QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/files/races/1991.001

Text File | 1994-11-13 | 27KB | 465 lines

RACESBUL.151                                 DATE: Jan. 7, 1991
SUBJECT:   HIGH FREQUENCY ANTENNA SURVIVAL TIP

        The following was submitted to us by Patricia Gibbons, WA6UBE,
        City of San Jose Communications:

"I made a trip to Berkeley to visit the shop manager for a facility  run
by  Mackay  Radio  --  they  maintain  marine communications gear on the
larger craft operated by American and foreign shipping lines.  I  wanted
to get the correct  part numbers to make  up a wire antenna  for our EOC
just like those on board ship  that go between the masts, complete  with
what are called 'safety links'.  These are special sections of wire that
are weaker then the antenna line  itself and has a heavier, longer  wire
in parallel with the weaker wire.  The purpose on a ship is to allow the
weak link to break  in a heavy storm.   This allows additional  slack in
the antenna wire so that the  entire antenna will survive instead of  it
all coming down.   This concept  is ideal for  our communications center
because we have two large monopoles to support the various microwave and
various VHF/UHF  antennas for  our city  government frequencies.   So if
this High Frequency wire antenna will  go between the two poles, and  if
they sway a lot in en  earthquake, the weak lines will break  instead of
the entire antenna system and thereby survive when it will be needed the
most!!!"

        RACESBUL.152                                 DATE: Jan. 14, 1991
        SUBJECT:   NVIS ANTENNAS - PART 1/5

There has been what can be called more than somewhat mild excitement  in
Northern California emergency communications circles over a form of high
frequency radio propagation.   It's not new, but  I venture to say  that
very few  have used  and understood  it.   "It" is  called NVIS  -- Near
Vertical Incident Skywave.  Patricia Gibbons, WA6UBE, presented a  paper
on NVIS at the  1990 Pacific Division ARRL  convention in San Jose.   It
caused quite  a stir.   She  quickly ran  out of  handouts and has since
received dozens of requests for more.  The handouts included reprints of
articles from military communications magazines reporting the results of
many tests.   Near  vertical incident  skywave means  forcing your radio
signals to travel straight up (i.e., 80-90 degrees) and back down.  This
achieves radio coverage in circle having a radius of 300 miles and more.
Stop and think about that for a moment.  Complete coverage within such a
circle on frequencies between  2 and 10 or  12 Megahertz.  Some  readers
may wonder what's so good about this.  So now is a good spot to say that
if only DX (long  distance) is your thing,  skip on and read  one of the
other  fine  articles  in  this  publication.    We  are  talking  about
dependable local area high frequency communications -- the type we  need
for tactical  public safety  communications in  the Radio  Amateur Civil
Emergency  Service,  the  Civil  Air  Patrol, SECURE, search and rescue,
forestry, pipeline and similar services.  In tactical communications  we
don't want DX.  (To be continued)

        RACESBUL.153                                 DATE: JAN. 21, 1991
        SUBJECT:   NVIS ANTENNAS - PART 2/5

How frustrating it was in years gone by to drive away from, say, a  4585
KHz base station, only  to lose a good  400 watt signal a  mile from the
transmitter!    All  the  while  receiving,  loud  and  clear, a 50 watt
transmitter some 200  miles away.   Very frustrating.   We really didn't
know why.   When  VHF-FM radios  and repeaters  came along,  most of  us
retired HF mobile  radios for tactical  communications.  The  reasons we
haven't enjoyed good HF tactical communications, whether AM or SSB, have
been the base and mobile antennas.  The classic dipoles, a quarter to  a
half wave  up in  the air.   The  mobile antennas,  designed for  use by
Amateur   Radio   operators,   have   the   same   general   propagation
characteristics -- low take off  angle for DX.  Virtually  every Amateur
Radio  mobile   HF  antenna   is  unsuitable   for  day-to-day  tactical
communications.    They  are  variously  bulky, mechanically weak, won't
survive  continual  whacks  from  limbs  and  low  overheads,  look like
Neptune's trident or a misshapen coat rack.  They may be fine for  hobby
communications but not for tactical public safety use.  In that type  of
service we want one, simple antenna that is permanently installed and we
don't have  to think  about or  fuss with  again.   So how do we achieve
NVIS?  By  getting those sky  hooks down near  the ground.   Let's start
with the base station antenna.   Horizontal, of course.  Dipole or  long
wire.   Place the  antenna as  low as  two feet  above the ground but no
higher  than  about  thirty  feet  without  a  counterpoise.    Use   an
appropriate and sturdy antenna tuner;  you will use the one  antenna for
all frequencies  between 2-12  MHz. A  longwire antenna  is suitable  in
field setups  but not  recommended on  office buildings  or other  urban
environments.  The reason is that unbalanced antennas frequently  create
interference  problems  with  telephones  and  other  communications and
electronic  equipment.    These  problems  are  substantially reduced or
eliminated with a balanced antenna system.  (To be continued)

