced this over Amateur radio, both for our own members' information and for those who might be monitoring our activities on scanners.
We had been notified earlier in the day that the Ventura ARES District had been called out to help the Red Cross with sheltering of evacuated residents from the La Conchita and Piru areas. They had requested, and were given permission, to use our 146.79 MHz repeater in case they needed it, as their Sulphur Mountain repeater was nearly unusable due to low power levels. We used this Santa Barbara repeater to maintain communications between the two groups and Ventura was able to maintain communications through their South Mountain repeater. We had worked out tentative plans to send mutual aid personnel from Santa Barbara District by aircraft or boat if the Ventura folks needed relief later in the week.
*****
David Hackleman, K6VML, had a timely question of the day on his Monday Night ARES Net on January 17th. He asked net participants to think about what two or three items they would grab if they were notified by authorities to evacuate immediately.
Some of the responses included backup computer disks, prescription medicines, important family records, money, clothing, photographs, laptop computer, go-kit, handheld radio, pets, documents, solar panel, tool kits, identification, scanner, fresh water, and "cat, dog, wife, and daughter" (probably not necessarily in that order!). It's something for us all to think about now, before we get that knock at the door.
By the way, the "reverse 911" system was used during the evacuations. This is done at the Sheriff's Dispatch Center where they select an area on a map and record the emergency message. Phone calls are automatically made to all numbers in that area. However, this does not include cell phone numbers, nor does it include numbers that are not in the Verizon phone directory (unlisted and unpublished numbers).
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, coffee, dessert, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859.
March 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
For our February general meeting, we held a tabletop exercise. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, played some digital recordings of past ARES operations, including the statewide medical exercise for the County Health Department Emergency Medical Services, a search assistance with the Sheriff's search and rescue team, and a Red Flag Fire Alert fire patrol. Members were to write notes on worksheets on what the operating practices used. They were to listen for accuracy, brevity, clarity, good enunciation, proper speaking speed, good use of prowords and phonetic alphabet, transmission of
Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, was given a supply of a 21-piece pocket first aid kit manufactured by First Aid Only. Contents include non-aspirin tablets, antibiotic ointment, antiseptic cleaning wipes, adhesive bandages or various sizes, and butterfly wound closures, all packaged in a 3-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch flat package, ideal for glove boxes in the car, purses, or fanny pack. Thanks, Mike!
On a recent trip back east, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, visited the U.S. Fire Administration and came back with a catalog, from which he ordered some books, videos, and CDs. He showed these to the members at the meeting and they will be made available for members to use when we get an inventory of the items. Perhaps we can start a library of books and other items.
*****
Our next general meeting will be Monday, April 11th at the County Health Services Auditorium at 7 p.m. Charlie Johnson, recently retired from County Fire Department, will be our guest speaker and will give us a refresher on the SEMS/ICS and discuss the role of ARES in the Joint Information Center, which will be a center at which representatives of all agencies involved in an emergency incident will meet to coordinate information releases to the media and public.
*****
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, was net control on February 7th and had everyone switch over to the 145.18 MHz repeater for roll call. We returned to 146.79 for our traffic. We wanted to test this repeater, as it is intended to be our county-wide link. It worked quite well, but within a few weeks of its installation, it was taken down because the owner found the site fees raised too high to be practical. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, is working with the U.S. Forest Service to get this repeater in the SBARC site on Santa Ynez Peak. it will eventually become a Club machine.
*****
The Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council has again asked ARES to assist them with safety communications during their annual fire prevention public outreach, or "walk and talk" program. Representatives from all local fire agencies, homeowner groups, law enforcement, American Red Cross, and other groups get together and split into groups and go door to door to tell residents about fire safety, brush clearance, evacuation routes, and other safety issues. Each resident is given a packet of information that is provided by each agency. Dates of the activities are: April 16, Mission Canyon; April 23, Carpintera-Summerland; April 30, Mission Canyon (alternate date) or Solvang); May 14, Montecito; May 21, Santa Barbara City. The hosting fire department determines the area to be covered, based primarily on degree of hazard and need for public awareness.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, coffee, dessert, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859.
April 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
It has been a pretty quiet month for the ARES team. Most of the activities have been towards preparing for this summer's activities.
