Simplex Frequencies

There are a number of simplex frequencies that we should have programmed into our VHF and UHF radios in the event of an emergency. More on those in a minute, here are some misc. items first.

There is a new Ham Radio Blog on the scene. You can check it out here.

There is a SE Division CERT net net at 9PM on Thursday's on 147.50 Simplex. I recommend listning in and this frequency should be in your radio in the event of an emergency because this is where Salt Lake County will be.

GOAL ZERO SOLAR PANELS & LED FLASHLIGHTS
You can find them using Google. They have a flashlight that can be used as a lantern or flashlight. It has a very long cord with a cigarette lighter plug on it so that it can be run from a car or an emergency gel cell. Goal Zero gets about $50 for it, but KE7ORB reports that they are at Emergency Essentials for about $35.

Speaking of flashlights, at Fresh Market Stores they have a red plastic flashlight that (at first glance) seems to be one of those big heavy flashlights that uses so called "lantern batteries" that are large and bulky and heavy and expensive. Not this one. It uses 4 AA cells and is the brightest flashlight I have EVER seen. The multi-function switch turns on the bright white light. Click it again and a RED light in the base turns on (white light goes off). Click again and the red light starts flashing as a warning beacon or emergency locator. Click again and all lights go off. There are two small metal contacts on the outside of the case. If the light is dropped in water, those two metal contacts sense the water and start the red emergency locator red light blinking automatically. About $15 and worth a lot more.






The above banner is for a phone service reseller called Kitty Wireless. They resell Verizon access. You can buy any amount of access that you want or need. Do you have an emergency phone that you never use but keep around for emergencies? How much per year does it cost you? How does $30/Year sound? With this service you have to put money in every 4 months (120 days) to keep your account active. Minimum amount you can put in is $10. That's just $30 a year for Verizon service. You can also put in $25 or $50 every 4 months. Or you can buy Talk-And-Text 1200 for just $29.95 per month. Now you get talk, text and data for a fraction of the Verizon cost. There is also an unlimited plan.

Here is the best part. You can bring your own phone. Any phone that works on Verizon you can activate through Kitty Wireless. Don't have an old Verizon Phone? go to eBay - you can pick them up for cheap. Want a brand new phone? Kitty sells new and refurbished phones. Go to Amazon and you can buy a brand new Palm Pixi Plus Smartphone for $39 and it is Verizon branded.

Sue and I dropped Verizon, went with Kitty Wireless and cut our cell phone bill to ONE FOURTH of what we were paying Verizon and we are STILL with Verizon (through Kitty Wireless)! Oh, you can port your existing cell phone number from Verizon or you can request a new cell phone number. And, best of all, for a limited time new cell phone activations are FREE and Kitty puts $2 on your phone to get you started.

We have been with Kitty Wireless for over 8 months and we love it. I'm big on saving money and this deal was a no brainer. Now I tell everyone I know about it and now I am telling you.

Here is a listing of simplex frequencies that will be crucial to have in your radio in the event of an emergency.

Lets start with SL/Tooele County MARA. Our simplex frequencies are 145.69, 145.31, 145.67 and 145.61. (NOTE: 145.31 is a repeater frequency in Cache and Carbon Counties and its simplex use is on a non-intererence basis only.

ERC simplex frequencies in our area are 145.49, 147.48, 147.44 and 146.60.

Salt Lake County ARES uses 147.54, 145.53, 146.42, 146.50 and 147.46.

The National Simplex Frequency is 146.52.

Code practice can be done on 146.58.

Council of Utah Amateur Radio Clubs uses 146.44 and 147.58.

I'll have more later, that's enough for now.

73 from N7OZH

AGM versus Gel Cell Batteries

If you have a Harbor Freight store in your area, there are presently some good deals on items for ham radio.

Trickle Battery Chargers - $4.99, regularly $12.99
Magnesium Fire Starters - $2.99 (They are $8.00 and up elsewhere)

There are many types of batteries on the market and three of them find heavy usage in ham radio EmComm applications.

Battery types
Car Battery
Gel Cells
NiCad (Nickel Cadmium)
Lithium Ion
NiMh (Nickle Metal Hydride)
AGM

Main difference is the charging rate. Lithium Ion batteries originally could not be recharged. Actually they could be, there just were not any commercially available chargers. Once those showed up, LiOn could be charged.

MAHA smart charger has a switch for Nicad, LiOn, NiMh. Only difference is charging rate.

For the longest time, AGMs could only be charged with special chargers.

All newer battery chargers CAN do Car Batteries, Gel Cells, and AGM. Newer UPS units for computers can also use AGM.

Batteries Plus is phasing out Gel Cells in favor of AGM batteries. Gel Cells have many advantage over "flooded cell" type car batteries. For one thing, they operate in any position. (Upside down they are a little less efficient). If the case is damaged, they will not leak and can be used (and sometimes even charged) with a broken case.

AGM has advantages over Gel Cells. Higher power ratings in smaller cases. For example, the 9 Amp Hour AGM battery is the same size as the 7 Amp Hour Gel Cell. The newer 4 Ah to 15 Ah AGM batteries use a smaller connector than the Gel Cells. If you are replacing the batteries, check the connectors carefully so you do not wind up with the small connectors on your cable (inside the UPS) and large connectors on the battery. You can plug the small battery connectors into the larger cable connectors, but not vice versa.

Soon Batteries Plus will also carry lightbulbs for anything that runs on batteries and possibly other types of lights.

Batteries Plus and Standard Supply can build battery packs for older radios, computers and devices for which batteries are no longer manufatured. For ham radios there is also the "battery lady" on the web located at http://www.nicdladyonline.com/

For some very interesting info on all types of Lead-Acid batteries including AGM, check the following web sites.

Battery Types: Flooded versus AGM and Gel
www.vonwentzel.net/Battery/01.Type/index.html

Battery Tutorial GEL vs. AGM
http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery_gel_agm.html

Deep Cycle Battery FAQ
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

VRLA battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRLA_battery

What is an AGM Battery and how do I charge it?
http://www.associatedequip.com/pdf/rightbattery.pdf

Some excellent Emergency Prep info regarding grab and go kits at the following two locations.

http://www.freewebs.com/wh7lh/emergencypreparedness.htm

http://www.chelseagreen.com - Grab and Run Survival Kits (72 Hours) By Matthew Stei

Ham Radio and Joplin Storms + DStar

Thanks to Scott, W7OXZ, for the following info:

Some thoughts on the outcome of the Joplin Tornado and Amateur Radio, having read reports form local newspapers, ham radio blogs and the ARRL newsletter

1) Amateur Radio played a useful role in helping with communications in coordination the evacuation of hospital patients from Joplin to hospitals in Springfield and Arkansas. Amateur Radio also was used by the Red Cross in shelter communications. These efforts are winding down and maybe terminated by now as more normal communications have been reestablished which has happened very quickly.