        RACESBUL.154                                 DATE: Jan. 28, 1991
        SUBJECT:   NVIS ANTENNAS - PART 3/5

The antenna tuner of preference is  one that is automatic.  Such  tuners
are available now  hat do not  require any control  cables; they require
only the coaxial transmission line from the transceiver and a 12 volt DC
cable.  The tuner is placed at the far end of the coaxial cable.   There
are then two basic options:  a longwire or a balanced (dipole)  antenna.
The longwire can be any length -- the longer the better to approach  the
lowest operating frequency.  A very good ground connection is  necessary
and often quite difficult to obtain on a rooftop.  (When we are  talking
about running ground connections we mean the shortest possible runs of 2
to 3 inch copper strap -- never wire or braid.)  For a balanced antenna,
you can place a 4:1 balun on the output of the antenna tuner, thence  to
a 450  ohm feedline  to the  dipole antenna.   Any  NVIS antenna  can be
enhanced with  a ground  along the  surface that  is 5%  longer than the
antenna and separated  by .15 wavelength  at the lowest  frequency to be
used.  For the HF-SSB mobile radio, a sixteen-foot whip is probably  the
best.  Such a whip may be both costly and difficult to find.  For  NVIS,
the antenna is  used folded down,  both in motion  and at rest.   That's
right, it is not  released to go vertical.   Most us use  the heavy duty
ball joint  mount, heavy  duty spring,  and readily  available 106  inch
whip.  To further improve the NVIS propagation at rest, the mobile  whip
is adjusted to go parallel to the  ground and away from the vehicle.   A
further enhancement is to remove the whip and run out a longwire 30, 50,
100 feet long.  Patricia Gibbons carries orange traffic cones, about  18
inches tall, and notched  at the top to  lay the antenna wire  away from
the vehicle.  (To be continued)

        RACESBUL.155                                 DATE: Feb. 4, 1991
        SUBJECT:   NVIS ANTENNAS - PART 4/5

The Russian military have been using NVIS antennas on their vehicles for
quite some time.   They appear to be  about 4 meters long  and about six
inches above  the top  surface of  the vehicle.   At  least one American
manufacturer  makes  an  NVIS  antenna  for  both  military and civilian
vehicles.  On a van it looks no more obtrusive than a luggage rack.  The
automatic antenna tuner  is located in  the rear of  the vehicle and  as
close as  possible to  the mobile  antenna feedpoint.   An HF-SSB mobile
radio was  recently installed  in one  of our  State Office of Emergency
Services trucks.   The installer and  the vehicle were  80 airline miles
away and the time was about 2 p.m.  In the State SECURE (State Emergency
Capability Using Radio Effectively) system this calls for using a 7  MHz
channel.  We established contact; the mobile signal was received here in
Sacramento at  about S5  to S6.   I  then asked  him to  loosen the ball
mount, flop  the antenna  down horizontal  and away  from the  truck.  I
could tell by the pause and tone of his voice that he thought I had lost
it.  When he returned to the air  his signal jumped to S9.  By the  same
token  he  thought  I  had  cut  in  a  linear  amplifier because of the
improvement to my signal.   I assured him  that the improvement was  due
solely  to  his  flopping  his  antenna  horizontal.    You  need not be
concerned   over   the   orientation   of   an   NVIS   antenna;  it  is
omnidirectional.  (To be continued)

