MUST HAVES for Emergency Ham Radio

In order to be an effective and useful communicator in an emergency situation, there are a few things you need in addition to a radio.

The first thing is emergency batteries. Now, your radio (HT) may or may not have an optional battery case that allows using standard AA batteries from the grocery store. If it does, you should have one of those. However, for long term emergency communications you need something with a lot more "oomph". That something is an external Gel Cell battery.

These can be had in units as small at 12 Volts and 4 Amp Hours. The largest one you can easily carry around in an emergency is likely to be 12 volts at 7 Amp Hours. Larger units are available, but they are no fun to lug around.

You can usually toss a 12V 4AH battery in a fanny pack or specially made battery carrier.

For charging, these units are easily kept ready to go with a trickle charger like the ones sold at Harbor Freight for under $10.00.

The second thing you absolutely must have is a better antenna than the one that came with your HT. I often refer to the antenna that comes with HTs as a "rubber attentuator". It is supposed to work over a wide range of frequencies and usually on two or more bands.

The problem is, it doesn't work as well as you think it does. Better antennas come in two classes, small ones that attach to your radio in place of the one that came with the radio and external ones that hang from a tree limb or door frame or window frame.

To see antennas in the first category, go to a web site such as http://www.aesham.com and search on HT antennas. Look for ones that are LONGER than the one that came with your radio and for ones that also advertise some level of GAIN.

For the second category, MUCH longer antennas that REALLY get out and can pull in VERY weak signals, you can build those yourself. They are called Twin Lead J-Poles. Here are two links to plans for building your own.

http://www.qsl.net/wb3gck/jpole.htm
http://www.hamuniverse.com/2meter300ohmslimjim.html

You can also buy these from places like aesham.com or eBay or others. Use Google to search for Twin Lead Ham Antennas.

Once you have these two ESSENTIAL items, you are a better prepared emegency communicator than ANYONE who does not have these items.

Now you can begin to work on other items such as Grab And Go bags, portable emergency food supplies, FRS/GMRS radios for communication with others who are not hams, etc.

By the way, if you plan to get FRS/GMRS radios, look for ones with a SCAN feature. The scan feature can be a lifesaver (theirs, not yours) if you are asked to go through a neighborhood looking for survivors. I'll explain why in next month's post.

M7OZH

Emergency Ham Radio in Tehran, Iran

Tehran, Iran is putting together a disaster response plan for natural disasters. The web site referenced here is put up by a fellow who has discovered Ham Radio and some of its potential in disaster communications.

He is asking for more info on how others have used Ham Radio in emergencies so that he can pass that information on to the decision makers.

You can access his blog HERE and leave a comment for him. Here is a chance to "Pay The Dues" without even hitting the Push To Talk button.

You can also just click on the Title of this story and you will get to the same place. If you are using theh latest version of Internet Explorer, then if you hold down the Control key while clicking on the link, then his page will open in a new tabbed window. With older versions of explorer, the Control-Click trick will open a whole new browser window.

Either way, you will have one window with this site still active.

73s
N7OZH

Ham Radio Hints and Tips for 08/13/2008

Radio Hints

[NOTE: If you are using Internet Explorer, hold the Control key down while clicking the links. This will cause the link to open in a new window and your main screen will still be in this page. If that does not work, you can cut and paste the links into a new browser window to get the same result.]

Some things that Ham Radio operators need to have or know in operating during a disaster.

You need the manual for your rig in case somebody declares the use of a mode that you do not remember how to program into your computer. Xeroxing the original manual is tedious and not very neat. Rig "Summary" cards and spiral bound summary operating manuals are available from Nifty Accessories. They also sell a really great HT stand that keeps your radio upright without you having to hold it. HTs get really, REALLY hot during prolonged operating and can cause 3rd degree burns if your hand comes into contact with the back of the HT (which is its heat sink).

Summary Manuals, HT stands, etc.
http://www.niftyaccessories.com

We are all expected to use Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) during ALL operations. First you have to know the standards. The following links will take you to some EXCELLENT SOP manuals that you can print out and put in your own three ring binder Operating Manual.

Calgary Standard Operating Procedures
http://caraham.org/ontheair/sop.php


ARES Standard Operating Procedures (Canada)
http://lloydminster.org/sarc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=62

2007 Races SOP
http://www.n2ty.org/rcraces/NYS_RACES/2007_RACES_SOP.pdf

We have all seen pictures on the news of homes after major disasters. Most had strange red markings on the front with a bit "X" in the middle. If you are assigned to walk a neighborhood and report status back to command central, knowing the meaning of those markings can save you a LOT of time and frustration. They are designed to convey a lot of important information in a very small space and they prevent you from checking out a building that has already been checked. You can see a copy of the markings with explanations at the following link. The graphic was hard to readon my screen, but was very easy to read once I printed it out. This should go into your emergency operating manual for your grab and go kit.