2) More importantly and I had never contemplated this, Many Amateurs were ready and able to help but did not self deploy into the area. If in our zeal to help we rush into a disaster but are not needed we only make matters worse for the incident command.

3) It is ironic that Congressman Billy Long, who is an out spoken opponent of attempts to develop tornado worming systems and a cosponsor for HR07 ,is from Joplin. The blogs have been having fun with him!!!

Aside from that there is an ARRL sponsored Webinar on DStar this evening.

______________

05/23/2011

Periodically, the ARRL’s Atlantic Division hosts a “webinar” -- an interactive Web-based seminar, designed to facilitate communication between a small number of presenters and a large remote audience using the Internet. Atlantic Division Director Bill Edgar, N3LLR, and the National Capital Region D-STAR Association will present a two-part webinar discussion on D-STAR technology and its application to emergency communications. Anyone can register for these informative, interactive Internet meetings; you do not need to reside in the Atlantic Division to join in.

Part 1 will be presented on Wednesday, May 25 at 9 PM (EDT). This 90 minute webinar -- entitled D-STAR Basics -- will provide a general introduction to the topic of D-STAR and compares the technology to existing Amateur Radio systems. Examples of D-STAR innovation will also be presented. Click here to sign up for Part 1.

On Wednesday, June 8 at 9 PM (EDT), join in for Part 2 -- D-STAR and EmComm. This 90 minute webinar will provide a discussion on how D-STAR technology can benefit Amateur Radio EmComm scenarios. Examples of D-STAR applications to EMCOMM will also be presented, as well as future growth ideas. Click here to sign up for Part 2.
Scott
=======================
There is also some interesting info about hams and the storms on the QRZ website located here.

That's it for now.

73 de N7OZH

2012 Great Utah ShakeOut & Pre- ShakeOut Exercises

The 2nd Quarter 2011 Community Emergency Response Coordination Workshop has been scheduled. Please join us at the workshop on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Continental breakfast will be offered at 8:00 am. Welcome and opening address will begin at 8:30. The workshop is aimed at continued discussion on topics surrounding the coordination of Salt Lake City communities, neighborhoods, and businesses in emergency response, especially through CERT, and establishing communications networks.

This workshop is for anyone interested in community emergency response and post-disaster communications capabilities in Salt Lake City.

The Salt Lake Office of Emergency Management is pleased to report that CERT, Mobile Watch, and other religious and non-governmental organizations throughout the City are continuing to be established, while coordination of communications continues to be a high priority. We ask the community councils for assistance in finding representatives in every neighborhood to participate in these efforts. We also encourage everyone involved with other community groups interested in emergency preparedness (such as churches) to attend as it is vital that we coordinate with existing plans and efforts.

Below is the agenda. Didn’t attend the previous workshops? No problem. Please join us at this one! Pass this on to anyone you feel would have an interest in emergency response.

Please RSVP as soon as possible. Please send an email to SSmithRPh@aol.com and type “will attend breakfast” or “meeting only” in the subject line.

Community Emergency Response
Coordination Workshop

Agenda

Saturday, May 14, 2011, 8:00 am – 11:30 am

Pioneer Police Precinct
1040 West 700 South

8:00 Sign-in & Light continental breakfast

8:30 Welcome & Open Meeting – John Flynt/Michael Stott

2012 Great Utah ShakeOut & Pre- ShakeOut Exercises


9:00 Ben Sharer – Unified Fire Authority (UFA), Community Services Bureau

Response to Cottonwood Heights Flooding 2010: Communications, Volunteers, and CERT Leadership.

9:45 Q & A

10:00 Break

10:15 CERT Division Breakout Session – CERT Division Supervisors

Organization of CERT, Communications, and Exercises in preparation for the 2012 Great Utah ShakeOut (http://www.shakeout.org/utah/overview/).

Pre-credentialing volunteers for possible Salt Lake County flood response.

11:30 Adjourn

=================
In any disaster there are often downed power lines. It is a fatal mistake to assume that downed power lines are only carrying the same 110Volts that exists inside your house. Downed power lines ALWAYS have higher voltages than 110 Volts. Here is a summary:

Overhead power transmission lines are classified in the electrical power industry by the range of voltages:

* Low voltage – less than 1000 volts, used for connection between a residential or small commercial customer and the utility.
* Medium Voltage (Distribution) – between 1000 volts (1 kV) and to about 33 kV, used for distribution in urban and rural areas.
* High Voltage (subtransmission less than 200 kV; subtransmission or transmission at voltage such as 115 kV and 138 kV), used for sub-transmission and transmission of bulk quantities of electric power and connection to very large consumers.
* Extra High Voltage (transmission) – over 230 kV, up to about 800 kV, used for long distance, very high power transmission.
* Ultra High Voltage – higher than 800 kV.

If your body is dry and you are not grounded, you can usually let go if you accitentally grab 110 Volts. Howewver 110 Volts can be and often is lethal. The line coming to your house from the transformer on the pole is 220 Volts. If you tough 220 Volts, you cannot let go. You loose ALL muscle control.

I call voltages above 1000 Volts "Friendly Voltages" because you do not have to come into contact with their power lines. Just get close enough and they will reach out and touch YOU! They make the first move. 100 KV lines can "jump" 5 to 6 feet through dry air and fry you. Above 200 Kv they can "jump" more than 8 feet! I have pictures of 800 KV arcs that exceed 30 feet. If you are "touched" by 100 KV or better, you will never be the same, if you live to tell about it. Your central nervous system and/or your physical body WILL be altered by voltages over 100 KV.

Don't go near downed power lines. Ambulance crews have been trained not to do so. Firefighters have been trained not to. Law enforcement has been trained not to do so. Don't take the chance. Some have been killed trying to move a downed line off the sidewalk using a stick. The electricity walked along the stick into their hand and out through their feet and shoes. Death was neither quick nor pleasant.
=======
Do you have 12 volt gel cell batteries for emergency communications? Do all your power cords have anderson power pole connectors on them? A gel cell battery, even a small one, can run your HT for a VERY long time. It will even run your mobile radio for a while. You also need ways to recharge emergency batteries. Harbor Freight sells many sizes of solar cells. Emergency Essentials in Salt Lake has small personal solar charges that can charge AAA, AA, C and D batteries.
=========
73's until next time. O. D. Williams

MARA Net 05/04/2011

The Salt Lake City MARA net meets on Wednesday night at 9PM on the 146.74 and 448.10 repeaters. A tone of 114.8 is required to open the squelch. Please join us for discussions of Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Communications.

Harriman Utah has just formed a new club and has a net on Sunday nights on the Herriman 449.250 repeater (Tone is 118.8) Their blog is located at http://herrimanarc.blogspot.com/. They have an in person meeting on the second Saturday of each month. Details are on their blog. Thanks to KE7WYS for this information.

Section 8 of The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook recommends the following:

Alternate NCS for emergency nets.
1. Same location - can take over for the regular NCS if needed.
2. Alternate location - not subject to equipment failures at primary NCS site.

