ARES Letter for May 21, 2008

The ARES E-Letter
May 21, 2008
================= 

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

<http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=K1CE>,

===================================
ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or
comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>;;; 
===================================

+ News From ARRL HQ

American Red Cross Responds to ARRL Concerns Regarding Background
Checks

In November 2007, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, wrote to the
American Red Cross (ARC) regarding concerns voiced by ARRL
volunteers. In 2006, the Red Cross stated it would implement
background checks that included, among other things, a credit check
and a "mode of living" check for its staff and volunteers, including
ARES volunteers providing services to the Red Cross during disasters.
ARRL saw these portions of the background check as unneeded and
inappropriate for ARES service.

In a letter dated May 8 of this year, Armond T. Mascelli, ARC Vice
President for Disaster Response Services replied to President
Harrison: "I can now report back to you that [these] actions have
been completed and changes have been instituted which I trust
resolves the concerns detailed in your letter. This effort took
considerably more time and attention than originally envisioned, but
I believe the results will now benefit our respective organizations.

"A new background consent form now [is] to be used by all Red Cross
chapters for ARRL members and other partner organizations. The form
and related process is limited to the name and social security number
verification of the individual, and a criminal background check.
References and suggestions to other related investigative
possibilities have been stricken."

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD,
announced the resolution at the ARRL ARES forum at the Dayton
Hamvention® and received hearty applause.

"We are very pleased that the American Red Cross has addressed some
of the issues that we raised regarding their background
investigations and that we can move forward in a relationship that
has existed for a long, long time," Harrison said. "The American Red
Cross and the ARRL have shared a productive relationship for many
years which has been of benefit to both the organizations and to the
public. We are glad that throughout the past months we have been able
to negotiate the issues that we had and have finally come to a
resolution."

What's Next?

With the background check issue apparently resolved, the ARRL will be
working with the ARC in the negotiation and creation of a draft for a
new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or similar document to replace
the one which expired last year; Dura and Keith Robertory of the ARC
will be leading the effort. When complete, the draft of the MOU will
be presented to the leadership of both organizations for approval.

"The ARRL is very pleased that the American Red Cross has responded
appropriately to our concerns about the background check issue," said
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "We believe it now
will be possible to go forward to negotiate a statement of
understanding between the two organizations. We look forward to
renewing and expanding the relationship with the Red Cross."


+ The View from Flagler County

Add a satellite capability to your EmComm arsenal. If terrestrial
platforms are out, a satellite may be all you have left. Operating
through low earth orbiting satellites also improves operating skill:
it's like driving your car with the road moving. You must tune your
uplink and downlink frequencies to compensate for a fast Doppler
shift, as you send and receive your CW or SSB signal. It's not easy
at first; but like anything, the more you practice, the better you
get.

Try the FM repeater bird AO-51 first, with an uplink of 145.90 MHz,
and a downlink of 435.225 MHz. No fancy tracking software is
necessary: Use AMSAT's pass predictor at:
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/>. 

You won't be satisfied for long on AO-51. Move up to VO-52 for real
operating on a wide transponder pass band: the uplink is 435.220 MHz
to 435.280 MHz and the downlink is 145.870 to 145.930 MHz. Both SSB
and CW work just fine. Signals are good without preamplifiers, nor
even rotating beam antennas. Believe it or not, I use a cheap, simple
fixed 2-meter/70 cm beam <http://www.arrowantennas.com/> pointed
skyward at a 45 degree angle. Prior to the pass, I check the AMSAT
predictor for the access times and the highest elevation azimuth, and
walk out to the backyard and hand turn the mast accordingly. I
usually get a ten-minute window and decent signals to work a few CW
contacts, including a recent one with Honduras. For upgrades, I am
planning to add a separate 70 cm beam to reduce a bit of de-sense on
voice operation, and a used/rebuilt Alliance U-110 rotator from
<http://www.rotorservice.com/>.

It's not rocket science (pun intended): if I can do it, anybody can
do it. Satellites may be all you have in a doomsday scenario, and are
great ways to improve your operating skill. (And frankly, they are a
blast of fun to play with!) 

