Kentucky Amateur Radio News

ARES Meeting Called For All Region 4 Coordinators: NWS Awards Disaster Participants.

Allen Epling, WB4WAU — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:07:26 +0000

Pictured (left to right): Brian Prater KY4BP (representing Pike County ARES Group), Fred Jones WA4SWF (representing Big Sandy Amateur Radio Club), Gary Oliver KK4CZO (representing Letcher County Amateur Radio Club), Wayne Hensley AF4YJ (representing Harlan County Amateur Radio Club), John Hager N4KJU (representing Amateur Radio Community Services), Johnnie Brashear KY4JLB (representing Kentucky Mountains Amateur Radio Club), and Tony Edwards KJ4FYM, Warning Coordination Meteorologist NWS Jackson, KY.

Early in March, Fred Jones, WA4SWF, ASEC for Region 4, called for a meeting of all ARES Coordinators, to be held at the Paintsville Fire Dept. The meeting was held last Wednesday, April 18 and was very well attended and received. Two members of the Jackson NWS were present and presented awards to all the ARES nets and Amateur Radio Clubs who participated in the communications emergency during the tornado and severe weather event of March 2.

The event was opened by Ken Robinson, K4KBR DEC 9, who made a welcoming talk then turned the meeting over to Bob Dixon KJ4FYQ Paintsville Fire Chief and ARES Member, who gave a short talk of the importance of being in ARES and the necessary link between amateur radio and the civilian agencies.

Fred Jones, WA4SWF gave a short welcoming speech and then recognized the members of the Jackson NWS who then gave an excellent visual presentation on recognizing the signs of impending severe weather. After the presentation Tony Edwards, KJ4FYM and Shawn Harley, KF4NIH of the Jackson NWS presented awards to various ARES nets and amateur radio clubs who participated in SKYWARN and ARES communications during the recent weather disaster that affected a large portion of our state. The groups that were represented were the

Kentucky Mountains Amateur Radio Club

Harlan Co. Amateur Radio Club

Letcher Co. Amateur Radio Club

Big Sandy Amateur Radio Club

Amateur Radio Community Services (Paintsville Amateur Radio Club)

Pike County ARES Group

The Jackson NWS later posted this statement concerning the cooperation between the NWS and these members at the meeting:

“Amateur radio is a vital service to the community during a disaster. On March 2nd, when land-line and cell phone communications were lost to the tornado ravaged areas of Magoffin, Johnson and Martin Counties, amateur radio was one of the only ways to communicate to the outside world.

The National Weather Service in Jackson has developed a key partnership with several area amateur radio groups. During severe weather events, area hams participate in a SKYWARN net relaying reports of severe weather to a net control operator, who then relays this information to NWS Jackson via 2-meter radio and/or internet chatroom. On March 2nd, local hams not only reported the weather that was affecting their local area during the event, but also worked late into the evening relaying reports of damage and other information to emergency responders and NWS Jackson.

We want to thank all area amateur radio operators for their service during the March 2nd event, and other recent winter weather and severe weather events! ”

Following the presentation of awards, John Hager, N4KJU, gave some brief comments about amateur radio and Allen Epling, WB4WAU gave a short summary of KYHAM News and how to submit news stories for inclusion in Region 4 News. The meeting was concluded with Fred Jones WA4SWF leading a discussion of proper net protocol and courtesy while checked into the ARES nets. Following the meeting Fred Jones WA4SWF made the comment,”I agree that we need a net manager and adopt net Protocol that is the same for all nets and that we need to give clarification when changing from Skywarn net to an AREs net”.

The event was very well planned and hosted by the Paintsville Fire Dept. with food and refreshments for all.

Attending the meeting were the following:

Fred Jones WA4SWF, John Hager N4KJU, Curtis Meade KY4CM, Bob Dixon KJ4FYQ, Brian Prater KY4BP, Allen Epling WB4WAU, Paul D. Conley KF4NLL, Ken Robinson K4KBR, Wayne Hensley AF4YJ, Gary Oliver KK4ZCO, Johnnie Brashear KY4JLB, Ross Leedy KJ4GRJ, Tony Edwards KJ4FYM NWS, Shawn Harley KF4NIH NWS, Tommy Shelton KA4BHA , William Callihan WB4CLW.

The Kentucky Division of Emergency Management will be conducting a Statewide Communication Exercise.

Allen Epling, WB4WAU — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:30:09 +0000

The Kentucky Division of Emergency Management will be conducting a statewide communication exercise (COMEX) on 1 and 2 May, 2012. The amateur radio community is an integral part of this exercise and will have multiple opportunities to participate.

On Tuesday afternoon, 1 May 2012, beginning at 1300(1:00 P.M.)EDT MARS HF voice and WinLink operation tests will begin. These tests will be conducted on a frequency that will be emailed to the membership. Stations checking in will be asked to provide their call sign, their county of operation and their email address, if they have one. The email address will be used to share information in the future regarding CEOC activations and exercises and not used to distribute SPAM nor will the addresses be shared with other entities.

