ALERT Officers, 2011-2012
President
Russell Thomas – KV4S
Vice-President/Membership
Mark Wells – WD4NYL
Operations
Steven Moss – KB4FKN
Treasurer
Stephanie Honeycutt – KJ4NIH
NWS Liaison
Nathan Jones – WX4NLJ
Secretary
Steven Moss – KB4FKN
Training
Ed Manley – W4AGA
Pulic Information
John Miller – KI4VVM
On Saturday ALERT and several ARES/SKYWARN groups across multiple states participated in a Simulated Emergency Test or SET for short.
The rest of this post is a summary of the event from the Birmingham, AL perspective. (Material from SCARC, BARC, and ALERT)
THIS IS A TEST (SET Exercise)!
Attention all ham operators,
The following information from the National Hurricane Center has been released. All operators should watch this storm carefully. We recommend that you check your radio station and to-go kit for possible ARES activation.
Tom Appleby, W4TCA
Shelby County ARES Emergency Coordinator======================================================================
Sunday, 1000Z. The National Hurricane Center reports a tropical disturbance just north of Cuba. Warm water and favorable winds could lead to a tropical storm in the next 24 hours.
Monday, 1000Z. Tropical Storm Jay has formed 30 miles north of Havana, Cuba. Slight northwesterly movement is expected over the next 24 hours. Conditions are very favorable for rapid intensification of Jay into a Category 1 hurricane over the next 12 – 24 hours.
Tuesday, 1000Z update Hurricane Jay. Hurricane Jay is presently located 75 miles northwest of Havana, Cuba. This Category 1 storm has maximum sustained winds of 80 MPH and is expected to track to the west, northwest then begin a turn to the north and intensify as it encounters favorable conditions for strengthening. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys.
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We will hold ARES training this Thursday night, Sept. 30th, at 6:30pm at the Shelby County Red Cross office. Directions can be found here: www.w4shl.com. David Gillespie, W4LHQ, will speak on EMCOMM and SET.
ARE YOU READY?
Is your radio programmed?
Batteries charged?
Jump kit ready to go?
In case of emergency, please check into your local ARES net and await further instructions:Jefferson County:
Primary: 146.880-, 88.5 tone
Backup: 146.760-, Main: 88.5 tone, 114.8
if East of Jefferson County, 94.8 Western area.Shelby County:
Primary: 146.980-, no tone
Backup: 145.290-, no toneStay tuned and get prepared!
73,
Hub Harvey, N4HUB
Amateur Radio Emergency Service:
Jefferson County Emergency Coordinator
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All SCARC members,
The Shelby County ARES Emergency Net is activated on 146.98. All stations are requested to check in now and participate.
73,
Tom Appleby, W4TCA
Shelby County ARES Emergency Coordinator
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From one of our ALERT volunteers:
All in all thing went good. When I arrived and turned on the station. The computer had been turned off and when we put in the login and password on the bottom of key board the password had expired. Si with help from the staff we made a new password which is attached to the bottom of the keyboard and was able to get the computer up and running.
I was able to get the chat boards and radar but unable to get wxwarn or the weather warn chat to work. The dsatr radio I could not get to work on dstar.
Several contacts was made and 880 and shelby nets was checked into. Was able to test with shelby simplex to clanton on 222 freq.
Also checked into walker ema net.
was able to chat with them on chat board.
Several relays was made of information from the area and from the hospitals. When Russell arived to relieve me he said he knew what was wrong with the dstar and would fixit.
the drill was very good I only wish we would have had a better script to follow instead of making it up as we went.
jek KJ4OPX
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W4AGA / NNN0BFG Participation in the 2010 Simulated Emergency Test (ARRL SET).
I participated in this SET in several roles:
1. As an ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) OO (Official Observer) and OES (Official Emergency Station).
2. As an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) Operator and AEC (Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Jefferson County Alabama) I was involved in the planning and operation of the SET.
3. As an ARES Liaison to the ARC (American Red Cross) I passed VHF voice and digital traffic between the organizations, including operator deployment and station-keeping traffic for ARC Shelters opened for the SET.
4. As a NAVMARCORMARS (Navy-Marine Corps Military Auxiliary Service) Operator and the Central Alabama ARES-MARS Liaison I stood ready to pass traffic between organizations.
5. As a SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) Operator I stood ready to pass traffic between organizations.
6. As an SBDR (Southern Baptist Disaster Relief) Operator and Disaster Relief Chaplain I passed traffic between organizations and stood ready to deploy should CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) skills be needed.
7. As an Emergency Coordinator for the Cahaba Radio Club I was involved in the planning and operations of this SET, communicating with base and mobile operators including our ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle).
8. As a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member and ARES Operator I stood ready to liaison between ARES and the Irondale CERT.
9. As the ARES NCO (Net Control Operator) for VHF Simplex.
10. As an ALERT (Alabama Emergency Response Team) Operator for the NWS (National Weather Service) and an NWS-ALERT-ARES VHF-HF Liaison I stood ready to pass traffic since their HF radio was not operable.