----------------
In This Issue:
+ News From ARRL HQ
+ The View from Flagler County
+ "Hurricane Ulysses" Exercise Preps Mississippi Gulf Coast
+ China EQ
+ Midwest, Southeast Tornado Responses 
+ Illinois Earthquake Drill Turns to Reality
+ Brady, Texas, Hospital Communications Outage
+ ARES Forum at Gainesville, Florida Hamfest Lauded
+ Crisis in Trauma and Emergency Care
+ Colorado Group Receives D-STAR Equipment; Will Support ARES
+ Interoperability Video
+ Pandemic Flu Video
+ UPDATE: SMS E-Mail Address for AT&T Phones
+ LETTERS: "SMS" on APRS
+ LETTERS: From the Hurricane Watch Net Manager
+ LETTERS: Diminished Licensing, Technical Standards?
+ LETTERS: "Digital Call signs"
+ LETTERS: Observations of a FEMA Disaster Assessor 
+ EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE: Live News Cameras
+ K1CE For a Final

---------------- 

+ "Hurricane Ulysses" Exercise Preps Mississippi Gulf Coast

For a drill in preparation for the 2008 hurricane season, "Hurricane
Ulysses" moved ashore with 115 mph winds as the eye passed over
Biloxi Bay, Mississippi. This was the beginning of the annual
Mississippi EMA (MEMA) Hurricane exercise, which commenced at 0800 on
May 1 with the eye just east of Laurel, and continued until 1530.
This exercise saw the first deployment of an Amateur Radio station on
the MEMA Mobile Operation (MOBOPS) Center, which was located for the
exercise at the Air National Guard Training Center in Gulfport and
operated on HF, VHF, and WinLink. This was also a successful test for
the MEMA to the Coast VHF Link, which has been put in place through
the continuing efforts of the members of the South Mississippi
Repeater Coalition. 

Nets were operated on HF and VHF. The Mississippi ARES Net operated
on 3862 kHz with EOC check-ins from numerous counties.

As expected, most participants experienced some operational and
equipment glitches, but that is why we have exercises: Find the
problems now, and not during an actual event. The MEMA Scenario gave
ARES a chance to check out links and equipment.

Exercise action was not limited to southern Mississippi. Northeastern
Mississippi DEC Paul Reiselt, WB5CON, reported that Operation
Vigilant Guard '08 went well. The Tennessee Army National Guard moved
into Alcorn County after a simulated earthquake along the New Madrid
fault. Alcorn County was a staging area for troops moving from
central and east Tennessee toward the Memphis and Millington area.
Alcorn County ARES was involved in the first 24 hours of the 6-day
operation and set up two communication trailers with HF and VHF
equipment. At the EMA, they were self-contained with batteries,
inverters, generator, a 30-foot Rohn 25 tower with inverted V antenna
and a 2-meter omni antenna. At the Magnolia Regional Health Center,
Alcorn ARES set up a trailer with inverted V and 2 meter omni
antennas, batteries, generator, and solar panels. -- Excerpted from
the April 2008 Mississippi Section Report, Malcolm Keown, W5XX,
Section Manager

+ China EQ
 
On May 12, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Sichuan, China. According
to the Chinese Radio Sports Association
<http://www.crsa.org.cn/english.php>, the Chinese IARU Member-Society
designated frequencies for emergency services involved in the rescue:
14.270, 7.050 and 7.060 MHz. The ARRL encouraged US amateurs to be
aware of the emergency operations on those three frequencies. 
 
The CSRA called on its members to learn what is most needed by people
in that area and report it to the local government authority; to pass
messages for citizenry and support disaster relief authorities. 

Liu Hu, BG8AAS, of Chengdu, reported that a local UHF repeater
survived the disaster. "It keeps functioning from the first minute
and more than 200 local radio hams are now on that repeater. A group
of hams from Chengdu has headed for Wenchuan, the center of the
quake, trying to set up emergency communication services there," he
said. The UHF repeater directed "social vehicles to transport the
wounded from Dujiangyan, Beichuan and other regions." 

On May 13, a group of radio amateurs were transmitting from Wenchuan,
the center of the quake: "Signals are very weak. They tried to keep
communication with BY8AA, the Sichuan Radio Orienteering Association
in Chengdu, seeking resources needed. During a contact, they were
asking for raincoats, water, tents and outdoor living facilities." --
CRSA Web site, information provided by Michael Ye, BD4AAQ, and
Michael Chen, BD5RV/4, excerpted from the ARRL Letter 
 
+ Midwest, Southeast Tornado Responses 
 
The Midwest and Southeast were affected by tornadoes last month and
earlier this month. A series of major storms moved through
Mississippi in April. The storm of April 4 left parts of Warren,
Hinds, Madison, and Rankin Counties looking as if Katrina had
returned. SKYWARN ops fed a series of key information reports to
NWS-Jackson that aided in developing warnings for residents in the
path of the storm as it moved from east to west across Central
Mississippi. EC Donna Harrison, KD5GWM, reported that the storm
finally exited the Meridian area leaving 95 homes damaged.

