OHIO ARES REPORT FOR JUNE 08
OHIO SEC LIST ACTIVITY ALL AROUND THIS STATE
By FRANK PIPER, KI8GW, Section Emergency Coordinator
(At the end of the report, see the news - Ohio now has a 10th Emergency
District: Governor Strickland proclaims June 28 (Field Day Saturday) as
Amateur Radio Appreciation Day and the latest ADEC - EC appointments.)
Hi everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the summer!
Here for the hours for May, as reported to the ARRL:
Number of Drills/Tests/Training Sessions: 549
Volunteer Hours: 3648
Number of Public Service Events: 46
Volunteer Hours: 788
Number of Emergency Operations: 6
Volunteer Hours: 123
Total number of operations for May: 601
Total number of volunteer hours for May: 5449
Reports submitted from the DEC's and EC's this month:
DISTRICT 1 (WB8HHZ/DEC)
Erie County - K8HLH/EC:
Participated in Kids Safety Day and the Memorial Day Parade
Hancock County - N8TPJ/EC:
We had 21 Amateurs check in when the weather net for Hancock county was brought up at
12:30AM and ended at 2:30 AM, thanks to Bob Copas K8OIL [also as net control] for
relaying information to the National Weather Service in Toledo and for Phyllis Davis W8LYB
assisting as net control, also thank you goes to the 21 hams total that assisted relaying
traffic to our net controls. We thank the city and county officials for sounding the
alarms also.
Sandusky County (W8DAG/EC):
Skywarn training was completed on May 14th. Our original day was the first day of
training but we had an ice and snow storm so we ended up being the last Skywarn
training for Cleveland NWS. That training was used on May 30 when strong storms
tracked through our area during the nighttime. We had 3 mobile spotters doing storm
damage reports to net control. Most of the damage was to our south
neighboring county and the city of Fostoria, Ohio where an F2/F1 tornado did
extensive damage.
Seneca County (KC8BUJ/EC):
4 WEEKLY ARES NETS
1 SIMPLEX NET
2 SKYWARN NETS
1 NTS TRAFFIC PASSED ON OUR WEEKLY ARES NET
DISTRICT 2 (K8FRS/DEC)
No comments to report this month from EC's or DEC
DISTRICT 3 (W8ILC/DEC)
Hamvention Ares Forum Was Great..Standing room only..Good Speaker.
Lots of weather events this month, Skywarn was active 12 times..No call outs for
assistance.
More to report on next report.
Have a great summer
DISTRICT 4 (N8TVU/DEC)
Adams County – EC Bill Mangus N8SND – No additional activity reported.
Brown County – EC Rick Colburn N8LGB reports the weekly Brown County ARES training
net is back on the air with weekly check-ins increasing.
Rick is also recruiting new ARES members for Brown County to support the served agencies
and continues to meet with the served agencies to see what their needs are.
Rick has successfully complete the ARECC Level I and Level II.
Butler County – EC Dave Williams N8DHW reports the following:
May 3-10 – A special events station was in operation daily from the original site of
the first Butler Co amateur radio broadcast station W8H, which was built and operated by
the Doron Brothers. Charles Stinger W8GFA displayed his huge collection of Doron Brothers
receivers, transmitting equipment and other station memorabilia. The original tower still
stands on the property that was utilized to support the wire antennas for the SES. The
event was organized by Kevin Jones W8KJ.
May 5 – The new D-Star system went on the air utilizing temporary antennas for the
442.625 and 145.160 repeaters. The system provided coverage from the Dayton Hamvention
south to the Greater Cincinnati Airport on several occasions on both bands.
Hamvention visitors from out of town utilized the system daily as have the local operators
since it went into service.
May 26 – Butler Co, Hamilton Co and Warren Co ARES team members lined up the annual
Hamilton Memorial Day Parade with over 250 units this year. As usual, the parade
participants were all in their places by 09:50 and the parade began on time at 10 sharp.
The Butler County VHF Association provided operators for parade route maintenance to
report any safety issues, broken down parade vehicles etc. Job well done by all!
May 30-31 – Work began at the Butler County Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Center/Butler County VHF Association radio room allocated at Butler Tech for the 2008
planned upgrading of the capabilities and equipment at the station.
The first phase was to raise the Rohn 45G tower an additional 20 feet which will put the
HF 10-15-and 20 meter beam well above the metal lined roof and provide additional vertical
space for mounting tri-band antennas. That portion of the project is near complete, with
only minor adjustments that is still needed to aligning the beam and compass heading,
reattaching the harnesses and replacing a VHF vertical antenna.
The next step will be to run additional ?” LDF-50A hard lines from the tower into the
radio room to accommodate the multi-band radios and additional equipment upgrades.
Clermont Co – EC Mark Baker WD8KPU – No additional activity reported.
Clinton Co – EC Mike Boyle WF8B – Reports that their Emergency Management Agency
Director Mike Jones KD8IQJ has joined the amateur radio operator ranks by getting his
license May 5th
Mike and his Deputy Director of EMA Terry Kerr K8YSP continue to work with the Clinton Co
ARES group to expand the amateur radio communications capabilities at all of the served
agencies within the county.
