Received news from two of the Louisville clubs in regards to election results for their groups for 2012. Congrats . . . → Read More: HNY and metro election results]]> I hope all are having a blessed and happy 2012. Remember, according to the Mayan calendar, the world ends this December so get all the DX in the logs that you can before the big day!

Received news from two of the Louisville clubs in regards to election results for their groups for 2012. Congrats to all the ‘winners’ and I’m certain you will do a bang up job for your organizations.

First the Bullitt ARS.

Outgoing president Buddy KC4WQ chose not to run for the top office for a 6th term, instead throwing his name in for activities director. The Bullitt ARS slate for 2012 is as follows:

Laddie DePas AI4RQ President
VP Special election at February meeting
Treasurer Don Conrad N4CCJ
Secretary Jim Vaughn K4TXJ
Asst Sec Stacie DePas KJ4OXS
Activities Director Buddy Sohl KC4WQ
Asst AD Rickey Singleton KC4S
Board members
Lex Simmons KD4EWT
Glenn Petri KE4KY
Ralph Aldrige N4JLS
Ralph Wettle W4HK

Notice there is a vacancy in the VP slot. This will be filled by special election at the February 17th meeting. Interested BARS members should contact KC4WQ or NA4NA NLT February 14th.

Your 2012 slate for the ARTS club is as follows:

PRESIDENT
Don Hoover WS4E

VICE PRESIDENT
Chris Demarsh KI4RDG

TREASURER
Marc Feld KG4FJR

SECRETARY
Jim Vaughan K4TXJ

BOARD OF DIRECTORS – 4 New Members Elected To the Board
Alan Tooley KF4EFI
Emma March AB9HU
Guy Partridge K4KZH
Ted Sims AI4LV
Rick Singleton KC4S – serving existing term
Bill Tooley K4QFE – serving existing term

The Louisville National Weather Service hosted several hams during Skywarn Recognition Days. Rickey KC4S reports the Louisville office logged a bit over 300 QSO’s during the event, nearly all on HF. Participants were KC4S, N4JLS, KJ4LHU and others.

Thanks to all for the info and remember if you want your news included in the Region 3 news drop me a note at kc4wq@arrl.net

73 and look for your editor in the CQWW 160 CW test and others.

There has been a ton of activity around amateur radio all caused by sunspots! YAY, they’re back!

Ten meters has been hopping and there’s even been F2 openings on 6 meters. . . . → Read More: Update Region 3]]> Hi KY Hams….. sorry to have not been able to update the Region 3 news for a few weeks. Life sometimes gets in the way.

There has been a ton of activity around amateur radio all caused by sunspots! YAY, they’re back!

Ten meters has been hopping and there’s even been F2 openings on 6 meters. A lot of our tech operators have gotten their first taste of real propagation with such great 10 meter openings.

Contests this past month have been plentiful and well attended. November is the daddy of the contest season, starting off with CW Sweepstakes. This contest has the longest and most difficult exchange. It’s a ton of fun whether you’re serious or just looking to fill in a few blanks on your WAS award. The following weekend was the KY QSO party. This is an opportunity to put KY in a lot of logs and have a friendly competition at the same time. This always conflicts with the opening weekend of modern firearms deer season so your editor gets to operate portable in LaRue County. My vertical wasn’t cooperating so went to 40 meter SSB and put about 20 Q’s in the log. It was great to see some friends from neighboring states drive into KY for some rover operation. Last weekend was ARRL SSB sweepstakes. This one definitely clogs up the phone bands with lots of contesters. It was FB to see so much activity on 10 meters.

With so much activity around the world it begs a mention about using the ARRL’s Logbook of the World. There were so many logs and QSO’s from the DX and CWSS contests that the servers were running more than 3 days in arrears. But kudos to the ARRL techs for working through the logjam to get updates to a reasonable time frame.

The Bullitt ARS has done a major redo of the popular 146.70 repeater. A new repeater has been installed and after a few false starts is up and running. The voice ID and controller should be installed before years end and if funds allow a new antenna to replace the aging one.

A great idea was introduced to me a couple of months ago. What do you do with your old QST’s? Well a few of mine have found new homes in waiting rooms from the auto repair shop to the doctors office. I attach a couple of stickers pointing the reader to the KY4KY.com website to find out more about amateur radio. Thanks to KY4COP for a great idea.

