AMATEUR RADIO, BENEFITING THE

COMMUNITY IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY!

Presented by the:Mountain Amateur Radio Club (MARC), an ARRL Affiliate

and

Towns County Emergency Management System

What constitutes an emergency or an “Incident”?

Nature made:

Flooding Mud Slides Tornadoes

Lightning Fires Snow Storms

Hurricanes Avalanches Heat Waves

Drought Insects Plagues Wild Animals

Famine Volcanoes Earth Quakes

Man made:

War Terrorism Engineering Errors

Riots Political Actions

Lack of proper Infrastructure Maintenance

Individual Acts of Violence (Murder, Kidnapping, etc.)

Drug and Alcohol related

WHO RESPONDS TO AN “INCIDENT?”

Nearby individuals

EMS Services, Ambulances, Fire Trucks, Police

Military

Homeland Security: FEMA and GEMA, and other Government

resources, such as the Center For Disease Control

Non-Governmental Agencies and Organizations:

Red Cross

Salvation Army

Amateur Radio Operators:

ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service)

RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service)

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team)

MARS (Military Amateur Radio Service)

WHAT KIND OF SERVICES ARE PROVIDED BY

AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS (“Hams”)?

Emergency Communications in support of county agencies, such as

the EMS (Ambulance & Rescue), Fire Department, E911, Sheriff,

Local Police, Health Department, Hospital, and Coast Guard

(Water Rescue). Such communications are provided “Intra-County”

(between respective agencies).

Emergency Communications “over the mountains” to other

counties and states.

AUX or Auxiliary Communications.

“Wellness” Radiograms to friends and families outside of

the incident area.

Reports of conditions at the location of each ham operator,

and relay of any related reports or assistance requests.

HOW IS HAM RADIO “TRAFFIC” TRANSMITTED?

By both radio “Transceivers” and a combination of Transceivers

coupled with Computers (Digital Communications) and the Internet.

Transceiver types include:

HTs (Hand-Held Transceiver) radios

Mobile Transceivers

Base Station Transceivers

Hams usually have Standby or Emergency Power (Batteries,

Generators, etc.) to operate their equipment.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

All Transceivers can be connected to a computer and thus to the

Internet. The “Interface” is very simple and relatively inexpensive.

Computer screen shot of

Digital Message.Typical commercial interface boxes.

HOW HAMS COMMUNICATE IN TOWNS COUNTY

Directly from one Transceiver to another,

usually using VHF HTs.

Using HTs, Mobile, or Base Stations and the KI4ENN Repeater,

again using the VHF Frequency bands.

Using the HF Frequency bands and a Base or Mobile station.

WHY CAN’T WE USE THE VHF FREQUENCY BANDS

TO COMMUNICATE “OVER THE MOUNTAINS”?

VHF is “Line of Sight” communications, easily blocked by any

mountains, structures, etc. A Repeater is required for any “broad area

coverage”. This same problem occurs with Police and Emergency

(E911, etc.) communications.

By using ham HTs and Mobile radios, communications can be

relayed from strategically located hams to E911, EMS, Police, etc.

EXTENDED VHF COMMUNICATIONS BY USE

OF THE KI4ENN REPEATER.

A Repeater receives a radio signal on one frequency, and

simultaneously re-transmits it on a slightly different frequency.

HF COMMUNICATIONS.

Have a greater range, by reflecting signals from the Ionosphere.

Can generally operate with much greater power at a nominal cost.

Can literally communicate with other stations throughout the

world, with relatively little power, given proper atmospheric

conditions.

Require bigger, bulkier antenna systems than VHF radios.

Are generally employed at a ham’s home or “Base Station”.

Hams in the Mountain Amateur Radio Club have both

HF and VHF capabilities, as well as Internet Digital

Communications modes.

HOW WE HONE OUR SKILLS TO SUPPORT

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS IN TOWNS COUNTY.

Our hams are members of GA ARES (GA Amateur Radio Emergency Service).

We hold weekly “Nets” on the KI4ENN Repeater.

Our EC (Emergency Coordinator) checks into the weekly GA ARES HF Net.

We have an annual Simulated Emergency Test (S.E.T.) each year, in which we

“simulate” some sort of emergency or “Incident”.

During the S.E.T. “Drill”, we work closely with the local emergency agencies:

EMS, E911, Sheriff, Police, Hospital, Health Department, and other County

agencies to “play out” an emergency scenario.

The results of this drill are forwarded to GA ARES and the ARRL Headquarters,

where they are evaluated and “scored”.

Our primary goal is to have all our equipment in operating condition, be

familiar with the FEMA NIMS requirements, and act as Auxiliary

Communicators.

PHOTOS FROM ONE OF OUR S.E.T.SSome of our operators:

Bob Bonnett KI4NRZ Kathryn Stewart KA4TEO Chris Evans KI4FUJ

Doug DeLorme, KI4NRY Gigi Smith KI4OYJ Alton Higgins W4VFZ

S.E.T. 2007 ACTIVITIES:

S.E.T. 2007 and OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Terrorist in ambulance Neal Dover, KI4OYJ,

Net Control

Field Day

Amateur Radio and the Red Cross. Sending Radiograms at the

Georgia Mountain Fair.

MARC MEMBER BENEFITS:

Classes and License Exams. Radio Room available 24/7. FEMA Courses

Unlimited use of the KI4ENN Repeater.

KI4ENN

Antenna on

Bell Mtn.

Former

PBS

Tower

on Bell

Mtn.

Repeater Emergency

Generator.

THANKS FOR VISITING THE MOUNTAIN AMATEUR

RADIO CLUB, SERVING TOWNS COUNTY AND

SURROUNDING ARES WITH EMERGENCY RADIO

COMMUNICATIONS.

We encourage you to join our group, and refer anyone interested in

Amateur Radio to contact any member, or attend our regular monthly

meetings on the First Monday of each month.

And while we stand ready to provide Auxiliary or Emergency

communications, we also offer the opportunity to enjoy the fellowship

and world-wide communications capabilities offered to licensed

Amateur Radio Operators.

CONTACTS:

Bob Bonnett, KI4NRZ, 706 379 3908, rcbonn9@ windstream.net

Alton (Al) Higgins, W4VFZ, 706 896 9614, manmtn@windstream.net