Hamilton Co – EC Donald Ferneding N8LMJ – Reports assisting Steve Lewis N8TFD
with the Queen City Emergency Net in coordinating communications for the Cincinnati Flying
Pig Marathon which is reported to be the 2nd largest marathon in the country.
A combined Communications Center concept was implemented this year to assist with the
coordination of transportation, emergency medical response and to address other problems
as they came up during the event.
The Hamilton County EC Donald Ferneding N8LMJ attended the Multi-County EMA – Mid
Planning Conference meeting for the August 9th drill that will involve Montgomery County,
Warren County, Hamilton County and Butler County.
This year’s drill will be full EOC activations in the participating counties to
support an incident occurring in Butler County that will spill over into Warren and
Hamilton Counties. Next year the same scenario will be played out as a live drill.
The SIMCELL will be located in a separate section of the Hamilton County Regional
Emergency Operations Center that will simulate request coming from the field units into
the various EOC’s.
The SIMCELL will also be simulating points of contact representing adjacent county
agencies, state agencies and Federal agencies that are normally involved in WMD
situations.
Instead of calls actually going to these various agencies, the calls are routed to the
SIMCELL where representatives from those agencies are answering the phones to provide
their normal support function.
Highland Co – EC Harley Maines K8HM – No additional activity reported
Warren Co – EC Cameron Cord KC8UVM – No additional activity reported
Several training opportunities are available in the district for June including a High
Voltage demonstration by Duke Energy which is very informative for first responders as to
what hazards downed power lines can be.
Clermont Co is offering Volunteer reception Center training as well as holding a
communications class for their CERT teams.
EMA is offering Terrorism training and ICS-300 & ICS-400 which is now being required
for anyone participating in an EOC.
The Butler County D-Star system has gone on line with the antenna at the 260 foot level in
the center of the county with the land elevation being 906 feet AMSL for a total height of
1166 AMSL. There are still improvements planned to increase the coverage on all three
bands planned for the near future.
Additional software and computer upgrades have already taken place so DV dongle users can
access the system, access to a reflector system can be utilized and repeater
configurations can be set remotely.
NOTE: Anyone setting up the mapping systems for D-Star, they are using WGS-84 map datum
with all decimal coordinates DD.DDDDDD.
DISTRICT 5 (KB8WPZ/DEC):
Counties Reporting:
Ashtabula, Columbiana, Stark, Mahoning, Carroll
Ashtabula, Skywarn Training with NWS Cleveland.
Columbiana, Beaver Valley Power plant dry run 6/2,&4
Full scale exercise 6/23,24 &25 for Nuc power station.
Stark, A8ATZ attended Ohio ARES Forum at Hamvention. Notes presented at Stark Co. ARES
Meeting. ARES members participated in VEC exam Session
DISTRICT 6 (KC8GNL/DEC):
No report from Ashland – Will be getting these going soon as we instruct the new AECs
on how to do them.
Marion -- May was a busy month for the Marion ARES group. We had several severe weather
watches and brought up a formal weather net on three occasions. Our net procedures have
shown marked improvement thanks to the training sessions conducted at meetings over the
winter months and our rotation of net control responsibilities among the members.
We continue to meet on an informal basis every Monday evening at the Marion Amateur Radio
Clubhouse/EOC at the county fairgrounds with the emphasis this month on portable two-meter
antennas and NVIS antennas for use on the hf frequencies.
At our regular monthly meeting three of our members discussed with the group the NVIS
antennas they had constructed. W8BOX, Tom Willauer, described several antennas he had
constructed at his QTH and the use of 300 ohm TV lead in for use as feeders. He had good
success running the antenna along a fence in his back yard. KD8BKT, Don Freeman,
demonstrated a portable NVIS system he had constructed from a support system
obtained at the Dayton Hamvention. It is a 66ft. dipole fed with 450 ohm ladder
line complete with a reflector. We demonstrated to the group how to use a tuner with this
antenna to match the antenna to the transceiver by listening to the strength of the
received signals. NV2L, Kevin Landes, showed his portable support system for a shortened
NVIS system constructed from 2x2 lumber. It could be used in a variety of ways to support
a dipole or inverted vee system depending on the area available and band in use.
We also reviewed net procedures in preparation for our participation in the upcoming Hot
Tamale Bike Tour, June 7th. The ARES group provides communication for the 62 mile Tour
across Marion County conducted by the local Tailwinds bike club. We plan to utilize
the time to test the coverage of both our repeaters and also simplex communications via
146.46mhz. Visit our club website and download the latest copy of our newsletter at
www.marionhamradio.org Richland --- Helped with the EMA in doing a Skywarn detail watching
weather for the NASCAR Truck race here in Mansfield.
Medina -- Very quiet month thank you.