On Tuesday evening, 1 May 2012, beginning at 1700(5:00 P.M.)EDT, HF testing will begin. The Commonwealth Emergency Operations Center will operate on both 40 and 80 meters, utilizing the frequencies currently posted in the Kentucky ARES Section Emergency Plan: 40 meters will operate 7228MHz LSB and 80 meters will operate on 39725MHz LSB. The initial roll calls will be conducted by ARES District and then periodically the frequency will be polled for additional check-ins. Stations checking in will be asked to provide their call sign, their county of operation and their email address, if they have one. The email address will be used to share information in the future regarding CEOC activations and exercises.

On Wednesday morning, 2 May 2012, beginning at 0900(9:00 A.M.)EDT and continuing until 1130(11:30)EDT, an aircraft will be deployed to fly the Eastern Kentucky area (east of the I-65 corridor) operating an aerial repeater. Frequencies for this repeater will be: Input/Output: 146.595, CTCSS 123.0. Stations are welcome to check in during these hours of operations. As is the case with all of our nets during this exercise, stations checking in will be asked to provide their call sign, their county of operation and their email address, if they have one. The email address will be used to share information in the future regarding CEOC activations and exercises

On Wednesday afternoon, 2 May 2012, beginning at 1230(12:30 P.M.)EDT and continuing until 1430(2:30)EDT, an aircraft will be deployed to fly the Western Kentucky area (along and west of the I-65 corridor) operating an aerial cross-band repeater. Frequencies for this repeater will be: Input/Output: 146.595, CTCSS 123.0. Stations are welcome to check in during these hours of operations. Again, stations checking in will be asked to provide their call sign, their county of operation and their email address, if they have one. The email address will be used to share information in the future regarding CEOC activations and exercises

On Wednesday evening, 2 May 2012, beginning at 1700(5:00 P.M.)EDT, 2 meter, 70 cm, and Echolink testing will begin. The Commonwealth Emergency Operations Center will operate on all of three of the systems simultaneously, utilizing the following frequencies: the 444.050 CTCSS 91.5 (Will Jones Wide Area Network), 146.700 CTCSS 79.7, (Bullitt County Repeater) and the 146.865 CTCSS 192.8, Echolink Node #451988 (Madison Co EOC). Again, the initial roll calls will be conducted by ARES District and then periodically the frequencies will be polled for additional check-ins. Stations checking in will be asked to provide the same information being requested on the other nets: their call sign, their county of operation and their email address, if they have one.

Again, the email address will be used to share information in the future regarding CEOC activations and exercises and will not be shared with other entities.

During our last exercise, 80 of 120 counties across the Commonwealth had some type of amateur check-in. It is our desire to have at least one check-in from all one hundred and twenty counties during this exercise. Following the exercise, we ask that you go to the following website to complete an After Action review (AAR): www.kyem.ky.gov/COMEXAAR. Please include your comments as they are vitally important to us.

We look forward to your participation in the drill.

Charles M. O’Neal, B.A., NREMT-P, KE4AIE Assistant Division Director
-
Operations State Search and Rescue Coordinator Kentucky Emergency
Management
1025 Capital Center Drive Suite 101
Frankfort, Kentucky
40601
Office: 502-607-1601
Fax: 502-607-5710
Cell: 502-330-2243

Kentucky Mountain ARC News

Allen Epling, WB4WAU — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:15:15 +0000

The following was submitted by John Farler, K4AVX:

The KY Mountains ARC, ARES District 10, and Perry Co. ARES have a Memorandum Of Agreement to help with communications at the Paul E. Patton Eastern KY Veterans’ Center in Hazard, in case of an emergency in the area which would require communications backup. The agreement was announced by club president Johnnie Brashear, KY4JLB, at the April 9 club meeting.

Club member Kel Adams, KI4NPC, an employee at the facility, has installed two meter gear, and the club plans to help with an HF antenna, as well as
volunteer operators and portable HF equipment, should the need arise.

As recent activity during the Eastern Ky. Tornado outbreak has shown, the Eastern Ky Linked Repeater System has great use and potential when there is a weather or other type of emergency in the area.

An added benefit to the agreement and equipment is that residents, such as Charlie Hensley, KE4BNV from Harlan, in the photo, may use the equipment as part of their activities at the Center. Charlie has had difficulty reaching repeaters with his handheld transceiver, so the base station will help him stay in touch with his many friends on the air.