The first planned event will be participating in the FireSafe Council's 4th year of its public outreach program. This is where representatives of all local fire departments, law enforcement agencies, the American Red Cross, and volunteers from homeowner groups and other interested individuals get together to go door to door in an area designated by the host fire department. The volunteers speak to residents about brush clearance, evacuation routes, disaster planning, and other important subjects in preparation for the upcoming fire season. ARES provides safety communications between the mobile unit, the folks out on foot, and back to the staging area. This allows the field units to request assistance, additional supplies, coordinate between groups, and emergency notice of evacuation if a fire should break out. These "walk and talks" will be held in the morning of April 23 and May 14.
The next activity will be an evacuation exercise of the Mission Canyon area on Saturday, April 30th. This is the first such activity in Santa Barbara County and only one of a few ever done in California. The Mission Canyon homeowners have been very proactive in recent years to not only reduce fire hazards in their urban interface with the high fire hazard areas, but in working together to identify, establish, and mark evacuation routes. They are also working on ways to notify their residents of approaching fires and other emergency situations. The exercise will begin at about 9 a.m. and residents will evacuate to Earl Warren Showgrounds, where they will be give refreshments and a short debriefing. ARES communicators will be located at fixed locations to radio back the status and progress of the evacuation back to the command post at Earl Warren.
Our ARES general meeting in April will have Charlie Johnson, retired County Fire Captain, as our guest speaker. Charlie is heading up the Public Information Group, which is forming the Joint Information Center concept, where representatives from all agencies and organizations report to a single location to coordinate information released to the public. ARES will be assisting in this effort.
*****
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, attended the Santa Barbara ARES Section meeting on March 26th at Cachuma. Emergency coordinators from the tri-counties shared information and experiences of their units since the last meeting in September.
*****
Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, had an interesting question for the participants of her Monday Night Net. "If you received a call at 11 o'clock at night to respond to a callout, what would you grab from the kitchen on the way out?" Responses were varied, of course, but most commonly mentioned were energy bars of various sorts, fruit, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, emergency coordinator, took time during several Monday night nets to bring the group up to date on the Joint Information Center concept and also on the structure of the Incident Command System.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Carrows in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, coffee, dessert, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859.
May 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
A dozen Santa Barbara South County ARES personnel played an important role in the voluntary wildfire evacuation drill of the Mission Heights on Saturday, April 30th. This is only the second such exercise conducted in California. The Amateur operators were the only continuous source of information on traffic conditions in the evacuation area during the exercise.
The slow-scan TV pictures were a big hit, not only with officials monitoring the exercise, but with the "evacuees" who responded to the reception center at Earl Warren Showgrounds. ARES members also monitored the traffic flow along the exit roads to report problems as people drove down the narrow, winding streets while emergency vehicles were coming in. Thanks to Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, for getting our SSTV equipment ready, including putting two additional systems together, allowing us to field five cameras.
Since such a drill had never been done in Santa Barbara County before, organizers didn't know what to expect: an orderly stream of vehicles driven by courteous drivers yielding to neighbors backing out of driveways or lots of honking, finger-pointing and fender-benders. There are about 380 structures in the target area and considerable planning and outreach was made by the Mission Canyon Association to encourage residents to participate.
The residents knew the time line in advance of the drill but were supposed to wait for the "reverse 911" call from the County Sheriff's office informing them of the voluntary evacuation. Unfortunately, many did not receive this call and were alerted by a Sheriff's car PA system or a knock on the door by a search and rescue team member.
Instead of the anticipated mass exit of everyone at once, cars trickled out in twos and threes, causing no problems with traffic flow. The staggered notification methods probably accounted for this. Residents who responded took it seriously, packing valuables and pets into their cars.
ARES communicators with slow-scan equipment were placed in three locations on Cheltenham Road, the main street out of the area, another to view the outlet at Foothill Road, and a fifth camera at Alamar and Foothill. Two additional communicators were situated on Foothill opposite Glen Albyn and Tye Roads to report on traffic flow out of these two outlets off Cheltenham.
Slow-scan cameras were handled by Thorsten von Eicken, N6TVE, who was at the top of Cheltenham; Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, and Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, were in the middle at Selwyn Place, and Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ was at the bottom, viewing Tye and Glen Albyn. On Foothill was SSTV cameraman Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, at Cheltenham, and communicators Bob Levinson, K6CZD, viewing Tye Road, and Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, watching cars come off Glen Albyn Road. Sending SSTV pictures from Alamar and Foothill was Noel Alander, KF6LDC.
The communications van was at the Earl Warren reception center with Claude Gago, KE6JSA, working as net control on the communications channel of 146.79, while Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, handled the Slow Scan traffic on 224.08. A high-intensity monitor was placed on a card table outside the van under the awning so people could watch the slow-scan pictures come in from the field. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, set up our ARES informational posters and was our public relations coordinator outside.
