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ARRL North Carolina Section (NC)Section Manager
Timothy B. Slay, N4IB 141 Queens Cove Rd Mooresville, NC 28117-9609 704-382-4646 n4ib@arrl.org |
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News last updated: Sun, October 18, 2009 at 9:43 PM ET
OCTOBER NC SECTION NEWS
STATE ARES MEETING NOTES
We had a big turnout at the state ARES meeting in Morganton on October 17. Thanks to Paul, KD4OZI and Michelle, KD4YTU for hosting the event. There was extensive discussion on the topic of training requirements for ARES members. The federal government established the "National Incident Management System" in 2001 and local agencies are required to be compliant with NIMS in order to secure federal funding. Radio amateurs and other volunteers who work with emergency management need to be familiar with NIMS and FEMA has developed an online training program. An email poll of other section managers conducted by N4IB indicated that only a couple of sections have made NIMS training mandatory for ARES membership. Some sections have instituted two levels of members in ARES - "active" and "reserve" or other similar terms - to differentiate between trained and untrained members. Most sections still have no training requirements, although everyone is encouraged to complete NIMS training. The consensus of the group at our meeting was to establish two levels of ARES membership. One tier would be for amateurs who had completed the NIMS training required by state emergency management. These "trained" members would be the first deployed and in most cases the only amateurs we could send to EOC's, shelters and other served agency locations. They would also be the only members eligible for a field assignment outside their local jurisdiction. ARES "untrained" members would be used for support assignments, such as serving as liaison stations, and we would encourage these ARES members to become fully trained as soon as possible. A key component of this plan is a section-wide ARES database that would include contact information for each member and allow us to track their training certifications. Our Section Emergency Coordinator, Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, is working with the rest of your section ARES leadership on the details of this proposal, including the list of training requirements. All required training will be available online at no cost.
Former Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, presented a draft of his study on Packet Radio and North Carolina ARES. After further revision, his paper will be posted at www.ncarrl.org. As you might expect, Winlink is already playing a key role in our section. Assistant SEC Tom Brown, N4TAB, discussed the Winlink system installed at the branch EOC's and the big success we had using Winlink during the earthquake drill in western North Carolina in June, as well as the SET earlier this month.
The state ARES meeting included discussion on the ICS-213 message form and how it should be used in ARES. We're still looking for leadership from ARRL on how to incorporate the ICS-213 form into NTS, but its use is required by state emergency management. We're using a modified ICS-213 form for handling messages on the Tarheel Emergency Net. An "operator's notes" section can be added to include information such as message number, precedence, check, and station of origin.
ARRL
In September the ARRL board of directors approved a documented entitled "Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues." There has been a lot of discussion on this topic and I encourage everyone to review this document at: http://www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL_AppropriateUseGuidelines.pdf. The bottom line is that employees of any organization cannot operate on the amateur frequencies on behalf of their employer, even if they are technically "off the clock". This includes hospital employees and paid emergency workers. The only exception is for teachers who use Amateur Radio in the classroom. This is not a change in the rules, but the FCC's Laura Smith reminded the amateur community of this long-standing regulation at the Dayton Hamfest this year. Our communities must continue to rely on volunteer radio amateurs to support their disaster communications needs.
MEDIA HITS
Look for pictures from the 2009 North Carolina Simulated Emergency Test in the December issue of CQ Magazine. Richard Fisher, KI6SN, is the public service editor for CQ and commented that he is "learning that North Carolina is one of the marquee areas for public service dedication. My congratulations to you all.".
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 15: JARSFest, Benson, NC
SEPTEMBER TRAFFIC
W4UEF 608 (BPL), K4IWW 212, W2EAG 206, W4DNA 124, N3BW 107, KI4YV 103, KE4JHJ 97, W4NCD 64, KD4FUN 62, K4LKN 61, K4RLD 60, W4TTO 49, W4FAL 46, WA2YBM 46, W4LN 44, KE4ACH 43, W4EHF 39, KD4WAX 31, W3HL 27, KI4PNL 20, WX4MMM 16, K8SKX 13, K4RZJ 4, KI4QHM 2
SEPTEMBER PSHR
K4RLD 185, W4DNA 140, WA2YBM 135, W4FAL 130, K4IWW 120, KE4JHJ 110, W2EAG 110, W4LN 100, W4TOO 100, KD4FUN 90, KI4YV 90
SEPTEMBER ARES MEMBERS: 1,800
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