Inside..
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NIMS / ICS
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Emergency Communications
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Grand Prize Winner at Portsmouth Hamfest
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Weekly Nets of Interest
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Getting this Newsletter
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Handbook Give Away
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NVIS Day
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Field Day
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My Final
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NIMS / ICS Training
The
numbers just keep growing! WHY? Well, the answer is simple, our Ohio ARES folks
realize that they need to be properly trained, and you don’t get that by just
being a bystander or having an HT in your hand! It takes some effort on your
end and our folks are showing very clearly that they will make that effort
count! Just having these numbers grow every day proves that we are doing the right
thing for the right reasons. We need these courses, and we need to continue our
education. It doesn’t stop just because we got our Amateur Radio license.
Here’s
the latest count we have on everyone.. Total amount of members in the database
is 724. The total amount of members
completing all 4 required NIMS courses 508
and the total Number of the Courses taken by everyone in the database is 4778. We’re now over the 500 mark, but that’s only about a third of
the Ohio ARES membership. Now the push is on to get all the others to join in
as well.
Here’s
the link so that you can find out if your name is on the list..
Now,
for the folks in border counties of Ohio, you may be registered in our other surrounding
Section ARES programs (Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania or
Michigan) and that’s ok.. They may, or may not require the 4 basic courses for ARES
membership, BUT Ohio does! Please send me, and your EC, copies of your
certificates, regardless of another Section’s requirements.
Also,
for those outside of Ohio in the bordering states, if you have these 4 courses
in, please feel free to send me copies of your 4 certificates and we’ll be very
happy to get them entered into our database as well. Please make sure that you
have your call sign either in the email or as part of the file name on the
certificate.
For
those just starting out, we have a webpage with all the information about how
to get started.. http://arrl-ohio.org/SEC/training.html. This page
contains a lot of information about what is needed. Each course takes about an
hour or so to take, that’s really not much to ask now is it? You spent way more
than that to get your Amateur Radio operators license!
Now
here’s a link that Ed, KE8ANU found that breaks it all down for you as to what
the classes are:
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Emergency
Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators
Hams
standing by and ready to help during disasters or other events.
BY JAMES CARELESS / APRIL 11,
2017 Emergency Management Magazine
More
Americans than ever have been licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
as Amateur Radio operators, and those in the know say that emergency
communications is driving their passion to be “hams.”
“There
has been a tremendous amount of interest in emergency preparedness since 9/11
and Katrina, and this is true for the Amateur Radio community as well,” said
Mike Corey, the emergency preparedness manager for the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL). “Emergency communications is a gateway into Amateur Radio, and
many join our ranks through an interest in being better prepared themselves and
as a way to serve their community.”
The public’s growing interest in amateur radio for emergency communications is a legacy of 9/11, when Americans saw their cellular telephone networks become overwhelmed by excess traffic and system outages. When regular phone service fails, Amateur Radio operators fill the communications gap with their independent transceivers and battery power backups.
The public’s growing interest in amateur radio for emergency communications is a legacy of 9/11, when Americans saw their cellular telephone networks become overwhelmed by excess traffic and system outages. When regular phone service fails, Amateur Radio operators fill the communications gap with their independent transceivers and battery power backups.
Amateur
Radio operators played a substantial role in restoring vital communications
links in the wake of 9/11, hurricanes, tornadoes and other major disasters that
have affected the United States. They assist in directing first responders to
victims, providing real-time situational updates from the disaster scene to
emergency management agencies, and offering victims a way to contact their
families and friends when normal communications channels have failed.
“Generally,
Amateur Radio operators assist other organizations and agencies by adding
communications capacity when normal means of communications are down or
overloaded,” Corey said. “Amateurs work with local emergency management, first
responders, hospitals, National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and
VOADs [Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters] and the Red Cross and
Salvation Army. Many also use amateur radio as part of their own family
communications plan and use the skills they learn as amateurs to assist
neighbors during emergencies and disasters.”
Emergency
managers have taken note the usefulness of amateur radio operators during
manmade and natural disasters — and many have ongoing relationships with their
local ham communities. This includes assigning Amateur Radio operators specific
roles within each agency’s emergency response plan, and even setting space
aside for hams in their EOCs.
This
is certainly the case in Colorado. In 2016, the state Legislature officially
designated qualified hams as members of Colorado’s new Auxiliary Emergency
Communications Unit, under the authority of the state’s Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Management, in the Department of Public Safety.
As
a result of this new law, Colorado ARES teams are now part of their state’s
emergency management team, with their own roles with their state’s emergency
management plans and facilities.