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, reported to the staging area/command post (CP) at the Museum of Natural History and attended the briefing, relaying the information to the teams in the field on 146.79. She also set up a portable SSTV receive station in the back of her SUV so the incident commander and other officials at the CP could monitor the traffic situation as it developed in the field. This was a last-minute request by the incident commander, an official with the County Office of Emergency Services (OES), so we scrambled to put a system together and, lo and behold, it worked, thanks mostly to efforts by Bruce Gordon, N6OLT.
The slow scan pictures were sent in rotation, so they came in almost continuously, creating a "slide show" of what was going on in the evacuation area. This allowed the drill organizers to monitor the field activity, as well as entertain the approximately 200 residents who had arrived at the reception center. There were 20-25 people around the SSTV table almost all of the time.
Will/DHK brought two large color maps of the Mission Canyon area, one used at the briefing/CP and the other was placed on the side of the van near the SSTV computer. Magnetic squares with numbers were placed on the map to show the location of the SSTV camera teams and the pictures sent back had the corresponding number on them. Residents enjoyed seeing their neighbors coming down, their own homes, and other familiar sights. The County fire chief was so excited about this capability that, when Will stepped away for a few minutes, he returned to find the Chief narrating and explaining the pictures!
The drill lasted about four hours and officials considered it quite successful. They were quite impressed by our capability to send real-time photos from the incident area to multiple locations, and be able to save the pictures on computers for later use.
ARES personnel spent about 200 man-hours on the drill and drove over 50 miles in support of it.
*****
The ARES group provided safety communications for the Fire Safe Council's community outreach "walk & talk" hosted by the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Dept. Five groups of volunteers from fire departments, Red Cross, and other agencies went door to door in neighborhoods of high fire danger to speak to residents about fire safety, brush clearance, evacuation plans, etc.
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK participated. The group logged 46 man-hours and drove 32 miles on field assignments.
This is the third year we have assisted in this program and feedback from the participants has been very positive. It also give ARES members a chance to exercise equipment and capabilities, such as APRS, and to work with people from other agencies and organizations.
*****
Will Tefft, KG6DHK, attended the U.S. Forest Service's 3rd Annual Pre-Season Fire Support Academy on April 18-22. Training included the Incident Command System, working at fire camps, and dealing with media.
*****
Charlie Johnson, retired County Fire Captain, was the guest speaker at our April 11th ARES general meeting. He presented a training DVD on the procedures for reporting to, working around, and leaving a fire camp. He also talked about the Incident Command System structure and about the ways in which ARES could assist at a Joint Information Center during a major fire.
*****
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859
June 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
We ended the month of April pro viding safety communications for the Fire Safe Council's public outreach "walk & talk" activity in the Montecito area on May 14th.
Representatives of all local fire departments, law enforcement agencies, the American Red Cross, and volunteers from homeowner groups and other interested individuals get together to go door to door in an area designated by the host fire department. The volunteers speak to residents about brush clearance, evacuation routes, disaster planning, and other important subjects in preparation for the upcoming fire season. ARES provides safety communications between the mobile unit, the folks out on foot, and back to the staging area. This allows the field units to request assistance, additional supplies, coordinate between groups, and emergency notice of evacuation if a fire should break out.
 Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, Michael Ditmore, W7HUT, and Tom Saunders, N6YX, prepare to participate in the Fire Safe Council Outreach in Montecito. Photo by Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL. |
*****
We learned a few interesting facts from the Mission Canyon Evacuation Drill in April. Almost all of the people who participated had been contacted personally by members of the Association in their pre-drill outreach. Those who were notified by flyers left at their homes were unlikely to participate.
Regarding the Reverse 911 system. The problem the Sheriff's Dispatch was having was corrected midway through the exercise by working with the phone company. Everyone in the data base received the termination notification. However, those who have cell or satellite phones, or Voice over internet (VoIP), will not receive Reverse 911 calls. If you have a cell phone as your only means of telephone service, you can request to be added to the data base by calling the Dispatch Center at 692-5732.
An all-news radio station will be operational in the first week of June on 1290 AM (the old KZBN Bob Newhart station). There is another new low-power AM station at 1040. This is located at the top of San Marcos Pass and sponsored by the Wildland Residents" Association. It broadcasts continuously with NOAA weather and public service announcements. During emergencies, it will contain information on conditions on San Marcos Pass and other information of interest to drivers on the Pass. Check it out and see if you can receive it. And on July 1st, the new 211 information number will be up and running. You can call that number to get information on all sorts of services available to residents as well as updated information during emergencies, such as evacuation areas, shelter locations, road closures, etc.