        RACESBUL.156                                 DATE: Feb. 11, 1991
        SUBJECT:   NVIS ANTENNAS - PART 5/5

Every Monday night from 7-8 p.m. we conduct a State RACES net on  3545.5
kHz using AMTOR.   One night the net  was concluded and secured.   While
the hams were cleaning up one of them noticed that we were being called;
there it was on the screen.   But it belied the loudspeaker;  there were
no discernible AMTOR signals -- only a high noise level.  Yet, there was
that station, WA6UBE, calling us at W6HIR.  Yes, it was Patricia Gibbons
proving an NVIS point again!   She was transmitting to us from  82 miles
away with an antenna lying on the ground along her driveway and using  3
watts of  power!   On another  statewide evening  RACES net,  our Monday
night 8 p.m. 3952 kHz  voice net, Bill Pennington (WA6SLA)  compared two
antennas.  One was a vertical and the other was a horizontal quite close
to the ground.   His observations  were interesting and  typical of NVIS
propagation.  Almost  all of the  signals received on  the vertical were
higher in  voltage than  the NVIS  antenna but,  be that  as it may, the
signal to  noise ratio  is superior  with the  NVIS antenna.   The noise
floor is measurably lower on the lower antenna, thereby providing better
overall  communications.    I  heard  more  than  one Amateur say, after
listening to Gibbons'  NVIS presentation and  subsequent demonstrations,
decide to jump back into HF-SSB mobile radio again.  These people,  like
I,  are  interested  primarily  in  the  mobile  tactical  public safety
communication applications.  There is an easy method to improve the NVIS
radiation of your  dipole antenna.   Let the feedpoint  sag five to  ten
feet below the horizontal.  This will alter the radiation to improve the
vertical angle to  achieve an approximate  2 dB improvement  at no cost.
Many are excited about an old but little understood and practiced  means
of HF radiation.  If you need it, try it.  You'll like it.

        RACESBUL.157                                DATE: Feb. 18, 1991
        SUBJECT:   RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 7

                                     1 9 8 7

        RACESBUL.       Title

        701  Equipment Liability - Questions and Answers
        702  Mono County Hams Wanted
        703  County RACES Officers
        704  RACES pamphlets
        705  News from State OES HQ RACES
        706  Mailed Bulletins to be reduced
        707  New State OES Region Manager is a ham (N6ECP)
        708  Kings County goes RACES
        709  National Dispatcher's Week
        710  California dams
        711  Emergency Management agency via ham radio
        The following six messages are specifically intended for all
        State and local OES employees in California:
        712  RACES program management problems - Part 1
        713  RACES program management problems - Part 2
        714  RACES program management problems - Part 3
        715  RACES program management problems - Part 4
        716  RACES program management problems - Part 5
        717  RACES program management problems - Part 6
        718  State RACES Plan cover errata - misspelling!
        719  Volunteers deportment and appearance - Part 1
        720  Volunteers deportment and appearance - Part 2
        721  Delivering the message to your OES agency
        721A Hams help wanted in Southern California!
        722  Packet radio demonstations, how to do - Part 1
        723  Packet radio demonstations, how to do - Part 2
        724  Packet radio demonstations, how to do - Part 3
        725  Packet radio demonstations, how to do - Part 4
        (The above 4 messages describe how best to successfully
        demonstrate packet radio to government entities and eliminate
        embarrassments and Murphy's Law)
        (To be continued)

        RACESBUL.158                                 DATE: Feb. 25, 1991
        SUBJECT:   RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 8

