March, 2010 

          QST QST QST  Calling all Radio Amateurs!

It has been a busy month for your ARES and ARRL Officers.  We now have a District Emergency Coordinator in each of the eight districts and currently there are 102 Emergency Coordinators for the 159 counties (Fulton is divided) to organizationally support the 3500 ARRL members.  We now have a DEC (Steve Bramham W4SKB) working with the Georgia State Patrol, and Dick Embry KD4CK is DEC guiding the East Central District.  So we are better prepared for an emergency!  As we can, the SEC, ASEC and deputies are working to personally contact each field officer from EC on up to see what can be done to make the organization more effective.  It is a big organization.

Of course, the big news is the earth’s crust:  After Haiti, then Chile, with Chilean hams very active locally, and Hawaiian hams monitoring a “Tsunami Net” with real time information on sea conditions.  Fortunately the tsunami caused much less damage in Hawaii.   

Look for the Kennehoochie Hamfest at Jim Miller State Park in Marietta on March 20.  Also note the Georgia QSO Party April 10-11, with the NFARL defending champs trying to do it again. 

As I write this, I am planning to attend the “Webinar” for the Spotter Class sponsored by the NWS Tallahassee.  Bet it will be good.  Hope you were there too.  Again, we are reminded that NWS forecasts an active hurricane season.

The CARS (Savannah) is planning for a big Scout-fest for March 20-21.  Those guys do a lot of work with scouting.

Remember the Dalton Hamfest?  Since I don’t get to roam the goodies as I sit at the table, I judge a Hamfest by how many old and new friends I get to shake hands with.  This was a goodie.  Wish I could have gotten around more.  Good to see all of you!

Still time to get in on the Charlotte NC Hamfest (Roanoke Division Convention) March 13-14 (www.w4bfborg/hamfest2010/hamfest.html)

In Memoriam:  WA4CYH, Walter Evans of Macon:  …  _._      … _._

Again, I am not republishing the information available to all members via QST, and the 7 news letters available from ARRL.  All are encouraged to review these options at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html.  You can modify it there.  And don’t forget to monitor the www.ARRL-GA.org  and the www.GAARES.org web pages. 

CU at the Hamfests—Gene, W4AYK

Monthly Section Emergency Coordinator Report to ARRL Headquarters

ARRL Section: GA                Month: February     Year: 2010

AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE

ARES members:  *863      Change since last month: +102  

DECs/ECs reporting this month: 67, ARES nets active: 225.  With NTS liaison:   0   

Drills, tests and training sessions this month: 303       Person hours: 2322

Public service events this month: 11     Person hours: 378

Emergency operations this month: 11     Person hours: 480

Total number of ARES operations this month:  325     Total Person hours: 3180

Signature:   Thomas Fuller     Call sign:  KE4QCM

* 965 members reported, 863 from last report, with +102 reported by EC's

DECs:

DEC ARESMAT/K2HJ, DEC Central/NM4W, DEC GEMA/K5AES, DEC GA Public Broadcasting/WB4QDX, DEC Georgia State Patrol/W4SKB, DEC Metro Atlanta/N4SEG, DEC National Weather Service-Columbia/N0FBV, DEC Northwest/KD4EKZ, ASEC Operations/KM4Z, DEC Salvation Army/WA4UJC, DEC Southeast K4GTM, DEC West Central/KA4KBX

ECs:

Central

Baldwin/KG4EPI, Bibb/KJ4PEO, Butts/K3GWK, Crawford/WB4KNU, Laurens/KF5TA, Macon/KI4BEO, Putnam/KF4EOH, Twiggs/KJ4LAM, Washington/K4GK

East  Central:

Columbia/K1OYQ, Richmond/AH6IW

Metro Atlanta:

Cherokee/WB4NWS, Clayton/AJ4GT, Dekalb/W4TGA, Fayette/AG4ZR, Gwinnett/WB4QDX, Newton/WA4UJC, North Fulton/W4UOC, Paulding/K4DMF , Rockdale/KC4ELV

Northeast:

Clarke/N4ZRA, Greene/KF4EOH,  Hall/AA4BA, Madison/KI4MHF, Stephens/KU4ES, Towns/W4VFZ

Northwest:

Bartow/N4QET, Carroll/N4IF, Catoosa/Vacant, Chatooga/AF4XZ, Dade/Vacant, Floyd/KD4EKZ, Gilmer/KC4GH, Gordon/AF4DN, Haralson/N4IF, Heard/N4IF, Murray/AI4ZV, Pickens/K4SJR, Polk/KD4EKZ, Walker/Vacant, Whitfield/AI4ZV

Southeast:

Camden/WA4GWB, Chatham/K4GTM, Effingham/NT6H, Long/KF4MND, Toombs/KG4BKO, Wheeler/KI4MNR

Southwest:

Baker/K4GCR, Dougherty/N4GPJ, Grady/KI4RGD, Irwin/W4CWH, Lee/W5VRV, Seminole/K4TPD, Thomas/N4KXL

West Central:

Troup/K3IMC

Comments:

DEC/ASECs:

DEC ARESMAT/K2HJ: Will release candidate nomination and qualification forms for ARES-MAT use in a few days. Instructions will be with the form. Plans are to coordinate closely with GSP-DEC.