For this SET I performed both voice and/or digital communications on two HF amateur bands (3.965 and 28.405) and on one MARS band (4038.5), operated as the NCO on VHF 146.520 Simplex, ran an APRS Digipeater, and interacted with operators of ARES and served agencies on the W4CUE BARC (Birmingham Amateur Radio Club), W4SHL SCARC (Shelby County Amateur Radio Club) and WB4TJX UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Amateur Radio Club repeaters, on cell phone and via internet email.
When I could not contact any central Alabama station on 3.965 due to antenna selection and propagation I moved the HF net to 10m 28.405 and the HARES (Hospital ARES) net was moved to VHF Simplex where several contacts were made. All HF HARES hospital stations reported difficulties with near-field (0-100 miles) communications on 80m but several were able to communicate on 10m and all of them established communications with Net Control on VHF Simplex. 80m near-field under this day’s conditions pretty much required NVIS antennas and very few amateurs (and none of the HARES hospitals, EMA, EOCs or NWS) are so equipped.
I operated both on mains power and on mobile power in my car. My base station for this SET consisted of a Kenwood TM-D710 VHF/UHF/APRS Digipeater, a Kenwood TM-D700 VHF/UHF, and a Personal Computer linked to an ICOM 7000 using Ham Radio Deluxe for remote control on a B&W NVIS Broadband Folded Dipole and a Butternut HF-5 Beam. My Mobile station was equipped with a GPS-enabled Laptop Computer, Kenwood TM-D710 VHF/UHF/APRS Digipeater, Wouxun VHF/UHF HT and Citizen Band radios.
Planning. preparation and interoperability between all involved operators and organizations was excellent, with a SET scenario and injects which were very similar to real-life emergency communications. What few issues arose were dealt with quickly and in a professional manner and all traffic was delivered in an accurate and timely fashion. While I do not have the actual numbers I believe that participation by operators and agencies was at an all-time high, making this SET both an important training event and an excellent display of the value and capabilities of ARES to our served agencies.
Thank you to all who participated,
Ed Manley
W4AGA / NNN0BFG
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ALERT member’s comments:
I enjoyed it. I thought that net control on the BARC repeater did an excellent job. I did not hear anyone on the Shelby county machine. I know that d-star was up and the hospitals were quite active.
The most important note I can make is that it was very orderly. In the face of a real emergency radio confusion must be avoided. This made it a suitable test session
Jeff DrewN4JDU
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On Saturday, October 2nd ALERT will be participating in a Simulated Emergency Test from 8am – 4pm CST.
Volunteer’s needed!! ALERT Members please contact Mark if you are available for a shift.
Hi everyone,
At tonight’s ALERT meeting elections for the 2010-2011 term were held.
The Officers for 2010-2011 are:
President Mark Wells
Vice-President Russell Thomas
Membership Russell Thomas
Treasurer Ed Pitchford
NWS Liason Nathan Jones
Secretary Steven Moss
Operations Steven Moss
Public Information John Miller
Training Jeff Drew
I wish to thank our outgoing officers Ron Arant and Howard Moss for their services for ALERT. We appreciate you.
Mark
WD4NYL
President Of ALERT
ALERT Newsletter June 2009 Vol 2 No 12
Hi Everyone,
Saturday we were treated to a feast courtesy of our Boss, Meteorologist in Charge, Jim Steckovich. We had fried fish, hush puppies, potato salad, cole slaw, and cookies. It was goooooooood.
We at ALERT want to say “thanks” to Jim for doing this for us & for the support that you and the NWS staff have given us through the years. You truly make us “feel at home”, and we are glad to be a part of your team.
And, for those of you who missed the event.
I ate your fish….did I mention it was gooooooooood?
———————————————————————————————————————-Hurricane Season
“…it was like a bomb set off. It blew everything away” – Danny Williams – Gulf Shores –
Hurricane Frederick 1979
“It is night & the rain is very light, not severe at all. But, that wind. That strong howling incessant wind & those strange lights I am seeing. Green flashes continually lighting the horizon in every direction – the power grid, poles and all are being torn up by the winds.” – WD4NYL – Jefferson County – Hurricane Opal 1995
“I have a report that the I-10 Bridge in Pensacola is down, in the water” – K4NWS – Hurricane Ivan 2004
“I’ve just received a report that Foley Alabama no longer exists” – K4NWS – Hurricane Katrina 2005
It is often said that Alabama has to distinct severe weather seasons, spring and fall. I tend to think of us as having three. The Spring & Fall Tornado season & the prolonged Hurricane Season, which began Monday.
Alabama is impacted by hurricanes in three ways:
ALERT typically will activate during scenarios 1 & 2. With hurricane-induced callouts, the callout may be for an extended period of time, either due to the immediate situation or the effects of the aftermath. With Ivan, for instance, the NWS told us to come with a packed bag, as we might get trapped at the NWS by falling trees.