        726  Hurricanes, names for all the 1987 season
        727  (missing)
        728  Identification cards wanted (samples from any jurisdiction)
        729  1987 earthquake exercise - Part 1
        730  SAR City USA (Nov. 1987 seminar in Barstow, CA)
        731  1987 earthquake exercise - Part 2
        732  1987 earthquake exercise - Part 3
        733  1987 earthquake exercise - Part 4
        734  1987 earthquake exercise - Part 5
        736  Definition of the RACES
        737  CCDN and RACES Bulletins - Part 1 of 2
        738  CCDN and RACES Bulletins - Part 2 of 2
        739  Use of ID cards policy
        740  Volunteers responding policy
        741  Flow of communications; city to county to State
        742  Training writeups wanted to share statewide
        743  Will you attend the Emergency Response Institute '88?
        744  Tsunami; definition and training discussion
        745  ICS videotape (available from State OES PAO)
        746  Season's Greetings from the State OES Director
        747  RACES Bulletin numbering system to change
        (To be continued)

RACESBUL.159                                 DATE: March 4, 1991
SUBJECT:   "RF-1" MICROWAVE VAN TAKES RACES "ABOVE THE CROWD"

Imagine  a  RACES  communications  van  that can deliver 24 simultaneous
voice  or  data  circuits  plus  full  duplex Amateur Television ("ATV")
videoconferencing.  Now add High  Frequency, VHF and UHF radios  -- both
Amateur and Public Safety, a thirty foot pneumatic mast, on-board  power
generator, and  four wheel  drive!   "Wonderful," you  say?   California
State Office of Emergency Services Region 2 RACES calls it "RF-1".

In service since September 1990, RF-1 is the product of nearly a  year's
development  by  Region  Two's  Special  Communications  Assistance Team
(SCAT) and the RACES.

RF-1 Project Coordinator Steve Cembura (N6GVI) led the team of  Amateurs
who designed and built the mobile 5.8 gigaHertz microwave system.   This
full-duplex link operates in both analog (video) and digital (T-carrier)
modes.  The  system includes T-1  channel banks which  combine up to  24
separate voice or data circuits on a single microwave signal.

SCAT Public  Safety Radio  Officer Dick  Epting located  the vehicle,  a
surplus Electronic News Gathering  unit from San Francisco's  television
station  KGO,  and  installed  two-way  radios  and emergency equipment.
Another San Francisco broadcaster, KPIX-TV, donated a broadcast  quality
color TV camera and other necessary video and audio gear.

RF-1  got  its  first  field  trial  providing  video  and two-way radio
communications for  a major  earthquake preparedness  exercise in Solano
County.  It  was displayed at  the last Emergency  Response Institute in
San  Ramon  and  at  the  opening  of  the new State OES Media Center in
Sacramento.  RF-1 is now  Region Two's "first in" mobile  communications
resource for earthquakes and other disasters.

"RF-1 is more than just a comm van," says Region 2 RACES Coordinator Art
Botterell.  "All  the technology wouldn't  mean a thing  without skilled
operators.  The RF-1 team put themselves on- call day and night to offer
this unique public service."

RACESBUL.160                                        DATE: March 11, 1991
SUBJECT:   COMM MISSION FOR VOLUNTEERS - Part 1/2

QUESTION:  How  do we identify  an emergency communications  mission for
the volunteers?

ANSWER:  There is a planning tool in disaster management planning called
a matrix.  On one axis are all the many emergency functions that  should
be addressed by the agency and the jurisdiction.  On the other axis is a
list of  all of  the agencies  and organizations  involved in  emergency
response.  For every function one agency has the primary responsibility.
A letter "P"  is written in  that square.   Then any other  organization
that has a support  role should have an  "S" entered in the  appropriate
block along the function axis.

By doing this you may well find new participation and missions that  did
not exist heretofore.  Here are a few examples:

1.  Weather  Warnings.    The  "P"  or  Primary  is the National Weather
Service.  The  "S" or Support  services may be  the emergency management
agency, the fire department, the  sheriff or police department, and  the
Emergency Broadcast System.   Don't overlook  the latter as  one of your
organizations unless, of course, it doesn't exist.