Good operating procedure.
Be Accurate
Be Concise
Be Polite

I consider #2 the most important. If you are one of those people who gets nervous under pressure or who takes an hour to tell a five minute story, you probably are not cut out to be a Net Control Station.

Get experience being NCS
During a disaster is not the ideal time to learn how to function effectively as an NCS. For some people it just comes naturally, but for most, it is an acquired and learned ability. Best to get some experience during normal nets BEFORE an actual disaster.

See Chapter 8 of the ARRL Emergency Communications manual for more info.



A note about toilets. Picking a shelter location with adequate facilities is always a problem and often the one picked is the only one standing or the best one still standing. Toilet facilities are a major concern. In many disasters electricity fails. When it does, water will not be delivered to most buildings and homes. How will you handle sanitation at your home in a disaster? Check the Emergency Essentials web site or get one of their monthly fliers. They have inexpensive toilets that will serve well in a disaster. Everybody should have one.

Emergency Essentials places different items on sale each month. You can build up a great home disaster kit and supply kit by buying items on sale each month. Here is the contact info.

Emergency Essentials
Get on their mailing list - diff items on sale each month
BePrepared.com/Utah
110 West 3300 South
801-994-1055

Here are some interesting web sites that I discovered on just the first two pages of a Google search on Emergency Shelter Communications.

Community Planning Toolkit for State Emergency Preparedness Managers
http://www.hhs.gov/od/disabilitytoolkit/index.html

Shelter-in-Place - Communication
http://www.hhs.gov/od/disabilitytoolkit/shelter/communication.html

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PROCESS OF POST-DISASTER
HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION (PDF)
http://www.irbdirekt.de/daten/iconda/06059007139.pdf

How to Deliver Your Message from/to a Disaster Area (Click on the PDF logo in upper right corner)
http://dl.comsoc.org/livepubs/ci1/public/2011/jan/mase.html

Story: Amateur Radio Operators Provide Vital Communications Links Between Red Cross Shelters During Hurricane Earl
http://newsroom.redcross.org/2010/09/07/story-amateur-radio-operators-provide-vital-communications-links-between-red-cross-shelters-during-hurricane-earl/
OR
http://tinyurl.com/3o7at6b

Development of an Emergency Communication System for Evacuees of Shelters
[Abstract]

We propose a novel communication system for evacuees of shelters, termed "Shelter Communication System (SCS)". SCS is composed of a computer (termed Shelter Server) connected to the Internet and a set of personal computers (termed shelter PCs), one in each shelter, connected to Shelter Server through a temporal link and the Internet. SCS provides a message communication service between shelters as well as between shelters and outside the disaster area. Neither computer terminals nor cellular phones are required for those in the shelters. They write messages on specially-designed message sheets by hand. They receive messages on the sheets of paper printed by Shelter PCs. A prototype of SCS has been developed. A simple evaluation shows that SCS could provides service for 15,000 shelters and 750,000 people there, using 10 earth stations and wireless mesh networks.

This last one makes me think that we need to get some web developers to volunteer to build a shelter/disaster communications package for the web that can be used to log shelter patient names at the time of intake and make that available to other shelters in the area.

73s until next time.
O. D. Williams N7OZH

How to stop a terrorist on a plane, etc.

The link to all these articles is at the very end of the post.

"How to Recognize and Fight a Terrorist on a Plane"
by Randy Plante
Simple and concrete advice from a former Air Force and commercial jet pilot on how to proactively defend yourself and your fellow air travel passengers against a terrorist threat.

"Gals and Gun Shops: First Gun Buy"
by Jennifer Kendall
Jennifer Kendall had a mission -- buy a handgun for home defense with a budget of $500. She shares her experiences with gun dealers, their advice, and her final decision.

"Military Lab Rats"
by Oliver North
Lt. Col. North's impassioned argument against subjecting the US military to the "radical social experiment" of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

http://www.humanevents.com/offers/offer.php?id=GNP832

Herriman and FEMA Emergency Information

The Herriman radio club has published a great manual for those who plan to participate in emergency preparedness. Here is the link:

http://herrimanarc.blogspot.com/p/documents.html

FEMA publishes several FREE online courses. Here are four that will make you a MUCH better emergency communicator, especially if you have to interfaced with the State, County or City governments. Also pertinent for dealing with Federal Agencies.

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100b.asp
IS-100.b - Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS200b.asp
IS-200.b - ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS700a.asp
IS-700.a NIMS An Introduction (National Incident Management System)

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS800b.asp
IS-800.B National Response Framework, An Introduction

There is about 3 hours of course work in each. You can proceed at your own pace.

There is a web site that lists all the community events that need hams to handle communication. Here is the link:

Amateur Radio Public Service Events
http://arpse.org/

MARA Net 03/02/2011

In this issue:
70 cm band up for sale?
EMP protection for Ham Radio Equipment
Scouting For Food needs Ham Operators on March 26th
Sending brief text messages with your cell phone.
QRZ - USING TWITTER WITH HAM RADIO (www.qrz.com)
Two excelling HF nets in Salt Lake City.
Home Land Security and Utah CERT compiling a list of ALL local nets.

A few years ago we lost half the 220 Mhz band to UPS. Now Congress wants to auction off most of the 70 cm (440 Mhz) band along with other non-ham frequencies. Here is some information.

ARRL has recently learned of newly introduced legislation in the United States House of Representatives that poses a direct threat to our popular 70-centimeter band. H.R. 607, the "Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011" introduced by Rep. Peter King from New York's third district proposes to place 420-440 MHz, among other RF spectrum, up for auction. The proposed section of frequencies goes above the top of our 70cm band and also takes out the FRS and GMRS frequencies. All of these frequencies are crucial to ham radio and neighborhood emergency communications.

420-440 MHz represents over 65% of the present 70-centimeter ham band. This portion of the band is home to the following ham operations:
Amateur television (ATV) simplex and repeater communications,
moon bounce (EME), weak signal operations (SSB/CW), propagation beacons, amateur satellite communications, auxiliary operations, FM repeater
linking, and more.

For full disclosure there is other similar legislation that exists in
the House and in the Senate, however none of these versions include
references to 420-440 MHz. Regardless, H.R. 607 does and it's real.

So what is the path forward? Please read more about this bill at
http://www.arrl.org/news/spectrum-management-bill-threatens-amateur-frequencies

Again, the sky is not falling but we shouldn't sit on the sidelines
either. Stay tuned for more information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Rocky Mountain Division
Director: Brian P Mileshosky, N5ZGT
--------------------------------------------------------------------

EMP can destroy some electronic and some electrical equipment. More information can be found by searching Google for the phrase Protecting Ham Radio Gear From EMP. NOTE: Even solar panels and generators are not immune. Here are some of the more informative links I found with this search.

