Monthly Indiana SEC Report |
SEC REPORT FOR December 2011 (INDIANA)
NUMBER OF ARES MEMBERS (REPORTED): 1230
MEMBERSHIP CHANGE (REPORTED): 5
NUMBER OF DEC/EC/OES REPORTS RECEIVED:72
NUMBER OF APPOINTEES NOT REPORTING: 6
DEC's REPORTING: W8OCG District 01, N1LL District 02, K9RFZ District 03, N1ESB
District 06, W9EEU District 07, WB9FHP District 08, WY9L District 09, WB9EFH
District 10,
EC's REPORTING: AB9SO Adams County, KB9WWM Allen County, WW9A Bartholomew
County, WB9HLA Blackford County, KV9N Cass County, N9TV Clark County, W9EEU Clay
County, WK9X Clinton County, W9BLA Dearborn County, K9MDC Decatur County, KC9MDX
Delaware County, KC9CDS Elkhart County, N9TU Fayette County, N9LJA Gibson
County, N9GTL Grant County, KC9PNK Greene County, WA0JTL Hamilton County, N9MOX
Hancock County, W9WXN Harrison County, KB9DJA Hendricks County, W9MKA Henry
County, N9LRO Howard County, KC9MVK Jackson County, KC9EJL Jasper County, KC9RLC
Jennings County, N9SIU Johnson County, AB9ZA Kosciusko County, KC9GFO LaPorte
County, KV9W Madison County, WS9H Marion County, KC9QAK Marshall County, KB9JHU
Monroe County, KC9TFY Montgomery County, N9JPX Morgan County, KB9VTK Noble
County, WB9FHP Orange County, W9WXW Parke County, W8OCG Porter County, N9CZV
Randolph County, AB9UW Ripley County, N9TAG Saint Joseph County, WR9G Scott
County, KB9ZYC Shelby County, W9DRB Spencer County, KC9ISJ Starke County, KC9GUY
Steuben County, N9GKE Tippecanoe County, WB9EFH Vanderburgh County, W9COD
Vermillion County, N9JLR Vigo County, N9WVM Wabash County, KT9B Warrick County,
W9ON Washington County, W1IDX Wayne County, AB9HP Wells County, KA9HLE Whitley
County
OES's REPORTING: WB9YBI Allen County, W9WXN Harrison County, NN7C Marion County,
W9AL Starke County, N9JLR Vigo County, N0EOP Wayne County, KA9QWC Whitley
County, N9WNH Whitley County,
INDIANA ARES ACTIVITY FOR DECEMBER 2011
NUMBER OF LOCAL ARES NETS ACTIVE: 52
NUMBER OF TEAMS WITH NTS LIAISON: 26
TOTAL NUMBER OF NET SESSIONS, DRILLS/TESTS THIS MONTH: 232
TOTAL PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 1499
PUBLIC SERVICE EVENTS REPORTED: 20
TOTAL PSE PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 543.75
EMERGENCY NETS REPORTED: 0
TOTAL EMERGENCY PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 0
TOTAL NUMBER OF ARES OPERATIONS THIS MONTH: 252
TOTAL PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 2042.75
TOTAL NUMBER INDIANA SECTION ARES HF NETS: 3
QNI: 51
SEC COMMENTS
ARES leadership changes during December:
When Lyle Long N1LL resigned from the Kosciusko County EC appointment and
accepted the District 2 DEC appointment, one of his first tasks was to find his
successor. Mark Gregory, AB9ZA has accepted the Kosciusko County EC appointment.
Mark recently completed the ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communication class
taught in Kosciusko County. Please welcome Mark to the Indiana ARES field
organization.
Due to career commitments, Rory Bond KC9MDX, the Delaware County EC has chosen
to resign his appointment. Rory expressed confidence that one of his Assistant
EC’s will take on the responsibilities and formally apply for the open EC
appointment. I appreciate the personal effort that Rory spent serving Delaware
County ARES since July 2010.
As explained in last month’s SEC report, I’m conducting phone interviews with
all Indiana ARES appointees to discuss their past year progress and current year
goals. From the interviews so far, I’m hearing some recurring comments.
1) “My county is so small; there aren’t any public service events for ARES
activities”
Understandably, counties with smaller populations often have fewer opportunities
for public service events and served agencies may request less involvement from
ARES. Even though community sponsored activities may be fewer, this just means
the ARES EC needs to be more creative in developing and scheduling training
activities for the team. Where does the EC get fresh ideas for team activities?
