June 3, 2011

In accord with our Memorandum of Understanding with The Salvation Army, we are looking for volunteers to aid them in their work in Joplin, Missouri at this time.  There is a specific process to be followed in doing this, so please read this information carefully.

The Salvation Army continues to provide food, drink and other items of basic care to survivors and rescue workers in the impacted areas of Joplin, MO.  While cell phone coverage is no longer much of a problem in Joplin, amateur radio continues to be important in certain operations such as those of the Salvation Army where the ability for several persons to hear what is going on at the same time is an asset.

As a SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) operator, if deployed, you will be asked to go out on Salvation Army vehicles into the areas impacted by the Joplin tornado to supply logistical support.  The Salvation Army vehicles supply basic human needs (particularly food and drink) and you will play a big part in the operation.  You will relay information as to inventory, requests for food and drink, maintenance problems that develop, etc.   It may surprise you, but at certain periods of the day the radio traffic has been almost constant.  The Salvation Army Disaster Response Operations are now running from 7 a.m. to as late as 9 p.m.

DO NOT SELF_DEPLOY!

Wait to be contacted for possible deployment and assignment.

The qualifications for being assigned are:

ü  Technician or higher Amateur Radio license.

ü  Good health – you will encounter 100 degree heat, exertion and long hours.  You need to be in good shape!

ü  Ability to take on a 3 to 5 day deployment in the field.

ü  Have an HT and a mobile (VHF/UHF) radio – also having APRS is a big plus.

ü  Experience with disaster responses.  ARES leadership experience a plus.

ü  NIMS/ICS training with a minimum of IS-100, IS-200 completed.

The process to volunteer is:

1.  Send an email to emergency@arrl.org (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=emergency null@null arrl NULL.org) (Include name, call, contact information (phone & email), location and specific information on how you meet each of the criteria above)

2.  Your information will be checked against the current needs

3.  If cleared, your contact information will be sent to our liaison with SATERN field leadership.

4.  If assigned, you will be contacted by SATERN directly and given further instructions.

The Salvation Army will try to supply you with some type of lodging, if available.  If deployed, you should consider bringing a sleeping bag or make other sleeping arrangements should you need to be housed at the Salvation Army.

SATERN operations in Joplin are being held on the 147.00 (positive offset) repeater.  If you are deployed, you will need at minimum a 2-meter handheld radio with a spare battery pack (or cigarette lighter adapter) and a magnetic mount antenna.  Due to some communications problems experienced on 2-meters within the impacted area, a 2-meter mobile radio with magnetic mount antenna would be desirable.  Additional information will be furnished to you.

No reimbursement for travel or any other expenses has been authorized at this time. Therefore, I would recommend that you record your mileage and save your receipts.  You may be able to deduct your mileage from your taxes (consult your tax preparer). The Salvation Army will of course provide you food and drink while on duty.

=========================================

Thank you!

73,

Steve Ewald, WV1X

Supervisor, Field Organization Team

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio™

860-594-0265

sewald@arrl.org (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=sewald null@null arrl NULL.org)

Amateur Radio operators and CERT members can help save lives by learning how to search for missing children and at-risk adults during a one-day training event to be held Saturday, March 19, in Stockton, California.

The “Urban Search for CERT and ARES®” workshop will kickoff creation of a new rapid-response program using Amateur Radio operators and Community Emergency Response Team members as searchers. Volunteers attending the class will become the program’s first members.

Taught by leaders of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, the class will give volunteers the basic skills necessary to safely look for missing kids and at-risk adults in the urban or suburban environment.

For details, read this entire article in the February 16, 2011 issue of the ARES E-Letter (http://www NULL.arrl NULL.org/ares-el?issue=2011-02-16).

John Rabold KS6M
Section Emergency Coordinator, East Bay Section
ARRL (http://www NULL.arrl NULL.org/), The national association for Amateur Radio™

The announcement I have forwarded below contains information about National Weather Service Storm Spotter training to be offered near Stockton on February 26, 2011. Amateurs who are interested in public service or emergency communications, and especially those who are ARES® (http://www NULL.arrl NULL.org/ares) members or who are interested in ARES, should consider attending. While we may not have much catastrophic weather here in the East Bay Section, the reporting skills learned in Storm Spotter training improve and reinforce related skills often used in emergency communications. The National Weather Service is a served agency of ARES.