On a final note, the St Aloysius RC has been active on 10 meter sideband on Wednesday afternoons and report QSO’s from CA, WA, and BC. It’s fun to watch 9,10 and 11 year olds make conversation with some of our hams across the world. One highlight was talking to a ham in WA whose age was more than the 7 kids in the shack combined!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. Remember to make one contact a day and keep your radio spirit alive and well.

According to the course instructor, Mike Wheeler, KD4VOS, . . . → Read More: Hams Participate in Search and Rescue Course]]> Local area hams recently participated in basic search and rescue training over the weekend of November 4-6.  The class, sponsored by local emergency services, was held in Magnolia, Kentucky and consisted of three days of classroom and practical instruction, as well as a simulated, real-time search and rescue field exercise.

According to the course instructor, Mike Wheeler, KD4VOS, “We had about 35 registered students. The Basic Search and Rescue class helps prepare responders to function more effectively during responses involving lost or missing individuals. The course involves the theory and application of search techniques, but also survival, communications, rescue, and team coordination procedures.”

KD4VOS also reported that the two hams who took the course, Grady Joslin, K9YL, and James Brown, KJ4YIG, were “the most excited participants in the class and had a ball.”

Glenn Allen, WA4YPQ, District 5 DEC, led the communications team at the command post.  He states that the activity forced operators to pull from several different skill sets – particularly map reading and logging of all communications on several different frequencies.

With any learning exercise, there are generally some great opportunities to adapt and overcome surprise situations.  This one was no different.

“During the field exercise designed to simulate an actual search operation, the sponsoring agency had brought in their command trailer as they would for any large scale event,” says KD4VOS. “This resource serves as their Command and Communications hub. But as they were setting up and plugged in their generator to support the internal systems, both of their power supplies for their communications ‘let all the smoke out’ making them useless.

“Fortunately there were several ARES team members standing ready to assist with resources that far exceeded the requirements for the operation. The event went on without skipping a beat. There was never a loss of communications or accountability between the command staff and the deployed field assets, so safety was never compromised. Thanks to the quick action and capabilities of the support of Amateur Radio the event was a success.”

Hardin County EC Shelby Ennis, W8WN, worked directly with one of the search teams in the field.  He says the participants came away with some lessons of value, including the need for necessary information to be consistent and communicated to all involved, as well as to be prepared for the unexpected (and the briar bushes!).

Congratulations to KY9L and KJ4YIG for acquiring their BSAR certification, and kudos to the following hams who participated simply to practice their emergency communications skills!

Mike Wheeler, KD4VOS
Grady Joslin, K9YL
James Brown, KJ4YIG
Shelby Ennis, W8WN
Glenn Allen, WA4YPQ
Leon Priest, N4TFK

The St Aloysius Shepherdsville Radio Club spent the first two weeks of school studying the Technician license manual. After spending two weeks of classroom time the kids got a real taste of radio, looking for the FOX. Last years fox hunt winner had the opportunity to hide the fox and it was hidden well. . . . → Read More: St Aloysius Radiokids find the FOX]]>

The St Aloysius Shepherdsville Radio Club spent the first two weeks of school studying the Technician license manual. After spending two weeks of classroom time the kids got a real taste of radio, looking for the FOX. Last years fox hunt winner had the opportunity to hide the fox and it was hidden well. Older students were paired with the new kids on the block as the fox continued to taunt the hunters. After what seemed to be days, actually only 20 minutes, the fox was located hiding in a hole in the big oak tree (surrounded by poison ivy). Any KY hams that would like to contact the St A group drop me an email (kc4wq@arrl.net)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport’s triennial disaster drill. The Queen City Emergency Net (QCEN) organized amateur radio operations in support of the Cincinnati Regional Red Cross Medical Assistance Team. Amateur Radio’s mission was two-fold. 1) Provide on-scene communications technical support and backup. 2) Provide . . . → Read More: Cincinatti EMCOMM Exercise a success]]> Info provided by Keith AJ4KI

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport’s triennial disaster drill. The Queen City Emergency Net (QCEN) organized amateur radio operations in support of the Cincinnati Regional Red Cross Medical Assistance Team. Amateur Radio’s mission was two-fold. 1) Provide on-scene communications technical support and backup. 2) Provide technical support and backup communications for the Red Cross at the regional hospitals participating in the exercise.