Try participating in the weekly Indiana ARES phone net at 5PM every Sunday on
3900kHz to hear what’s happening in other counties.
Ideas can be found by reading other EC’s monthly comments in this SEC report.
Asking team members for activity ideas is another good option. The purpose of
these activities is to improve emergency preparedness skills and build team
cohesion. Don’t wait for activities to come to your team, make your team find or
create useful activities to keep their skills sharp.
2) “This county is a RACES county” (implying only RACES is accepted by
the EMA)
There is no easy answer to this problem because each situation is unique
depending on the EMA Director’s style of leadership and personality. The root
cause for this attitude may be based on personality conflicts between the EMA
and ARES leaders, misperception based on a previous negative incident, or a
demanding/controlling leadership style. This environment can de-energize your
ARES team if they have little expectation of using their training to help their
community. Long-term diplomacy with the EMA and maintaining the team’s readiness
through self-designed exercises that earn respect may open the door to a
stronger working relationship with the county EMA.
3) “I can’t get my team members to volunteer to help with …”
Lack of volunteerism most often occurs when the task isn’t well-defined or the
stakes of failing are perceived to be too high. If the bar is set too high or
the hazard is too wide, even the best equestrian team (horse and rider) will
balk at the challenge. Break down any request for volunteer help into manageable
well-defined tasks with clear expectations and you’ll find more willing and
eager volunteers to complete the task. Local ARES team nets are good practice to
share the net control responsibility between members. Rotate the assignment so
every team member gets some practice running directed nets. When an EC accepts
the appointment, that doesn’t mean he agrees to do all the work himself.
Delegation is a skill that every EC must develop and team members must be
willing to share the load.
Speaking of sharing the load, IDHS Communications Director Don West W9DEW has
requested help from ARES teams in counties that don’t have a standing RACES team
to represent their county in the January 21 statewide RACES drill. Don emailed
all county EMA Directors to explain the goal of having amateur radio support in
all counties. Don requested feedback on this plan from the EMA Directors by
January 5. Let’s be very clear, this request is ONLY for counties WITHOUT a
RACES team. So far, no EMA Directors have objected to Don’s request. I will be
sending drill instructions to county EC’s that are affected by this request
shortly.
Thanks for all your efforts in the service of your communities and Indiana ARES.
Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ
Indiana ARES SEC
DEC COMMENTS
District 2
N1LL:
Met with new
Kosciusko Co EC and did orientation to the Hoosier Lakes RC station (Warsaw).
Discussed a couple of simple projects to get Mark AB9ZA up and running.
District 3
K9RFZ: I coordinated
the HUFF 50k ultra-marathon involving 4 county ARES teams to provide radio along
the course route at Chain O’Lakes state park on December 17. I met with the
event course planner on December 3 to discuss locations of aid stations and high
risk trouble spots. EC’s and representatives from the Steuben, Noble, Allen, and
Whitley county ARES teams met at the park on December10 to discuss strategy and
assess high risk areas along the course. Due to the hilly terrain, we decided to
operate with a portable cross band repeater system located at one of the high
points in the park. Over 800 runners braved snowy cold conditions on December
17. Some parts of the course were under thigh high water and the runners trudged
through it anyways. ARES operators worked in three scheduled shifts from 7AM to
after 5PM that afternoon staffing three aid stations, three high risk trail
points, two rover vehicles, an event organizer shadow, EMS liaison, medical
triage station, and net control. The responsibility of Field EC (Echo Charlie)
was rotated in shifts with fifteen minute overlaps for status hand-offs for all
assigned positions. A total of 27 operators provided 156 hours of public service
for this event
District 6
N1ESB: I hope everyone had a happy and safe
holiday season. Looking forward to another active year in 2012!
District 7
W9EEU: I have a
candidate for the Sullivan County EC position. Plan on meeting with him in the
next few weeks to discuss the position and what would be expected.
I assisted the
Vigo County ARES group in providing communication and logistical support for a
Christmas event at Ryves Hall in Terre Haute. Ryves Hall provides Christmas
gifts for kids that otherwise might not have anything for Christmas. We helped
well over 200 children throughout the evening.
