Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club Bulletin, November 2007

The following is a composite report that was assembled through the efforts of Amateur Radio Operators that fill positions at the N6FQ Net Control operations, Fallbrook Hospital First Responders and Fallbrook High School Evacuation Center first Responders.

Ron Patten, KG6HSQ
Wayne Dewey, WD6AHX
Steven Brooks, KE6GXP
Ken Dickson, W6MF
Jon Bart, K6QVA – Served as both Net Control Operator and First Responder at Fallbrook High School
Bigs Parker,KG6GIU – Fallbrook Hospital First Responder. Bigs stayed with the Fallbrook Hospital evacuation until it was completed. He and his wife then evacuated and learned later that their home had been completely destroyed by the fire.
Paul Beach, WA6SYA – Fallbrook High School First Responder
Randy Jones, KD6UAK
Stephen Spencer, KC6MIE – Fallbrook Hospital First Responder

The first shift of N6FQ operators operated from the call out at approximately 9:00AM on Monday morning until approximately 11:00PM Tuesday night. Wednesday through the following Friday N6FQ operated mainly during the daylight hours. N6FQ maintained 3 and 4 operators at all times during this period running two radios of different frequencies in order to supply information through our own 146.175 repeater for our local interest and also maintaining contact with other Amateur groups outside the Fallbrook area and relaying information to and from them as needed.

N6FQ is the club station of the Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club and is co-located with the North County Fire Protection District EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and in this case the ICP (Incident Command Post) for the Rice Canyon Fire. All of our equipment is supplied and maintained by the NCFPD and we obviously have a great relationship with them. Our operations are fully encouraged and supported by NCFPD and we liaison directly with Battalion Chief Don Stevens.

Due to the overwhelming number of calls to and from N6FQ a log was not kept other than the key and important information incidents. There were several hundred inquiry calls from amateurs in the area. N6FQ disseminated updates and important information as the information became available to all stations listening. Many of the off-site and evacuated stations provided information to groups where they were located in refugee locations. At one of these locations two daily briefings was done with the refugees. In between the briefings at this site, which had over 100 refugees and employees at one point, written postings were made as information was received from N6FQ. The calming effect to these refugees was remarkable because they knew that they were receiving timely, and more importantly, accurate information. At this location TV station information rarely dealt with the Fallbrook (Rice Canyon Fire) and much of the “news” was outdated and reported incorrect information. The TV and radio stations were turned off and N6FQ became the sole source of information.

N6FQ became the “voice” of Fallbrook. We have no AM, FM or TV stations here in Fallbrook and the San Diego media rarely mentioned Fallbrook and the Rice Canyon Fire so the only information leaving here was via N6FQ who was supplied it’s information directly from the ICP. We found ourselves trying to reverse some of the media releases as it was. Due to our communications with our ICP we easily and readily confirm media reports as we became aware of them and then tried to correct them if necessary through contacts with amateurs all around the area that monitored the N6FQ operation.

In the past our print media in Fallbrook, The Village News, has printed stories related to amateur radio in the area. A couple of stories have been printed in the past where we’ve suggested that residents obtain scanners so they can listen to our 146.175 MHz frequency in case of an emergency. We know from telephone calls that were received during this emergency several people did pick the information up from their scanners. Hopefully we can get this information put forth to the community again soon because amateur radio is very much a part of the community in which we live. Many of Amateur Radio operators give many hours of their time to local activities conducted by our city, Chamber of Commerce and Fire Protection District all without any expectation of compensation or recognition. Time and personal equipment is donated for the purpose of supporting the community and people in the community where we reside.

Kenneth P. Dickson, W6MF
Secretary/Treasurer
Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club

Christmas Parade

Parade is Dec. 1st, 2007. Have 24 operators so far. fallbrookarc.org/paraderoster.html

San Miguel Mountain Fire

The following Web address takes you to a spectacular photo of the San Miguel Mountain fire taken by John Berry, K6JWB, at 03:30 PDST on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. The photo was published in the CGC Communicator newsletter and is linked here with the permission of CGC.

earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Images/mt_miguel_fire_2007_1.jpg

EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION: REGISTER YOUR CELL PHONE AND E-MAIL ADDRESS

One of the key factors in saving lives and property during last week’s fires was the mass notification system, known to most people as Reverse 911.

We would like this to be expanded to cell phones and e-mail addresses, and here’s how you can be part of the system:

Residents who live in San Diego County, which includes all 18 cities and the unincorporated areas of the County, are encouraged to register their cell phones and e-mail addresses for emergency notifications by visiting www.alertsandiego.org within the next few days. Possible moderate to strong Santa Ana winds are forecast for next weekend.