The EKVC serves the Eastern part of the state with residents from many counties around Hazard, and is one of three such facilities in the stare which serves those who did the most to serve our country

Louisa Hamfest Coming Up

Allen Epling, WB4WAU — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:27:10 +0000

West Liberty Cleanup Continuing

Allen Epling, WB4WAU — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:09:52 +0000

West Liberty Update – Almost 4 weeks after the EF3 tornado

I was in West Liberty today for the first time in 10 days and the changes are very
dramatic. They are working very hard to clean up and rebuild. The most visible
change is that the debris has been removed from the streets and sidewalks
downtown and they’ve been swept clean up to the fronts of the buildings. Even
though most all of the buildings are badly damaged or destroyed, getting the
sidewalks and streets clean has made things look a lot better. The greening of
the hills and the drying out of the fallen timber has kind of made the destroyed
trees look like the damage was done quite awhile ago instead of less than 4
weeks ago. The owner of the poolroom that was destroyed and was known for it’s
food is back in business in mobile concession stands and was doing a brisk
business. No one knows what will be replaced and who will leave but for the most
part the townspeople have made great strides toward cleaning up after the
disaster and rebuilding their town. There’s lots of work to be done and it’s
going to take them a long time to do it, but they are making good headway. Lots
of people from all over have volunteered their time to help with the work that
needs to be done and lots from all over have donated money to help those who
lost their homes and some who even lost jobs.

Keep these people in your prayers. David P.
Allen

Submitted by Fred Jones, WA4SWF

Tornadoes – UPDATE 3-4

Buddy Sohl, KC4WQ — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:25:44 +0000

Info from AJ4KI……..
Many KY ARES Region 3 operators responded to requests for assistance from Clark County (IN) RACES.

Rick, KC4S operated as net control Friday night through Saturday. Keith, AJ4KI established a cross-band repeater at a shelter site north of Henryville and remained on station through Friday night. Grady Josline KY9L (with Jefferson County S&R) and
James Brown KJ4YIG assisted with search and rescue.

Dennis Lutz (KJ4HUW), Lee Roy Massey (KE4LR), John Hurt, (KI4USD) and Dan Stratton (KJ4QFN) from Shelby County ARES responded and set up a packet station at one of the shelter locations. They relayed their traffic through K4DMU in Louisville.

Keith (AJ4KI) acted as net control for the RACES net throughout the day on Sunday. Laddie DePas (AI4RQ) and Stacy DePas (KJ4OXS) acted as backup net control and message runners on Sunday afternoon.

I’m sure that there are other KY operators who also answered the call from our neighbors in Indiana. The past 60 hours are quite a blur. It was extremely gratifying to see the outpouring of help to Henryville and I am exceedingly proud of everyone’s efforts. I expect that RACES operations will continue for the next several days.

Kudos to all the ham operators that provided invaluable reports to the Louisville NWS during the significant weather outbreak of March 2 and Pete KF4VCC as net control. Reports coming across the BARS 146.700 repeater kept the NWS well informed including a direct report of the BIG tornado on the ground around Henryville.

Kudos aside, let’s look at a refresher as to what is ‘important’ reports for the NWS. SEVERE weather is just that, severe. The NWS is looking for direct reports of rain rates in excess of 1 inch per hour, wind speed in excess of 55 MPH, and hail larger than 1/2 inch. Any other reports are superfluous and tend to bog down the entire process.

The most difficult thing to do so many times is to not transmit, to just listen. I heard what I considered a great piece of advice a few years ago. God gave me two ears and one mouth so I could listen twice as much as I talk. So when the next significant weather event rolls in, remember the criteria and transmit accordingly.

My personal thanks to these and all the others that checked in to the weather net on 146.70.

KC4ALV, AK4BM, KG4ERX, WD4HDY, KI4FNS, KI4JSY, KY4JME, KC4S, KI4PGJ, N4FND, KA4TEU, AI4RQ, AJ4SV, KI4CZF, KD4PXM, KD4YN, W4BAT, KD4YGK, AC4SV, KD4YNO, KI4NOC, N4CCJ and KJ4OXS.

HNY and metro election results

Buddy Sohl, KC4WQ — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:04:05 +0000

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.

Where Are You?

Doug Lamb, K4EK — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:18:16 +0000

What would we do without our GPS units, our APRS trackers, our cellular devices with data capabilities, and our online mapping resources? These technological marvels have resulted in our being able to pinpoint locations, altitudes, headings, speed, and distances. We can mount them on our dashboards, put them in our pockets, tap out destinations, or even speak to them and let them know where we’d like to go. Like magic, they seek out a few satellites in geosynchronous orbit miles above us, whip up a quick triangulation or two, search a few databases, pull up an up-to-the-minute map, and within seconds, we’re given step-by-step directions. Heck, for the cost of an additional click or two, we can see street images of our current location or our destination. I can’t wait for the day that the autopilot feature on my vehicle takes all this in and simply gets me to where I’m going while I kick back and relax! Ahhh, technology.