2. Rescue.  The  Primary is usually the  fire department.  Support  role
agencies may include  public works, Explorer  Scouts, search and  rescue
units and others.  (To be continued)
RACESBUL.161                                 DATE: March 18, 1991
SUBJECT:   COMM MISSION FOR VOLUNTEERS - Part 2/2

3. Communications.  Since  this is an emergency  communications planning
matrix, the  P for  Primary is  the local  emergency management  agency.
Support roles  may typically  be provided  by sheriff  or police,  fire,
public works, the telephone  company, cellular telephone utilities,  the
Civil Air  Patrol and  others with  whom you  interface in the emergency
operations center.  Note that I did not say RACES.  That is because  the
RACES is not  a separate or  outside organization; it  is a unit  of the
emergency management agency.  The  Civil Air Patrol, on the  other hand,
IS an outside agency.  Do you  have the RACES in your government?   Have
you looked into the CAP communications capabilities?

By now you should have an idea how the Primary and Support role planning
matrix works.  Note that there  is only one Primary for every  function;
there cannot be divided  responsibilities.  Once the  organizations have
been inventoried it is easier to  create RACES support roles for a  host
of emergency situations, and probably quite a few more than you envision
today.  Does each department  head carry local government two-way  radio
communications?  If not, have you planned a shadow role for your  RACES?
If you or your radio officer is unfamiliar with the shadow role,  please
send us an inquiry.



RACESBUL.162                                 DATE: March 25, 1991
SUBJECT:   HOW DOES ONE JOIN THE RACES?

QUESTION: How do I join a RACES unit?

ANSWER:    Contact  your  nearest  civil defense or emergency management
agency.    The  Radio  Amateur  Civil  Emergency  Service is a part of a
municipal, county, or  state government.   This does not  mean, however,
that every such government has a RACES program.  If your government does
not have a RACES, we hope you refer any interested caller to the nearest
jurisdiction that does have a RACES.

QUESTION:  For "Level A" RACES persons, what kind of training should we,
the local government, give them?

ANSWER:  This varies from  jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  One  thing the
RACES is not is to train operators from scratch.  We assume that  person
brings to the job one or  more skills.  The government should  train and
provide handouts  on that  which the  volunteer would  not normally get.
For starters we recommend the following:

1. An agency organization chart.
2. Position descriptions, starting with the Radio Officer.
3. The mission  of the emergency  communications service, including  the
RACES.
4. The  Incident Command  System.   If the  ICS is  used, the  volunteer
communicators in government service must understand it.
5. Concentrate of the use of tactical callsigns and plain English.
6. Mission specific  training.  In  other words, those  people support a
hazard  materials  incident  in  the  field  must  have  suitable hazmat
training before  hand.   The same  applies to  wild fire communications,
flood gauge reporting, and similar potentially hazardous operations.
7. Housekeeping rules and standard operating procedures.
8. Safety, personal and family preparedness.

RACESBUL.163                                     DATE: April 1, 1991
SUBJECT:   WHAT ABOUT CITIZENS BAND?

QUESTION:  You usually talk  about Amateur Radio, the Civil  Air Patrol,
and public safety radio services in your Bulletins.  Isn't Citizens Band
radio viable anymore in emergency services agencies?

ANSWER:  Yes,  in some areas.   Because it  is short range  and local in
nature, CB radio is best suited to city and county communications.  Like
any other volunteer service  this can vary from  area to area.   In many
areas  the  REACT  or  Radio  Emergency  Associated  Communications Team
organization is  a highly  developed, dedicated  and professional  group
that is a pleasure to work with and a credit to the community.  CB radio
now also includes the  GMRS or General Mobile  Radio Service.  More  and
more REACT organizations  are using GMRS.   This enables  a professional
quality base, mobile and repeater operation in the UHF-FM band.

A CB radio should  be part of any  city and county Emergency  Operations
Center  even  if   there  is  no   organized  or  dependable   CB  radio
organization.  It can be  an immediate source of information  or reports
in some instances.   It is  an inexpensive communications  resource that
should not be overlooked in any local area Emergency Operations Center.

RACESBUL.164                                 DATE: April 8, 1991
SUBJECT:   HOW COMM VOLUNTEERS CAN BE USED - Part 1/2

QUESTION:  I am  new at using volunteers  in our government.   How can I
use volunteers in communications?