Once e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers are registered, it will take up to 24 hours for that information to be updated into AlertSanDiego, the County of San Diego mass notification system that is commonly referred to Reverse 911.

AlertSanDiego will provide emergency alerts to your cell phone and e-mail address including evacuation notices. This is in addition to the land line calls received by those who have land line phones.

Residents are able to register multiple cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses by reopening the Web page. Residents without computers may access this Web site from one of the County libraries. There is no charge to use the computers at County libraries.

If a City resident has registered a cell phone number with the City of San Diego Reverse 9-1-1 system that information is automatically shared with the County cell phone registry. To register an e-mail address computer users must register with the County system.

Please note that while the County Mass Notification System is considered effective and efficient, you should not wait or rely exclusively on a call for evacuation directives. If you think you are in danger, you should evacuate immediately. If you are directed to evacuate by emergency personnel, you should follow their direction.

Supervisor Bill Horn

Hams Activate as Wildfires Ravage Southern California, San Diego Area

www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/10/25/100/?nc=1

REVISED Oct 26, 2007 16:20 ET

As fires raged through parts of the San Diego area and other areas in Southern California, ham radio operators did their part to ensure the safety of residents either affected or threatened by the fires. ARES groups in San Diego were activated on Monday, October 22 and continued to assist their served agencies until early Wednesday morning. Sixty hams were called to service by the County of San Diego's Emergency Medical Service.

According to ARRL San Diego Section Emergency Coordinator James J. Cammarano II, KG6R, hams assisted at the San Diego Medical Operations Center, six trauma centers and 16 community hospitals. Hams served as a resource, Cammarano said, "to be used in case primary circuits to hospital communications were lost due to either overload or power interruptions." In addition to these 60 amateurs, another dozen or so hams were activated by the Red Cross.

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, learned that San Diego ARES volunteers were activated and now they are in standby mode. "They are ready to go at a moment's notice, but there are currently no plans for re-activation," he said. As in any emergency situation, information can quickly change and the ARRL will continue to monitor the situation and inform members if the situation changes.

As the fires started to spread, hams started a FIRENET on the Palomar ARC 146.73 MHz repeater. Howard White, KY6LA, of La Jolla, who was among those who served as net control operator under extremely stressful conditions, disseminated a preliminary log of his experience. Excerpts follow:

“With flames starting to engulf the county and no active single source of information, as best as I could determine Charlie NN3V stepped into the information vacuum to start the ‘FIRENET’ as an ad hoc operation on Sunday afternoon. Early contributors included Gayle K6GO and Gary W6GDK. Initial operations started by collecting fire information as to fire location, wind directions, shelter locations and initial evacuations. Hams provided eyes and ears on the ground where the danger was. Soon however the fires seemed to be heading down to the Poway area so Charlie and the other Poway hams needed to evacuate….

“Day One: Is the fire near us? Where is the head of the fire? What directions are the heads going? What are the winds doing? Should we evacuate? What roads are closed? What about our animals? Where should we go? What should we take? What is the route to avoid the flames? Can you help us find missing people or pets? Can you help us get barrels of water for animals? Can you help us find food and water? Can you get the police to deal with looters?

“Unlike Katrina, the questions and answers did not abate at night. It was nonstop. Terry K3PXX needed routing around the fires to evacuate his Animal trailer. Terry reported on Fires as he drove through Poway and back to San Marcos EOC. ROARS hams had evacuated Ramona and the 147.03 repeater and were looking for help to be routed safely out of the area. Fires broke out in Coronado Hills in San Marcos. People needed to be evacuated. Brian KF6C asked where to evacuate his 4 children. San Marcos EOC needed to be activated and FIRENET held the fort for them until they could get there and became operational to evacuate San Marcos. George KG6IDE tries to drive up to Ramona to evacuate elderly parents but we turn him back to avoid the flames…

"0130 Tuesday: N9XF reports flame proceeding down 76 from Fallbrook. Tom KI6IET, who is blind, but stays at his post as my backup net control, needs to be evacuated. Evacuation arranged ok. Rob WA3IHV calls from his office at Palomar hospital to tell us his family was evacuated OK and horses survived…

"2100 Tuesday: FIRENET hams drive to Qualcomm Stadium and load trucks with food. Dan leads ham relief convoy with food and supplies to Mira Costa College. Fire victims at shelter express gratitude for first food delivery…

"2350 Wednesday: KG6VVN signs off as net control as the 146.730 repeater runs out of fuel and goes off the air…”

Orange County Update

Acting Section Emergency Coordinator Cathy Gardenias, K6VC, provided this update on the situation in the ARRL Orange Section as of October 25: “Slide Fire/Green Valley is 17% contained; Grass Fire is 70% contained. Santiago Canyon Fire was 50% but was reduced last night as it turned and headed for the Riverside County border of the Cleveland National Forest.

