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Key-Klix
May 2009 |
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HamFest 2009
Southwestern Division Convention Saturday, August 15th Earl Warren Showgrounds |
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Next General Meeting
Friday, September 18th First of the Fall! |
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Geomagnetic Field |
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Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club
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| 2006 |
January 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES
Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
January was very much a month of planning to meet the needs of the
community in emergency communications.
The regular meeting on January 9th featured an update on ARES policies
and procedures. The February meeting will continue on this theme by a
refresher on emergency communications procedures. The second half of the
January meeting was devoted to briefings on the ELT Monitoring System
by
Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and on digital communications by Thorsten von
Eicken, N6TVE.
The Digital Communications Committee, a group of about seven ARES
members, has been hard a work to develop a method of transmitting
messages via packet/WinLink. Thorsten has been working with Bill/UUQ on
the hardware side at the K6TZ side on La Vigia, while he and Shaw
Takeuchi, AE6BL, have been investigating the software side. The fellows
have been experimenting with various ways of implementing the system,
including TNCs, sound cards, etc. We are in hopes of having as many ARES
members who wish to participate in the program be able to equip
themselves at reasonable cost and be able to respond to the field during
emergencies and exercises.
For many years, we have relied on voice communications (message forms)
to pass traffic between fixed sites such as hospitals and County Health.
However, this is a slow, laborious method and prone to errors. We have
identified a number of other applications for digital communications
that have surfaced as a result of our work with the Fire Safe Council,
County Office of Emergency Services, County Health Emergency Medical
Services, and the Emergency Public Information Communicators, I'm sure
we will have more information on this in the near future.
*****
On January 19th, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, attended the monthly meeting of
the
Fire Safe Council, held at the Botanic Gardens. The Council set some
dates for their public fire safety outreach "walk and talk"
programs.
April 8 will be in the Santa Barbara city area, April 22 in Montecito,
and April 29 in the Carpinteria/Summerland area. In addition, an
evacuation drill, similar to the one in Mission Canyon last year, is
being planned, possibly in May.
*****
On January 19-20, Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, attended the Santa Barbara
County Tsunami Planning Workshop and Exercise. The workshop was attended
by nearly 100 representatives of local organizations and public service
agencies. Dr. Craig Nicholson, UCSB Geological Sciences, spoke on the
Nature of Tsunamis and Hazard Mapping for California; Bruce Turner, West
Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning Center briefed us on the Tsunami Warning
Center. Steve Sellers of the Governor's Office of Emergency Services
spoke on the State OES role in notification and Operational Area
support. Gloria Morrison, City of Huntington Beach, spoke on their
Community Education & Preparedness. They are a Tsunami-ready city
and
have done a lot toward public education. Gloria was very aware of the
work by the RACES/ARES hospital communications group and was very
complimentary of their work.
Jim Goltz, State OES, spoke on Tsugami planning basics, and was followed
by Larry Parsons, UCSB, who explained the tsunami planning at the
university, which is the only tsunami-ready state campus. Bruce Carter,
Santa Barbara OES planner, tossed out some ideas for next steps for our
county. The next day, we were divided into groups and given a sequential
tsunami exercise to plan. Our group made some extra "brownie"
points for
its on-the-air participation and for our web camera on Santa Cruz
Island. Lou contacted Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, on the 146.79 repeater and
asked him to set off the ARES pagers. Those responding were asked if
they could participate if the event was real, and Bob Levinson, K6CZD,
would drive the van from Station 17 at UCSB (inside the inundation
boundary) to the Sheriff's headquarters, and Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, would
do the same with the generator. David Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Ward,
KB6CEY, and Norm Salzman, KA6UHP also answered the page.
*****
On January 26th, Lou/N6ZKJ attended the monthly meeting of the Emergency
Public Information Communicators, and was a tabletop exercise. The topic
was a flood that had made a number of roads in the county impassible.
Each agency or organization was asked to address its response and a lot
of information was exchanged. Problems with communications, both within
the agencies and between them, is being highlighted as a potential
problem. The recent hurricanes and the lack of communications is making
people rethink their reliance on cell phones and Nextel "walkie
talkies." ARES was recognized as an important backup communications
resource.
*****
On January 13th, the Santa Barbara Airport Police called Bruce/OLT, to
report an ELT activated on the airport and requesting assistance in
locating it. The Sheriff's Department, through the Search and Rescue
Team, asked ARES to respond. Bill/W1UUQ, and Lou/N6ZKJ responded and,
once on the ramp, took about two minutes to isolate the offending plane.
The ELT was defective and wouldn't shut off, so the battery was
disconnected.
*****
The ARES group now meets every month on the second Monday, at the County
Health Services auditorium, 300 N. San Antonio Rd., at 7 p.m. Visitors
are welcome. Also, our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners are now at
Luigi's Restaurant on Calle Real at about 5:30 p.m. Come have dinner or
just good conversation!
February 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
The fifth Monday of the month is our traditional on-the-air exercise
for
the Monday Night ARES Net. Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW, developed a good test
of our skills in programming our radios and direction finding. He sent
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, out to play "jammer" on the Portable Repeater,
145.24 MHz. Members used various techniques to report back information,
including offset tuning, directional antennas, signal strength (or lack
thereof). The "Gotcha" award went to Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, who
used his
new Little L-Per direction finder to get a good bearing. Joe thought
Bruce was at home, so he was a little surprised to hear that he was
really above Tucker's Grove.
