Week 40 from the SEC

Ohio SEC Notes & Stuff - Week 40 - 2013
For public distribution.  Please forward as appropriate.
These notes will also be available on the ARES page at www.arrl-ohio.org
Ohio Digital Emergency Net (OHDEN)  Tues at 8PM. 3585 kHz and 7072 kHz  Upper Side Band.

Ohio HF Net by W8SGT.  Tues at 7PM on 3875 kHz and 7240 kHz Lower Side Band.
Preparedness Leads to Readiness

My apologies for no Ohio SEC Notes & Stuff last week.  Also, I received a comment about my weekly message being lengthy.  This week I tried really hard not to write a novel.

Just a friendly reminder...

County Emergency Coordinator reports are due by the 5th of each month.  District Emergency Coordinator reports are due by the 10th of each month.  EC's, please help your DEC by getting your report in on time.  I ask the DEC's to do the same for me.  This allows me ample time to complete my SEC report by the 15th of the month.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Emcomm East with Geauga AEC Bob N8KBX, ARRL PIO Jackie N8JMW, Medina AEC Dave NF8O, and Assistant SEC Mark KB8YMN this past weekend.  Emcomm East is an emergency communications conference held at St John Fisher College in Rochester, NY sponsored by Monroe County (NY) ARES.  Each year, the Ohio contingent to the conference grows.  Jackie took some great photos and she's planning on sharing those.  I am already looking forward to next year.

Right now, I have my eyes on the Huntsburg Pumpkin Festival this coming weekend October 5th and 6th.  The festival is a lot of fun and it's located at SR 322 and SR 528 in Geauga County.  This is my fourth year volunteering for this event and one of the things I look forward to is the pumpkin pancake breakfast which includes sausage links.  Yum Yum!  By the way, I know Geauga County EC Pat N8ONI is still looking for volunteers.  Check out http://www.geaugacountyares.org/ for details.

Speaking of websites?  Go to this website http://www.arrl-ohio.org/club_link/links.html
Do you see your club or ARES website listed?  Is the website link correct?  If not, send the correct web address to Assistant Section Manager Scott N8SY at n8sy@arrl.net so he may update the Ohio Section website.

Saturday, October 12th is the Statewide Simulated Emergency Test.  I have asked both net managers for the Ohio Digital Emergency Net and the Ohio HF Net to read a bulletin about the SET tonight on the nets.  I have also emailed the same briefing to all ARES leaders in Ohio.  All incidents start local and all incidents end local regardless of the extent.  Therefore, I ask that you contact your Emergency Coordinator or District Emergency Coordinator for details.

Do you know who your county ARRL Emergency Coordinator is or District Emergency Coordinator?  Do you know what district your county is in?  If not, you're in luck.  The ARRL Ohio Section website has a complete listing of all EC's and DEC's in Ohio as well as an Ohio ARES District Map.  Check out the ARES page at www.arrl-ohio.org.  When you bring up the ARES page, scroll toward the bottom and you'll see Reference Materials.  Under Reference Materials you'll see a link for Ohio ARES District Map and another for Ohio DEC/EC listing.

All Ohio ARES Conference, Saturday, November 9th at the Ohio Fire Academy in Reynoldsburg, OH.  I sent out a conference status update to my email distribution lists earlier today so I will not dwell on it here.  However, I made a typo in the zip code.  The correct zip code is 43068.  You might even find some of the websites say the Ohio Fire Academy is in Etna, Ohio.  Nonetheless, 43068 is the correct zip code.

If you are planning to take an amateur radio license exam at the All Ohio ARES Conference, here are some guidelines from Kathy KB3RDR..

Amateur Radio Testing Requirements for Technician, General, and Amateur Extra

1. Two forms of identification, one must have a photo such as a drivers license, passport, place of employment security/ID card with picture etc. Non-photo ID's could be a social security card, birth certificate, baptismal certificate, school ID card, library card etc.
2. If you are upgrading a license, then you must bring the original and a photocopy of your current license, (FCC form 660) and of any active CSCE's for passed exam elements for which you have not received a paper license from the FCC. An example would be if you had a Technician Class License and then took and passed the General Class test. No paper license will be issued, so the CSCE is needed to verify that you passed the code.
3. Calculators are allowed but one must be prepared to prove no pre-programmed formulas have been saved within the calculator. You may be requested to clear all calculator memories in the presence of a VE.
Current ARRL-VEC EXAM FEE $15.00

Thank you,

Kathleen Frederico, KB3RDR

ARRL-VEC Liaison / Muskingum County ARES EC

ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bill N3LLR contacted me last week and asked me to be the ARES Forum Moderator.  I took a gander at the online ARES forum and was impressed by the amount of participation it had already received being so new.  I saw great potential of what this forum can become and what it could do for ARES.  So I accepted the position.  I am asking anyone interested in ARES, disaster communications, emergency communications, and/or public service communications to sign up and register.  It's free and I thought it was easy to sign up.  You can sign up at http://www.bfdinforums.com/.  Let me know if you have any questions or need some guidance.

Across my desk...

Many thanks to Bob K8BL and Dave NF8O for sending me this.  Interested in a nice certificate suitable for framing?

Click on this link... http://www.radioqth.net/certificate/default.aspx

Training

ITU phonetics, break tags, procedure words, and tactical call signs are all basic skills for any amateur radio volunteer.  Knowing how to program your transceiver with frequency, offset, engaging PL, selecting proper PL tone, and loading it into a memory channel are also basic skills for any amateur radio volunteer.

But what about being a net control station?  Should that be a basic skill?  I am sure this question can be debated both ways.  My thinking is I believe all ARES volunteers should be a net control station at least once.  This achieves three things.  One, now the volunteer has a rough understanding what it's like to be a net control operator.  Two, they get a chance to practice and enforce net discipline.  Three, it might just inspire the volunteer to try it again.  While we know some volunteers who are really good net control operators, I am sure we know some who just aren't.  Does this mean we do not use them because they're not good at it?  Should net control training be a basic skill for all amateur radio volunteers?  I ask that you discuss this with your Emergency Coordinator or District Emergency Coordinator.

That's all for this week.  I thank you for everything you do for amateur radio!

73 de Matt W8DEC