Several lesser storm events occurred during the month until an EF2
tornado struck Union County on May 2. EC Gregg Fitzgerald, W5LMW,
reported that the tornado left a 20-mile long path of destruction
across the County. The Northeast SKYWARN Net was activated. Thomas
Hall, WB4VYB, initially sighted the tornado with quarter-sized hail.
The list of damage is long with 19 houses destroyed; 47 houses with
major damage; 103 houses with minor damage; and multiple other
structures damaged. Union County ARES was activated the following
morning with traffic passed for the Red Cross. W5LMW escorted the
Memphis NWS staff on their damage assessment tour. -- Mississippi
Section Report, Malcolm Keown, W5XX, Section Manager

An EF2 tornado hit Stafford County, Virginia, on May 8. EC Curt
"Bart" Bartholomew, N3GQ, said ARES members handled more than 100
traffic messages for the American Red Cross, the Stafford Sheriff's
Office, the Stafford Sheriff's Office 911 Center and the Stafford
Emergency Management Division. ARES members also set up a SKYWARN
net. Residents reported the tornado blasted in at about 10:30 PM amid
a "lurid red-and-green sky laced with lightning that sent many
rushing into their basements," said Spotsylvania County EC Tom
Lauzon, KI4AFE. 
 
In Oklahoma, Assistant SEC Mark Conklin, N7XYO, said served agencies
were contacted and ARES groups in the area were placed on standby
status: "Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters were very busy and were of
great help to the National Weather Service office in Tulsa during the
storm events." 
 
+ Illinois Earthquake Drill Turns to Reality

Illinois ARES conducted their annual EQ drill last month in support
of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC)
<http://www.cusec.org/> efforts in preparing for earthquakes, and to
keep attention focused on the New Madrid fault zones. 

The drill was dubbed "Shake, Rattle and Roll," and held in the early
morning of April 8. The scenario was a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. An
emergency net was up and operating within two minutes of the
cessation of shaking, taking reports from the tri-state area. First,
it was determined that the event was definitely an earthquake with a
widespread impact. Local public safety radio systems went down owing
to an overloaded and crashed computer system. (The single computer
controlled all of the radios).
 
The drill and net closed at 9 AM. Then at 10:15 AM, the area was
shaken into reality by a real Richter scale 4.6 EQ. The net re-opened
and took reports. Thirty seismic events of measurable strength were
recorded. According to Gary Auerswald, WB9UDJ, EC, Lawrence County,
"the first quake scared everyone, and the second strong one created a
lot of concern." Auerswald added this anecdote: "We have one
operator, Chuck, KB9KHB, who lived at the epicenter of the activity,
so we called him 'Epicenter Chuck' at 'Rock and Roll Central.' He
thinks Mother Nature is mad at him, with all of the quakes at his
location and a bolt of lightning that exploded a power pole
transformer on his property. As Chuck left his house to check it, a
skunk sprayed him. No one will stand near Chuck anymore." -- Gary
Auerswald, WB9UDJ, EC, Lawrence County, Illinois, and Pat Ryan,
KC6VVT, Illinois SEC <kc6vvt@arrl.net>;

+ Brady, Texas, Hospital Communications Outage

The Heart of Texas Ham Operators Group (HOT-HOG) and McCulloch County
ARES have an agreement with the Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital in
Brady for providing back-up emergency communications. The hospital
has many communication needs, including the need to confer with
Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo before transferring patients
from Brady to Shannon. That communication is normally conducted by
telephone.

During a communications outage that isolated the community from the
outside world, with long-distance land line service, cellular service
and Internet service not working due to a severed fiber optic cable,
the hospital called upon Amateur Radio operators for help.

Using the link between a repeater at Brady and one north of San
Angelo, an operator in Brady made direct contact with a colleague at
the communications center at Shannon, and notified that facility of
the situation. A few hours later, there was a need to transfer a
patient, and the system was put to the test. One Amateur Radio
contact from within the Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital building put
the doctor in direct voice communication with Shannon so that the
necessary patient and administrative information could be transferred
between them. With that and the summoning of an ambulance, the
patient was on his way.