*****
Our February general meeting on the 13th was a refresher on net protocol
and informal and formal traffic handling. We practiced our phrasing
techniques then had an interesting exercise on tactical traffic. We were
shown photos and each member was asked a question about the picture. How
many people, describe the vehicle, what is going on, etc. It was fun and
something a bit different.
*****
ARES presented the program for the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club's
February 17th meeting on "Disaster Preparedness - Beyond the
Boilerplate." Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, spoke on Disaster Psychology,
Will
Tefft, KG6DHK, on Lessons Learned from Rita and Katrina, Bruce Gordon,
N6OLT, on Communications in a Disaster, and Tom Saunders, N6YX, on
emergency kits and preparedness. Unfortunately, we lost the bulb on the
video projector after Lou's presentation, so Will and Bruce had to do
their subjects "on the fly." We also had some "show and
tell" items for
the audience to see, as well as some nice handouts, including those from
the American Red Cross and the County Office of Emergency Services.
Drawing a lot of interest were four maps of the tsunami run-up or
inundation area for the south coast so folks could see if they needed
to
"head for the hills" if a tsunami warning were received.
*****
Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, attended the Emergency
Public Information Communicators (EPIC) meeting on February 23rd. This
was a presentation by the Glendale Fire Department and Los Angeles
Metrolink and was a discussion of the Metrolink commuter train accident
on January 26, 2005, and the dynamics and management of a mass casualty
incident.
*****
We were asked to assist the Wildland Fire Association (San Marcos Pass
Volunteer Fire Department) and the California Highway Patrol with the
Amgen Tour of California bike race on Friday, February 24th. There was
a
good turnout of folks from the CHP, County Sheriff's Dept., Wildland
Fire, County Fire, US Forest Service, American Red Cross, etc. We were
to provide communications from three locations, Highway 154 at Paradise
Road, the summit of SR 154 at East and West Camino Cielo, and at SR 154
at Painted Cave/Old San Marcos Roads. Other resources were set out to
provide fire, paramedic, and other emergency services at these locations
and as rovers. We set up communications in the Red Cross trailer, which
was also the Command Post. We used the 147.21 MHz Figueroa Mountain
repeater for our Paradise Road team, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, and Norm
Salzman, KA6UHP. The 146.79 MHz repeater was used for the Summit team,
Will Tefft, KG6DHK, and Bill Hepp, KI6ACN, and for Harry Rouse, K6PDQ
at
Paradise.
Pete Nicklin, K6TOD, from Santa Ynez caught a ride with the lead CHP
vehicle at Highways 154 and 246 and installed a portable APRS (Automatic
Position Reporting System) unit so we could track the progress of the
bike riders. We had a computer in the command post and one in the fire
station to show the track.
There were about 500 people who drove or rode bikes to the summit to
view the riders coming over the top. Fortunately, there was little
activity for the field personnel, but it was a useful exercise and
learning experience in working in the ICS Unified Command structure and
in networking with the other agencies, as well as the opportunity to
work with the Red Cross in their trailer with their equipment.
On Saturday morning, the Ventura ARES/RACES group used our 146.79 MHz
repeater for the start of the race, which completed the leg in Thousand
Oaks. Dave Gilmore, AA6VH, placed a portable APRS unit in the lead CHP
vehicle so the racers' progress could be tracked by the Ventura County
locations, as it was in Santa Barbara.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Luigi's in Goleta are a lot of
fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good
conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday
of
every 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 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
Richard Abrams, Planner for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services was our guest speaker at the February meeting. Mr. Abrams presented a PowerPoint program on the state's Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). In a disaster, SEMS facilitates the setting of priorities, interagency cooperation, and the efficient flow of resources and information. This allows many different agencies from numerous jurisdictional areas to work together efficiently to protect lives, property, and the environment. It is important for all participants of a disaster relief operation, including volunteer agencies, be familiar with this system so everyone is "on the same page." There is now a National Incident Management System (NIMS) to standardize operations at the federal level.
*****
Last year for the Lemon Festival, we produced two publications, "Communications in a Disaster" and "72 Hour Emergency Kit." Will Tefft, KG6DHK, worked with some of his coworkers to prepare a professional tri-fold, color brochure for the first flyer. The Alternative gave us a good price on the color copying. The second publication was printed by, Lorin McRae, WA6ISS, who donated the folding. ARES had enough money in its SBARC fund to pay for these printings.
These two handouts have been received very positively by the general public, so we wanted to include them in the packets that are handed out to residents during the Fire Safe Council's "walk and talk" program. ARES provides safety communications for the teams of fire, public service, Red Cross, homeowner groups, etc., who go door to door in the spring to chat with residents about fire safety, disaster plans, evacuation routes, etc. Unfortunately, it was going to be far beyond our financial resources to produce the publications, so we asked the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council if they would be willing to help us with printing costs for 1,000 copies of each for the walk and talks. The Fire Safe Council was so impressed with the publications that they wanted to increase the number to 2,500 for distribution in north county and in other venues, and they offered to pay the full cost of printing!
We are very grateful to the Fire Safe Council for its generosity. And thank also to the ARES members who have, for the last three years, participated in the Fire Safe Council's programs. It has been a great opportunity for us to meet and network with members of the other organizations, which has created many opportunities for us to participate in some exciting activities, such as the recent Amgen Tour of California. This year's Walk and Talks will be on Saturdays in April.
*****
At the March 16th meeting of the Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council, Rolf Larsen of the US Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest, presented a great program on the USFS Air Tanker program at Santa Barbara Airport. Rolf showed photos of many of the aircraft stationed at the base over the years, including F6F, F7F, DC4, C119, DC7, P3, C130, etc. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, brought some photos taken during the Coyote Fire of 1964 of the tanker base in operation, loading some B-17s, TBMs, and other WWII aircraft.