“Amateur Radio operators have been utilized. The San Bernardino County Fire EOC has been using ECS and ARES members in the EOC to monitor communications and other jobs needed. At the command post at the Rim of The World High School near Lake Arrowhead, ECS and ARES members who have been fully trained in all ICS and S190 (bush training) are handling communications and other needs. This is according to Jeff W6JJR DEC for ARES San Bernardino County and a Public Information Officer (Miles) from the EOC in San Bernardino. The EOC is at Level III at this time.

“SATERN [Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network] Amateur Radio operators at all the shelters have been volunteering their time as non communicators, but as helpers for those who are in need.”

Fallbrook Update

Ken Dickson, W6MF, reported late Thursday on the Rice Fire in the Fallbrook area between Los Angeles and San Diego.
"We were notified this morning by our club president, Bigs Parker, KG6GIU, that his home had been destroyed. Bigs was on the Fallbrook Hospital Evacuation team on Monday....At the EOC briefing this morning our people were informed that approximately 9,000 acres had been consumed in the fire. One of the major concerns is "hanging" electric lines...Our Amateur Radio EOC is still up and operating at this hour. There have been some replacement amateurs that have returned to Fallbrook and have offered to provide some relief to the operators that have been there long term.”

As of Friday afternoon, CNN reported that 14 of the nearly two dozen fires were under control. Nearly 800 square miles has burned in Southern California, and seven deaths have been blamed on the fires, with dozens of injuries.

Ron Roberts, Chairman of the San Diego Board of Supervisors estimates that 560,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes, and thousands more were evacuated in San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Firefighters received help from Mexico, the state and federal governments and even inmates from California's prisons. About 7000 firefighters were battling the blazes, including 2300 inmates from California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to Governor Schwarzenegger.

President Bush visited the area on Thursday and declared a federal emergency for seven counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. FEMA Administrator David Paulison said that the President's action authorizes FEMA to "coordinate all disaster relief efforts, which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe." Schwarzenegger estimated that at least $75 million in federal aid would be needed. -- some information from The Weather Channel and CNN

Your Right Foot And Your Brain

How smart is Your Right Foot? Just try this - It is from an orthopedic surgeon. This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot. But, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY) and while Sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your Right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so. Send it to your buddies to frustrate them too.

New CERT Ham

Edgar Vivanco- KI6MHI

Would be great for hams with portable QRP rigs and limited antennas since PSK31 works great in weak signal environment !

The design team of Milt W8NUE and George N2APB have introduced a handheld, battery-operated digital modem that implements PSK31 communications without a host PC. Presented at the ARRL/TAPR DCC 2007 conference this past weekend, the NUE-PSK digital modem will work with any SSB transceiver to finally allow PSK31 to be easily done in the field "portable PSK". See the NUE-PSK web page www.amqrp.org/kits/nue-psk31/index.html for overview, details, photos and more. Also available is the DCC article, the slides from the conference presentation. (Thanks, George N2APB)

Send an e-mail to nue-psk@amqrp.org to be notified sometime in November when the units available

N6KI

Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club
Roy Noon Hall, Fallbrook, California
October 6, 2007

The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Ron Patten, KG6HSQ, at 1500.

The pledge was recited.

Ron gave an update on the upcoming Veteran’s Day parade and announced that it had been cancelled. Instead of a parade there will be a Veteran’s Day observance held at the Fallbrook VFW on Old Stage.

Ron also gave a report on the Christmas Parade. He said that the parade would be similar to what it’s been in the past. Last year there were 8 units in the parade and that lead to some problems so he said that the Chamber was planning on returning to their 10-unit format for this year. This year the parade will include the Marine Corp Band and the Chamber is still trying to obtain the Color Guard. The Shriner’s organization will have their small cars in the parade this year as well. He also announced that there was a possibility that the Clydesdales may be in the parade after their cancellation last year. Their appearance is not definite at this time and if they do appear the preparation will not be to the extent that it was last year. Ron will keep the FARC membership informed as the preparation meetings continue. He said at this time there were 21 volunteers to assist with the Christmas Parade.

Ron also announced that the Bonsall Schools want to make an application to NASA to be included on a contact schedule from the International Space Station. He said that he had been contacted by school personnel asking him to assist them with the paperwork and radio contact information. He said that there were large numbers of applications and that getting on the schedule will most likely be at sometime in the distant future. Ron will be gathering information for available radio equipment that can be used in the project.