All of the amateur equipment is funded and maintained by the hams and
their local organizations, but some outside assistance is always
welcome. The radio repeater link that was used to cover the outage
was upgraded only ten days earlier thanks to a grant that the Heart
of Texas Memorial Hospital obtained from the Concho Valley Regional
Administrative Council. At the time, no one could have known that the
advisability of that expenditure would be tested and proved
successful so soon. -- Rick Melcer, N5KAO, EC, McCulloch County,
Texas <n5kao@arrl.net>;

+ ARES Forum at Gainesville, Florida Hamfest Lauded

Northern Florida's Suwannee District ARES members conducted a forum
at the Gainesville Hamfest on April 26. Presentations on the ARES
programs in Alachua, Gilchrist, and Columbia counties were shared
with more than 33 hams. Public service events, drills, and emergency
activations were reported by the county ECs for the past year.
Richard Heston, KE4BQI, EC for Columbia County, gave a first hand
report on the communications loss and ham radio support provided
following the March 7 EF2 tornado that damaged 50 homes in Lake City.
The program ended with encouraging comments from DEC Richard Block,
KG4CHW, SEC Joe Bushel, W2DWR, and ARRL Southeastern Division
Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK. Bushel said "I congratulate you on the
fantastic presentation. You are hard workers and do a great job.
Please continue to set the good example for the rest of us." Director
Sarratt added, "You guys put on a very good ARES forum and Hamfest. I
enjoyed my visit." -- Jeff Capehart, W4UFL, EC/RO Alachua County
ARES/RACES 
 
+ Crisis in Trauma and Emergency Care

For any Amateur Radio operator involved in providing emergency
communications to a hospital or other EMS centers, a recent article
in "Homeland Security Today" should be required reading. This follows
several media accounts in the past two weeks citing a GAO report that
hospitals would be incapable of providing the level of care needed
for a Madrid (Spain) terrorist event with mass casualties. 
 
Any mass casualty event is also likely to produce loss or reduction
of communications ability. Amateur radio can help to fill these gaps,
but it will be vital that amateurs have close working relationships
with their served agencies, and understand the environment that
they'll be working in. In the past year, I've visited Level 1 trauma
centers in five U.S. cities, and in every case, you see waiting rooms
filled nearly to capacity. Bed space, doctors, nurses, lab techs, and
other resources are usually operating at maximum capacity around the
clock. Any mass casualty event would certainly overwhelm the system,
and triage would become a necessity. 
 
In order to be effective, it's vital that amateurs know the
capabilities of their served agency, contingency plans for mass
casualty events, security arrangements, and diversion hospitals and
routes. Think about how you'll be able to communicate with the
hospitals that overflow patients would be diverted to, and then plan
for losing all or part of that communications capability. 
 
<http://hstoday.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3334&Itemid=150>
 
-- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County EC, Alabama

+ Colorado Group Receives D-STAR Equipment; Will Support ARES

The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) recently teamed
up with Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) in Denver to donate a 2 meter, 70 cm
and 23 cm D-STAR system stack. According to ARRL Colorado Section
Manager and CCARC Board Member Jeff Ryan, K0RM, the two groups hit
upon the idea of issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to Colorado
radio amateurs. "We received three excellent proposals," Ryan said,
"and on March 21, CCARC and HRO awarded the D-STAR system to the
Colorado D-STAR Association, a consortium of Denver area individuals,
clubs and ARES groups." Ryan explained that the goal of the CCARC,
which also serves as Colorado's frequency coordination body, was "to
spur the interest and use of digital Amateur Radio technology. This
is the first D-STAR system that will go on the air in Colorado. The
hope is that it is the first of many such systems, ultimately linking
the entire Amateur Radio community throughout Colorado and beyond."
The 3-band D-STAR system, serving the Denver Metro area and the Front
Range of Colorado from Ft Collins to Castle Rock and points east,
will be installed this summer at a mountaintop site. The system will
have a coverage area of more than 5400 square miles, nearly the size
of Connecticut. Ryan said that the RFP placed "special emphasis" on
the D-STAR systems being available to ARES groups in the served area,
"and also requires the host group to link to any other requesting
D-STAR system that comes on the air in Colorado." - ARRL Letter

