ARES Letter for November 15, 2006
The ARES E-Letter November 15, 2006 ================= Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor <http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=K1CE>, <http://www.iaru-r2emcor.net/> =================================== ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>;;; =================================== + THE VIEW FROM FLAGLER COUNTY Our Flagler ARES operators supported the MS150 bicycle event last month. Robbie Creal, KG4HUF, AEC for SKYWARN liaison, said "We had ARES groups from three counties working together for the two day event. Jeannie Schreiber, N4WFM, acted as NCS, with over 30 amateurs in support. The 146.625 repeater in St. Augustine and the 145.410 repeater here in Flagler were linked by EchoLink to allow communications among the counties. This was a good example of cooperation and coordination between ARES groups in two different Districts. The event also served as a platform for developing relationships with our fine local REACT group." ---- The ARRL donated ARECC Level One training manuals to Flagler ARES for classes to commence soon. The quid pro quo is that I'll be reporting on how that training proceeds for us in a future issue, also for the benefit of the League's development of its emcomm course program. ---- I stand corrected: In last month's issue, I stated that Northern Florida was totally ARES, with no RACES activity. In response, I received the following polite e-mail from Richard Block, KG4CHW, DEC Suwannee District: "There is RACES in the Northern Florida Section. The Alachua County Emergency Manager (EM) uses a RACES program. The ARES EC for Alachua County is also the RACES Radio Officer (RO). It is just a name change, as the same people in ARES will be providing emergency communications in Alachua county as RACES." ---- Speaking of RACES, the special edition last month resulted in a further deluge of activity reports. Rather than reprinting them, I'll summarize that there are many more RACES programs in existence across the country, suggesting the program's continuing value to the emergency management sphere. The recurring theme was the same amateurs supporting both programs in their locales, "switching hats" as required. Thanks to readers who sent reports. We'll have more on the RACES program in future issues. -- K1CE ======================== IN THIS ISSUE: + THE VIEW FROM FLAGLER COUNTY + LEAGUE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON RED CROSS BACKGROUND CHECKS + AMERICAN RED CROSS CLARIFIES BACKGROUND CHECK POLICY + HAWAIIAN EARTHQUAKES RESPONSE + SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY IS DECEMBER 2 + ARES PRESENTER AT OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION CONFAB + FEEDBACK: TIME FOR A CHANGE + FEEDBACK: ON THE PURPOSE OF THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM + TOWN GETS NEW ARES GROUP, IMMEDIATE BENEFIT + HURRICANE WATCH NET HAS NEW MANAGER + REVIEWS: VIDEO PRESENTATIONS ON MESSAGE HANDLING, AND AMATEUR RADIO AS RESOURCE + WISCONSIN'S HISTORIC BADGER WEATHER NET + K1CE FOR A FINAL ======================= + LEAGUE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON RED CROSS BACKGROUND CHECKS ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, issued this statement recently on the Red Cross's new policy mandating background checks of its employees and volunteers: The American Red Cross has recently notified their local chapters that their volunteers and staff members must submit to a criminal background check. There are some sound reasons as to why these criminal background checks were required. The Red Cross didn't want the possibility of having a person with a history of violent crime representing them while assisting disaster victims. The list of volunteers who are being asked to submit to the background checks has been enlarged to include volunteers with other organizations who assist the Red Cross during times of disaster relief efforts, such as amateur radio operators volunteering through their local ARES unit. In short, we have been told that any volunteer who would be assisting the Red Cross disaster relief effort in any way would be required to complete the background check through the Red Cross's third party provider, <http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/>. The ARRL recommends to anyone submitting their information to the Web site to read VERY carefully what they are giving the Red Cross permission to check. The Red Cross is requiring volunteers to grant permission for more than just a criminal background check. They are also requiring permission to draw a consumer and/or investigative consumer report on the volunteer. This would include a criminal background check, credit check and a mode of living check. This is much more information than would be obtained in a criminal