District 8
WB9FHP:
Meeting with
the local EMA Board and they are behind amateur radio 100%. I will be taking
special training this month with the aid of the local EMA Director.
District 9
WY9L: I need more
communications from county EC’s to status what is going on in their counties
such as meetings, trainings and emergencies.
EC COMMENTS
Allen County
KB9WWM:
12
Allen County Ares members assisted in providing radio support for the HUFF 50K
Ultramarthon at Chain O'Lakes State Park. The Allen County ARES Team met for
thier quarterly meeting. The educational topic was Winlink 2000 and Winmor.
The Winlink
Packet Gateway station KB9WWM-10, became operational in December on the NEIPN
(145.530)
Cass County KV9N: 5 regular net
sessions for the month of December - no additional activities
Clinton County WK9X:
Clinton
ARES has started weekly training nets now on the 147.045 repeater. We will still
keep our Skywarn operations on the 146.610 repeater.
Decatur County K9MDC: Announcement:
Welcome Mike McCoy KC9ELU! Mike has accepted a position as AEC in charge of
digital communications in our Decatur County ARES organization. Mike is very
active in digital modes and he and I have been working and tweaking 9600baud
packet. Mike is helping me to plan and lay the ground work to pave the way for
digital emcomm in our county. Shawn Fields KC9UDC existing AEC will take on all
responsibilities related to Skywarn.
Local Net: The ARDC (Amateur Radio of Decatur County Club Net) and ARES Net.
Participation in Dec. is down a bit; I suspect due to the holidays. However, we
continue to work to grow the net. As Net Manager for the club I strive to
provide up to date information in the form of announcements that include local
events and special interest presentations and symposiums. ARES participation was
good this month with 80% of our county members being active in the net.
Drills: Dec Co ARES conducted one simplex drill this month following the net on
Dec 22nd. All stations wishing to participate were invited to join in a test on
146.52MHz simplex. A short discussion and signal reports were exchanged with six
stations participating four stations here in Decatur County, one in Jefferson
County, and one in Jennings County. Jennings station, a neighboring County, was
24.4 miles and the Jefferson station was 41.2 miles. We were all pleased with
the results and learned that if the need arose to communicate without a repeater
we could do so! The exercise lasted 21 minutes.
Miscellaneous: We continue to keep our website up to date. It is the goal of Dec
Co ARES to make our website the center for information for our members as well
as others and reflective of all our ARES activities here in the county. I invite
everyone to view our site and please email me with feedback. Also any questions
please feel free to email myself or one of the AEC s. Decatur County ARES
website address is:
http://www.qsl.net/deccoares
Hamilton County WA0TJL:
Hamilton County
Amateurs assisted in the Good Samaritan Food Drive for Christmas. Each year
Hamilton County Amateurs assemble to deliver food items in their vehicles to
needy families in Hamilton County.
Harrison County W9WXN:
Our ARES
membership is up to 8 members now. Planning some good
training programs for next year including the fundamentals of the NTS and the
purpose of radio traffic.
Hendricks
County KB9DJA:
We assisted the
Rotary group Dist # 6560 in fitting and help stocking supplies in their first
disaster relief trailer, in return they gave us a seat inside for our emergency
station, which is currently under construction by us.
Jasper County
KC9EJL: Performed
maintenance on district one emergency vehicle and updates for computers.
Jennings County
KC9RLC:
Ham Radio
presentation on 1hr talk show on WJCP 1460AM, North Vernon IN, Wednesday,
December 28, 9-10am - Gene Dolgner KC9RLC & Dwight Spaulding N9PGB.
Johnson County
N9SIU:
One of our
active ARES/RACES members Myron Coy, KC9OCW became a Silent key this December.
Myron will be missed by all of us.
Montgomery
County KC9TFY:
Cultivating
interest with local Livewires club.Lack of repeater facilities in area main
obstacle to growth.
Morgan County N9JPX:
Fourteen amateur
radio operators provided communications for the Hoosier Hikers Council during
their hiking trail marathon on December 3rd. Amateurs participating were;
KC9KEF, K9CFE, W9RXR, KC9KMV, KE7YZH, N9AWU, N9CXI, K9SQL, KB9RVB, KC9IZA,
N9VKU, K9DEL, N9FEB, & N9JPX. Adam KC9KEF ran the entire twenty-six mile race as
the trail sweep while carring his HT & an APRS tracker.