Ham Radio Protection from EMP.
Solar Panel EMP Protection
http://www.survivalblog.com/2009/06/two_letters_re_protection_from.html

Self Defence, Shooting supplies, survival Info
http://www.keepshooting.com/

EMP Protection
http://set2survive.com/EMP_survivors_notebook_1.html

Microwaves and EMP cages
http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/02/microwaves-faraday-cages-and-emp-protection/
------------
MARCH 26TH SCOUTING FOR FOOD
Contact Gene N7OVT at N7OVT@ARRL.NET OR 801-541-1781 or listen on 146.88 the day of the event.
----------
Sending brief text messages with your cell phone.
1. Phone to email account
Just enter the email address as the TO: entry instead of a mobile phone number.
http://lifehacker.com/5506326/how-can-i-send-an-email-via-text-message

2. Email account (from computer) to cell phone. (Have to know recipient's carrier)
example 801-111-2222@vtext.com
http://20somethingfinance.com/how-to-send-text-messages-sms-via-email-for-free/
---------------------
See QRZ.COM for an article on sending short emails with cell phones or sending emails to cell phones using your computer.
------------
Two excellent HF nets in Salt Lake City.
COWBOY NET 3923.50 5:30 PM
BEEHIVE 3920 12 NOON
-----------
Home Land Security and Utah CERT compiling a list of ALL local nets.
If you participate in a local community net, church net, emergency preparedness net or other local net, please send info on the day of the week, time of day, frequency, and whether the net is on Simplex or a Repeater. This info will be forwarded to Home Land Security and Utah CERT so that your net can be called on to officially help out in an emergency.
Send the info in an email to odwill@cms-track.com
------------
That's it for this week. 73's until next week.
N7OZH

Winter Survival and Blizzard Survival

Utah is getting a major storm right now. Here are some links to good advice on what to do when the snow becomes a problem.

Blizzard Survival
http://www.fcgov.com/oem/blizzard-survival.php


How to Make a Blizzard Survival Kit
http://www.ehow.com/how_2068127_make-blizzard-survival-kit.html


How to Survive a Blizzard
http://weather.about.com/od/winterweather/a/winter_survival.htm


How to Build a Snow Cave
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Snow-Cave


Why are snow caves dangerous?
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_Snowcaves.htm


It is recommended to have hand warmers and space blankets in the car even for short trips. Never leave home without a cell phone or ham radio or both.

To help others, monitor FRS/GMRS traffic for people calling for help.

There are some excellent tips in the web pages given above on what to do when the power goes out and/or the phones are down.

Above all else, keep warm and be sure to get food and water.

===Notes from the 12/15 and 12/22 nets===

KD7UM - BOX BUILT FROM 1/2 INCH PLYWOOD. 30 AMP PS - 2 TNC'S - MOBILES - HANDLES - FRONT & BACK OPEN FOR VENTILATION. REMOVABLE SHELVES (COTTER PINS) - 15X18X16 - BOX & SHELVES FROM ONE PIECE OF PLYWOOD.

ALL GENERATORS produce PURE sine waves from the coils. Most generators send the pure sine wave to a DC converter and then to an inverter to produce a sine wave which ranges from pure sine waves to badly modified sine/square waves.

The Honda 2000i models make very beautiful sine waves. Some generators including Honda put up to 24 volts on the 12 volt line!

Worst sine wave has flattened tops & bottoms, BUT the WORST part is the 0 volt gap between cycles. True sine waves got from cycle to cycle in one
continuous move with an almost instant crossing of the 0 line (x axis). Bad ones run along the 0 line for a ways before producing the other side of the wave. BAD, BAD NEWS, ESPECIALLY ON MOTORS. The only way to know for sure what you are getting out of your generator is to get together
with someone who has an oscilloscope.

When charging batteries with the 12 volt output of a generator, you MUST monitor the charging and disconnect the generator when the battery is charged or the battery will be destroyed.

If your generator has a 12 volt output, best bet is to get a solar regulator (that can handle 24 volts or more) and let it regulate the 12 volts and also monitor the battery charging and auto disconnect when the battery is charged.

KD7UM - 12 VOLT DC - SOME GENERATORS ARE FOR BATTERY CHARGING ONLY.

73s until next time. Havae fun shoveling snow.
N7OZH

MARA 10/08/2010 - APRS, Packet, W2ENY, CAT mode cables.

In SLC, the following frequencies are used for APRS (144.39) and Packet (145.05). Both modes should see high usage during any actual emergency and during most SET drills.

W2ENY has some interesting ham radio items on eBay. Just search on his call sign.

Another ham makes some amazing digital mode cables and they are less expensive than most other methods of getting into digital radio. You can find his stuff on eBay HERE. If that is not "clickable" in your browser, here is the actual address:
http://shop.ebay.com/sjgwilliam/m.html

He is in England, so there is a $9.99 shipping charge, but his stuff is well worth it. I have ordered one of his cables and will be reporting on it here by the end of the year.

-N7OZH-

MARA 12/01/2010 and APRS Info

Scroll down for some AMAZING info on APRS.

N7OVT Reports - FRIDAY December 3rd, 2010 - 5PM TO SAT 5PM Skywarn Recognition Day - PSK HF ECHOLINK PACKET - The NOAA weather station in Salt Lake City is located at 2200 West North Temple. VHF-449.425 (IRLP) and HF PSK on 14700

Rascal-II does do packet. The BuxCom sale is over. N7OVT bought the Rascall-II and reports that the construction is horrible and shoddy. He says it is worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks to get the Signalink unit.

The 6 PIN DIN Data connector on Icom, Kenwood, Yeasu radios is wired the same - one data cable for three brands of radios on packet/APRS/digital modes!

If you have an older radio, you may find that it looses its memory settings when powered off. There is a keep-alive battery inside and it has finally gone dead. These are usually button batteries about the size of a quarter with solder leads. Replacements are available on eBay and from other sources. You may be able to use Google to find out which keep alive battery your radio needs before you take it apart.

NOTE: Newer radios (last 5 years or so) do NOT have keep-alive batteries, they use NVRAM which does not require a keep-alive battery. [Thanks to Dave, KD7UM for this info]

There are battery eliminator devices for most handy talkies. They snap on in place of your regular battery and have a cord that plugs into your car cigarette lighter socket or other similar 12 volt source. In most cases they boost the power rating of your radio and are very handy in an emergency. These are available in many cases for radios that are 30+ years old right up through the most modern models. Check Ebay and Google for your radio model number and the word "eliminator" or "battery eliminator".

Be careful when buying after market chargers for your handy talkies. They are VERY handy and will NEVER overcharge your battery. Many HT batteries only have contacts where they connect to the radio. However, many of the after market chargers have contacts meant to mate with contact on the back, side, or bottom of the battery so that it can be charged while attached to the radio. Be sure you specify which one you need when ordering units like the Universal chargers with drop in replaceable charging cups.

NOTE: It is nice to have aftermarket chargers that can charge your HT battery OFF the radio, then you can have one battery on the radio and be using the radio while the other battery is charging.