*****
On March 23rd, Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, and Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, attended the monthly meeting of the Emergency Public Information Communicators (EPIC) group, which featured a team from Verizon Wireless. The Verizon folks presented a very detailed program on their wireless system and freely and patiently answered technical and operational questions from the audience.
Toward the end of the meeting, Lou received a page from Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, who reported he was receiving an ELT/EPIRB signal from repeaters at Santa Cruz Island, La Cumbre Peak, and La Vigia Hill downtown. The signal was fading in and out and would completely disappear for 20-30 minutes at a time. Bill and Bob Tangle, WD6ESU (who was attending the meeting as a Santa Barbara Search & Rescue Team), were authorized to respond to track the signal, which appeared to be offshore. The US Coast Guard had received no report of an emergency or EPIRB, and the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center had no reports from the satellite system. The ARES/SAR mission team was to try to get a bearing to the signal source to relay to the Coast Guard. They first went to Bates Road area, which is usually a good spot for offshore bearings but they couldn't hear the signal. They then went up Gibralter Road, where they were finally able to hear and get a bearing on the beacon, which was out to sea in the vicinity of Anacapa Island. They continued to East Camino Cielo and got another, similar bearing from near Romero Saddle. The information was passed along to the Coast Guard.
*****
Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR, was net control for the March 20th ARES Monday Night Net. She asked all participants to switch to something other than AC power and report during the roll call. Most grabbed hand held transceivers and many used mag mount or outside antennas. Some used mobile rigs and others went to standby auxiliary power, such as backup batteries. A guest checkin, KN6AA, Dick, was the envy of all, as his emergency operations center was truly impressive!
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Luigi's in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday
of every 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 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
The Santa Barbara South County ARES team had several field operations this month.
The ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) monitoring system on the SBARC repeaters alerted several times this month, including two requiring field response at the request of Santa Barbara Sheriff's SAR. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, responded to the first at the Santa Barbara Airport. It was an intermittent signal and after meeting with the Airport Police and walking around the ramp with the direction finder, the signal was not heard again and therefore, never located. A week later, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, responded to the airport and he was unable to locate the signal source either before it went off the air. We're beginning to suspect that folks on the airport are wise to seeing us wandering about with the DFs and realize their ELTs are on and turn them off before we can find them. Darn! It's always informative to locate the device so we can analyze the DF information with the actual location of the signal source.
*****
On April 22nd, we provided safety communications for the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council's "Walk & Talk" public outreach in Montecito. Participants included Montecito, Santa Barbara City, and Santa Barbara County Fire Departments, the U.S. Forest Service, and the American Red Cross. Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, drove the van to the Cold Spring School staging area. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was the Mission Manager. Assisting with Operations was Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ. Field teams that went with the walkers were Bruce Gordon, N6OL^, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, and Hubert/NAH. This was the only outreach on the south coast this year.
*****
On April 24th, Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, was the net controller for the Monday Night Net. He called the roll then had all net participants switch to 146.55 simplex. As he called each station, the others were to write down how well they heard each of the other stations (loud and clear, weak but readable, weak and not readable, not heard). Then everyone switched back to the 146.79 repeater and as Bruce called each member, he or she gave a report of how well the others were heard. This allowed each of us to gather information on the stations we would be able to communicate with if we had to use simplex in an emergency.
*****
At our monthly meeting on April 10th, we conducted a tabletop exercise with an earthquake scenario. The goals of the exercise were to allow members to make decisions in the event ARES leadership is unavailable to respond; to show how teamwork can solve complex problems; to see different approaches to solving the same problem; to allow participants to use their knowledge and imagination to reach objectives; to give participants knowledge of the capabilities of fellow ARES members and of solutions to problems so in an actual disaster these ideas might come to mind; and to develop response and communications plans for disasters and emergencies.
Members went into a group setting and given information they would need to help solve the problems, including earthquake scenario, repeater information, member capabilities, etc. Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, and Thorsten von Eicken were joined by Charlie Johnson (soon-to-be KI6DBP). Lou/ZKJ, Bruce/OLT, and Will/DHK acted as facilitators.
The group was given tasks and given a few minutes to solve them before the scenario developed into subsequent tasks. It was very interesting to see how the group solved the problems of managing ARES resources to meet the changing needs of the mission.
*****
Bird Flu Pandemic was the topic of the monthly meeting of the Emergency Public Information Communicators group. Lou/ZKJ attended and the County Health Department speaker gave a very informative presentation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is watching this potential Avian Flu pandemic very closely, studying how it evolves and how long the virus will take to mutate into one that is contagious human to human. The mechanism of the influenza virus antigenic "shift" was explained. The group A of influenza viruses is the one that had a pandemic potential. The viruses evolve easily and unpredictable. These viruses lack a "proofreading" mechanism, so small errors that occur when the virus replicates are not corrected. As a result, their genetic composition constantly changes in small ways. These changes are known as antigenic "shift," which is why flu vaccines have to be updated each year.
Influenza A viruses affect birds and a few mammals (like humans and pigs). An influenza virus from one species can trade genetic material with influenza viruses from another species in a process called "re-assortment." When they re-assort, a new hybrid virus is produced and known as an antigenic "shift." As human populations have no immunity to the resultant new virus, and as no existing vaccines can provide adequate protection, antigenic shift has historically resulted in pandemics that cause extremely serious illness.