background check that the Red Cross states that they need. Additionally, information you are requested/required to give on this website is: name, address, social security information, driver's license number, date of birth and a credit card number...all good pieces of information an identity thief needs to open up accounts in your name. The Red Cross has stated that they will not use credit reports. Requiring that volunteers authorize the procurement of a credit report is inconsistent with this assurance. We have been told that ALL volunteers that would assist the Red Cross in any fashion during disaster relief efforts other than just very short times are also required to complete background checks at this website. The information below is copied from the mybackgroundcheck.com Web site for Red Cross background checks: "American Red Cross will procure a consumer report and/or investigative consumer report on you for the limited purpose of evaluating you for a position with RED CROSS. MyBackgroundCheck.com, LLC ("MBC") an affiliate of Pre-employ.com, or any agent of MBC, will obtain the report for RED CROSS. MyBackgroundCheck.com is located at 2301 Balls Ferry Road, Anderson, California 96007 and can be reached at 800-300-1821. "The report will contain any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on your credit worthiness, credit standing, credit, capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for (A) employment purposes; or (B) any other purpose authorized under section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The types of information that may be obtained include, but are not limited to: credit reports, social security number verification, criminal records checks, public court records checks, driving records checks, educational records checks, verification of employment positions held, personal and professional references checks, licensing and certification checks, etc. The information contained in the report will be obtained from private and/or public record sources, including sources identified by you or through interviews or correspondence with your past or present coworkers, neighbors, friends, associates, current or former employers, educational institutions or other acquaintances. I understand that while the information contained in the report or reports provided has been obtained by various third parties from public record data sources deemed reliable, their accuracy cannot be guaranteed due to potential human error in the actual recording or retrieval of the record. "The nature and scope of this disclosure and authorization is all-encompassing, however, allowing RED CROSS to obtain from any outside organization all manner of consumer reports and/or investigative consumer reports now and, if you are hired, throughout the course of your employment to the extent permitted by law. As a result, you should carefully consider whether to exercise your right to request disclosure of the nature and scope of any investigative consumer report. You are nonetheless entitled to request more information about the nature and scope of such reports by submitting a written request to: MyBackgroundCheck.com, Compliance Department, P.O. Box 491570, Redding, Ca. 96049 or by fax to 888-999-3839." + AMERICAN RED CROSS CLARIFIES BACKGROUND CHECK POLICY Subsequent to the statement above by ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, the American Red Cross has attempted to clarify its policy to require background checks of its employees and volunteers, at least as far as the policy applies to possible credit checks. In a statement <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/RedCross-LauraHowe-Statement.pdf> to the ARRL November 9, Laura Howe, the Red Cross director of response communication and marketing, stressed that, while background check applicants must give permission to conduct a credit check, the Red Cross has no intention of conducting them across the board. "The Red Cross realizes some volunteers may have concerns about authorizing a credit check. Those concerns are understandable," Howe said. "But please rest assured that credit checks are only run in rare instances and are not a part of the routine minimum basic check the Red Cross performs on employees or volunteers." Howe told the League that the "standard minimum check" verifies the applicant's Social Security number and a search of the National Criminal File for the past seven years. "While the Red Cross will never run a credit check on the vast majority of its employees and volunteers," she asserted, "it is important that this standard language is included in the consent form to protect our clients, volunteers and employees." Howe acknowledged that by signing the consent form, applicants do give MBC permission to "conduct a credit check or other investigation into an individual's