MARA 07-31-2013 - Plan 9, LDS Emergency Plans, Fire Corps, LED light bulbs.

My new LED light bulb arrived in the mail today. $5.99 and it seems to put out more light than the 50 watt bulb it replaced.  It is the 108 LED model  You can see the details HERE.  They also have 236 LED models that are much brighter.
=====
The Utah Department of Health in conjunction with Be Ready Utah have introduced Plan 9 listing the 9 essential items to help you shelter-in-place in an emergency.  They are:

1.  WATER - One gallon per person per day.  Store in a cool, dark place and replace every six months.  You can use the old water in the garden or in the clothes washing machine.

2.  FOOD - A supply of 3-5 days of food per person.  Ready to eat canned  meat, fruit and vegetables.  Things that do not require cooking.  Canned or boxed juices.  Powdered milk and soup.  Crackers, granola and trail mix.  The powdered milk will consume some of your water supply.

3.  CLOTHES - One change of clothes and footwear per person.  Consider packing blankets, rain gear, and outerwear in case of inclement weather.

4.  MEDICATIONS - Collect three days worth of any prescription medications you are taking.  Be sure to note expiration dates so you don't keep them past their date.

5.  FLASHLIGHT - Keep a bright flashlight in case there is no electric power.  LED lights are the best.  Consider getting a lantern-style LED light for hands-free use.  DO NOT use candles!  They are a fire hazard and are easy to lose track of when the lights come back on.

6.  CAN OPENER - Make sure it is a manual can opener in case there is no power.  The more food items you have with pull top openings, the less you will need to use this item.

7.  RADIO - A battery powered radio for listening to news and weather.  Consider buying a crank operated radio.  Don't forget extra batteries.

8.  HYGENE ITEMS - Just the basics like soap, toilet paper and a toothbrush.  Hand soap can be used as tooth paste.  Moise towelettes can be very useful in these situations.,

9.  FIRST AID - Basics such as antiseptic, gloves, bandages and non-prescription medicines.  You can buy these at most drug stores and many grocery stores.  Emergency Essentials has them.  The Red Cross sells them.  

=====

THE FIRE CORPS

Fire Corps is the key component of Citizen Corps that supports and supplements resource-constrained fire and EMS departments through the use of citizen advocates for non-operational activities.

Fire Corps
1050 17th Street NW, Suite 490
Washington, DC 20036
info@firecorps.org
www.firecorps.org
Phone (202) 887-4809
FAX (202) 887-5291

=====

As mentioned in yesterday's blog entry, the LDS Church has prepared some information on Stake and Ward Emergency Preparedness, building usage, communications, etc.  The link is HERE.  It will open in a NEW window.

You should find the following sections of particular interest to ERC and MARA members.

Emergency Communications

During an emergency, normal means of communication may become inoperable. Communication needs should be addressed in ward and stake emergency plans.

• Guidelines for Emergency Communication
• Frequently Asked Questions on Emergency Communication

Ward and Stake Emergency Plans

Wards and stakes should have a plan in the event of an emergency. Plans are prepared by ward and stake welfare committees under the direction of the bishop or stake president. Plans should be updated periodically.
Guidelines for Ward and Stake Emergency Plans

Meetinghouses as Emergency Shelters

Following a disaster, the use of a meetinghouse as a community emergency shelter is occasionally needed. Permission is granted by the stake president, after consulting with a member of the Presidency of the Seventy or the Area Presidency. Following approval, the priesthood leader should contact his Church physical facilities representative (PFR).

• Guidelines for Use of Meetinghouses as Emergency Shelters

Much of the information in these church sponsored documents are a radical departure from the policies of prior years.  Notice, for example, in the last entry that ward and stake buildings are no longer automatically volunteered for use as emergency shelters but must be negotiated for.

There are also new policies regarding stakes and wards buying ham radio gear or accepting donations of ham radio gear.  

If your ward or stake does not have an active emergency plan in place, it might be very helpful to make the unit leaders aware of this LDS Church web site.  EVERY stake and ward is supposed to have a plan in place and that plan includes communications procedures.

Until next time...

N7OZH

07/30/2013 Foothill Net

The LDS Church has prepared some information on Stake and Ward Emergency Prep, building usage, communications, etc.  The link is HERE.  It will open in a NEW window.

Dave's excellent blog is HERE.  It also opens in a new page.

Now for something a little different:  ENJOY!

And THIS.

N7OZH

MARA 07/17/2013

Putting things in perspective, complete with one or two statistics.  None of this has shown up in the news media and none of it will.    http://tinyurl.com/naysyyg

Please check www.arpse.org for ham radio service opportunities.  There are lots of races, bike rides, parades, fire works shows, etc. that need ham radio operators for communications.