APRS - APRS - APRS - http://www.aprs.org/ - APRS - APRS - APRS

The above web site has TONS of info on APRS. If you think APRS is only for tracking mobile radios as they drive around, you are in for a surprise. APRS is being used to announce ham radio events, weather warnings, hazardous info on roads with date, time and GPS coordinates, and lots, lots more. Check the APRS web site for even more info.

Dave, KD7UM has done lots with APRS and reports the following. You can get a used Garmin GPS5 for around $40.00 and it will connect to your APRS capable radios for APRS. Some good APRS programs are UView32 and APRS Point. If using a USB to Serial cable with a GPS, be careful, Dave only gets cables based on the FTDI chipset to work with GPS units.

Lots of USB things on USBGear.com.

Here is an interesting and very useful set up for APRS. If set up properly, your radio can "page" you when you are within simplex range of another APRS radio and you can then communicate (voice) with that station while continuing to monitor APRS data. This info (and TONS more) is from the APRS.ORG web page listed above.

The national simplex frequency for APRS is 144.39 and HF APRS is on 10.151 MHz LSB.

Anyone who has a mobile radio that can do APRS who is not using APRS is really missing out big time on some fascinating and VERY useful ham radio experiences. Of course, Packet, APRS and EchoLink will be very prominent in any actual emergency. If you plan to operate from home in an emergency you NEED to have one or more of those modes available.

That's all for now. -N7OZH-

Packet Radio

The need to get back into Packet radio has been made obvious by SET drills held in the past year. Here are some useful links.

By the way, most 2 Meter packet in Utah is on 145.05 simplex.

Complete Guide to Using and Building Packet Radio Networks
http://members.fortunecity.com/xe1bef/packet.htm


Talking to lots of hams, I can say that hands down the NUMBER ONE TNC on the market is the SIGNALINK USB TNC. It is on sale through the end of 2010 and it just works. There are units that cost more and units that cost less, but there are NONE better! The link is here.

The most amazing device I have seen for this is from BuxComm and the link is here.
UPDATE 12/01/2010 - N7OVT bought one of these units and says the construction is shoddy and the unit is not worth the asking price.

For a huge software list, visit this page and click on the PACKET link
http://www.ac6v.com/software.htm


Here's another huge listing of Packet programs"
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Packet/

Packet software by SV2AGW
http://www.sv2agw.com/downloads/default.htm

Want to do everything with your existing sound card? Sound Card Packet
http://www.kc2rlm.info/soundcardpacket/

Everything about Digital Radio Modes
http://www.g3vfp.org/download.html

Finally, Email over Ham Radio - WINMOR
http://www.winlink.org/ClientSoftware


Of course there is also Ham Radio Deluxe and DM780. Both are shareware and are top of the line programs.

There will also be lots of digital HF traffic in an actual emergency so you should also look into downloading some PSK31 software and becoming familiar with its operation. The digital modes are fun and get through when nothing else will. try it, you will like it!

-N7OZH-

MARA Net 10/13/2010 More info on FRS/GMRS FCC changes.

The following links will give a good overview of the situation with the FCC and FRS/GMRS radios.

Side Note: Midland G-11 and Cobra PR2000WX GMRS radios have removable antennas ;-). They are very hard to find, though.

FCC Proposes major changes in GMRS and other Part95 rules/services
http://www.twowayradioforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1106

Availability of FCC Rules and Interpretative Information
http://home.provide.net/~prsg/rules.htm

FCC Proposes Radical Changes to GMRS!
http://home.provide.net/~prsg/

Scott said that he could not get the link to work that shows hams in your zip code. It seems to be temporarily down. It worked fine yesterday evening and I hope it will soon be back online. Here is the link again:
To see the distribution of hams in any ZIP code, use the URL http://www.arrl.org/fcc/hamszip.html?zip=XXXXX, where XXXXX is the ZIP code for which you want to see a map of licensed Amateurs. NOTE: put the zip code in BEFORE you click the link.

Here is another one that IS online. There is a site -- N4MC’s Vanity HQ -- that has been available for several years that allows you to plot hams in a specific ZIP Code. Just click on the “N4MC's Ham Locator” link in the left sidebar of the home page to get to it.

There are other FCC links that also may be of interest: for example, the “FCC Registered Antenna Towers” link.

Question - which HT's have built-in TNC's???

There is a new VX-8GR, it's a 2M/440 handheld with built-in GPS/TNC.
The Kenwood D7 is discontinued and will be replaced by the D72 with built in GPS and TNC. It uses a standard mini USB cable to connect to your computer. Available sometime in 2010 once FCC approval is complete.

The 448.10 MHZ repeater power supply has been repaired. We are now just wating on the two repeater trustees to get to the site at the same time to finish the job.

CHALLENGE: Do you know hams personally who do not participate in the nets? They are going to be of very limited use in an actual emergency. Try to get them to participate in one or more nets so that they can get trained.

-N7OZH-

ERC 10/12/2010 Suggestions and Ham Links & Ham Resources

There was a lot discussed tonight, both on the net and after the net. Here are the highlights.

SUGGESTIONS
1. Repeater list in your PDA or phone.
2. Cell phone list for your ward for ERC operators.
3. LED flashlights EVERYWHERE. (Vehicles & Home & Office)
4. Twitter & Facebook accounts using your Call Sign
5. Ward Emergency operators should have a ward phone list.

A CHALLENGE
How to get ham radio operators active in the nets and other activities.
In order to get them active in the nets, you have to know who they are. Here is an easy way to find ALL the hams in your zip code.

To see the distribution of hams in any ZIP code, use the URL http://www.arrl.org/fcc/hamszip.html?zip=XXXXX, where XXXXX is the ZIP code for which you want to see a map of licensed Amateurs.

You will be surprised how many there are and might even find that some people you know are also licensed hams. The more of these "inactive" hams that we can get into the nets and clubs, the more we will have available when the disaster hits. Untrained Ham Radio operators are not nearly as capable as trained ones.

GENERAL INFO
There was a HUGE discussion on using FRS/GMRS radios for emergency communications to augment Ham Radio.

The October 2010 issue of Communications Magazine has info on FRS/GMRS proposed changes & other topics - available at Barnes & Noble.

Part 97 business band radios with 5 Watts or less can be used on GMRS - available cheaply on eBay.

There is a Cobra FRS/GMRS radio with removable antenna - model #MRHH425LIVP - costs over $100.00.

HAM RADIO REPAIR
Don Woods - Centerville exit - Precision Electronics - Business Radio Svc -call before you drop by, he is sometimes out of the office on business or community service. Just look up Precision Electronics in the phone book. Referred by KC7GMN - RICK SHAW.

TONS OF USEFUL HAM RADIO LINKS
http://www.ldshams.com/

www.gigaparts.com (Win a free HF Radio)

www.ac6v.com/ (HUGE list of ham radio links & info)

http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/ (Ham magazine)

http://utahvhfs.org/ (Best Utah repeater list)

http://utahvhfs.org/linklist.html (Utah VHF Society links)

http://www.powerwerx.com/ (Excellent source for cables, adapters, connectors, etc. for Emergency use)

http://www.qsl.net/k/kd7rto//utah/hamrptr.htm (Another repeater list)

http://www.levinecentral.com/repeaters/google_mapping.php (Google map of repeaters for utah)

That should do for now. More next time.