background." ARES members are not obliged to submit to a background check, however; the choice to do so is a personal one. Several ARES leaders maintain that they and their volunteers represent ARES when supporting the Red Cross as a served agency. "Our issue is not the background checking, but the fact Red Cross considers ARES members Red Cross volunteers," one SEC has stated. A DEC suggested the Red Cross policy is too arbitrary. "The unfortunate thing is that if a member decides not to submit to this check, then that will hamper our ability to serve the Red Cross in an emergency," he said. The Statement of Understanding (SoU) between the Red Cross and the ARRL does not address the issue of background checks. It also is ambiguous on the subject of whether ARES volunteers automatically become Red Cross volunteers when supporting Red Cross operations and become subject to a background check. The bottom line: The requirement extends to whomever the Red Cross says it does. While some Red Cross chapters will allow ARES member participation without requiring that they register as Red Cross volunteers, others may not. The ARRL-Red Cross SoU is up for review in 2007. + HAWAIIAN EARTHQUAKES RESPONSE ARES provided emergency communication for relief efforts after earthquakes October 15 on the "Big Island" of Hawaii. "ARES and RACES operators responded to Hawaii State and Oahu Civil Defense EOCs," reported Hawaii State RACES Coordinator and ARRL State Civil Defense SCD) EC Ron Hashiro, AH6RH. Right after Oahu stopped shaking, Hashiro put out a call on the Honolulu 146.88 MHz repeater seeking reports, then proceeded to the inter-island 147.06 MHz repeater system and repeated the sequence. Hashiro, Robin Liu, AH6CP, and Mitch Pinkerton, KH6MP, arrived at the State EOC, and operations started within a half hour of the first earthquake. After checking into HF and VHF nets, Pacific SEC Kevin Bogan, AH6QO, responded to the SCD EOC. Bogan said the primary focus was on the Big Island, where most damage occurred because the epicenter was so close. Telephone calls on landline and many cell phone carriers were difficult due to congestion." Operators at the EOC ran messages. The Hawaii Emergency Net on 7088 kHz provided the main HF link in the earthquakes' aftermath. Many ARES volunteers responded. Hashiro said the key to their success was that they had varying degrees of portable and mobile capabilities with emergency power -- using VHF and HF. "They were able to drive right to the scene and pass along assessments, status reports and messages through us, right into State CD operations." The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) activated for a short time on 14.265 MHz to assist with emergency communication to handle health-and-welfare inquiries and traffic. Hashiro said that unlike some other areas of the US, radio amateurs in Hawaii stress and believe in joint operation -- a collaboration of ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, HealthComm, the American Red Cross, Volunteers Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), and SATERN. - excerpted from the ARRL Letter + SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY IS DECEMBER 2 The 8th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) special event will take place Saturday, December 2, 2006. SKYWARN Recognition Day is an event co-sponsored by the National Weather Service and the ARRL, and it is the National Weather Service's way of saying "thank you" to Amateur Radio operators for their commitment to helping keep their communities safe. During the 24-hour special event, amateur radio operators will visit their local National Weather Service (NWS) office, set up Amateur Radio stations, and work as a team to contact other hams across the world. "Ham radio operators volunteering as storm spotters are an extremely valuable asset to National Weather Service operations since they are cross-trained in both communications and severe storm recognition", says Scott Mentzer, organizer of the event and Meteorologist-In-Charge at the NWS office in Goodland, Kansas. Details: SKYWARN Recognition Day will be held from on December 2, 2006, from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC. The object is stations to exchange QSO information with as many National Weather Service Stations as possible on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and 2 meter bands plus the 70 centimeter band. Contacts via repeaters are permitted. The exchange should include call sign, signal report, location, and a one or two word description of the weather occurring at your site ("sunny", "partly cloudy", "windy", etc.). NWS stations will work various modes including SSB, FM, AM, RTTY, CW, and PSK31. While working digital modes, special event stations will append "NWS" to their call sign (e.g., N0A/ NWS). The