+ Interoperability Video

There is a very current video that addresses progress on
interoperability among first responders, and the technical, funding,
and political challenges that still dog this issue. It's from
Homeland Security Today Magazine, and can be viewed at:
<http://tinyurl.com/567dmj> --Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County,
Alabama EC

+ Pandemic Flu Video

There is an excellent resource video available on-line that speaks
clearly about the threat of a flu pandemic, its potential impact, and
common sense steps that can be taken to mitigate, deal with, and
recover from such an event. It was produced by the King County,
Washington Dept. of Public Health and can be viewed at:
<http://www.metrokc.gov/health/pandemicflu/video/>
 
Amateur Radio would have important roles in helping to manage such a
crisis, and yet we would also be affected by it directly. Does your
ARES program have a plan to meet its critical missions if 30% or more
of your members were unable to participate? Is it possible for you to
meet the needs of your served agencies while operating from home
(social distancing) rather than going to their site? Are you
personally prepared to deal with disruptions to the food supply, or
other essential services? 
 
This video offers common sense approaches that you can take
personally, as well as organizational steps that will help us all
plan for, and deal with a pandemic when it occurs. -- Les Rayburn,
N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama EC

+ UPDATE: SMS E-Mail Address for AT&T Phones

I enjoyed Les Rayburn's letter in the last issue, but it seems that
AT&T (formerly Cingular, formerly AT&T) has changed their
email-to-SMS gateway again. Here's the information from their FAQ at
<http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/faq.jsp>:
"Q. Can I send and receive email messages using my wireless phone?
A. All wireless phones are set up to send and receive email messages
by using the following address: yournumber@txt.att.net. You can
exchange short emails with any email address worldwide.
Q. How long can email messages be that I receive on my phone?
A. Just as with regular text messages sent to your phone, each
message longer than 160 characters will be broken up into multiple
segments and delivered separately. Messages longer than 160
characters are billed as multiple messages." Thanks, Blake Sobiloff
<blake@sobiloff.com>;, San Jose, CA

+ LETTERS: "SMS" on APRS

We also have an "SMS" in the form of APRS. It works great and if an
I-Gate 
is available, e-mail can now be sent over APRS. Our area in South
Mississippi has also experimented with NBEMS and found that with a
sound card equipped computer NBEMS can send text over repeater
networks merely by keying the mic and holding it next to the speakers
to both send and receive. -- James Lee, KC5TYL, Lamar County,
Mississippi EC 

+ LETTERS: From the Hurricane Watch Net Manager

Many thanks for the kind words about our net in the latest ARRL
Letter. We're all primed for a busy season, but will be just as happy
not having to go to work. We have several new members that got some
"hot seat" time last year and show great promise to be future solid
performers during the high pressure operations and tempo with a storm
bearing down on land, or on vessels at sea. Again, many thanks for
the nice write-up. -- Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, Manager, Hurricane Watch
Net

+ LETTERS: Diminished Licensing, Technical Standards?

I read with interest the recent letter from Alton Higgins, W4VFZ
related to the diminished level of technical expertise of today's
hams and the eased examination standards, and to that issue, I might
add the reduced barrier to getting licensed resulting from the
relatively new no code license procedures. My disagreement with Alton
rests on the fact that each ham has a different reason for being in
ham radio and different interests that attracted him or her in the
first place. 

Some, like Alton are very technically oriented (he reports that he is
an aerospace electronics design engineer) but for others, the sheer
joy of operating a station in community service is paramount. We need
hams like Alton to further the technical aspects of ham radio, but we
also need operators like me who may not know every nuance of what
goes on under the lid, but we are skilled in setting up an effective
emergency station and efficiently handling traffic. 

I hold an advanced class license and I am studying for the extra
class, but it seems that some of the electronics questions are not as
important as the regulation and operator questions--at least for an
operator. How important is it for me to know the difference between a
Colpitts and a Hartley oscillator? I would never advocate eliminating
all theory questions from the exam--we all need a baseline of basic
knowledge; however, which element of the exam should be given more
emphasis while at the same time not setting the bar so high that it
discourages people from becoming hams in the first place? Wasn't this
the rationale in eliminating the code requirement? 