We also got a nice mention in the ARRL Newsletter and on Amateur Radio Newsline. As a result of the publicity, we received several inquiries from hams throughout the country on how we use slow scan TV.
*****
On April 4th, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, gave the Monday Night net participants a trivia quiz. How many of these questions can you answer? Answers are at the end of this article.
- Do you need a General or higher class license to operate WinLink when it is connected to HF?
- Name an operating location on the South Coast that has ham radios in place ready to use.
- The Standardized Emergency Management System, or SEMS, is divided into sections. What section does ARES normally operate under?
- Which local repeaters have remote base capability?
- Name a case where Amateurs can transmit outside the Amateur bands.
- What is the primary ARES simplex frequency on the South Coast?
- What documentation is needed to work as a volunteer with police and fire agencies?
- What are the primary 2-meter repeater frequencies for ARES in north Santa Barbara county?
- What is the difference between SEMS and ICS (Incident Command System)?
- Can WinLink be run with only a radio and a computer with Windows XP and a sound card?
- What is the standard DC power connector for State OES and ARES?
*****
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every even-numbered month at 7 p.m., County Health Services Auditorium) or listen to and/or check in to our regular Monday night net, 7:30 on the 146.19/.79 K6TZ repeater. For more information on ARES, 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 call me at 967-4859.
July 2005 - ARES Update for July is not available.
August 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
It has been a quiet summer for the Santa Barbara South County ARES unit, with the cool weather. However, we are beginning to get ready for the predicted high fire danger in late September, October, and November.
On September 10th, some of our ARES people will join those from Lompoc and Santa Ynez in a joint exercise with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Aero Squadron in Lompoc. This is in preparation for ARES members being used as spotters in the Aero Squaedron aircraft during Red Flag Fire Alerts.
*****
We are also preparing for a display at the two-day California Lemon Festival at Girsh Park October 15 and 16. Hopefully, it won't get rained out as it did one day last year!
*****
On August 31st, Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, attended a tabletop exercise with the Community Awareness and Emergency Response training course. The scenario involved an overturned railroad tanker car with hazardous materials leaking from it. The CAER participants were divided into four groups and planned how their businesses would respond to protect their personnel from the hazard.
The Emergency Public Information Communicators group was invited to observe the exercise. EPIC is composed of public information officers from all local emergency response agencies, as well as news media folks. Four EPIC members participated: Charlie Johnson, Chuck Bell, Tom Haug (USCG), and Lou Dartanner. They were invited to actually participate in the exercise and used the opportunity to practice identifying whom should be at the Joint Information Center, where the JIC would be located, and what information should be released to the media and the public.
ARES was given an assignment to provide communicators at key locations. Lou called Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, to put out a page to simulate responding to this request. Those answering the call were: Claude Gago, KE6JSA, and David Hackleman, K6VML, who would have taken the van to the command post at Costco. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was ready to report to the Goleta Community Center, where an evacuation site was being set up. Lou would go to the JIC at the US Forest Service headquarters near K-Mart. Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, was assigned to the Page Center, the overflow evacuation location, while Bill Talanian, W1UUQ would go to the Sheriff's Dispatch and Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, would communicate from Goleta Valley Hospital.
*****
Thanks to Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, the 145.18 MHz repeater is back on the air at the SBARC repeater site on Santa Ynez Peak. We will be holding our Monday night net on that repeater on the first Monday of each month. This will exercise the machine in performing its important function as a county-wide VHF repeater during emergencies.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners will resume at Denny's (formerly Carrows) in September. Come join us about 5:30 p.m. for dinner, dessert, or just conversation. Our next ARES general meeting will be on October 10th and is currently going to be Red Flag Fire Alert and fire watch training.
September 2005 - ARES Update is not available...
October 2005 - ARES Update is not available...
November 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
Santa Barbara South County ARES communicators participated in a state-wide
emergency medical exercise on Thursday, November 17th. The incident was
centered in the Santa Barbara area and involved a bomb explosion in Warren
Hall at Earl Warren Show grounds. Students were moulaged with makeup to
simulate serious and gory injuries and played their parts well. The event
started at 0800 and was completed a little after noon. Participants include
fire, law enforcement, paramedic/ambulance, medical helicopters, and office
of emergency services managers. It is practice like this that prepares
our first responders for multiple casualty incidents like the Greyhound
bus accident on Thanksgiving weekend.
