MOU with IEVHFRA
- Details
- Published: 06 May 2023 06 May 2023
- Hits: 2202 2202
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Regarding Emergency Operations
On Repeater Systems in Spokane County
Public Service is the one of the primary "calling's" for Amateur Radio. One aspect of Public Service is known as Emergency Operations. To ensure good understanding and communication for all concerned in preparation for and during Public Service Events and Emergency Operations, this document describes the terms for cooperation between:
- Spokane County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)/Auxiliary communications System (ACS)/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) (Use of ARES implies ARES/ACS/RACES)
- Inland VHF Radio Amateurs (IEVHFRA Club)
For the purposes of this agreement Public Service and Emergency Operations shall mean, but may not be limited to, the following depending on the nature of communications need:
- Public Service Events include those community service opportunities shared among Radio Amateurs for the purpose of coordination and communication for parades, marathons, and other such events where Amateur Radio operators may be asked to assist by event organizers.
- Operations during states of emergency (“Emergencies”) declared by city, county, state, regional or national departments of Emergency Management or other served agencies or organizations including but not limited to FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security or the American Red Cross.
- Training events simulating operations during Emergencies including tests, drills, exercises, and events which enhance field operations such as Field Days and the annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET) and other such events.
The three aforementioned organizations support Emergency operations in various ways.
- Spokane County ARES/ACS/RACES is the primary center for Emergency Operations and is activated in such an emergency at the behest of the Spokane County Dept of Emergency Management. Their meetings, operations and repeater are the primary facilities for these operations.
- The IEVHFRA Club supports emergency operations by providing back-up coverage for primary operations should the ARES repeater system be overwhelmed or otherwise down, or additional alternate coverage when more than one system is required. IEVHFRA also provides “packet” and UHF signal transmission support which can also be utilized for either a real situation or simulated.
- Example 1: During an exercise, part of a simulation would be the "147.30 repeater went down;" became non-functional. Therefore, all traffic would be moved to the alternate repeater (which would be published prior to the event); in this case, the 146.880 repeater (using the published tone and standard offset).
- Example 2: During an exercise, an alternate net is needed to pass specialized traffic such as weather reports. The alternate repeater at 146.88 would be tasked for that purpose
- Example 3: FEMA ICS forms such as the ICS 213 or the WA State ICS 213RR would need to be communicated via Winlink using the IEVHFRA packet nodes into Winlink RMS Gateways, using published frequencies and packet node paths
Standard practices will be observed while operating on any system by either party to this MOU, such as leaving a few seconds between transmissions for emergency traffic. On-air announcements will be made at the onset of either a real or simulated emergency and at regular intervals to alert nonemergency traffic to the situation. Additionally, attempts will be made in advance to alert nonparticipants of any upcoming simulated event by communicating on all and any forms available to ARES and IEVHFRA at the time, e.g. groups.io, club nets, etc. These attempts are to prevent a “War of the worlds” panic type situation, should anyone not realize that the simulated event is indeed a simulation. The announcements need only to state that between “X” time (both Zulu and local) and “XX” time, that members of ARES and IEVHFRA should expect heavy traffic due to an emergency simulation. The contents of this Memorandum of Understanding between ARES and IEVHFRA shall be posted on the websites of both ARES and IEVHFRA and all members shall be informed of said agreement.
Either party to this MOU has the right to amend, change or otherwise modify any content of this agreement only after verbal or written confirmation by the heads (Presidents) of both organizations.
Either organization has the right to dissolve or otherwise discontinue participating at any time in the future. In this event both organizations are held harmless to any results from this action. (Peaceful dissolution, no hard feelings, etc.)
Point of Contacts as of May 2023 (contact information should be revisited annually and revised as needed):
Spokane County ARES/RACES:
- Asa Jay Laughton W7TSC, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Website: http://spokares.org
Inland Empire VHF Radio Amateurs club:
- President email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Website: http://www.vhfclub.org
Effective date: Upon acceptance by all organizations; supersedes previous versions
Revision #5: 2023 05 06 – complete re-write based on other ARES staff submitted revisions and revised via telephone with IEVHFRA.