Red Cross Markings
http://www.ushero.org/ushero/docs/es/nfpa/1670/nfpa1670_files/image002.jpg

During and/or after some disasters (volcano eruption, earthquake, tornado, etc) the weather is going to be a major concern. If there is a NOAA weather station in your area, you should have that frequency in your radio. Scann the NOAA web site to find your local frequency. There are only 4 or 5 frequencies natiowide and your area will use one of those.

If you have a computer connected to your radio, you can get some excellent weather info, with pictures and explanations at SkyWarn. You will need SkyWarn software, but you can get that for FREE at the following lihk:

SkyWarn Software
http://www.starsradio.org/skywarn/software.php

Morse Code Practice/Training
The greatest morse code program I have ever seen. Characters are always sent at 20 WPM speed, but the overall message can be sent at any speed from 2 WPM to about 35WPM. You constantly improve your speed, but you only learn the sound of the characters ONCE. With most software you learn the characters at 7WPM with 5 WPM spacing, then characters at 12 WPM with 10 WPM spacing and finally characters and message at 20 WPM. Vastly superior to anything else out there and it is entirely FREE! The software is written by G4FON, Ray Goff. You can get it here:
G4FON Koch Trainer
http://www.g4fon.net/

Floods and Storms in the Mid West - Hams To The Rescue

Ham radio has always been called on to help when there is a weather problem. The current situation is no exception. To read what has been going on in the affected areas and learn how ham radio helps out, check out the following link:

Hams and Mid West Flooding

For information on the ARRL's involvement with emergency services, including Homeland Security, check the following link:

ARRL Ham Radio and Emergency Services

For some great emergency radio information check this link:

SERC

When the weather threatens your radio equipment you need insurance. The ARRL has put together an insurance plan that costs less than any others. Your homeowner insurance and car insurance do NOT cover your ham radio equipment unless it is listed in a "rider" to your policy and extra fees are paid. For the best Ham Radio insurance (and the ONLY one recommended by the ARRL), check the following link:

ARRL Ham Radio Insurance

We have heard stories of folks who were in the flooding areas who could not get to their emergency generators because there was no electricity to open the garage door. Could you get to your emergency supplies if there were no AC power?

Do you have a bicycle or small motorized cycle? That may be the only reliable way to get around during a major disaster. Emergency services can block roads and prevent cars from getting into entire areas in an emergency. It has been done before right here in Utah (Bountiful).

More next week.

73 for now.
O. D. Williams
N7OZH

Just How "Radio Active" are you?

We just finished the Foothill net on 146.510 and in the post net round table we were discussing how to get our numbers up. Part of that discussion turned to a question about how many nets our members listen to or participate in.

Some only do the Foothill net. I fear that they will not be adequately trained ina real disaster. We decided that next week we will as people to tell us, when they check in, how many nets they listen to or check into.

Here in Salt Lake we have lots of ham radio nets. Here are a few of the ones that do a weekly net and offer training or ham radio information as a part of their net.

Every Tuesday
8:00 PM - Utah VHF Society 147.120 (100Hz Tone) On Air Swap Meet.
9:00 PM - Foothill Simplex net. 145.610 (Foothill area emergency net)
9:00 PM - ERC 145.450 (LDS Church communications net)

Every Wednesday
8:00 PM - ARES 146.88 (100Hz Tone) - Emergency training except third Thursday of each month when they have an in-person meeting.
9:00 PM - MARA 146.74 (114Hz Tone) - Emergency and disaster training

Every Sunday
9:00 PM - UARC - 146.620 - Radio HamLine, Propogation reports, round table after the net where extra and general class hams will answer ANY ham radio question.

There are others. For a more complete listing, check the UARC web page or the Utah VHF Society web page. They are listed here.
UARC - http://www.xmission.com/~uarc/
UTVHF http://www.utahvhfs.org

-73 until next time -
N7OZH

Ham-Shack.com : Operating On A Repeater Near You!

For a national list of repeaters with listings for each state, check the following:

Ham-Shack.com : Operating On A Repeater Near You!

IRLP Nodes in Salt Lake City

The following IRLP nodes are listed for Salt Lake City.

433.600 with 100.00 Hz Tone
448.400 with 88.500 Hz Tone
449.250 with 100.00 Hz Tone <== Very popular!
449.550 with 131.80 Hz Tone
449.750 with 100.00 Hz Tone

Some cities only have one node. We are lucky to have so many.

If you haven't tried IRLP, program in one of the above frequencies (I use 449.250) and the correct PL tone, then just wait for a time when the repeater is not busy, key up and say your call sign and the word "Listening". That's it!