Morrow -- We are still working on our field day plans, This is the first field day in the
county for many a years. Were slowing getting people to come to our ARES meetings, and
have a core group of regulars. We will be trying to make things more
"official" by creating a formal club for the ARES group. Since we don't have any
ham clubs in the county, it will be a ground up adventure. Our group did received a
donation of several commercial 800mhz radio. The radio's were not directly useful as
they could not be modified into any ham band but the we were to use or sell of the
radio's. We have sold several of the radio's and now have at least a couple of pennies to
rub together.
Knox --- We will definitely be needing some help for the GOBA event. Almost all of
our members (Myself included) will be at work during the days/times that GOBA will be in
Knox County
DISTRICT 7 (N8WL/DEC):
Delaware County (KB8SIA/EC):
ARES supplied communications for our annual Kids Safety Scenes and for the
HFP racing groups Olentangy Duathlon. Materials for the installation of a
dual band antenna at the new facilities of the ARC are being considered. Good
Luck to all those participating on Field Day this year.
Fairfield County (WD8PGO/EC):
No report received
Fayette County (N8ORJ/EC):
Installed HF antenna at Fayette County Emergency Operations Center.
2008 Field Day will be held at the EOC
Franklin County (AA8DN/EC):
No report received
Hardin County (W8KPH/EC):
County EMA held a 'full up' SET sans amateur radio. Still waiting on after-action
report from EMA office. EC o
observed activities and will make a full report regardless if the EMA provides
their after-action report. Spoke
with County Commissioner Rus Ludwig at length during the exercise. He is in
full support of ham radio for emcomm.
Licking County (KC8UQR/EC):
No report received
Logan County (W8FTV/EC):
(1) One regular meeting.
(2) Communications, Parade set-up, & P.A. System.
(3) Special event at Indian Lake. EMA presence &
Communications Display. Madison County (N8WL/DEC):
No ARES Unit
Pickaway County (KC8ITN/EC):
No report received
Union County (K8GS/EC):
No additional comments
DISTRICT 8 (N8SUZ/EC):
Counties reporting: Hocking, Gallia, Ross, Jackson, Athens
Hocking Comments: HVARC Field Day activities will be held at Kachelmacher Park
beside US RT 33 and ST RT 93 in Logan. Any and all are welcome to come join the fun. Pot
luck dinner at 6:00 pm Saturday evening.
Gallia Comments: 137 ARES surveys were mailed to FCC listed hams in Gallia &
Mason Counties - results not yet tabulated;this EC participated in a planning
conference at Holzer Medical Center, participated in local ham radio club
meeting, conducted one monthly ARES Planning Committee meeting, attended
monthly LEPC meeting and participated in the EOC training at Albany, Ohio.
Ross Comments: Helped with TOSRV
Jackson Comments: Participated in Jackson County LEPC drill with 16 operators.
EC Mike Bowman, KC8VYD has resigned due to work commitments. Tentative
appointment pending ARRL approval of Jerry Mineer, K8JCM.
DISTRICT 9 (W8FHF/DEC):
Guernsey County (KC8SBB/EC):
Weather and ARES nets have been down this past month.
May 1st several ARES members attended the SKYWARN trainings at the Guernsey County
Administration Building, over 75 attendees with a good part of our Citizen Corps. members
attending.
Looking to have a good Field Day.
---------------------------------- END OF DISTRICT REPORTS
-----------------------------------------
FIELD DAY COMES ALONG WITH GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION
If you have not seen the many messages coming out from this important event in the Ohio
Section, here's the scoop: Governor Ted Strickland has proclaimed Saturday, June 28, 2008
as "Amateur Radio Operator's Appreciation Day", to coincide with Field day
weekend. A PDF of the proclamation is available for download from the Ohio ARES website
(www.ohioares.org). Please download, print, and display this document at your Field Day
site!
OHIO ARES NOW HAS 10 DISTRICTS - DEC and ADEC ANNOUNCED
The Ohio Section now has 10 ARES districts. New District 10 covers the counties of
Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. These counties were covered
previously by Districts 1 and 5. This realignment allows the Northeastern counties to be
covered with a localized DEC and Assistant DEC.
The DEC for the new District is Matt Welch, KB1LCS. Matt brings a lot of experience and
enthusiasm from his previous ARES appointments in Virginia and Connecticut. Please welcome
Matt to his new responsibilities in District 10.
Assisting Matt will be Brian Hellinger, N8VUB, who has been appointed ADEC for District
10. Brian is also the EC for Lorain County.
Please congratulate Matt and Brian on these new appointments!
NEW EC's APPOINTED IN OHIO
Please welcome the following new EC appointments to the Ohio Section:
Jerry Mineer, K8JCM - Jackson County. Jerry replaces Mike Bowman, KC8VYD (see District 8
report above).
Kalman Dowrkin, KA8RLC - Franklin County. Kal replaces Rich Jordan, AA8DN who is stepping
down after 5 years due to increased work commitments. Kal's duties begin July 1st.
Please give Jerry and Kal a warm welcome to their new duties!
That's all I have for this month. Please have a fun and safe field day this weekend, and
remember that regardless of club affiliations, when we operate in the public eye, we are
all Ambassadors for Amateur Radio!
73, and let's be careful out there....
Frank Piper KI8GW
SEC - Ohio