DEC Central/NM4W: On Feb 20th we had a HamCram @ the Laurens County EMA Facility. 13 out of 13 Ham Cram all day participants passed the ARRL VE FCC Exams. 12 new technicians and one upgrade to General. The Peach State Intertie Repeater System has proved itself to be of great benefit to Central GA Amateur Radio. WB4NFG- Jimmy EC of Wilkinson County has worked hard and diligently in making all of this happen with the help of Mike-WB4M. These two gentlemen have invested countless hours and resources. Many repeaters owners in the area have joined their repeaters to make an effective network that proved itself on the

DEC GEMA/K5AES: Report submitted early due to out of Country vacation 26 Feb to 6 Mar. I am continuing D-Star self study.

DEC GA Public Broadcasting/WB4QDX: 2/6 - Presentations at D-STAR Academy (Tallahassee) by WB4QDX, WA4YIH, AA4RC. D-STAR/GPB Presentation to CCARC (Augusta) by WB4QDX

DEC Georgia State Patrol/W4SKB: Conference calls with GA ARES leadership, on-site meeting with GSP personnel in Atlanta, meeting with Cherokee County EMA Director to discuss ID access to blocked areas. Several telephone and email contacts with GSP contact - Jamie Sullivan.

DEC Metro Atlanta/N4SEG: The Metro Atlanta District ARES NET meets on the first Sunday of the month. The February NET was hosted by the Rockdale County ARES Group. There were 31 check-ins and the NET lasted 32 minutes. The March NET will be hosted by the Clayton/Henry County ARES Group. N4SEG presented a short program on the GA ARES Database at the Dalton Hamfest ARES Forum.

DEC National Weather Service-Columbia/N0FBV: SKYWARN TRAINING 10 min z 3 =30 no other reports received CORRECTED COPY

DEC Northwest/KD4EKZ: Participated in DEC Teleconference

ASEC Operations/KM4Z: Participated in Severe Weather Awareness Net. Researched ID badge ideas. Set schedule's for WINLINK check-in coordinators.

DEC Salvation Army/WA4UJC: Please try to check into at least one of the Salvation Army Nets. Mon. thru Sat. 14.265 MHz @ 10am, Sat. 7.262 MHz @ 11 am.

ECs:

Central:

Baldwin/KG4EPI: THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME WITH NET CONTROL WHEN I WAS NOT ABLE TO BE NET CONTROL DUE TO WORK OBLIGATIONS

Bibb/KJ4PEO: We had a chance to activate and show our stuff to the EMA and to the city officials during the snow storm. They was really impressed on how we operated and how well we worked with the Macon-Bibb EMA. Me and my assistant got a chance to have a conversation with the Mayor of the city and to explain to him in brief what we do . He had no clue there was such a group but was really proud we was there to leand a helping hand to the EMA in a time of need with storm reports and damage reports. Also I'm gonna be working with the Houston County Medical guys to incorporate a network between the hospitals and how we can use ARES to assist the hospitals in a time of disaster.

Butts/K3GWK: Met with the Charles E. Newton ARC concerning mutual EMCOMM operations. Started a weekly two meter net on the K4HYB repeater in Griffin. Net Control duties will be shared by Spaulding and Butts Counties. Terry Atha, KG4LTL (CENARC Officer), was NCS for February. A Technician License class and testing session is to be held on March 20, 2010 for the Butts County Mounted Patrol (CERT Team), Butts County 911 Dispatchers and other BC CERT members. A 440 MHz repeater to be located in Butts County is in the planning stage.

Twiggs/KJ4LAM: February snow event working with EMA and County Fire 

East  Central:

Columbia/K1OYQ:  5 members (K1OYQ,KJ4FBL,N4LXB,W4QK,AH6IW)participated in Merit Badge University for the regional Boy Scout Council. ARES and emergency communications were part of the topics taught. QUESTION - I notice that there are 15 members listed in my county as active and two as deployable. I also see several call signs listed as non-members and archived. Should I count only the deployable and active members in my report?

Metro Atlanta:

Cherokee/WB4NWS: 77 checkins to the 4 weekly nets, 53.3 hrs. 1 training session on Winlink using Airmail, total 15 attendees at 2 hrs each = 30 hours. 3 ARES members attended ARES forum at Dalton Hamfest, 1 hr each.

Clayton/AJ4GT: Meeting with EOC Clayton County - 3 men for 2 hours.

Dekalb/W4TGA: N4SEG and I participated in planning meetings for ING Marathon. We also met with DeKalb EMA to discuss planning. We had an 8 hour standby net for snow emergency purposes. No traffic on this net. We will be running the ING Marathon on March 21 as a ARES drill to train our operators on interagency cooperation. 

Fayette/AG4ZR: Miscellaneous hours include 911 Practitioner time, State ARES net, various other nets, meetings, and projects for County EMA.