73 de N7OZH

ProWords for Ham Radio

Ham radio ProWords are very useful for exchanging information in a quick and efficient way. Unfortunately there are variations such as with the ProWord "BREAK". In most of northern Utah, BREAK means that there will be a pause in your transmission followed by more information. In southern Utah (starting in Provo) "BREAK" means "EMERGENCY". In some other states, "BREAK, BREAK" means emergency and if a few places the emergency call is "BREAK, BREAK, BREAK". In Provo, using "break" to mean that you want to join the conversation will get you chewed out for making a fake emergency call. I don't know why we don't just all standardize on "EMERGENCY" to mean "emergency" and get rid of the confusion.

On repeaters, if you are available for a conversation (QSO) then you simply say "This Is" followed by your call sign followed by "MONITORING" or "LISTENING". On HF we call "CQ" three or more times followed by our call sign in order to stretch out the information so as to have a better chance of being heard by someone who is turning the tuning control looking for a CQ call. On a repeater, you are on a fixed frequency and there are either people on that frequency or not. No long drawn out call is needed to get their attention, hence the much shorter "MONITORING" or "LISTENING".

There are other ProWords that are peculiar to SKYWARN, SAR (Search And Rescue), CAP (Civil Air Patrol) and the Salvation Army net known as SATERN. You can find all of these using Google.

For a treat not even related to ham radio, check out the very last URL link given below. Also, be sure to check out HAM RADIO ON YOUR PC, by HamSphere, which is the next to last URL link given.

Q Codes
http://www.qsl.net/w5www/qcode.html

Ashland CERT ProWords
http://sites.google.com/site/ashlandcert/Home/ham-radio-communications/prowords

Wake County ARES - Standardized ProWords
http://www.wakeares.org/?page_id=38

WikiPedia - Procedure Word
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedure_word

WikiPedia 10 Codes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-code

Ten-codes are generally avoided in services such as amateur radio where other existing standards (Q code and prosigns for Morse code) are already long established. Aviation and marine radio is better served by Q-codes, as the ten-code phrase lists were designed primarily for local police tasks while Q-code provides specific abbreviations for concepts related to aviation, shipping, RTTY, radiotelegraph and amateur radio. In radiotelegraph operation, a Q code is often shorter (as ten-codes require transmission of three prefix characters: 1, 0, hyphen) and provides standardization of codes, essential in international and shortwave communication.

Wikipedia - Prosigns for Morse code
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosigns_for_Morse_code

Wikipedia - Morse code mnemonics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code_mnemonics
Scroll down and see the morse chart (Visual Mnemonic), it is the most original morse chart I have EVER seen.

Lots of general and useful ham radio information
http://www.oharts.org/

THE SALVATION ARMY TEAM EMERGENCY RADIO NETWORK - SATERN
http://www.satern.org/ecom.html
http://www.satern.org/

Another ProWord List
http://www.qsl.net/k/kf4uel//lingo.htm

Ham Radio in your PC
http://www.hamsphere.com/?gclid=CJDd7urRiKQCFRhaiAodejOjHw

And now for something completely different
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39100951/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

73 de N7OZH until next time.

Oct to Dec - SET Drills!

SERVICE PROJECT

SEP 18TH SERVICE ACTIVITY - MULTIPLE LOCATIONS - HAMS NEEDED
Contact Eugene at 801-541-1871 or N7OVT@ARRL.NET
0800 PARKVIEW ELEMENTARY - 15 different areas (locations) of service - hams needed for all. Free continental breakfast before and free lunch after!
---------------------
There are lots of local and national SET (Simulated Emergency Test) drills coming up. Quoting from the latest issue of QST - The 2010 ARRL SET is just around the corner. October 2-3 is the focal point weekend but RACES, ARES and other local nets can conduct their drills anytime September through December. Contact your ARRL section manager for more details (www.arrl.org/sections/). Or, click HERE.

ERC is doing a SET drill on November 6th on 147.56 Simplex. Any repeater traffic that they need to pass will be on the MARA 146.74 repeater. More info will follow. MARA has been invited to participate in this drill with ERC, and it is a great learning oppportunity. This is ERCs entry in the Utah State SET drill.
---------------------
The state of Utah is doing a Mega-SET drill this year. More info can be found at www.utahset2010.org. This one is an everything-at-once scenario. A record breaking snow storm all over the state of Utah with accumulations up to 65 inches in the higher elevations plus 4 earthquakes. The one at Antelope Island will cause 6 foot waves that will leave downtown SLC in water two feet deep. All power lines and phone lines will be down. The power outages will trigger failsafe devices that will knock out power in all surrounding states, so we get no outside help.

The state would like ALL ham radio operators to participate. All local groups are asked to communicate on all their regular and alternate frequencies. The state will try to contact all counties and all relief organizations and each county will be trying to contact all their local relief agencies plus other counties plus the state.

They want to see how the system handles a major overload. One really original part of the scenario is that organizations and individuals with generators are to assume that the only fuel they will get is what they have on hand. The roads are so torn up that fuel trucks cannot get through. They also assume that every single overpass is down and that I-15 and I-80 are closed all over the state. Of course, they will also toss in some additional challenges that are not in the documentation.

This is going to be FUN! Please go to the web site and download the forms and plan to participate.

One other thing about the forms, they are excellent for your use in an actual emergency. Both the message forms as well as the details for the Post Incident Review.

If you know of other drills, please let us know so that we can monitor them or even participate if there are openings for hams from "outside" the group.

We can all learn from these drills and we can all improve our operating techniques and procedures and readiness. Hope to see you there!
---------------------
MARA will have an exercise on Nov 6th as part of the State SET drill. Our participation will be timed to NOT conflict with the ERC net that day.
---------------------
For additional info, visit the DCARC web page at http://www.dcarc.net/go/ or just click HERE.
---------------------
DCARC CLUB SWAP MEET- Saturday 9/18/10

This is the DCARC Annual Swap Meet on September 18th at 8:00 am till 10 am. We are inviting UARC and OARC to join with us. This year it will be at the Bountiful City Park (same place as last year) which is at 100 West and 400 North in Bountiful. You can find it on Google Maps by clicking HERE.
---------------------
The annual ARES/RACES Conference will be held on Saturday, November 13th, 2010, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. This will be held at the Red Lion Hotel in Salt Lake City. This is a great opportunity to receive training and also meet with fellow communication specialists from across the state.