Ron announced that the North County Fire Protection District would be holding their annual open house next weekend. The open house will be from 8:00AM - 2:00PM. He stated that the open house would be conducted much the same as it was last year. He and Randy, KD6UAK, plan to attend and participate and he invited other members to join them at this event. The event will be held in the NCFPD’s repair facility at the main fire station.

An e-mail with many of the local upcoming amateur radio license classes was mailed to the membership this morning (10/6/2007).

Ken, W6MF, introduced new FARC members, Krissy Powers, KR6SSY, Paul Beach, WA6SYA, and Jon Bart, KI6QVA and also gave the following financial report.

Checking Balance August 31, 2007	$1919.82
Petty Cash Balance August 31, 2007	$29.48
Total	$1949.30

SEPTEMBER INCOME
ARRL Dues	$39.00
FARC Membership Dues	$140.00
Total	$179.00

SEPTEMBER EXPENSES
ARRL Dues $37.00	$37.00
Total	$37.00

Checking Balance September 30, 2007	$2061.82
Petty Cash Balance September 30, 2007	$29.48
Total	$2091.30

The program was presented mainly by Ron, KG6HSQ, along with input from various members of FARC. The program consisted of a “basis 101” course in ham radio covering such topics as battery supplies of various kind such as spare battery packs, rechargeable batteries, cigarette lighter adapters for power sources, power supplies and various other devices. Much of the consideration for power sources was directed to the fact that during emergencies our usual sources may not be available. Various portable antennas were discussed. Smed, KG6QAG, demonstrated a new VHF/UHF antenna that he has adapted for emergency use. The antenna can be manually set for either vertical or horizontal polarization. He has also constructed a “mast” from PVC tubing that is in sections and can easily be transported. Ron demonstrated a “roll-up” J-Pole antenna that was cut for both VHF/UHF that can easily be rolled in to small bundle for transport and can readily be hung from a tree limb or other object with a very light cord.

Ken, W6MF, handed out a printed packet of materials that contained some common “ham” terms that might be of interest especially to some of our newly licensed members. He also pointed out some of the numerous facets of amateur radio and said that each ham usually found his/her own areas of interest from within those varied opportunities.

With no further business the meeting adjourned at 1615.

Ken Dickson, W6MF
Secretary/Treasurer

COMMITTEES

Dewey ECC Committee
Bigs-KG6GIU, Ron-KG6HSQ, Ken-W6MF, Randy-KD6UAK, Bob-W6VR, Hayden-KG6YVD

Technical Committee
Bob-W6VR, AA4CD-Chris, Bob-WB6DIJ, Paul-W6SJL, Daryl-WA5QMV, Ron-KG6HSQ

News Items from CGC Communicator Newsletter
Robert Gonsett - W6VR Editor

o Analyst: "The iPod Is Doomed" and will be replaced by the ubiquitous cellphone. www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0101/t.8472.html

o NATO Group Releases Report on BPL www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/09/06/100/?nc=1

o Power grid vulnerability (dramatic video) www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/power.at.risk/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

GOOGLE'S FREE VOICE-ACTIVATED 411 SERVICE

Google has introduced a free (for now) voice-activated telephone directory service, but has business listings only:

Dial 1 800 GOOG 411

You can have the automated system look up any business number and automatically connect you with "local" numbers - ideal when calling from a cellphone for example. CGC tried calling a business in central California from our office in southern Cal. and we were connected to the right number on short order, all free of charge. www.google.com/goog411/

o Find out the demographics of your zip code: www.zipskinny.com/

o Women in film. Somebody went to a lot of work for this video!! Tip by Red Blanchard, W6AG glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=womenfilm

o FCC to hold a series of digital television consumer education workshops starting November 8, 2007. hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-277190A1.doc

o FCC Office of Engineering and Technology announces additional testing of TV white space devices. hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-4179A1.doc

FCC FORFEITURE WATCH - SELECTED ITEM

FCC enforcement agents have returned to inspect retail stores to determine whether TV set buyers are being properly warned that sets with analog-only tuners connected to TV antennas will be pretty much useless come February 17, 2009. Several retailers and chain stores have been cited (again) for this rule violation, including Radio Shack, with fines in the $8,000 to $24,000 range this time around. hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-4270A1.doc

o World's tiniest radio is a step closer to reality with this nano-detector, but it's a small step if this nano device turns out to be nothing more that a diode: www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0101/t.9147.html

o Thomas Bros. map book for San Diego County (1956). URL courtesy of Sherman George:

www.scandiego.com/1956/album/index.html

o The Sirius/XM Merger Mania Crossword Puzzle. URL courtesy of The Leslie Report:

www.siriusmerger.com/uploads/FINAL-Crossword.pdf

Comments and items of interest for publishing should be directed to: N6FQ@fallbrookarc.org
Ron Patten - KG6HSQ