Humans who have contacted the Avian Flu have so far been in very close contact with poultry, including secretions and feces. Tests are being conducted on populations in some countries such as Indonesia to see if people have antibodies to the disease (those who have contracted the illness and survived, perhaps without identifying the disease.
A lot of work is being done internationally to track the disease. There is also a substantial amount of preparation being done at the federal, state, and local levels to prepare for a pandemic. The County Health Department has worked with other agencies, such as the office of emergency services, law enforcement, animal control, agriculture, etc., to develop plans. However, the major problem will be the tsunami-like surge in need for medical services and people will need to be prepared to care for themselves and their families, as there will be insufficient facilities, staff, and supplies to accommodate all sick people.
More information on this subject can be found at http://pandemicflu.gov
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Luigi's in Goleta are a lot of fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good conversation!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every 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 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
Bob Ward, KB6CEY, has undertaken an important project at the Samarkand Retirement Center, convincing the administration that communications should be an important part of their disaster planning. This would provide direct contact through the ARES net to the folks at the Department Operating Center (DOC) at the County Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The center could report condition of its occupants and facilities and request services as well as relay resources available at Samarkand to assist EMS.
Bob has received the green light from Samarkand to purchase and install the necessary Amateur radio equipment for an ARES station on campus on the two meter and 220 frequencies. The station will be battery operated and securely housed.
While the station will be designated as Samarkand, it will be operated under the call sign of the control operator. Currently, there are three licensed hams who have indicated they will help, Bob/CEY, Rom Anthony, KI6CI, and Bobbie Anthony, KB6ILV. They are encouraging some other residents to get their licenses so there will be enough operators to do the Monday Night Net and be available when disaster strikes.
“Many thanks to the ARES group, especially Lou, N6ZKJ, and Bruce, N6OLT, for their advice, encouragement, and assistance with this project,” Bob said.
*****
ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) searches kept the local ELT Direction Finding teams busy this month. On Saturday, May 6th, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ was asked to track down an ELT that appeared to be coming from the Santa Barbara Airport. As it turned out, this was easier said than done! Here’s Bill’s report.
Driving to the airport, I passed Stratman Aviation (off Hollister near the fire station) and heard a loud signal, so stopped for a reading outside the fenced area. Since I didn’t have gate access to do a more refined DF check, I drove on to the Airport Police Department on the south side of the airport near the terminal.
After entering the gate to the ramp, the readings were strong with lots of reflections. An Air West had its APU running, which didn’t help! Since the signal heard from Stratman was strong, I asked the PD if we could go back there to take a quick check. Indications from Stratman were that, indeed, it was back at the “T” hangars between the passenger terminal building and Mercury Aviation. So back to Mercury. By this time the Air West jet had moved on, which was helpful.
With 20 or so locked metal “T” hangars and a blasting ELT, how can you be sure that the hangar you select is the correct one? They are all locked and no keys are readily available Do you cut open a hangar only to find out it is not the correct one? Unlikely! The entire process must be an “outside job” without access to any hangars. I had to have assurance that the hangar I selected for opening was the correct hanger and reveal an errant ELT.
The “T” hangars are back to back and dovetail into each other. Meaning it is possible for the signal to bleed from the back of one hangar to the back of another. Hangars are full of corner reflectors so trying to perform a normal left/right DF soon falls apart. Back to basics and isolating the offender. In this case using the signal strength method seemed to work the best. Walk up and down several hangar rows about 20 times and compare the signal strength. There were very few holes in the metalwork where I could push through an antenna to get a relative reading. Eventually, a pattern began to take shape with assurance that it would be the correct one.
Once I located the suspect hangar (#6), it meant having the PD call Mercury and 15 minutes later the ramp person showed up, but he doesn’t have a key! Back to the office to see if anyone has a key. In this case, a key was eventually found at Mercury. There is no central repository of hangar keys. Some are key locks and others are combination. But no one person has the authority to gain access to all hangars.
A quick check inside the hangar determined this was the correct aircraft by close coupling the L-Per to the ELT antenna. Touched the engine cowling and it was still warm. Next problem: the aircraft door was locked. After the ramp guy drove off to call the owner, I found the door was not locked but latched tightly with the airhead safety latch. Call back the ramp guy.
Quick internal check of the baggage area revealed an entry panel to the empennage and the ELT. But this would require taking apart the baffle behind the luggage area. Lots of work1 Time for Reynolds wrap, but events moved fast so no need to wrap up the antenna. (A “tent” can be made of aluminum foil and placed over the antenna to attenuate the signal, enough so that it does not interfere with the search & rescue satellite system.)
Looking at the cockpit panel, I found a small rocker switch which could remotely turn the ELT to ARM (automatic) but also to ON. By the time the owner called back and I spoke with him as I pushed the switch to OFF. The ELT went silent! The remote switch is very close to the pilot’s control yoke. Moke likely, body contact was made with the non-locking rocker switch.
No doubt this whole exercise took longer than it should have, but I had only one shot at insuring I picked the correct hanger. I had to be right the first time. In most cases, we find aircraft on the ramp within 15-20 minutes, but the circumstances in this case were different. It was important to be slow and methodical.
The Airport PD was with me all the way and was not concerned that the process was taking time. The officer did comment that there was no way they could have done this on their own with just a 121.5 MHz receiver in the vehicle. I suspect he is quite right. Again, they were thankful for our services.
Mr. Trent, the pilot, also gave this thanks and said he would check the aircraft the following day.
*****
Fortunately, the next ELT was a much easier mission!