But, back to my original question. What *would* we do without all these things? If “THE BIG ONE” hit your area and your community was without power, cellular and land line service, and other critical infrastructure, would you be ready?

“Why, sure,” you say. “We’ve got a great amateur radio club here, and an ARES/RACES group that’s top-notch!” Awesome! You have good operators, good equipment, and have prepared well for providing communications during disaster situations just like this one. You’ve drilled, you’ve trained, you’ve practiced until you’re blue in the face. You can set up stations and pass traffic like it’s nobody’s business. But can you communicate effectively? Particularly when it comes to location and direction?

I recently took part in a training net in which stations were paired up, acting as operators during an emergency. One played the part of the control station at a county EOC, the other manned the radio at an ad hoc shelter within the county. (Each station chose a location that they were familiar with within the county prior to the exercise taking place, but they weren’t told why; that was the location of their “shelter” for the exercise.) The scenario was such that the EOC had several volunteers working within logistics who were not from the area. The emergency was so big that volunteers from miles away were brought in to help. These folks may have known a few of the main thoroughfares in the county, but were not familiar at all with local “hills and hollers.”

The exercise consisted of the “shelter” op requesting supplies from the “EOC” op. The shelter op then had to give accurate, concise directions to their shelter from the EOC. The directions had to be as such that a delivery person who “ain’t from around here” could get to the shelter without any problems, armed with only a paper map of the county. After this, the two operators reversed roles and we played the game again.

Sounds pretty easy, and most of the operators in the exercise did a fine job, but we learned a few valuable lessons from the game.

Situational awareness. You can’t give someone directions to your location if you don’t know where you are. One thing you can do to practice this is, the next time you’re stopped at a light or in a parking lot somewhere, think to yourself, “What’s my location, what are nearby landmarks, and how would I convey to someone the easiest way to get to me right now?”

Real, visible landmarks are good! (Take a right one mile past the large water tower.)

Real, visible landmarks that are normally present may not be available. (Hey, what’d that earthquake do with my large water tower?)

Landmarks based on historical events, no matter how significant, are not good. (Turn right at the corner where old man Johnson’s barn stood. It’s the one that was taken out by the tornado about a year ago. EVERYBODY knows where that is . . . it was the talk of the town!)

When you’re passing information, it’s a conversation, not a broadcast. Sending station, pause for breaks, questions, and confirmation when giving directions. Receiving station, ask for repeats or clarifications if things aren’t clear.

Even if alternate tactical frequencies are in use, there will probably be LOTS of radio traffic. Make sure your directions are thorough and clear, but be as concise as possible so as not to use the frequency longer than necessary.

You may know a road by it’s commonly used local name, but the person you’re giving directions to may be looking for street signs, county road signs, or highway numbers . . . none of which match the name you use. Try and be familiar with county road and state highway numbers, as these signs are usually most prominent, most easily seen, and readable while driving.

The BEST route is not necessarily the SHORTEST route. You may know a dozen different ways to get to a particular place, but is there a route that requires fewer turns and involves more main roads? If so, that’s probably the route to choose, even though it might be a bit longer.

It certainly wasn’t the most technologically challenging net I’ve participated in. Not much flash, no cool digital stuff, no talk about the latest whiz-bang gizmos that we all love so much. But it was very insightful, and made us all think about things from a little different perspective.

Merry Christmas 2011

Buddy Sohl, KC4WQ — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:07:18 +0000

Hi KyHAM readers. Here’s wishing you the very best this Christmas from our home to yours. I have been blessed over the years immensely and ham radio has always been a huge part of that blessing. There are currently 4 hams residing at my QTH! My wife of several decades even pursued and passed the tech license a bit over a year ago.

Just curious if you are putting ham gear on your Christmas wish list? If so, I can make some suggestions for an expanded radio experience…… get yourself some digital equipment to interface with your radio gear!

There are so many digital formats available and all offer interesting radio experiences. Most recently I have forayed into JT65 for HF. Best QSO to date was working into VK land on 10 meters with 1/2 watt. That calculated out to just shy of 20,000 miles per watt!

Radio is all about learning and communicating. Expand your horizons for 2012 and try your hand at some digi communications.

Also a quick note about APRS. A lot of our ham community uses APRS (automatic position reporting system) to keep track of their travels. The Jefferson County Search Dog Association even uses APRS during their occasional searches for the lost. I have noticed in my travels around the state there are HUGE gaps in coverage for APRS digipeaters. Do you or your club have some old packet gear gathering dust? Why not consider putting your old digi gear on 144.39 MHz and help those APRS folks get their signals to iGates?

One last note, congratulations to Glenn Petri KE4KY, selected as the Bullitt ARS Amateur of the Year for 2011.

Thanks for reading along. My best to each and every one of you for 2012. 73

Update Region 3

Buddy Sohl, KC4WQ — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:58:27 +0000

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.