Mel Ming's RFI Resources
- Details
- Published: 20 February 2021 20 February 2021
- Hits: 4850 4850
RFI Resources
By Mel Ming N7GCO
(NOTE: I am not going to deal with noise caused by
antennas and antenna feedlines)
1. Locating noise from within your home.
(Note: I find this is much easier to do with a friend. One can watch the radio while the other turns off and on circuits are checks a room.)
1) Power your radio by battery
2) Turn off all your electrical breakers for the entire house.
3) Note you noise level on each band (Write it down)
4) Turn on breakers one at a time and again note the noise level on each band.
5) Identify which circuits increase your receiver noise.
6) Work on each circuit that increased noise one at a time.
7) On a circuit that increases noise, turn off all lights, unplug everything.
8) Turn on each light one at a time and see if it increases noise.
(Note: you can use an SDR/shortwave receiver to help you identify which light is causing noise.)
9) Plug in thing, one at a time and see if it increases noise.
(Note: you can use an SDR/shortwave receiver to help you identify which electronics is causing noise.)
10) Turn on each piece of electronics on at a time (Washer/Dryer/Microwave/computer/UPS/TV/router/etc.)
11) Mark each thing that increases noise.
12) Add Ferrites to any items that increase noise until it is eliminated.
13) Do the same thing for each circuit.
14) Do not forget to turn on appliances that are on in circuit.
2. Sources for Ferrite’s
KF7P Metalworks
https://www.kf7p.com/KF7P/Ferrite_chokes.html
Palomar Engineers
https://palomar-engineers.com/
DX Engineering
https://www.dxengineering.com/search/product-line/dx-engineering-ferrite?autoview=SKU&sortby=Default&sortorder=Default
Arrow Electronics
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/search?cat=&q=Fair-rite%20mix%2031&r=true
Note: much cheaper in bulk.
Ferrites to consider:
Fair-Rite Part #0431164281
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, that nicely fits RG-8x
Fair-Rite Part #0431164181
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, that nicely fits RG-8
Fair-Rite Part #2631803802
This is a non-split 2.5 inch diameter 31 mix ferrite, will take 4 or 5 turns of RG-8x
Fair-Rite Part #0431173551
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, with a .75 inch I.D. opening. You can make many turns of a wall wart cable.
3. Tips and Suggestions
Whenever you buy ferrites, be sure to mark what mix they are.
Palomar Engineers
Ham Radio RFI Solutions Cheat Sheet.pdf
https://palomar-engineers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ham-Radio-RFI-Solutions-Cheat-Sheet.pdf
RFI Tip Sheet
https://palomar-engineers.com/wp-content/uploads/RFI-Tip-Sheet-3D-Consumer-RFI-1.pdf
4. Technical Help
“A Ham's Guide to RFI, Ferrites, Baluns, and Audio Interfacing” version 7 by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf
“Build Contest Scores by Killing Receive Noise” by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/KillingReceiveNoise.pdf
“A New Choke Cookbook for the 160–10M Bands” by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/2018Cookbook.pdf
“Chokes and Isolation Transformers For Receiving Antennas” By Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RXChokesTransformers.pdf
The EMI - RFI page by ON4WW
http://www.on4ww.be/emi-rfi.html
NK7Z.NET (Dave Cole’s website has many great RFI Resources)
https://www.nk7z.net/category/info/rfi-mitigation/i-have-rfi-series/
The ARRL RFI Book (3rd edition) $19.95
http://www.arrl.org/shop/The-ARRL-RFI-Book-3rd-Edition
5. YouTube Videos
| Ferrite, chokes, and RFI |
Detecting RFI Sources in the Shack and Home |
| Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Resolution Tutorial |
We are killing the amateur radio bands, and here is how to fix it |
| LCARA HAM Radio: Reducing RFI in the HAM Shack!!!! |
Power Line Noise On Your Ham Radio? How To Find AND Get it Fixed |
6. Hints from others:
Mike K7STO There are so many issues to eliminate. First off I would again turn off all Service Disconnects on your property. Your radio should be running only on 12v battery supply. Questions are many and not in any specific order:
a) As Gary indicated new solar panel installations in your area.
b) Is the noise issue just now new or has it been there all along? The high S levels on all three bands. My option the noise producer is close by if 20 meters is also involved.
c) With the Service Disconnects on your property off and the radio on battery. Did you disconnect the coax at the radio? Did the noise stay or go away? If it stays it may it could be a grounding issue with the radio.
d) Did the power company recently install a new watt meter on your house? The type that transmit a usage signal to a receiver in your area and then to the power company. This also applies to gas and water meters.
e) You are also in a heavy populated area. Does the noise go up in level during the day and down at night or stay constant?
f) Check all three bands when testing for changes in S levels.
g) Do you have garage door openers with a built in UPS system?
h) Do you have new vehicles or RV’s with features that may be the noise source?
Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network
- Details
- Published: 16 February 2021 16 February 2021
- Hits: 3779 3779
Amateur Radio Training
- Details
- Published: 02 March 2018 02 March 2018
- Hits: 4188 4188
Welcome Letter and Member Requirements
- Details
- Published: 02 March 2018 02 March 2018
- Hits: 11651 11651
Welcome to Spokane County ARES-RACES!
Thank you for submitting your applications to join Spokane County ARES-RACES. We’re excited you’ve joined us to make the Spokane area better able to deal with emergencies and disasters of all types.
Now that you’ve submitted both applications, what happens next? To fully realize membership, you’ll need to complete a few training requirements and pass the county’s background check and six-month activity period. After you have passed your background check, the county will assign you a volunteer number and you are eligible for limited participation. With a number assigned, you’ll be notified of the next scheduled training.
In the meantime, we encourage you to become active in attending meetings and trainings as well as participating in exercises and the weekly net.
Our monthly meeting is held the third Thursday of each month at 1900hrs local time. We are currently meeting at the Spokane County DEM building at 1121 W. Gardner in Spokane. Stay tuned to Groups.io for information on meetings and upcoming events.
The weekly net is held on the ARES-RACES repeater, W7GBU, at 147.300 with a +600 khz offset and a 100 hz tone each Tuesday night at 2000hrs local time.
Live trainings and exercises are announced on the net and at the meetings.
Training requirements include:
(For all the FEMA courses, click on the link, scroll down, and click on “Take this Course” “Interactive Web Based Course”)
FEMA IC-100.C Introduction to Incident Command System
This is an online training available at
http://www.training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-100.c
FEMA IC-700.B National Incident Command System (NIMS)
Also an online training available at
http://www.training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-700.b
NOTE: The IC-100.C, IC-700.B, training must be completed along with your background check and six-month activity period before you’ll be issued a county volunteer ID card.
Optional - Defensive Driving
This is a four hour course offered quarterly by Spokane County. This is a required course for anyone called on to drive county vehicles. If a member won't be called on to drive county vehicles, this requirement is then optional.
Optional - Blood Borne Pathogens
This is an important training for our public event work. It’s available online at
http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/trainingprevention/online/courseinfo.asp?P_ID=200
Optional - SKYWARN training
We coordinate with the National Weather Service for weather related incidents. This is a webinar training done by the NWS; dates and times will be announced.
Helicopter Safety Training
In responding to emergencies and disasters we may often be working around helicopters. This training is available through the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office; dates and times will be announced.
If you wish to become part of the Hospital Team, HIPAA training is also required. It is available online with registration. Details will be sent to those wishing to be part of the Hospital Team
Recommended training:
IS-200.b ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
This is online training available at
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-200.b
IS-800.C National Response Framework, An Introduction
Also available online at
https://training.fema.gov/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-800.c
Here is a link to the FEMA Training home page where you can find any of the FEMA courses
https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx
Adult First Aid/CPR/AED (Pediatric optional)
This training is available for $10 through GSEM. Dates and times will be announced.
Red Cross Disaster Service and Shelter Fundamentals
These are both periodically offered by the Red Cross. Dates and times will be announced.
As you complete your training, e-mail a copy of your certificates to WA7AQH. You may contact WA7AQH using the Contact Form for more instructions.
We highly recommend you keep copies of all your training certificates.
If you have any questions, please, feel free to contact Dave Carleton, AEC for training, K7DSR using the Contact Form.
Again, welcome to Spokane County ARES-RACES
Asa Jay Laughton
Spokane County Emergency Coordinator and RACES Officer
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