Clearly Alton approaches ham radio from the standpoint of his career
technical expertise, and is willing to give his time to teaching the
technical aspects of our hobby (for this, I applaud him) but there
are many aspects of our hobby that appeals to different people, and I
believe that good operators are needed whether or not they can tear
down and rebuild their gear blindfolded. -- Michael W. Popejoy,
Ph.D., N4TIM

I have to take issue with last month's letter regarding the lowering
of licensing standards. I am a "no code" licensee. I have progressed
to Amateur Extra and also have my Emcomm level 3 and VE
certifications. I mention this not to seek compliments, but to bring
me to my point.

I had hesitated for years to obtain my amateur license: The prospect
of learning the code was daunting and there was no local mentor.Enter
the no-code Technician license, and I passed the test on my own. I
then wanted to get my General, and once the code requirement was
dropped, I obtained it and my Extra class license in less than 6
months.

I faced what many others have faced: Many hams today do not "Elmer"
as willingly as they once did. Help for people interested in ham
radio is not as readily available as I think it should be. As
President of my local club this year, I am trying to initiate a
movement of "Elmering" and hopefully create a group of Code
proficient hams who would run a code course for us who do wish to
learn and use code.

Elimination of the code requirement has made obtaining a license
easier, but is perhaps offset by the more complex technical knowledge
required. The pursuit of ham radio for me includes all aspects of ham
radio, including code, EmComm and helping others. The ultimate
Amateur Radio test to me is the willingness to help others. Good
Elmers have passed the highest test. -- Rebekkah L. Whiting, W2WHT 

+ LETTERS: "Digital Call signs"

I enjoyed the latest e-letter. One area we are struggling with in
digital modes is the notion of operator authentication. It is trivial
to spoof a call sign. The FCC Part 97 rules request us to
authenticate users of message forwarding systems "...(1) Authenticate
the identity of the station from which it accepts communication on
behalf of the system" -- we need to develop a way to assign a digital
signature to a call sign. The ARRL could lead this effort, and it
would not be very hard using off-the-shelf software and
standards-based technology. When we get an urgent emergency message
on our open channels, we right now have a difficult time telling if
it is real or fake. I am not asking for encryption, just a
"message/payload" that can be verified. -- Erik Westgard, NY9D

+ LETTERS: Observations of a FEMA Disaster Assessor 

In re the letter by the FEMA assessment agent in last month's issue,
I too, am a Disaster Assistance Employee with FEMA and do many jobs
including Preliminary Disaster Assessments (PDA). I take a hand-held
with me on my PDA deployments. Not one time have I been able to raise
anyone on 146.52 MHz, but while deployed in Little Rock, Arkansas,
this spring, I checked into the local SKYWARN net. Operators were
professional and well drilled. (We spent several hours in tornado
shelters twice during this deployment). However, once I leave urban
areas, activity diminishes significantly. After performing 12 PDAs in
rural counties here, I saw only one two-meter radio in an emergency
manager's car.
 
While Arkansas has a good radio network, a key component, Amateur
Radio, seems to be missing in the outlying counties. While deployed a
few years ago to support the Salvation Army with my radios (before I
worked for FEMA), I found the Salvation Army vehicles equipped with
two-meter radios, but no licensed operators. I could find no one who
was licensed to use these radios. It seems that we have a lot of work
to do to educate both the emergency managers and the relief workers
on what Amateur Radio can do and who can use this equipment. -- John
Veach, KE4D, presently deployed with FEMA in Arkansas 

+ EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE: Live News Cameras

One of the biggest needs during any emergency is "situational
awareness." More and more, news organizations are relying on live
news cameras, weather cams, and similar technology. There is an
online resource that will allow you to watch live news feeds from
cities around the country in real time. It's called
"Livenewscameras.com." They also provide a host or moderator, who
will recommend the most interesting feeds available at any given
moment. 
 
<http://www.livenewscameras.com/>
 
There is a "chat" feature that shows on the page when it first loads,
but I recommend ignoring that. -- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County,
Alabama EC

+ K1CE For A Final
 
The observations of ARRL's Harold Kramer, WJ1B, in last month's QST
on obesity in the ham population struck a chord with me, as both an
RN and ARES official. I see the end stages of obesity every day on
the Intensive Care Unit where I work: the gross complications of
diabetes, the loss of skin integrity and ultimate respiratory and
heart failure. A good friend, a ham and accomplished county emergency
manager, recently died as a result of the comorbidities of his
obesity.

Other than the obvious one, an additional benefit of a good diet and
exercise is a more professional appearance to served agency
officials.

Next hamfest, skip the traditional hot sausage and onion stand. See
you next month! 73, Rick K1CE