ARES was asked to provide communications at all hospitals in the county
as well as the County Health Department's Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Department Operating Center (DOC) and the County Office of Emergency Services
Emergency Operating Center (EOC). ARES is the official backup communications
resource in the EMS emergency plan filed with the State.
The SBARC Mobile Communications Van was deployed to the parking lot at
the EMS. Plans were to use equipment from the van but not to operate from
it unless necessary. The Santa Barbara South County unit assumed net control
for the countywide operations on the 145.180 MHz repeater. The local Santa
Barbara area operations were conducted on the 146.79 MHz repeater. Slow
Scan TV operations was held on the 224.08 MHz repeater.
Noel Alander, KF6LDC, and Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, communicated from Cottage
and Harry Rouse, K6PDQ, set up operations at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital.
The SBARC radio station at the Red Cross was staffed by Joe Heumphres,
K6DXW, who provided HF communications between the Santa Barbara Operational
Area and the Office of Emergency Services Region. Communications was made
with State OES and checked in to the State and regional nets.
We tried something a little different this year at the EMS DOC to avoid
mutual noise interference from the activity in the DOC and from our operations.
We moved the voice communications to a table on the patio just outside
a window in the DOC, setting up a pop-up canopy to protect the operators.
We took the cable drop for our antenna on the door from the conference
room, ran it out the window and over to our table. We used mobile radios
and power supplies from the van for one VHF and the 220 repeaters. We
took one J antenna and tripod from the van and set it up to run the second
VHF frequency (145.18 MHz). We put a card table on the other side of the
window inside the DOC and ran coax through the window for 224.08. We set
up a computer and ran the slow scan TV system from inside so the personnel
in the DOC could see the pictures as they came in. Tom Saunders, N6YX,
and Claude Gago, KE6JSA conducted voice operations outside and Lou Dartanner,
N6ZKJ, handled the slow scan system inside.
Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and Dave Hackleman, K6VML, were dispatched to the
scene with slow scan cameras to provide photos back to the EMS and EOC.
They sent back an almost continuous series of pictures to document the
incident.
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, was dispatched to the County EOC, which was set up
at the County Fire Headquarters on Cathedral Oaks Road. He successfully
communicated with a portable radio from inside. However, slow scan photo
reception was marginal from inside, so he set up a J antenna mounted on
a tripod (from the van's equipment), connected it to his portable radio
and that worked satisfactorily to provide photos for the personnel at
the EOC.
Communications between all participating hospitals in the county was maintained
on the 145.18 MHz repeater on Santa Ynez Peak .
Traffic that ARES was required to deliver was light and accomplished by
voice. Slow scan photographs sent from the "disaster scene"
to OES and EMS were very well received and allowed management personnel
to see exactly what was happening at the scene, something they had not
had the opportunity to do before.
Following the exercise, some of the ARES participants met for lunch and
"debriefing."
*****
ARES assisted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Aero Squadron with a
fire watch on October 4th. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, flew out of Santa Barbara
while Claude Gago, KE6JSA, acted as net control. Ray Lischka, W9EC, flew
the sortie out of Lompoc and Pete Nicklin, K6TOD, took a flight from Santa
Ynez. We were on standby for the next day, but weather conditions improved
and we did not fly.
On November 19th, we were put on standby again, but weather conditions
did not warrant a patrol.
*****
The SBARC repeaters have had a number of "ELT Alert" messages
in recent months, and several turned out to require responses. On October
17th, the system alerted and we contacted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's
Search and Rescue unit. They requested our response, so Bruce Gordon,
N6OLT, answered the call. He quickly located the ELT on an airplane at
Santa Barbara airport, met the Airport Police, and ended up having to
disassemble the unit, as the "G" switch that activates the unit
was
defective and wouldn't allow the unit to be turned off.
On October 16th, we had an unusual signal report from Santa Cruz Island.
It had a rapid but irregular fade rate of about 10 seconds, which would
indicate an EPIRB in the water. A call to the US Coast Guard found that
a beacon had been washed overboard south of Santa Cruz Island as was floating
around in the water. The vessel operator and the Coast Guard were trying
to locate it.
On November 22nd, all systems alerted to a strong ELT signal that was
apparently coming from the Santa Barbara Airport. Search and Rescue again
asked us to respond, so Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ,
followed the signal to the south end of the airport. The Airport Police
assisted in trying to contact the owner, but was unsuccessful. However,
access was gained to the aircraft and the malfunctioning ELT was deactivated.