You could get a reply from Australia, Japan, China, South America, or wherever. Keep a record of your contacts by call sign, time and location. One of these days you will find that you have worked all continents with nothing more than an HT radio and five watts! That's amazing. That sort of thing used to require a big antenna on the roof and a minimum of 100 watts of SSB HF power. PLUS good luck with the sunspot cycles and the weather. Oh, one more thing, you would have to do most of your contacts just before sunrise, just after sunset or at midnight.

By the way, log your calls using GMT or Zulu time. All ham radio contacts are logged in GMT by every ham all over the world. That way you do not have to convert from your time zone to some weird place somewhere on another continent. You only have to convert GMT to your local time zone.

Salt Lake City is always either 6 or 7 hours earlier than GMT, depending on daylight savings time. We are currently -7 hours from GMT. Therefore 2:25 PM in Salt Lake City is 9:25 PM GMT. Of course, in April we will switch to GMT -6 hours.

-N7OZH-

PC Programming Of YOUR Radio! (NEW TRICK)

Here is a neat trick. I recently found this note about how to use a pc (or tape recorder) to "trick" your radio into thinking its being cloned from another radio. This only works with radios that have a cloning feature built in.

Those radios have a cloning cable which is really just an audio cable. You connect the cable from the master radio's speaker jack to the slave radio's microphone jack and then begin the cloning procedure. Read on for how this can be done with only ONE radio!

This is a NEAT way to save your frequencies and settings in case they are ever lost out of the radio. I welcome your comments. N7OZH

*** Article follows ***

Hi there, recently I discovered a way to program the TH-79 from Kenwood by computer (or anything else that can do the following).

This is what you have to do: program the radio by hand. For example, program all your repeaters and local frequencies in it.

Then, set up a receiver at the same frequency as the radio and connect it to your PC. When you start cloning from the TH-79, simply record the file and store it.

Now, program the radio with other frequencies (i.e. from another country, police, ship-frequencies etc.) and do the same.

Anytime you want to program your radio with another set of channels, play the file in front of a mike or connected to another radio and "clone" the portable with its own files!
Works great!
73,
Thijs, PE1RLN
The Netherlands

General Class License Class

I've been getting lots of requests to know when we are going to do our General class for those that want to upgrade.

Here is the situation. I am busy rebuilding the basement as a result of a flood. We were to have started the class in February, but the basement is not finished. Further complicating things, the FCC has decided to change the General Class question pool this year instead of next year. There is no point in studying one set of questions and then being tested on another set.

The basement may not be finished until April. Then comes May when school lets out and families head out for summer vacations.

As you can see, there are lots of variables and until some of them get nailed down, it is not feasable to schedule a class for upgrading to General.

As things smooth out, I will post updates here.

O. D. Williams
N7OZH

Vanity Callsigns and Ham Radio Links

Here is the single most useful ham radio web site there is. Learn all about vanity call signs, how to apply, how to avoid the "land mines" and much more.

Links to other sites. Get a free email account and/or web page at qsl.net. Learn about "electronic" QSL cards. The list goes on and on. Here is the link, just click the logo below.




N7OZH -73s-

Lost Your Manual?

We all misplace our equipment operating manuals from time to time. With the internet, this is not as big a problem as it used to be.

Using a search engine like Google, you can search for the manufacturer's site where many of them post current and past manuals.

Alternatively, you can use a search engine to look for a term such as "Yeasu 5200 Manual" to find non-manufacturer sites that provide copies of current and past manuals. Most of them are out there somewhere.

Some web sites have huge repositories of equipment manuals at no charge. Seek and ye shall find.

N7OZH

Keeping Information Accurate

01/08/2005

The recent mine disaster where 12 were reported to be alive and only one dead was a double tragedy. First the cave in was a disaster, and then reporting the numbers backwards (there were actually 1 alive and 12 dead), added tragedy on top of tragedy.

In ham radio emergency communications, we often are asked to receive and send information that is crucial to disaster cleanup and rescue operations. Here is one rule to live by above all others: WRITE IT DOWN! If you aren't sure of what was said, ask them to repeat it or read it back to them and request verification.

If you do not write it down, you may get confused and report incorrect information. Worse yet, what happens when your relief shows up and you leave that post? If the information is not written down, you may forget to pass it along at all!

People depend on us for accurate information, the key to that accuracy is a written record.

-73 de N7OZH-

1st Post

Today is 12/20/2005.

This blog will feature general Ham Radio information plus info specific to Salt Lake City, the MARA Net, and the Foothill Net. All are invited to link, post comments, make suggestions and point out needed corrections.

N7OZH
O. D. Williams