It
is worth noting that hams also aid emergency managers in less dire situations.
For instance, “throughout the United States, amateurs assist the National Weather
Service’s SKYWARN program in providing ground truth reports during severe
weather events,” Corey said. All told, the growing number of Amateur Radio
operators in the U.S. are self-funding, fully equipped communicators, many of
whom want to support local emergency managers and first responders any way they
can.
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Grand Prize Winner
from the Portsmouth ARC Hamfest
We
want to thank all of you for your warm welcome at each of the Hamfests we
attended and sold a chance to win a Yaesu FT-991 transceiver at. I am so glad
to announce our grand prize winner was KW8GNU, Shawn Garrett from Columbus
Ohio. Thanks to all that purchased tickets for a chance to win.
Gary
Caldwell, WX8G
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Are you getting
those emails
from me? If not, all you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them.
Heck,
just send me an email: n8sy@n8sy.com and let me know
that you want to be added. It’s really just that easy. Please, if you know of
anyone that would be interested in this information, feel free to pass it on to
them. You don’t have to be an ARRL member or even a ham to receive these
emails.
You
are always free to “Opt-Out” at any time
if you feel this is not what you were expecting. Just send me an email with the
email address that you used to opt-in on, and you will be removed. It’s that
simple.
Also..
are you viewing the Ohio Section Website on a regular basis? You should, it
changes all the time. Here’s a link to it.
http://arrlohio.org
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Weekly
Wednesday Nets
Hey
gang, don’t forget to check-in on the weekly Wednesday night DMR net tonight,
there are averaging around 60 check-ins each week, and it’s really growing in
popularity for sure. Come join in on the fun, Wednesday nights at 8:30p local
on the 3139 Ohio statewide Talkgroup.
There’s
also the North American Tech Net that meets Wednesday 9pm EST TG: 3 and of
course there’s the After HamNation Net following the HamNation
program on Wednesday’s on TG: 311
Want
to know more about DMR? Here’s a link.
Here’s
another DMR net that you may not have known about. I got this information from
Dave, KD8BQN. Dave runs the TAC310 net every Sunday on DMR at 0000Z. So be
looking to check into that net as well, if you can.
>>
LOCAL 6 METER NETS <<
(from
Steve, W8TER)
Wednesdays
at 9:00 pm
1st
Wednesday of the month is on 50.400 AM mode.
2nd
Wednesday of the month is on 52.525 FM mode.
3rd
Wednesday of the month is on 50.125 USB mode.
4th
Wednesday of the month is on 52.525 FM mode.
5th
Wednesday of the month is on 52.525 FM mode.
PLEASE
JOIN US…on the air
There
is also a 6-meter net on Thursday at 9pm on 50.255 USB
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Handbook Give Away
Have
you seen that the NEWEST “Handbook Giveaway” drawing on the website yet? To
enter the drawing all you need to do is fill in a couple of boxes on the form..
(your name and email). That’s you need to do to be entered into a drawing to
win a 2017 ARRL softcover Handbook. There’s nothing else required (Oh.. You do
need to be a resident of Ohio to win..) The winner will be mailed
the Handbook at my cost. This is being offered just to see how many folks are
really checking in on the website. Got the idea? Best of luck to you!!
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NVIS Day
Hey
Gang,
Did
your club or group do NIVS Day this past weekend? If so, did anyone take
pictures of your setup? Please, send all the pictures you can to me so that I
can get them added to our growing collection of “Hams In Action”. Also.. it’s
time to start looking for a photographer for Field Day as well. Yes folks, I
want all the pictures that you can send me from Field Day as well. Send them to:
n8sy@n8sy.com
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Field Day
I
know that a lot of you are already deep into planning your Field Day activities
as well as getting everything ready for that big weekend, well I have some
additional goodies for you.. I have the Ohio Governor’s Proclamation posted on
the website.. Thanks to our State Government Liaison, Bob Winston, W2THU we
have it and it’s posted on the website.
There’s
also a suggested Press Release there as well as a lot of other information
about Field Day too. Go take a
look: http://arrl-ohio.org/FD_Message.html
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My Final..
Today
is April 26th and it’s HUMP Day!!! It’s also Pretzel Day. Are you a lover of a
soft or hard pretzel. Either way, today is the day to celebrate.
Amateur
Radio has its serious side, but it can also have a FUN side too.. So, as we go
through our training and exercises learning from our past and learning from
those who are willing to take the time to teach us, let’s remember to have FUN
too.. It’s what keeps us alive and vibrant..!!
73,
Scott,
N8SY..
eof..