National Weather Service will provide event information via the internet. Event certificates may be requested from: SKYWARN Recognition Day, 920 Armory Road, Goodland, KS 67735. Simply enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with a list of NWS stations worked. Separate NWS stations will also issue individual QSL cards. To learn more, check out the Web site: <http://hamradio.noaa.gov/>. + ARES PRESENTER AT OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION CONFAB On Thursday, October 12, a Stark County (Ohio) ARES representative was a featured presenter at the 2006 Ohio Environmental Health Association Northeast District Fall Education Conference. This year's Conference was held at Atwood Resort and Conference Center in Delroy, Ohio. The program titled "Amateur Radio Communications in Disasters" was requested by Keith Riley, Assistant Chief, Ohio EPA NE District Office and was presented by Terry Russ, N8ATZ, Assistant EC for Stark County ARES. The presentation included a viewing of the ARRL video "Amateur Radio Today" followed by a PowerPoint presentation that covered Amateur Radio from its early beginnings to today's focus on emergency communications. The presentation concluded with a short Q&A session. Approximately 75 attendees viewed the presentation with several asking questions afterward. The OEHA is an organization founded on Education, Emergency Response, Public Outreach, Legislation and Environmental Professionalism and was interested in learning more about Amateur Radio's current role in disaster communications. At the conclusion of the presentation Russ was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from OEHA District Director Keith Riley and Stark County ARES member Jack Wade, N8LCS, of the Canton, Ohio, Health Department. + FEEDBACK: TIME FOR A CHANGE In re the "Time for a Change" letter by Bill Burden, WB1BRE, in the last ARES E-Letter, the Incident Command System's IC-213 message form was designed for hand carrying between the originator and the addressee. The ARRL radiogram preamble has the advantage of containing the information required to trace the message from origin to destination. One area of traffic handling that is not covered in most EMCOMM courses, including the ARRL courses, is the proper logging of messages. If done correctly, you can reconstruct who originated it, who handled it, the time it was sent, the time received, and who signed for the message. It is no problem to take the IC-213 form and convert the message to ARRL form. The receiving station can then put it back into the IC-213 format. Try to trace an IC-213 through five pairs of hands. - Bill Kuechler, N9ACQ, Secretary Shelby County ARES, ARECC certified Instructor, ARECC certified mentor + FEEDBACK: ON THE PURPOSE OF THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM Bill Burden's, WB1BRE, letter is an example of how people do not understand NTS, the National Traffic System. Since its inception, NTS has seldom been used to send emergency messages across great distances. There have been no emergencies where slow, long distance messaging has been required. Never has, never was, never will be. Technology has now advanced to where it is far better to have a satellite Internet gateway at a disaster HQ than an HF station. So what then is NTS about? Training, practice and people. If you do anything every night for 10 minutes, over time you get really good at it. If you want to get good at controlling a net, proficient at CW, proficient at getting voice messages passed, what is the best way to do it? Practice. How do you know if your equipment is working, reliable and easy to use, unless you use it? Then there is the social aspect: NTS and ARES forge friendships that extend over years, relationships that can add great utility in a disaster response. You will find that where there is a strong ARES, there is a strong NTS. NTS is the daily ARES training and aerobics class. - Jim Michener, K9JM, Net Manager NCN (Northern California Net) + TOWN GETS NEW ARES GROUP, IMMEDIATE BENEFIT The Town of Lancaster, New York, now has its own ARES group, thanks to the idea of Ed Gutowski, W2GUT, Assistant Team Leader of the town's Emergency Management Team. The new LARES 15 member team is comprised primarily of members of the Lancaster Amateur Radio Club (LARC). During the October 13 storm emergency, the LARES team was activated for the first time: Twenty-two inches of snow in 24 hours caused many of the leaf-filled trees to come down, bringing with them many power lines and poles. Over 400,000 people were without power, causing flooding of homes and problems for people who needed power for their medical equipment. Members staffed the town EOC, as well as the local shelter for logistics communications. They also assisted by monitoring the local creek levels. The LARES group