Gwinnett/WB4QDX: 2/3 SKYWARN Net

Newton/WA4UJC: Participated in the Tornado Drill. 

North Fulton/W4UOC: • The CNC Chattahoochee Challenge is a 10K run sponsored by the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell, GA.

Paulding/K4DMF: Sorry for late report - out of town

Rockdale/KC4ELV: Rockdale was Net Control for the Metro Atlanta Monthly Net for February

Northeast:

Clarke/N4ZRA: On Feb 3 Clarke County ARES provided communications for the Clarke Co. EMA during their severe weather exercise. We had 22 amateur radio operators assist with that exercise and had contacts with other counties EOCs. We also provided communications at the Westminster 5K footrace. At our monthly meeting we had had 11 members present for a presentation ion message handling presented by Stan Edwards, WA4DYD. Our weekly nets included lessons on translational uncertainties, lessons learned from a previous government drill, and a review on message handling.

Greene/KF4EOH: * still have no active members in Greene county

Hall/AA4BA: I apologize for the delay in this report. My computer went down and I lost much of the info. Thank God for a Backup system. We also lost our Walker Mt. repeater due to Ice damage.

Stephens/KU4ES: Work continues on improving K4TRS (145.250) and W4BNG (442.500) Repeaters. During the month of March, Stephens ARES and served agencies will conduct a full scale Operational Drill utilizing communication resources. 

Northwest:

Carroll/N4IF:  This is a combined report for Haralson, Carroll & Heard Counties. I will not make a report for either of the others this time to see how it turns out.

Catoosa/Vacant: CORRECTED NULL REPORT - Failed to include name and address of submitter. Null Report. Continuing to seek EC for Catoosa County.

Dade/Vacant: Null Report. Continuing to seek EC for Dade County

Gordon/AF4DN: Traveled to Dawson County to display the Gordon Co. ARES Com. trailer. Three ARES members participated. Participated in the State Wide Tornado Drill with a total of 14 check-ins to the local net. Four members met with the Gordon Co. United Way to plan our part to provide communications for the annual fund raiser bike ride. Eight members worked at the Dalton Hamfest displaying our com. trailer.

Haralson/N4IF: This is a combined report for Haralson, Carroll & Heard Counties. I will not make a report for either of the others this time to see how it turns out.

Heard/N4IF: This is a combined report for Haralson, Carroll & Heard Counties. I will not make a report for either of the others this time to see how it turns out.

Murray/AI4ZV: See Whitfield County report for combined Murray and Whitfield County Report.

Walker/Vacant: Null Report. Continuing to seek EC for Walker County.

Whitfield/AI4ZV: This report includes NWS Skywarn Net drill on 2/3/2010 Miscellaneous: ARES Forum at Dalton Hamfest 2/27/2010 This is a combined report for Whitfield and Murray Counties.

Southeast:

Camden/WA4GWB: *CERT training for three ARES members 

Chatham/K4GTM: Keep up with Savannah area activities and events at www.k4gtm.blogspot.com and www.w4lhs.net.

Effingham/NT6H: It's been a slow winter. Some ECARES members make it out to surrounding counties to participate in other events. I haven't received any reports from my members regarding participation and our numbers this month reflect that. Things will pick up as the weather improves and we generate more interest among the Effingham Amateurs.

Long/KF4MND: As EC of Long County, I think there are 2 other ham radio operators who are not active and that's it. We have no local repeater. No county EOC that I'm aware of. Will try to get people in the Long County Area to become interested in becoming hams, and see if I can get an ARES group up and running (it would take a miracle though!) but I'll do my best.

Southwest:

Baker/K4GCR: Took part in a Search and Rescue for a lost woman. 4 hours. I belong to the S & R team. I don't know if this is a misc ARES activity or not.

Grady/KI4RGD: There were no Grady County ARES sponsored events this month. Several Grady ARES members took advantage of a Tech/General class session held on February 20 & 27.

Irwin/W4CWH: Attended ARES net and maintain and test batteries for emergency use.

Lee/W5VRV: 7 hours covers my time as net control for the Georgia Traffic Net, Georgia Traffic & Emergency Net, and checking in to the ntes each day. I was net control for a total of 7 hours.

Seminole/K4TPD: Over the past 10 years February has been known for severe weather events in SW Georgia but February, 2010 will be remembered for cold weather with a touch of snow. Although there were no accumalations of snow in Seminole County we did get a good dusting of beautiful large snowfakes for about an hour on February 12th. Continue to learn from the SW Georgia ARES Simplex Net of the limits on VHF & UHF and who to use as a relay station in case of a loss of repeaters in SW Georgia. Thanks to KB4RG, SW Georgia ADC, for coordinating this weekly simplex radio net.

Section Traffic Manager Report, Georgia Section, February, 2010

Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR)

Station Activity Report (SAR) Traffic

Section Nets

Remarks:

Congratulations to Terry, W4WNE, on making Brass Pounders League (BPL) again!

Charles Pennington, K4GK, Section Traffic Manager, Georgia Section