Thanks to all
who volunteered & to the owners of the 147.060 (Morgan County)& the 147.300 (Brown County) repeaters which served us
well.
Noble County
KB9VTK:
For the month
of December, Noble Co along with Allen, Whitley, and Steuben Co supported an
Ultra Marathon called the HUFF Run. Plans for 2012 to organize monthly meetings
and support more events in the county.
Orange County WB9FHP:
Net Control
instruction and practice for alternate NCS Stations. Training on the use of
FLMSG and items concerning CSV files. Also Board meeting with Orange County EMA
Board (which I am a member). Concerning better relations with served agencies
and setting up meeting with individual agencies including Sheriff and EMS.
Demo digital systems.
Parke County W9WXW:
Parke County ARES along with Vermillion County ARES, & the Wabash Valley Amateur
Radio Club, Took down a 100ft tower at the Parke County EMS Garage, Video,
Photos and more info on the Parke County ARES Facebook Page ->
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parke-County-ARES/187633071325490
while you're there give us a like.
Chris is also working on getting things ready for severe weather season which is
only a couple months away.
Starke County
KC9ISJ: Tony w9al has
secured our ares/races/ema group a grant for some new radio equipment. Now we
need time and a warm place to work on the trailer and get it ready for the
future.
Steuben County
KC9GUY:
Team participated in HUFF 50K event
where we used our portable tower system for the first time. Event went well.
Acting as EC
for Dekalb county, I talked with Dekalb county
Emergency Manager (Roger Powers) at NIARC meeting. He has a place for an EMCOM
team and wants to work with us to add facilities and equipment both at the
Communications Center and the Hospital.
Vermillion
County W9COD: Worked with the
Vigo County Ares to help with commutations at Ryves Hall Youth Center to give
toys to kids.
Vigo County
N9JLR: This month we had the opportunity to
work with Toys for Tots and work the Ryves Hall Christmas toy Giveaway. Working
with the Marines on the Toys for Tots was a lot of fun as we helped sort toys
and get them ready for the giveaway. I found a few things I would have liked to
have :) I think it was a great cause and helped to promote Ham Radio. We also
made some new contacts and got some good exposure for ARES.
We then worked
the Ryves Hall Christmas giveaway, this is something we do every year and it is
quite an event. This year we served over 110 families with gifts. Our job was to
handle the flow of children and parents to make sure all got toys. This event
used two floors in the building and has live music for entertainment as well.
Just being able to hear is a challenge with 110 families and music playing. We
got the job done and all went well, I also want to thank My EOC Director for
helping with this event Doreen "Doc" Hojnicki. She worked under us for this
event and did a great job helping us. (I got to say it was nice to be her boss
for an event..lol)
I also want to
thank our DEC/EC Gary Adams (W9EEU) and his wife from Clay County for helping
out in the event as well. We also had help from Vermillion and Sullivan counties
too. It's great to work with other counties and cross train with them.
I think the
events above were a great way to end the year helping others in the community is
a big part of what we do. Hope everyone has a great New Year!!
Wayne County
W1IDX:
Wayne County ARES provided twenty ARES
members for six hours to the City of Richmond Park Department for their annual
Festival of Lights program. Team members braved the weather and darkness to
maintain blockades, direct motorist, provide information and safety and
security, Another job well done by ARES. Local
government praises our assistance in keeping their manpower cost low and trust
amateurs with more and more responsibility. Happy New Year!
OES COMMENTS
Starke County
W9AL: I was NCS for 4 ARES/RACES nets and
1 club net.
Wayne County
N0EOP: December has
been a lazy month for ARES. Attended a couple of Christmas
parties. Tried putting up an inverted vee for 10 meters, but need to take
a look at it. SWR is still high and the receive isn't
very good. Working on a noise (power line I think) issue.
Became an alternate NCS for the Indiana Traffic Net.
Whitley County
KA9QWC:
Using the
recent enhancement of VHF packet radio opportunities for both the ka9lcf bbs and
kb9wwm-10 rms stations that now provide wider coverage within and out of Indiana
on 145.53 mhz. Participated in communications support for the 50k huff event
that took place at Chain O Lakes State Park.
Submitted January 6, 2012
Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ
ARRL Indiana Section ARES Emergency Coordinator
4624 Willard Dr.
Fort Wayne, IN 46815
(260) 373-1986
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