This was a large and realistic exercise. 13 hospitals, over 80 fire and EMS departments, and dozens of “victims” were involved. The scenario was that an Airbus jet with 150 souls aboard had missed its approach and accidentally attempted to land on a closed runway. It struck construction equipment at the end of the runway and crashed on landing. I was assigned to the on-scene support team and was made the communications support staff for the red triage group.

QCEN had established a 2m simplex frequency for on-site operations, and were using a set of linked repeaters on both 2m and 70cm for communications with the participating hospitals. Net control was established in the airport firehouse which has a 2m/70cm antenna pre-installed on it. The Red Cross MAT was using their own radios which were a mix of FRS radios and some “new” radios (still in the plastic wrap) that were thought to be FRS/GMRS as well. Our first challenge at the staging area was trying to make the new radios inter-operate with the FRS units. We quickly determined that we would not be able to make these work in the time allotted for preparation, so we decided to use the new radios for the command staff and team leads and used the FRS radios within the triage teams.

The drill began at 1000h. Our first operational problem came at the NCS location. The fire station’s klaxons made it very difficult for NCS to open the net. The on-site teams were bused out to the exercise location. CVG had actually closed the center runway and placed a training airframe at the end of runway 18C. The fire departments were already transporting victims to a makeshift triage area when we arrived. Our second operational problem was establishing contact with NCS on our simplex frequency. Even though we were only a few thousand feet away (across absolutely flat terrain), NCS was having trouble hearing us.

During the bulk of the exercise, I handled very little traffic. My mission was support, so I stayed out of the way and waited to be needed. The exercise Safety Officer grabbed me at one point, handed me a dead radio, and instructed me to “fix it”. I located a replacement radio and discovered that while the Logistics Section had supplied us with a large number of these “new” radios, none of them had batteries, and no batteries were on-scene. Thankfully I was able to scrounge a set and meet the Safety Officer’s needs. I did not monitor the linked repeaters, but I understand that a lot more traffic was passed on that part of the communications network.

The exercise was called off abruptly when a real aircraft declared a real emergency. We secured the area, and once given the “all clear”, were escorted back to the staging area.

Some personal lessons learned:

I need to rethink my “go-kit”. A nice hiking day pack would have worked better than the bag I had. I was also wearing a tactical vest and actually managed to run out of pockets!
I need to add FRS radios to my kit. These things are everywhere and anyone can use them. I was surprised at how reliant the MAT team was on them.

I need to be carrying AA batteries. I had spare Li-Ion battery packs for my radios, but had to scrounge to meet the needs of my served agency.
I needed to be carrying a couple bottles of water.
I received many compliments from the professional responders on the ugly neon yellow reflective “RADIO COMMUNICATIONS” vest I was wearing. The professionals emphasized that wearing a vest like that is extremely important on a disaster scene. I keep mine in my go-bag.

Some larger issues for consideration. Some of these are second-hand since I did not monitor the repeater side of the operation. Hopefully some of the KY-7 ARES guys who participated can elaborate on these points:

NCS station needs to be in a quieter area. We thought that the fire station made sense since it was going to be empty during the exercise and had an antenna pre-installed, but the klaxons are really loud and sound for a long time.
Metal buildings are absolutely RF impenetrable by an operator on a HT.
Linked repeater systems take time to key up. You have to key the mike and pause before speaking or part of the message is lost.

HTs work well enough for tactical on-scene communications, but “fixed” stations, even when using repeaters for coverage, really need better radios and better antennas.

Be familiar with ICS and NIMS terminology. The on-scene operations were organized strictly along ICS lines. Being familiar with the terminology raises our stature in the eyes of the served agency.

Editorial: My host repeatedly apologized for my assignment not having much “ham radio content”. From my perspective, however, EMCOMM isn’t about using the 2m HT I had strapped to my hip. EMCOMM is about facilitating correct and efficient communications. In this scenario, the served agency clearly detailed the amateur radio mission as primarily technical support. Our frequencies and radios were a failsafe and a secondary communications channel. Since most served agencies have their own radio systems, I see this is a common request from an agency to the ham radio community. If we, as the amateur radio community, approach our served agencies with the attitude “I’m here to use my radio, or I’m going home”, we’re not going to get much traction. We need to be flexible and present ourselves as professional communicators. Above all, we need to remember that it is the mission, and not the mode, nor the frequency that is important.