More about NWS SKYWARN and Storm Spotters: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/spotter.php (http://www NULL.wrh NULL.noaa NULL.gov/mtr/spotter NULL.php)

John Rabold KS6M
Section Emergency Coordinator, East Bay Section
ARRL (http://www NULL.arrl NULL.org/), The national association for Amateur Radio™

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From: David Coursey, N5FDL <sjares@mac.com>
Ham Radio Saturday! Starts Feb. 26th

The California QSO Party, Really Tall Towers and Storm Spotter training are on tap for the first Ham Radio Saturday! event, organized by TracyARC, Manteca ARC and San Joaquin County ARES. The event is open to all. It will take place at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp from 9am until 1pm on Saturday, February 26, 2011.

Speakers include: Rich Cutler, WC6H is the Calaveras County record holder in California QSO Party, which for one weekend a year turns the Golden State into wanted DX! He’ll talk about the annual contest, held the first weekend in October, and why even “non-contesters” can have a great time. Bring your contest-related questions and Rich will be happy to answer them. How can you win CQP? Find out at Ham Radio Saturday!

Robert Hess, W1RH is Director of Engineering/Operations at Channels 13 and 31 and knows all about life at the “top of the world.” His 45-minute presentation takes us all the way to the top of really tall broadcast–”hey, can we put a repeater there?”–towers and includes lots of pictures. You may never get to the top of a 2,000-foot tower, but W1RH can share the experience–vividly.

Eric Kurth — Meteorologist — Sacramento National Weather Service Forecast Office — will present the official NWS Storm Spotter training for Northern California. Yes, we do get the occasional tornado, but what NWS really needs us for are reports of fog, flooding, heavy rain and other significant events. What to call in to NWS? Where to call? Eric will be assigning official spotter numbers and passing out the “secret” telephone number at Ham Radio Saturday! He will also talk about flooding and what NWS’ new dual-polarized radar means for weather forecasting and measurement.

Hello Everyone:

Ryan is kind enough to post this announcement for your attention.

I started a project over eleven years ago now to expose hospitalized children and their families to the joys of amateur radio in an easy to manage, attractive way. This project started out with KID’S CLUB amateur radio exposure units. I gave a KID’S CLUB unit to a pediatric cardiologist who is also an amateur radio operator to supervise its use for the hospitalized children in Tampa Children’s Hospital. Since that first placement over eleven years ago, the project has grown, but no further units have been placed in children’s hospitals or Ronald McDonald Houses.

I have expanded this project greatly. The KID’S CLUB aspect of the project now has a “ComCage” unit also. The hospitalized children and their families can now be given a choice to take home a KID’S CLUB amateur radio exposure unit, or a “ComCage” amateur radio exposure unit after a monetary deposit is made with Child Life staff in the children’s hospital or Ronald McDonald House. After the young patient and his/her family enjoys the unit at home, the patient could purchase the unit by forfeiting the deposit, or return the unit to the hospital or Ronald McDonald House for a return of his/her deposit.

I have a neat video of the demonstration KID’S CLUB unit on the project blog at: http://duanewyatt.wordpress.com (http://duanewyatt NULL.wordpress NULL.com/) .  I also have pictures of the prototype “ComCage” unit. Future ComCage units will be attractive, much smaller and lighter than the un-attractive,big and heavy prototype unit you see in the blog. However, the functionality will still be the same- everything to get on the air would be in this portable unit on wheels, including the fact that the ComCage unit can act as it’s own support for the antennas and mast during use.

I am searching for sponsors for this project to place the KID’S CLUB unit and/or ComCage units in your local children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses and supervise their use.  This would make a great club project.  I would be overjoyed to donate my demonstration KID’S CLUB unit to you if you have Child Life Specialists or local Ronald McDonald House staff in your local area willing to give this project a try.  You can feel free to contact me or Ryan. My email address is: avmavetdw@hotmail.com (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=avmavetdw null@null hotmail NULL.com).  Thanks very much and I certainly hope for your interest in getting this started in your areas.

Sincerely yours,
Duane Wyatt WA0MJD (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=avmavetdw null@null hotmail NULL.com) (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=avmavetdw null@null hotmail NULL.com) (http://us NULL.mc810 NULL.mail NULL.yahoo NULL.com/mc/compose?to=avmavetdw null@null hotmail NULL.com)