On Thursday, May 11th, at about 1700 hours, the local ELT system alerted to a very strong signal coming from the Santa Barbara Airport. Bill/UUQ, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, responded. They reported to the Airport Police Station and an officer soon met them and let them in the gate to the ramp near Mercury Aviation. This one was like the proverbial “shooting fish in a barrel.”
The team again met with the Airport Police and gained entry to the ramp. It took less than 30 seconds to identify the aircraft! As the team walked on the ramp, the L-Per pointed straight to a Cessna 182 parked on the ramp – with two men head first in the fuselage behind the baggage compartment. The maintenance crew, upon seeing the “ELT Police,” gave themselves up without resistance. The crew was changing out the ELT antenna, which had corroded away. They had a portable radio with them to check when the work was complete, but didn’t think to turn it on while the work was in progress. Two very embarrassed and apologetic guys.
Bob Levinson, K6CZD, having dinner at the Elephant Bar Restaurant nearby heard all of the activity on the radio and volunteered to help if needed.
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langly, VA, which is responsible for all land SAR activities in the continental US, said they were working five ELT signals and one missing aircraft going on at the same time in California. Securing this ELT was essential to reduce the number of satellite hits the RCC was working. They were quite pleased when they heard this ELT was quickly located and silenced.
Thanks to Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, for acting as Mission Manager for these two missions.
Also, thanks to the continued cooperation from the Santa Barbara Airport Police officers. They are polite, friendly, helpful, and patient with our ARES teams, and quick to supply us with whatever we need to accomplish the mission.
If you would like more information about the Santa Barbara ELT monitoring system, you can go to the public service page on the SBARC web site, www.sbarc.org. You can also find more information about the search and rescue satellite system at www.noaa.gov.
*****
Our May ARES meeting featured a video tape from the History Channel on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. It was very interesting to see actual still and motion pictures of the earthquake damage and subsequent rebuilding, which will have impact on damage and loss of life in future quakes in the Bay area.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners normally go on vacation when the club meetings adjourn for the summer. However, we have so much fun, we’ve decided to continue them on the third Friday of the month. Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good conversation at Cody’s Restaurant off Hollister Avenue in the Turnpike Shopping Center!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every 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/July 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
The Santa Barbara South County ARES team is having a very busy summer.
On June 4th, members of the ARES South County (Santa Barbara area) and
Central County (Santa Ynez Valley) participated in a search and rescue
exercise conducted by the Santa Barbara County Search And Rescue Team
(SBCSAR). The Sheriff's Aero Squadron also participated. The scenario
was based on a missing aircraft with an Emergency Locator Transmitter
(ELT) signal.
The ARES teams were fielded shortly before 0800 hours to respond to the
ELT signal. The four teams were dispatched by SAR to proceed to East
Camino Cielo and Figueroa Mountain areas to listen for and take bearings
on any ELT signal detected. Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Dave Hackleman, K6VML,
and Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, were assigned to Gibralter Road at East
Camino Cielo then east to the helipad a few miles in. Lou Dartanner,
N6ZKJ, and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, went to East Camino Cielo from Highway
154 to the first water tower (they later were sent to complete this
easterly route to meet with Bruce's team. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and
Claude Gago, KE6JSA, traveled West Camino Cielo to the Winchester Gun
Club. Pete Nicklin, K6TOD, and wife LuAnn, KG6OWG, traveled up Happy
Canyon Road to the top of Figueroa Mountain. Members drove 303 miles on
this mission.
While the ELT had been heard by the SBARC ELT monitoring system, the
beacon was moved shortly after it was activated and it was not heard by
any of the ground teams. In the meantime, members of the Sheriff's Aero
Squadron were able to hear and track the signal and lead the SBCSAR
teams up into the correct area (Paradise Road). The SBCSAR Incident
Commander requested the ARES teams to come in to the Santa Ynez Airport
Command Post. Many of the ARES members were then put on flight crews to
fly with the Aero Squadron. Dave/VML, Hubert/NAH, Bill/UUQ, Claude/JSA,
and Pete/TOD, all got flights. They were able to practice with the audio
boxes designed by Bruce/OLT and Bill/UUQ, which hook into the aircraft
audio system with noise canceling mics that allow them to talk on the
aircraft intercom or on the portable radio on fire and Amateur
frequencies. The boxes make communications amazingly clear, solving the
problem of severe background noise interfering with intelligible
conversation from inside the aircraft.
At the monthly ARES meeting on June 12th, members critiqued the previous
day's exercise and an ELT direction finding refresher course was given
by Bruce/OLT and Lou/ZKJ. There was sufficient interest in furthering
the training that a field training for interested ARES members would be
conducted in July.
On July 4th, South County ARES members were asked to provide a fire
watch patrol for the Los Padres National Forest Service to keep an eye
out for fireworks, open fires, and other potential hazards along East
Camino Cielo. Fourteen members responded to the call.
Claude Gago, KE6JSA, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, Barbara Mickelson, KD6HKR,
Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, Tom Saunders, N6YX, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, Mack
Stanton, KD6NBZ, Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, Thorsten
von Eicken, N6TVE, and Bob Ward, KB6CEY, were assigned teams to drive
West Camino Cielo, East Camino Cielo, and Gibralter Road. A couple of
incidents were reported, including one that was reported to one of the
teams by a civilian of a fire starting on Gibralter Road, which turned
out to be a false alarm. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was Mission Manager,
assisted by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, and Bruce Gordon, N6OLT.
Bruce had updated the APRS system hardware and software and it worked
perfectly. Each team was equipped with a portable unit from the van, and
we also put one on the Forest Service Battalion Chief's truck. This
proved very handy when incidents were reported and we know exactly how
close the chief was to the reported problem so we could tell the ARES
team. Were also given permission to transmit on the USFS Service Net,
so
we were able to talk direct to the Chief without going through two
dispatch centers.