Some links to media coverage:

http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/region_northern_kentucky/hebron/cincinnati-airport-practices-how-it-would-react-to-a-major-airline-crash_6740805

http://www.wlwt.com/r-video/29210334/detail.html

In closing, I would like to thank the Queen City Emergency Net and Steve Lewis, N8TFD, for allowing me to participate in the exercise.

Don’t forget to join us this next Saturday for the Louisville Hamfest located at the Paraquet Springs Conference Center in Shepherdsville. It’s an early one this year due to a scheduling mishap. The inside vendors will be available from 630AM until 1130AM and tailgating in the parking lot will be open until 2PM. . . . → Read More: Louisville Hamfest and Kentucky QSO party]]>

Don’t forget to join us this next Saturday for the Louisville Hamfest located at the Paraquet Springs Conference Center in Shepherdsville. It’s an early one this year due to a scheduling mishap. The inside vendors will be available from 630AM until 1130AM and tailgating in the parking lot will be open until 2PM. Come meet and greet so many of the local amateurs in the area. I’ll be manning the talk-in on 146.70 (79.7 pl). Stop by the Bullitt ARS booth and say hello.

The WKDXA met last night and finalized plans for the KY QSO Party. It will run the second weekend of November and will feature a new digital category. Let’s see if we can stir up some more KY activity this year. I’ll be on portable from LaRue Co on battery power this year. Pass the word and let’s make KY radioactive during the QSO party. Info will be forthcoming in QST.

73 for this week
de Buddy KC4WQ

Early this spring we had a power outage, so I dragged our portable generator outside to provide the house with electric power. Normally starting the generator is as simple as turning on the fuel, closing the choke, and pulling the starting rope once. However, after several brisk pulls, the generator refused . . . → Read More: Use That Generator!]]> by Mike Stone, N1VE

Early this spring we had a power outage, so I dragged our portable generator outside to provide the house with electric power. Normally starting the generator is as simple as turning on the fuel, closing the choke, and pulling the starting rope once. However, after several brisk pulls, the generator refused to start. Oh oh, it hadn’t been run for several months and I didn’t remember putting any gas treatment in the tank. After pulling the plug, squirting a little starting fluid into the cylinder, and giving the carburetor a healthy squirt of Gumout, the generator started and eventually ran okay.

This summer, I was having some difficulty drilling a deep, large diameter hole out on the sundeck. I was using a heavy-duty drill motor and an extension cord plugged into a circuit that was a long distance from the entrance panel. The voltage drop was so much that the drill motor just didn’t develop enough power for the job. I pulled out the generator and used it to power the drill motor. The difference was amazing…I drilled the hole with ease.

A week or so later, Peggy K1VE was trimming the grass with an electric weed whacker at the end of a long extension cord. She had plugged the extension cord into the same outlet that I was having difficulty with when drilling the hole. I knew the motor was not running up to speed under a load and I knew that eventually the motor would heat up and burn out. So I pulled out the generator and plugged her extension cord into it. Peg said the added power was obvious.

Using the generator to run power tools outside the house, serves two proposes. It gives the tools the appropriate voltage and it gives the generator a little workout, to help insure that it will start when it is needed during a power failure. I’ll be looking for more uses for the generator throughout the year. Can you think of any?

Grayson County is prone to . . . → Read More: Grayson County Repeater Group Now Forming]]> Derrick Garrigus, KJ4VHZ, Grayson County EC, reports that hams in Grayson County are well on their way with organizing a new repeater group for the county.  After an initial informal meeting, several area hams expressed interest in forming a club and re-activating the local repeater, which has been dormant for some time.

Grayson County is prone to storm tracks, and has been the site of four confirmed tornadoes in 2011 alone; an EF0, two EF1′s, and most recently an EF2 on April 26th of this year, according to the National Weather Service.  Having a repeater to enhance communications in Grayson and surrounding counties could significantly improve warning times, as well as provide improved overall communications in the area.

The next meeting for the group will be held on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 6:00 PM Central at the Clinton Street Church of Christ, 506 North Clinton St. in Leitchfield in order to elect officers and discuss repeater progress.

For those interested in attending, participating in the club, or simply lending a hand, contact Derrick, KJ4VHZ by e-mail at dg2458@windstream.net or phone at (270) 200-3029.