Power brown-outs are dangerous to anything in your house or office that has a motor.  Referigerator, air conditioner, computers, furnace, heat pump, etc.  If a brown out occurs, you need to shut off all devices with motors.  Best to just go outside and pull the main power switch.

When the power comes back on, don't be too anxious to turn your power back on.  Often the power cycles a few times before it comes on and stays on.  Those cycles are not good for anything in your house that is electrical.

Also, when power is restored, a LOT of devices come on at once in the affected area and that causes spikes and valeys in the power until it all settles out.  You don't need to subject your devices to that level of electrical stress.

If you are going to connect a generator to your house, consider a power transfer switch.  When power goes off, a power transfer switch will disconnect your house from the main power line and connect it to the generator.  When power is restored, the transfer switch disconnects the generator and reconnects your house to the commercial power lines.

If your generator is not one of the automatic ones, get a manual power transfer switch.  Lots cheaper and just as effective.  

Are the batteries in your LED flashlights good to go?  There have been a number of power outages during the evening thunder storms we have been having lately.

During an actual disaster, if you are a communicator in an area where conditions become unsafe, LEAVE!  You are a communicator 2nd.  Life and property trump communication.  EVERY TIME!  Check your part 97 rule book, this rule is in there!

During a disaster there may be riots, looting and violence.  Unpleasant, but the "group mind" of a large number of people is capable of doing things that many of the individuals in the group would NEVER do on their own.  BE SAFE!

Until next time.

N7OZH

ERC/MARA Post for 07/10/2013

18 wheel trucks are really big, right?  Nope, their just kids toys compared to this monster that is hauling a 1.9 million pound generator and they do it with only 576 wheels.  There are four big rig cabs, two pulling and two pushing, each with 10 tires themselves.  NOW you've seen a big truck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0663asT5xY


Harbor Freight Fire Starters - blog has a link to YouTube videos showing the correct method of using the Harbor Freight magnesium fire starters.  They work just fine!  [June 12, 2013 posting]

COSTCO has a set of THREE LED HeadLamps, each with 10 LEDs and a set of three is only $9.99 with batteries.

Some features of our radios are going to see more use during emergencies than they ever will see during normal day to day operations.  During an emergency, the SCAN feature will probably get a real workout as some are assigned to monitor for other emergency traffic.  You may need the scan feature just to find working repeaters after a disaster or to find the frequency of the temporary repeater set up for the emergency.  A crib sheet showing how to get into and out of various scan modes is something that every emergency communicator is going to need.

1.  Radio Scans
  Entire Band
  Entire Band based on frequency currently in the VFO.
  Portion of band based on frequencies in two memory channels
  Portion of band based on two VFO frequencies
  All Memory Channels
  Only Memory Channels in the currently selected band.
  ONE Memory Group
    Very useful for scanning FRS/GMRS frequencies to detect people calling for help.
  A selected set of Memory Groups

  3 scan modes
     Carrier  (Hang Time [pause before scan resume] is programmable on some radios)
         SOME FRS/GMRS radios can do this scan mode.  VERY HANDY in an emergency.
     Time  (For example, 10 seconds - radio starts scanning again in 10 seconds even if a qso is still going on)
     Seek and Hold - radio stops on a busy frequency and exits scan mode - requires operator intervention to start scanning again.

   CTCSS Scan
     Radios with this feature can scan an active repeater to determine the correct CTCSS code and program it into the VFO or current memory channel.

2. Everybody who does emergency prep needs a  better antenna than the one that came with your HT.  Look for antennas that are optimized for the two or three main ham bands of your radio and that have some GAIN!

3.  Emergency Prep communications REQUIRE an alternate power source for your radio.  You will not last very long just running on the battery that came with your radio.  During an emergency you will probably NEVER have a time when you are not hearing other traffic or transmitting traffic.  The battery drains quickly under this type of load.  Think about it, just to be NCS on a typical ham radio net you need external power.  Your HT battery will not even get you through the net if you are NCS.  Emergency situations result in a LOT more ham radio activity than any net.

Summer Heat and Outdoor Antennas
  Extreme heat can soften SOME cable dialectric to the point that the center conductor "sags".  No longer a 50 ohm impedance.
  In the most extreme cases, the center conductor comes into contact with the shield braid and shorts the cable.
You can compensate for minor center conductor drift with an antenna tuner.
Yes, they make antenna tuners for 2 meters and 70 centimeters (1.25 meters also).  MFJ and others manufacture them.  

Until next time - 73 from N7OZH.