The van was placed near the Sheriff Dispatch Center and we used the
van's telephone switchboard to provide a portable phone to the fire
dispatcher so they could talk direct to us. Again, this proved quite
useful during the evening.
The Forest Service was very pleased with our assistance.
*****
Chief Pressmeyer was a guest at our monthly meeting on July 10th. He
expressed his and the Forest Service's appreciation for our continued
work for them. Many times their staffing is down because they have to
send personnel to mutual aid responses to fires in other parts of
California or even out of state. He also answered many of our questions
on wide-ranging topics from Adventure Passes to brush clearance.
Thorsten von Eicken, N6TVE, Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, and Will Tefft,
KG6DHK, brought us up to date on the digital committee's work in getting
a system up and running and their experiments in the field. They also
had a demonstration of WinLink 2000 to show us. This has proved to be
a
very exciting research and development project for the team.
*****
On July 14th, the Sheriff's Aero Squadron was activated for a fire watch
patrol during a declared General Red Flag Fire Alert. On Saturday, July
15th, Mack Stanton, KD6NBZ, flew as an Aero Squadron member and on
Sunday, Claude Gago, KE6JSA flew. ARES members from Lompoc and Santa
Ynez made up the other crews.
The following weekend, July 22-23, the patrols were again requested.
Dave Hackleman, K6VML, flew on Saturday, and Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and
Bob Levinson, K6CZD, went out on Sunday. There were several working
brush fires on Sunday and a substantial amount of cloud to ground
lightning, which started several fires that were reported by the air
crews.
*****
The ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) monitoring system on the SBARC
repeaters alerted several times, including some requiring field response
at the request of Santa Barbara Sheriff's SAR.
On July 8th, shortly after 1700 hours, the SBARC ELT monitoring system
alerted to a signal, apparently coming from the Santa Barbara Airport.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Search and Rescue was notified and
the Sheriff asked us to respond. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Lou
Dartanner, N6ZKJ, drove to the south side of the Santa Barbara Airport
and located the ELT in an airport in one of the T hangars.
On July 11th, at around 1630, the ELT monitoring system again sounded
and SBCSAR was notified and we were asked to respond. Bill Talanian,
W1UUQ, located the aircraft on the south ramp of the aircraft. It was
not based at the airport, so the responders from Airport Patrol and
Mercury aviation were unable to access the airport to secure the ELT.
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, was called to bring some aluminum foil to make a
"tent" over the ELT antenna to attenuate the signal so it would
not be
heard by the search and rescue satellite system. It turned out the
aircraft had been purchased in Washington state and flown to Santa
Barbara. The ELT was new, but defective, and was returned to the
manufacturer for replacement. The new ELT arrived on the 27th and was
installed in the aircraft. Shortly after 1630, the ELT monitoring system
sounded and the whole process started again! Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ,
located the ELT and the Mercury mechanic was beside himself because he
had installed the new beacon earlier in the day. This is a potentially
very serious problem with the design of the ELT, so it was referred "up
the food chain" to the folks who administer the satellite system
and the
license of the beacons.
On July 30th, another signal tripped the system and appeared to be in
the vicinity of Santa Barbara Harbor. This time the SBCSAR team
responded and located the EPIRB in a vessel at the harbor and it was
secured.
*****
The promised ELT direction finding training was held at Stow House
Parking Lot on July 22nd by Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, and Lou Dartanner,
N6ZKJ. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Levinson, K6CZD,
Norm Salzman, KA6UP, and Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, attended the basic
orientation in hand held and mobile DF techniques. After a few hours of
getting the feel for the equipment, a transmitter was hidden behind
Orchard Supply in Fairview Center and the teams were dispatched to
locate it. Will was first on scene and the group then met for lunch at
Rust's. (The training was done on the ELT practice frequency.) Ian
Williams of the National Park Service at Santa Cruz Island met Bill at
the parking lot to pick up some equipment. He stayed on to watch the
activity and joined us for lunch and it was a pleasure to meet him.
*****
The digital committee has been doing a lot of work recently. A few folks
met at the home of Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, where he and friend James
Biergiel, helped get WinLink 2000 working. Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was able
to get everything in order and send and receive e-mails via the Telpac
node at La Vigil.
Some field work was done by Shaw/BL, Thorsten von Eicken, N6TVE, and
Thorsten's friend Anshuman Kanwar on 900 MHz, which showed some
promising results for further experimentation. A 6 GHz 802.11 a
experiment is underway, with good success at close range. This is all
happening at "warp speed," so more details will undoubtedly
follow.
The likely idea is to pick a few promising technologies and make it
turnkey so any ARES member can "deploy/operate" the equipment,
but not
necessarily "develop/configure" it - much like Bruce's/OLT APRS
box, or
Slow-Scan-on-a-stick.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners at Luigi's in Goleta are a lot of
fun! Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good
conversation when SBARC meetings resume in September!
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday
of
every 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 2006 - Combined with June
August/September 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
The Communications Van was on display at the SBARC Hamfest in August. It drew a number of folks who were interested to see it and Will Tefft, KG6DHK, Hubert Stamps, KC6NAH, and Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, were on hand to answer questions.
*****
Bob Ward, KB6CEY, has the Samarkand retirement community’s emergency two-meter station licensed, on the air, and checking in to the Monday night ARES net. They will be applying for a vanity call ending in SMK. They also have a number of residents who are currently studying for their amateur licenses! Bob gave us a great briefing, complete with photos of the installation, at our August meeting. He was accompanied by Samarkand resident David Turner, AD6NV.
