RACES Notes 06/14/2006 News and Announcements 1) Upcoming Events June 16 - Local Emergency Planning Committee 1:30 Cochise College June 17 – MCU Display SV Methodist Church 12:30 June 24-25 – Field Day July 4 – Bisbee Coaster Race July 7-9 – Williams Hamfest 2) Annual Pager Dues – Just a reminder that if you have a RACES pager that the annual payments are due in June. I have recently received payments from a couple members and want to thank you for reminding me it’s that time of year again. I am billed monthly by AZ Paging. I offer the option to pay monthly at $1.50 a month or annually at $15.00. 3) MCU Update – I was advised yesterday that the Regional Advisory Council has approved using some of the Homeland Security grant money to build a security fence for the MCU at Green Acres. I’ll have more on that subject on our next net. On a recent training event, we determined that one of the support ropes for the military surplus Inverted V antenna kit is missing. I have found a similar support rope tie-down and rebuilt the missing component. I also color coded the three long ropes to facilitate putting this antenna up. The three short ropes were already clearly marked. The short ones are coded yellow and the longer ones light green. Toward the end of July we schedule another MCU hands-on training opportunity. 4) Coaster Race Reminder – Still looking for volunteers for the July 4th Coaster Race in Bisbee. Minimum requirements are to have a hand-held radio and enjoy a morning in Bisbee watching the youngsters speed down Tombstone Canyon to the Finish Line at the Post Office. Our job is to provide course security and warn the organizers of potential dangerous conditions on the track. It starts about 8:00 in the morning and generally over by 10:00. This allows plenty of time to go to the Warren District and watch one of the oldest, continuously occurring, Fourth of July Parades in Arizona. 5) SV Methodist Display – We have been tasked and been approved to set up the MCU at the Sierra Vista Methodist church on Saturday from 12:30 - 1:30. Anyone wishing to assist at this display and perhaps get some training at the same time should contact me during comments. Training – Tonight I would like to review some Principles of Disaster Communication as published by the ARRL in their Field Resources Guide. 1. Keep the QRM down. During a disaster, crucial stations may be weak. All other stations should remain silent unless they are called upon or have information pertinent to the situation. 2. Monitor established disaster frequencies. Many ARES/RACES organizations and some geographical location have established disaster frequencies where someone is always, or nearly always monitoring for possible calls. 3. Avoid spreading rumors. During and after a disaster situation, especially on the phone bands, you may hear almost anything. Unfortunately, much misinformation is transmitted. Rumors are started by expansion, deletion, amplification, or modification of words, exaggeration or interpretation. All addressed transmissions should be officially authenticated as to source. These transmissions should be repeated word for word, if at all and only when specifically authorized. 4. Authenticate all messages. Every message which purports to be of an official nature should be written and signed. Whenever possible, radio operators should avoid initiating disaster or emergency traffic themselves. We do the communicating and relay, the agency officials that we serve supply the content of the communications. 5. Strive for efficiency. Whatever happens in an emergency, you will find hysteria and some amateur operators who are activated by the thought that they must be sleepless heroes. Instead of operating your station full time at the expense of your health and efficiency, it is much better to serve a shift at one of the best-located and best equipped stations manned by relief shifts of the best qualified operators. 6. Select the mode and band to suit the need. It is characteristic of all amateurs to believe that their favorite mode and band is superior to others. However, the merits of a particular band or mode in an emergency should be evaluated impartially with a view to the appropriate band or mode. There is, of course, no alternative to using what ever happens to be available. 7. Use all communications channels intelligently. While the prime objective of emergency communications is to save lives and property, anything else is incidental. Amateur radio is considered a secondary communications means; public service channels are primary and should be used if available. 8. Don’t “broadcast”. Some stations in an emergency situation have a tendency to emulate “broadcast” techniques. While it is true that the general public may be listening, our transmissions are not and should not be made for that purpose. 9. Emergency Protocols. One protocol that is sometimes misunderstood is this one. Morale and welfare traffic flows out of incident areas. Many well meaning people want to send traffic or morale and welfare traffic from outside to the incident area. It is also common for families to want to send queries to determine status of persons residing in an affected area. This is generally not allowed. The response agencies in the affected area are generally to occupied with saving lives and trying to overcome the situation that they do not have time to attempt to locate specific families or individuals. We are encouraged to assist families living in affected areas to get the word out that they are ok and pass that type of traffic to families living outside the affected area. That’s all for this evening, let’s go down the roster for comments. Bob Robert L Hollister