You do need to pre-register for the conference. In order to do this you will need to utilize the U-Train system which is found at https://www.utah.train.org. Once at the website, the first thing you need to do is set up an account in U-Train as a new user (if you have not already done so previously). Once your U-Train account registration is completed you will then proceed to log in and then either do a course search for the keyword(s) ARES or RACES or on the right side of the home page key in the actual course number, which is 1011069 for the ARES/RACES Conference. Once you have the course listed on the screen, click on that to bring you to the registration/information page and click on the registration tab to register. The system will indicate that your request has been submitted and has to be approved. U-Train notifies the State Training Staff and they will acknowledge by email that you are signed up for the ARES/RACES Conference.

-N7OZH-

Info from the web

http://www.totalradioservice.com/
They list a Dual Band HT for $129.00. The charger uses 12 volts and it is computer programmable. Sounds like a good deal for someone who has a limited budget.

GOOGLE "n3jt station grounding" to read one of the very best articles I have ever seen on station grounding. He unhooked ALL this antennas and still had major lightning damage.

GOOGLE "The Portable Omni Box WB8VGE" A fascinating little utility. A more complete article on this is in the July issue of QST magazine.

GOOGLE "KH6TY sound card interface"
http://kh6ty.home.comcast.net/~kh6ty/JuneQST.pdf
(Above is June 2009 article)
An expanded article is in the July 2010 issue of QST magazine. If you EVER get into digital modes, this article contains the BEST info I have ever seen on what settings to use on your PC to get it to work right. The 2009 article referenced above mentions using digital modes with your HT on 2 meters for EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. This gets a cleaner signal, improves your range at any given power setting, and keeps a complete log of all message traffic during the session. WOW! I think this is the perfect way to handle emergency communications in areas where HT traffic has trouble getting through or covering the entire affected area.

Go to www.powerwerx.com to see some of the neat accessory cables, connectors, and adaptors that are available. You can buy the parts and build these yourself for less money, or you can let somebody else do the work and pay just a little more.

The previous post was about lightning. Here are some excellent notes and links sent in by Scott, W7OXZ.

It may be interesting to note that the National Lightning Safety Institute does not consider the current involved in a lightning strike to be DC but rather high frequency AC, making it true that skin effect plays an important role in lightning projection. it is the reason that people in a car are protected. It is not the insulation provided by the tires. I saw what happened to the tires of a small rubber tired tractor when it came in contact with a 12 KV power line - small piles of smoking carbon under scorched metal rims. The operator tried to climb off the tractor and never made it. What is a few inches of rubber to the mega voltage of a lightning bolt!

"Electrically speaking, at lightning's higher frequencies, currents are carried mostly on the outside of conducting objects. A thick copper wire or a hollow-wall metal pipe will carry most of the lightning on outer surfaces. This phenomenon is called "skin effect." The same holds true for lightning when it strikes metal vehicles: the outer surface carries most of the electricity."

"Rubber tires provide zero safety from lightning. After all, lightning has traveled for miles through the sky: four or five inches of rubber is no insulation whatsoever."

The URL for the page on vehicles is http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/vehicle_strike.html or click HERE.

Scott / W7OXZ

73 until next time -N7OZH-

Slim Jim Antenna and Emergency Reminder Card

The slim jim antenna (sold by N9TAX on eBay) has generated a lot of interest in our group. It offers up to 6db of gain on 70cm and makes an amazing emergency antenna. There is also the Arrow Antenna dual band J-Pole. The Arrow antenna works better sitting on the ground in my basement than an HT antenna outside! Last I checked it was only $39.95 and it is very portable.

Later this year we will have pictures of an easy to set up mount for emergency antennas.

EMERGENCY REMINDER CARD.

As a part of my grab & go kit, I have a Reminder Card. The following things are written on it.

1. Circle of Influence
2. Personal Safety
3. Best Antenna
4. Lowest Power Drain
5. Prosigns and 10 codes
6. ID every 10
7. WRITE IT DOWN!
8. Scanner
9. PDA Freqs.

Numbers 1 and 2 are closely related. The circle of influence is the radius of danger around any potential hazard. A service station with a large propane tank, for example, could be a hazard for up to 10 blocks in all directions. Any closer, and you are within the danger zone. Personal safety simply means that I will not operate under unsafe or unsanitary conditions and neither should you.

#3 - If you have an antenna with gain (like the slim jim or Arrow) you can operate with lower power and extend the life of your batteries.

#4 - A mobile radio on its lowest power setting draws a LOT more power than an HT on its highest power setting. Minimizing battery drain is CRUCIAL in an emergency situation.

#5 - It takes less time (and power) to say "QSL?" than it does to say "Did you copy that? Please acknowlege and everybody else stand by until he does.". Remember battery drain. Also, the shorter QSL or 10-4 gets you off the air quicker so that you can hear other stations calling you.

#6 - The FCC required that we ID every 10 minutes. I even use this card for normal training nets and traffic nets or else I will forget to ID.

#7 - DO NOT depend on your brain to remember all the traffic, help requests, help offers, and other things that come in. WRITE IT DOWN. A scribe is a BIG help in this case. With a scribe you can spend ALL your time communicating and the scribe can do all the writing. Using a standard yellow pad, write the time of the message in the left most column and a VERY brief description to the right. Brief means something like "N7ABC has 20 blankets to share". Why put the time on that? If someone needs blankets in the next hour or two, N7ABC is probably your guy. If a request for blankets comes in 6 hours later, he is probably all out.

#8 - I consider a scanner to be a crucial part of my communications setup. This allows me to keep up on the traffic on other frequencies without putting my radio in scan mode. This way I can hear if someone is calling me and I can also monitor other situations and opportunities. Having "scanner" on the list reminds me to toss the scanner in the grab and go bag if it is not already there.

#9 - I have lots of frequency info in my phone/pda. If you get a call asking for the PL tone for a given repeater, you do not have to change frequencies on your radio to find out that information. You can continue to monitor your main frequency while looking up the needed info in the PDA.

That's it for this week, more next week. Special training coming the second Wednesday in September. It will be repeated here on the blog.

72 de N7OZH

Personal Emergency Prep - Ham Radio Insurance

HAM RADIO INSURANCE

Two things right up front. 1) Your home owner's insurance will NOT cover your ham gear unless you pay extra for it. 2) Your automobile insurance will NOT cover your ham radio gear in your vehicle unless you pay extra for it.

The solution? There are two (and only two as far as I can tell) ham radio insurance companies that are specifically geared toward insuring ham radio gear. The two are more alike than different and the rates are competitive.

Below is some basic info on the two companies and a link to reviews on the two companies from eham.com.

ARRL Ham Radio Insurance
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Membership/Ham%20Radio%20Equipment%20Insurance%20Plan.pdf
OR
http://tinyurl.com/28g249b

$1.50 per $100 of replacement value. ALL items must be listed with serial numbers.

HRIA Ham Radio Insurance
http://hamradioinsurance.com/index.htm

To purchase "All Risk" radio and computer equipment coverage (no towers, antennas or rotors) simply choose from a table the amount of coverage necessary to replace all of your equipment at today's prices and the corresponding annual EZ-PREMIUM. No need to list items and serial numbers.