In addition to Bob’s briefing at our August meeting, we also talked about the recent Red Flag Fire Alert air patrol. Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, brought one of the audio boxes used in the aircraft to tie into the plane’s audio panel and reviewed how to use them (remember to bring 9V batteries for them). We are also continuing to evaluate what will work best for us in digital communications. We are exploring WinLink, but since it relies on the Internet, we want to build in reduncy by using some sort of RF method. At the break in the meeting, Hubert, KC6NAH, asked for help in unlocking his truck to retrieve his keys. With help from Shaw, AE6BL, Mack, KD6NBZ, and Bill, W1UUQ with the coat hanger, the door was opened. It’s a good thing the sheriff didn’t drive by at the time!
*****
At our September meeting, Charlie Johnson, KI6DPB, was our guest and spoke about the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) exercise held on the 30th. This was a tabletop exercise based on a major earthquake. The participants were from local businesses who have developed disaster plans using the CAER program. They were divided into three “companies” and each was to react to the scenario as it unfolded. Some of folks were also tasked with being in the “control” group to feed the companies information as it unfolded, and others were set up in a Joint Information Center (JIC) to process information for release to the public. Jenny Benjamin, arepresentative from the 211 system, was there and it was her first opportunity to actually screen and process information and she put a “test” message on the 211 web page.
Will Tefft, KG6DHK, was in the JIC assisting Charlie Johnson, KI6DPB. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, was with the control group. ARES members were on the air and were given simulated assignments as part of the exercise. Although no field response was made, members were “sent” to the local hospitals, DRI, County Health, and the County and City Emergency Operating Centers. As the drill progressed, some of the ARES personnel were reassigned to the Earl Warren Showground when a field hospital was set up and “brought” the generator to power it.
The facilitator had originally planned to use cell phones to pass taffic back and forth amont the participants, JIC, and control goup. Fortunately, Lou brought four FRS radios and the Red Cross came up with another five or six (although they didn’t have a supply of AA batteries on hand). That saved the day, because the cell phones were not reliable in all parts of the building but the FRS radios worked flawlessly. So ARES members, be sure to pack your FRS radios when you respond to a mission. Another lesson learned was by the Red Cross. They had just installed a new phone system and this exercise pointed out some difficulties with it, allowing Joe Heumphreus, K6DXW and the Red Cross team to make the necessary changes before it was needed in an emergency.
*****
The ELT system has finally quieted down. The last alarm requiring response was in August and the Santa Barbara County Search & Rescue Team located the beacon in a vessel at Santa Barbara Harbor.
*****
Our thanks to Michael Taylor, WA6RQV, for taking on the job as maintenance officer for the SBARC generator. The apparatus had been neglected for several years and we wanted to keep it in the inventory of resources available to the community for use during an emergency. It had not been exercised at Field Day for several years, so it sat idle at Direct Relief International. The SBARC board was on the verge of deciding whether to sell it. Thanks very much Michael for taking on this challenge. We will be looking for activities in which we can use it to give it some running time so we can have confidence in it for an emergency.
*****
On August 14th, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, installed the weather station at La Cumbre Peak West. The station will report the weather every ten minutes and has been tied in to several weather networks, including NWS Station ID AS303. You can find it at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=K6TZ-11. There is a link on the SBARC web page under New Projects.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners are now being held at Cody’s Restaurant in the Turnpike Center. Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good conversation before the SBARC meetings.
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday of every 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.
September 2006 - Combined with August
October 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES
Update
by Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ
Emergency Coordinator
THE ONLY THING TOUGHER THAN PLANNING FOR A DISASTER IS EXPLAINING WHY YOU DIDN’T!
That was the theme for the ARES exhibit at the two-day California Lemon Festival at Girsh Park on the 21st and 22nd.
On Saturday, the “Safety Street” was placed in a parking lot off the Phelps Road side of the event. Safety Street consists of apparatus from Santa Barbara County Fire, Sheriff’s Department, CHP, AMR ambulance, CAER, Equine Evac, Kid Power, Red Cross, Goleta Union School District bus, etc. One of the highlights was a horse-drawn steam fire pumper (without the horses but complete with Dalmatian).
On Saturday, we had the van opened up and some poster boards showing various ARES activities. Bill Talanian had a table with sample emergency beacons and direction finding equipment. We decided to push the disaster preparedness concept, so Lou took the get-away backpack from her car and spread the contents on a table, covered with a piece of clear vinyl to protect them. The Red Cross gave us the extra packets of emergency preparedness information from this year’s Walk & Talks, and we handed out some of those, which included our 72 hour emergency kit information sheet.
Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Dave Hackleman, K6VML, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Bill Talanian, W1UUQ, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, staffed the booth. Shaw Takeuchi, AE6BL, dropped by to set up a WinLink system and a wireless connection via 900 MHz. He brought a little beam antenna, which was mounted on the van’s mast, along with the American flag. We managed to send an e-mail to Richard Abrams, planner with the County Office of Emergency Services, who was working the CAER booth. We also sent him a text message on his cell phone. Success! He received them both. We were anxious to test this capability to evaluate its feasibility for future use during emergency and disaster relief. The foot traffic of festival attendees was pretty light, but we managed to talk to a number of them.