*****
 (left to right) Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Mike Jogoleff, WA6MBZ, Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, meet for after action lunch. November 2005 |
December 2005 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner (N6ZKJ), Emergency Coordinator
A Year in Review
The year 2005 was a busy one for the Santa Barbara South County ARES members. Some of the activities we participated in were the following.
Predicted heavy rains in January had the county on general alert and ARES responded to a call from the County Office of Emergency Services to open the Emergency Operating Centers (EOCs). We responded to their EOC at the Employee University on Camino del Remedio and to the Santa Barbara City EOC at the police headquarters. We were able to maintain communications between the two EOCs and with the American Red Cross headquarters, as well as ARES units in Santa Ynez, Lompoc, and Santa Maria. Most of the activity was at the La Conchita area in Ventura and we were prepared to assist that ARES group.
At our February ARES meeting, we played some audio recordings of past ARES nets. Members were asked to write comments on the operating practices used. We discussed some items that went well and some that didn’t, but no names or calls were used. At the end of the session, members took their comment forms home so they could refresh their memories from time to time.
In March, we were preparing for the “Walk and Talk” field operations with the Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council. The fire departments select neighborhoods for house to house contact to advise residents of fire safety and evacuation procedures. We provided safety communications with the teams on foot on April 23rd and May 14th.
The event of the year was our participation in the Mission Canyon Voluntary Wildfire Evacuation Drill on April 30th. ARES members with slow scan TV equipment were put at three intersections on Cheltenham Road, the primary exit street, and at one exit on Foothill Road and voice communicators at four locations along Foothill Road. A near-continuous stream of pictures was sent to the Command Post at the Museum of Natural History and the van at the evacuation center at Earl Warren Showgrounds. There was a crowd of resident “evacuees” gathered around the monitor, who excitedly pointed out their neighbors as they drove out of the area. The County Office of Emergency Services coordinator was quite excited about the capability of SSTV and said that ARES provided him with the only real-time information on how things were progressing in the field.
In July, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, were presented with awards “For Technical and Professional Expertise in Support of the Red Flag Fire Patrol Program.” Back in May of 2004, Bill and Bruce started working on making some adapter boxes to use Kenwood TK-290 handheld radios inside the Sheriff’s aero squadron aircraft on fire patrols. The boxes allowed the ARES spotters to connect to the aircraft intercom system and be able to use noise canceling microphones on the handhelds. The radios are programmed with county fire and U.S. Forest Service frequencies, as well as some Amateur and search and rescue frequencies.
ARES personnel staffed the mobile communications van at the SBARC Hamfest in August. The Emergency Public Information Communicators (EPIC) group, composed of public information officers from all local emergency response agencies and news media, held a tabletop exercise on August 31st. ARES was asked to simulate providing communicators at key locations, such as evacuation centers, command posts, and local hospital. While no field response was required, pagers were set off and members were asked if they would have been able to actually respond.
In September, members attended a Sheriff’s Aero Squadron exercise to become familiar with the Red Flag Fire Patrol procedures and the fire radios they will use.
On October 4th, members flew a fire watch patrol with the Sheriff’s Aero Squadron.
On November 17th, ARES members participated in a state-wide emergency medical exercise. We provided communicators at the two local hospitals, as well as at the County Emergency Medical Services EOC and the County OES at the fire headquarters. We also sent members with slow scan TV to the “disaster” site at Earl Warren Showgrounds and their pictures were a great hit at the two EOCs, allowing the managers to see was was actually happening in the field.
During the year, our ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) Alert System on the SBARC repeaters, alerted to a number of signals. Many required no response, but a few were coming from ELTs, or the marine equivalent EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), in non-distress conditions, mainly at Santa Barbara Airport.
The year ended with the group providing safety communications for the Downtown Merchants’ Assn. annual holiday parade in December.
This year, we will have meetings on the second Monday of every month,
instead of every other month. In January, we plan to have an update on
our resource manual and in February, a refresher on operating techniques
and voice traffic handling. Other topics we will feature include Red Flag
Fire Alert training and weather observations; slow scan TV; digital communications;
aero squadron spotter training; communications van layout and equipment
training; Incident Command System (ICS); and First Aid/CPR. Meetings are
held at the County Health Services Auditorium, 300 N. San Antonio Road,
at 7 p.m. Santa Barbara area Amateurs are invited to attend the meetings
as guests.
SBARC ARES Past News
Copyright © 1998-2008 Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club, All Rights Reserved.
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