$2,000 of coverage = $30/Year or $40/Year to include Mechanical Breakdown
$5,000 coverage = $75/Year or $100/Year with mechanical breakdown coverage.

No need to list items or serial numbers UNLESS tower/antenna/rotor coverage is desired. Then you have to list ALL covered equipment with serial numbers.

CLAIMS
Deductible is just $50 for each claim with both companies.

If I have a loss, will this Plan pay full replacement costs? Yes! You will receive the replacement cost or equivalent value of the equipment that is covered - not a depreciated value - as long as your equipment is insured for full replacement cost.

ARRL - If your claim is due to theft, send a police report to the Claims Administrator at once. Sales receipts for the replaced equipment are required before payment is made unless waived. For repair claims, an estimate of damage must be submitted. Claims resulting from theft or damage to newly acquired property must include a proof of purchase.

HRIA - Equipment damaged by lightning must be sent to HRIA before a check will be issued. There are exceptions.

Reviews by hams who have the insurance including some who have filed claims.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/63
NOTE: Some reviews are very old and no longer apply. Both of the two providers have changed underwriters in the past couple of years. This means that older complaints are most likely no longer applicable. Both companies are responsive to their customers and work to correct deficiencies.

I have included links to both companies. You will have to decide for yourself which one is best for your situation.

It does not take a disaster to cause you to need ham radio insurance. About 10 years ago the Salt Lake City hams were providing radio communications for a Jordan River clean up project when one ham accidentally dropped his HT in the river! The repairs were very expensive. Ham Radio Insurance would have covered the repairs.

Don't just think earthquake, flood, fire, lightning, wind, theft, etc. Think kid with soda pop and peanut butter sandwich, think fumble fingers and a four foot drop onto the concrete driveway, think teenager running over HT in driveway, think radio in fish bowl, etc.

Think about it...

N7OZH - until next time.

Food Supplies for your Grab & Go Kit & Field Day

Field Day June 26,27 2010 - purpose = Radio Emergency Preparedness
ERC, MARA, RACES, ARES and many LOCAL NETS all exist to further Emergency Radio Preparedness. The ultimate ham radio emergency drill is called FIELD DAY.

More info is found at www.arrl.org including a field day station locator. Some (most) field day setups include a GOTA station. GOTA = Get On The Air. a GOTA station is a radio at the Field Day site that is reserved exclusively for people with NO ham license! There is always a dedicated Control Operator next to the radio, but this is a chance for your non-ham family members and friends to talk on HF to people all over the country and even the world!

NO ONE gets bored at field day stations. Come see the excitement, enjoy the refreshments (bring some if you like), help out where you can, and leave with new memories.

ARRL FIELD DAY IS ON TWITTER
The account for ARRL’s Field Day actions with Twitter is ARRL_FD. Sign up to create your own Twitter account -- it’s free -- and follow ARRL_FD. If you already have a Twitter account, just follow us.

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets, text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers (who are known as followers). You can send these short messages by computer or even via text with your cell phone. When you receive a tweet, you can also relay it on to your own followers (called a retweet). Your followers can in turn relay it even further, getting your message spread around, growing and going.

For posts with #FIELDDAY (the # sign must be included) in with the message, Twitter will keep track of it: “If there is enough traffic with #FIELDDAY in the text, then major blogs and news take note of it. So by taking part in this experiment, tweeting and using the #FIELDDAY insert in with your message -- called a hashtag -- will help bring all of Field Day to the media’s attention. Social networking is new to a lot of us, but I found it is really not hard at all to learn and do. The more people we get on, the more tweeting we do, the better opportunity we have to expose Amateur Radio to a new audience.”
==========
Today I held a mini-emergency drill using my Harbor Freight 1.5 Watt Solar Charger. In direct sunlight it can produce 25 Volts with no load. Under load it produces 12 Volts at 1/8 amp for 1.5 watts. The test today was to be able to use it indoors about 6PM to charge a battery. Since my neighbor's house blocked three windows from receiving direct sunlight, I used the only window getting direct sunlight, the frosted glass window in the bathroom. I measured 22.4 volts with no load! Plenty for charging Gel Cells and other emergency batteries.

These things are not very expensive and are great to have around to keep your Gel Cells topped off without running up the electric bill. Some modifications are required to work the unit with a battery. The standard plug is a cigarette lighter plug since the unit was designed for us in cars to keep the battery topped off.

Two way to reverse that. 1) get a female cigarette lighter socket and wire it for attachment to a battery with alligator clips or other connectors. 2) there is a standard automotive "offset" connector in the middle of the cable. These can be purchased at auto parts houses and then you can make your own cable with Anderson Power poles to connect to LOTS of things.
=============
On Monday June 7th, the Deseret News Front Page had an article titled, "Down Economy puts food storage in focus". They mentioned two local emergency food storage places, Emergency Essentials and Survival Solutions. Both can be found with Google Maps or MapQuest.

The article got me to thinking about the food in my Ham Radio Grab & Go Kit. It is about time to replace some items in there. You have to rotate the food items in there or prepare to be grossed out when you open the kit next time.

In addition to water, three excellent items to keep in there are MRE's, Food Bars, and hard candy.

If you do not have experience with MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), ask before you buy. Eating all the wrong ones can either bind you up or give you the runs. You need the right mixture. It is a good idea to try various ones before deciding to make them a part of your Grab & Go Kit.

Food bars are great and last a really long time, but require more water than do MREs. You can buy bulk granola bars at Costco, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.

Hard candy will keep your mouth moist and quell your appetite. In a true emergency situation lasting several hours, you will do a LOT of talking as a radio operator and will need some way to conserve your water supply while keeping your mouth moist. Hard candy works great for this.

If you can get the individually wrapped candies, so much the better. People used to recommend Life Savers. Experience has shown that time and/or heat will turn your package of Life Savers into just ONE long piece of candy that is mostly just a sugar lump. Individually wrapped hard candies are exempt from this phenomenon.

A great suggestion from Allan, W7WSQ, try to use standardized message forms and train your operators to give only the data, not the labels. For example, a neighborhood post-earthquake inventory form might start like this.

STREET = 2200 block of Downington Ave
Houses = 24
Deaths = 3
Injuries = 21
Resources =
Fires =
Broken water mains =
etc.

When reporting in, you do not read off the labels (Street, Houses, etc.) just the data. "2200 block of Downington Ave, 24, 3, 21 skip (or 0), none" and so on.

This makes collecting the data easier and faster, gets to the next report sooner, and makes totaling the data for upstream reporting much easier. It also helps to cut down on unnecessary chatter by overly "wordy" operators. Remember the TV commercial that describes a lady who could take an hour to tell a five minute story? We don't need long wordy descriptions when succinct facts from a standard form will do just fine.

We will have a special training subject on the second Tuesday in September on the ERC Stake Net on 145.45 at 9PM. Hope to see all of you there.

73 de N7OZH - O. D. Williams - Salt Lake City, Utah.