has already proved invaluable to the town in just a short period of time. + HURRICANE WATCH NET HAS NEW MANAGER Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, is the new manager of the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) <http://www.hwn.org/>. He succeeds Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. Pilgrim said he plans to remain active with HWN in his capacity of president of HWN Inc, a tax-exempt support corporation, and would be as active as possible during HWN operations. Established in 1965 during Hurricane Betsy by Jerry Murphy, K8YUW, the HWN convenes on 14.325 MHz whenever a hurricane is within 300 miles of projected landfall or becomes a serious threat to a populated area. The HWN works in conjunction with WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/> at the National Hurricane Center in Miami to relay ground-level weather data to forecasters. + REVIEWS: VIDEO PRESENTATIONS ON MESSAGE HANDLING, AND AMATEUR RADIO AS RESOURCE Gordon Grove, WA7LNC, the SEC of Eastern Washington, has produced a superbly professional video presentation of "Amateur Radio: Knowing The Resource." The video features a look at modern telecommunication technology, its merits and pitfalls, and puts Amateur Radio in the light of an emergency communications resource. A fascinating pictorial look at Amateur Radio's history leads to its contemporary focus as a public service to the community in times of disaster. I reviewed it this morning, as I was preparing this issue of the E-Letter, and although it has a Washington State base, I can heartily recommend its use for showing to the community and especially to emergency managers considering use of ARES in their planning. Not to be missed. For copies in DVD-R format, contact Gordon J. Grove, WA7LNC, PO Box G, Deer Park, WA 99006. <wa7lnc@arrl.net>;; 509-991-8662 (cell phone). Please send $10 check or money order to offset Gordon's duplication and shipping/handling expenses. - K1CE -------- Nationally-known author/editor DW Thorne, K6SOJ, ARES Sacramento Valley SEC and editor of the popular EMCOMM Monthly newsletter <http://www.emcomm.org/>, has prepared an excellent video presentation entitled "RADIOGRAM: Message Traffic Handling Training DVD." The film features Thorne presenting the Radiogram format and techniques in traffic handling to a large audience in northern California. I was especially captivated by the look at the old Western Union Telegram format, and the history of the telegraph system of a bygone era, and how much the NTS borrowed for its own message format, the Radiogram. Thorne is the presenter of this program, and I can highly recommend it for training local ARES groups interested in rounding out their knowledge of traffic handling, an integral part of any ARES response. - K1CE + WISCONSIN'S HISTORIC BADGER WEATHER NET Every morning a number of US amateurs check into the nation's oldest weather net -- the Badger Weather Net (BWN) - on 3.985 MHz to report their 24-hour "ground truths": high and low temperatures, and precipitation. The net meets every day to collect the weather data from 5:00 to 7:15AM Central time. BWN is always looking for additional stations to report weather information that is then passed on to the appropriate local National Weather Service Office. The Badger Weather Net was started December 14, 1964 by a handful of Wisconsin Amateur Radio operators. Since that time the BWN has provided the National Weather Service with valuable weather observations of high/low temperatures and precipitation from across the state. This collected data is utilized for input into the river forecast model, for public and fire weather forecasts, verification of watches and warnings, for local media use, updating of computer models and various research projects. For more information, contact Net Manager Don Michalski, W9IXG, at <w9ixg@arrl.org>; or visit <http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=badger-weathernet> for details on reporting format and recommended instruments. + K1CE FOR A FINAL One of the most productive things I've done recently was to convert my 12-V DC connections to Anderson Powerpole connectors. I read the article by Del Schier, K1UHF, "More Power To You!" in March 2006 QST and bought West Mountain Radio's special crimping tool. (Yes, it's expensive, but it is well built and certainly does the job very well. If I can do it, believe me, anybody can do it). The Powerpoles have become a standard connector for ARES groups wanting to promote compatibility in the field for quick set-up and deployment of equipment with dc connections. The ARES configuration is easy to remember: "Red Right, Tongue Top." You'll quickly see what that means if you try it yourself. If your ARES group hasn't adopted the standard, now is the time to do it. HAPPY TNXGIVING! -- Rick, K1CE