On Sunday, the Safety Street was moved to Santa Felicia Street side (where we have been in the past). However, this time we were placed very near the entrance to the event and next to the fire pumper. What a difference a day makes! The same crew worked the second day. In addition to the emergency kit, we also brought out a slow scan TV system and put computer and radio on a card table near the van. We had a winner! We had hundreds of people to talk to and lots of interest in the getaway kit, because we showed folks how they could easily make their own. We had fun with the SSTV taking photos of kids on the fire pumper with the dog and then the kids and parents could watch the pictures come in on the computer. We e-mailed about six photos to the parents with a brief description of how we use SSTV. Bill also had interest in his ELT display and we also had more people touring the van. And we might have talked a few folks into becoming hams.
It was a long weekend, but it tuned out to be very worthwhile.
*****
We have two new members, David Turner, AD6NV, and Roy Washburn, KI6FZG, both from the Samarkand group. Bob is conducting lessons for some of the residents and staff to prepare them for their Tech license exams.
*****
The ELT system has finally quieted down and we’ve had no alarms requiring field responses.
*****
Our before-the-SBARC meeting dinners are now being held at Cody’s Restaurant in the Turnpike Center. Come join us around 5:30 for dinner, drink, or just good conversation before the SBARC meetings.
We cordially invite you to attend one of our meetings (second Monday
of every 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.
News and Information (also see Past News)
November 2006 - Santa Barbara South County ARES Update
by Will Tefft, KG6DHK
Emergency Coordinator
Santa Barbara South County ARES members participated in the Public Health Department (PHD) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Statewide Medical & Health Disaster Drill on 15 November 2006
The exercise incident was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, with the epicenter located just north of the city of San Francisco, at 0512 hours. Santa Barbara area participation was a medical mutual aid response.
The South County ARES group assumed primary countywide net control for operations between EMS and north county hospitals on the 145.180 MHz Santa Ynez repeater at 1230. We conducted our Santa Barbara local area net on the 146.79 Downtown Santa Barbara repeater. Claude Gago, KE6JSA, and Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ were net controllers operating from the SBARC Mobile Communications Van deployed in the parking lot at the San Antonio Building.
Cottage Hospital communicators Tom Saunders, N6YX and Norm Salzman, KA6UHP, were on-station at 1230 hours. Harry Rouse, K6PDQ was stationed at the Goleta Valley Hospital parking lot. Although the hospital was not participating, we elected to have an operator there for practice.
Santa Barbara County PHD/EMS Department Operating Center was staffed by: Bruce Gordon, N6OLT, Bob Levinson, K6CZD, Will Tefft, KG6DHK, Thorsten Von Eicken, N6TVE, and Dave Hackleman, K6VML.
Our new ARES team at Samarkand Retirement Community also participated. Bob Ward, KB6CEY led his team from the new emergency radio station he set up there. Our congratulations and thanks go out to Samarkand for establishing this important new service that will be an example to other communities throughout the Santa Barbara area.
New ARES team members: David Turner, AD6NV, and Roy Washburn, KI6FZG helped Bob at Samarkand. They operated on 146.790 MHz and used a J-Pole antenna. Some of their traffic included simulated requests for transport, a power outage, and requests for O+ blood.
Northern Santa Barbara County ARES communicators staffed Lompoc Hospital and Marian Hospital stations. ARES communicators at Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital participated in the morning and were not part of the afternoon session.
At 1400 Santa Barbara County experienced a simulated temporary power outage due to grid issues in California as a result of the Bay Area earthquake. ARES established communications between hospitals and EMS. At 1430: EMS initiated a satellite phone test (with communications done through ARES). The satellite phone test was done with the first hospital contacting the second, the second hospital contacting the third, and so on.
Operators set up in the County Health Department’s Department Operating Center (DOC) in the auditorium of the San Antonio Building next to the south-facing wall. We also set up a table on the patio outside the auditorium. The coax from our antenna mounted on the roof of the building drops to an adjacent room so we ran it out the window and over to our table. We took one J-pole antenna and tripod from the van and set it up to service the 145.18 MHz radio. We put a card table on the other side of the window inside the DOC and ran coax through the window. We set up a computer and established a Winlink connection and sent and received email from an operator at Marian Hospital.
In addition to voice traffic, we handled digital traffic at the Department Operating Center at EMS. The Winlink connection was performed using a ready-to-go suitcase setup, with a laptop running the Winlink software, a soundcard TNC, and a handheld transceiver. A roll-up J-pole antenna was used due to reception difficulties with the HT's whip antenna. Communication was over 145.05 MHz to La Vigia where a Winlink Telpac node forwarded packets to the Winlink email server via the Internet.
After substituting a twin lead J-pole antenna for the whip on the HT, reception improved greatly on the Winlink setup. An HT, sitting on a non-metallic table is even worse than hand held as their antennas are tuned with the assumption of a hand gripping the case to provide something like a ground. It changed the Winlink path from near useless to solid.
Traffic that ARES was required to deliver was light and accomplished by voice and Winlink. EMS originated much of the traffic to participating hospitals. ARES communicators at EMS received replies and delivered them to the staff in the DOC
The drill ended shortly after 1500 hours.
At our monthly training meeting on November 13th, we reviewed the MedEx as well as our static display for the SBARC November 17th meeting. Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, then gave a presentation on "Disaster Psychology". The SBARC meeting was Special Interest Group night and we set up displays of our various activities. We had a lot of interest in our information about disaster preparedness, get-away kits, and the like. The Samarkand group participated with a photo board of their station.
Everyone is invited to attend the monthly ARES meeting every second Monday at the PHS Auditorium at 300 San Antonio Rd. Hope to see you there.
December 2006 - ARES Update is not available...
SBARC ARES Past News
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