ANSWER:     Some  assignment   skills  for   your  unpaid   professional
communication specialists in government service are:
- voice radio operators for tactical and formal traffic;
- digital operators for packet radio, AMTOR, and radioteletype.
This  can  include  unlicensed  people  skilled  at typing messages into
computers;
- Net Control voice operators.  This takes a special and uncommon  skill
that you should identify and recruit in advance of their need;
- Shift supervisors.  Trained volunteers to manage the other volunteers;
- Shadows.  A shadow is a radio operator who brings his/her own  two-way
radio  (usually  Amateur  Radio)  communications  and  accompanies a key
official around  the clock  as long  as that  official is  on duty.  The
shadow is also capable of  operating the official's own radio,  cellular
telephone, etc.; and
- Comm Unit Leaders on incidents.  Where the Incident Command System  is
used for the public safety communications resources and Amateur Radio is
also used, their should also be a ham Comm Unit Leader.  The two  should
work side by side throughout the incident.
(To be continued)

RACESBUL.165                                 DATE: April 15, 1991
SUBJECT:   HOW COMM VOLUNTEERS CAN BE USED - Part 2/2

This has unfortunately not been the  case during the past five years  of
most  of  the  major  state  and  federal  forest  fire  operations   in
California.  This could be  attributed to growing pains because  the use
of  volunteer  communications  was  virtually  unknown  by  the  federal
government and  for less  than ten  years among  a few  state units.  We
strongly recommend that the federal or state Comm Unit Leader assure  in
the future  that there  be a  volunteer Comm  Unit Leader  who will work
where  he  works  throughout  the  incident.    This  can  eliminate the
confusion and problems that  do and will arise,  no matter how well  the
volunteers have served in the past.   Volunteers must not be allowed  to
function without  tight coordination,  direction and  control from those
they are serving.  State and federal wildfire suppression  organizations
are urged to  amend their ICS  checklist for their  Comm Unit Leader  to
include establishing  a volunteer  Comm Unit  Leader that  works for and
with the principal position.  As  we enter the fifth year of  drought in
the West, it behooves us all to preplan, organize, train and stand ready
more than ever  before.  The  threat grows as  the budgets shrink.   Our
agency knows  that there  are volunteers  and there  are volunteers.  We
recruit, train and promote the use of those we call unpaid  professional
communications specialists.  We recognize that there are volunteers  who
can be defined as self serving or loose canons; they are not of  concern
because they don't have to be  recruited and they can be dismissed.   No
government agency should be the least bit reluctant to do the latter.  A
major portion of our volunteer  management orientation is spent on  this
aspect of not being reluctant to select and reject.

This message has been prepared by several paid and unpaid professionals.
Your comments and input are invited.

RACESBUL.166                                 DATE: April 22, 1991
SUBJECT:   How to help your Radio Officer

You emergency management agency managers frequently ask what your  Radio
Officer should know.   Many of  the subjects have  been covered in  past
Bulletins.    Several  Radio   Officers  have  recently  suggested   the
importance of their knowing  about, understanding, and cooperating  with
the  other  public  safety  communications  managers in your government.
This will help to enable your volunteer communications resources to  fit
it in better than if they are held aside as a last resort, when all else
fails, or a doomsday resource.   Such RACES units usually fade away  not
too long after being organized.  If they are an outside group, they  may
not be equipped with adequate training and preconditioning from you  and
your jurisdiction.  Any volunteer is only as good as the training he  or
she seeks  and receives.   We  have heard  from many  Radio Officers who
support  the  premise  that  they  are  of  more value when they gain an
understanding  of  the  strengths  and  weaknesses  of the public safety
communications systems  in their  area.   They are  encouraged to become
members of their local Associated Public- Safety Communications Officers
chapter.   Some jurisdictions  pay the  APCO dues  for their RACES Radio
Officer and broaden the scope  of their duties to include  all volunteer
communications services.  We know of several people who have entered the
public safety career field in this manner.