Most of ALERT’s activity when the storm is near the coast is on HF at 3.965, the backup 40 meter frequency of 7.225, and, on D-Star. Then as the storm moves northward into the BMX County Warning Area the focus shifts to the individual county Skywarn Nets.
Some Internet resources you should have in your repertoire include:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ – The National Hurricane Center out of Coral Gables, FL
http://www.hurricane.alabama.gov/ – The Alabama Hurricane Center has loads of links for
when a storm visits our humble abode
http://euler.atmos.colostate.edu/~vigh/guidance/ Hurricane Forecast Models
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html Satellite imagery and data – worldwide
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html Storm centered satellite imagery
Many other resources, including coastal radar picket, Caribbean & Mexican radar,
charts and satellite imagery can be found at www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/ and
clicking on “Tropics, Charts & Satellites”.
RF resources include:
Wide Coverage Nets
14.235 MHz Hurricane Watch Net Only activated when a storm is within 300 miles
of a populated land mass.
3.935 MHz Central Gulf Coast Hurricane Net 1:00 UTC
State ARES Frequencies & Nets for Gulf of Mexico & regular meeting times.
3.965 MHz Alabama Emergency Net Mike 4:00 PM Sunday
3.940 MHz Florida Amateur Single Sideband Net 6:00 PM
3.975 MHz Georgia Single Sideband Net 7:30 PM
3.910 MHz Louisiana Traffic Net 6:30 PM
3.862 MHz Mississippi Section Phone Net 6:00 PM
3.873 MHz Texas Traffic Net 6:30 PM
Keep these handy & keep an eye towards the sea.
Oh, here’s a trivia question for you. What is the most powerful type of storm?
A Tornado or Hurricane?
Neither, actually. The most powerful type of storms are the swirling low-pressure systems that bring
our severe weather each fall and spring. They contain 10 times the potential energy of the strongest hurricane or typhoon. The energy is spread over a larger area, so the effects are much less pronounced.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Originally the fourth Roman Month, June the sixth month has the longest days of the year.
What June was named for is uncertain. Some say it was named for Juno, wife & sister of Jupiter.
Theory has it that this is also the reason why June has so many marriages. Juno was the goddess
of marriage and a married couple’s household, so it was considered good luck to be married in the month of June.
Hurricane season begins, however June hurricanes are usually small and of minor intensity, occurring roughly once every two years.
The centers for June Tropical Cyclone activity are the extreme Western Caribbean, with the storm tracks striking the Yucatan or veering toward Western Florida & the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico, with the storm tracks aiming toward the Mexican mainland.
Storm activity retains many of the characteristics of spring, but more and more the pattern takes on the summer pattern of pop-up thunderstorms.
The center of maximum tornadic activity shifts northward over Kansas and Iowa. Activity in Texas and Oklahoma dies down. There is a 5% decrease in tornadic activity over the May average & by June fourth 50% of the years tornadoes have occurred.
Storm Prediction Center statistics show that as of June 2 the top five states for tornadoes in 2009 are:
Nationwide there have been 672 tornadoes so far this year.
Summer Solstice will occur at 5:45 UTC on June 21.
June’s Full Moon is “Strawberry Moon” in Native American folklore. In Europe is was called ”Rose Moon” as roses bloom throughout June.
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This month’s meeting will be on June 9 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.
There will be a Board of Directors meeting immediately following the regular meeting.
Hope to see you there!
Mark / WD4NYL
President
ALERT
Special Thanks to "Just" John Miller – KI4VVM for the following email:
“Thanks Jim and all the rest at the National Weather Service for the great fish fry and fellowship. The Alabama Emergency Response Team is grateful for the NWS showing their appreciation by giving us a good old fashion fish fry with all the trimmings.
Thanks again to the NWS for honoring us ,but most of all thank you for all you do as well.”
Hi everyone,
Tonight, May 12, the annual elections were held for ALERT.
Your Officers for 2009 – 2010 are:
President: Mark Wells – WD4NYL
Vice-President: Russell Thomas – KV4S
Operations: Ron Arant – N4PHP
Treasurer: Ed Pitchford – KD4AY
Membership: Russell Thomas – KV4S
NWS Liaison: Nathan Jones – WX4NLJ
Secretary: Steven Moss – KB4FKN
Training: Howard Moss – KC4QJA
Public Information: John Miller – KI4VVM
Additionally, we recognize that our Spotterchat is a unique resource that members at home can and should play an active part in, even when there is no “official” callout.
As spotterchat grows we must be able to conduct it’s operations in an effecient, coordinated and controlled manner.
To fill this growing need Ed Manley — W4AGA has been appointed as our Spotterchat Coordinator.
He will be in charge of coordinating ALERT’s response and coverage on the Spotterchat & in developing ways to better utilize this vital resource.
I want to congratulate our officers. I think our best year is just around the corner.
Thank you for your support.
Mark
WD4NYL
President of ALERT
