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Notes From the Section Manager’s Desk…
American Radio Relay League
Indiana Section
October 2014 Newsletter
This month has been more find and fix exercises. I find a problem and
have to fix it. This month’s project was updating contact info for the
Indiana Section appointees. According to the Section Manager
Workbook I was provided by League HQ, the Section Manager is
responsible for periodically reviewing all appointee records to assure
they are current and accurate
Table of Contents
I was motivated to undertake this task because of the numerous
times I have tried to use the contact list since taking office and having
email addresses bounce or getting out of service phone call messages.
The first red flag I had noticed in July were four counties with two
ARES ECs appointed. According to ARRL policy, there should only be
one EC for each county.
Notes From the Section Manager’s Desk ……………………… 1
Remembering Friends We’ll Miss …………………………….…… 2
Field Organization Appointment Updates ……………….……. 2
Section News Roundup …………………………………………………. 2
Public Information Outreach ………………………………………… 9
Technical Specialists – Helping Hams ……………………..….…14
Official Observers – We’re Listening ……………………………..19
National Traffic System – Net Gains ……………….…………….20
Amateur Radio Emergency Service ® In Action………….... 22
In Closing ……………………………………………………………………..28
I investigated these occurrences by calling the people involved. In
two cases, the EC appointment had passed from one person to the
other and the former appointment hadn’t been cancelled. The other
two occurrences were more interesting. In each of these cases, a
person who held an EC appointment in another Section had moved
into Indiana. I placed a call to ARRL HQ and discovered when they
process a change of address; they don’t automatically cancel Section
level appointments. Suddenly, the person shows up in Indiana with an
appointment that wasn’t issued in Indiana!
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
“To promote and advance the art, science,
and enjoyment of amateur radio”
I want to thank all the Field Organization appointees who responded
to the info request and those who helped collect the contact info.
Over 70% of all appointees had some contact update to process.
Find us on the web at INARRL.ORG
Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ
ARRL Indiana Section Manager
[email protected]
ARES® and Amateur Radio Emergency Service® are registered
trademarks of the ARRL.
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Remembering Friends We’ll Miss …
Section News Roundup
The following amateur radio operators became silent keys since the
last newsletter. We want to honor them and express our condolences
to their friends and family members.
ARRL President Provides Update to Section Managers on
H.R. 4969
I would like to bring you up to date on H.R. 4969, but first I want to
thank you for your help and that of the members in your
Sections. If you will be doing newsletters or other communications
with your members in the next few weeks, please let them know that
their efforts are important and appreciated. The official list of
cosponsors can be found, sorted alphabetically, at
 Kevin Wilkinson , KC9VAN Garrett, IN
Kevin loved his time on the radio and enjoyed his time foxhunting
(and hiding as well).
All silent key obituary notices should be sent directly to Joseph
Lawrence at [email protected] for inclusion in this monthly column.
Additional info about the notable contributions made by the silent
key to amateur radio are welcome.
https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/housebill/4969/cosponsors?q={%22search%22%3A[%22hr+4969%22]}&pag
eSort=alpha
Field Organization Appointment Updates
Congress had very few days in session in September, but we added 30
co-sponsors to the official list during that time. ARRL Directors Mike
Lisenco, N2YBB, and Dick Isely, W9GIG, went to Washington
in September to visit Congressional offices, as did President Kay
Craigie, N3KN, and General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD. Dozens of
offices were visited. Meanwhile, in the home districts, ARRL
elected officials, appointed officials, and members met with
Congressmen and their staffs to urge co-sponsorship.
Resignations / Cancellations:
 Brian Smith, WW9A Assistant Section Manager
 Brian Smith, WW9A Section Emergency Coordinator
 John Netro, N9WVM Wabash County ARES EC
 Richard Whitaker, KC9EJG Madison County ARES EC
New Appointments:
 John Brane, KA9FCU Wabash County NTS ORS
Members all over the country phoned local Congressional offices and
sent e-mails via Congressmen’s web pages. Members also sent postal
letters via ARRL HQ, some of them generated at Amateur Radio
conventions. This all-member effort is how we went from 17
co-sponsors on August 1 to 47 on September 18.
The ARRL appreciates the time and effort each volunteer gives serving
the Indiana Section and promoting amateur radio. Many people talk
about what should be done, but it takes committed volunteers to get
it done. Thanks!
We have e-mail and oral commitments from more than half a dozen
additional Congressmen to become co-sponsors of H.R. 4969.
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Members of Congress can become co-sponsors only when Congress is
in session, not during a recess. Because Congress packed up and
went home to campaign on September 19, some Representatives
didn’t have time to get their co-sponsorship made official before the
recess. There will be follow-up with the offices of those Congressmen
to make sure their co-sponsorship shows up on the official list as soon
as possible after Congress reconvenes in November.
Editor’s Note: As of this writing, none of Indiana’s nine House
Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor the bill.
What about ARRL members who wrote, e-mailed, and phoned their
Congressmen, but the Representatives haven’t become cosponsors? Was this time and effort wasted? Absolutely not. At the
very least, these Congressional offices now know that Amateur Radio
exists in their districts and that Amateurs have interests which
deserve notice. A lot of politics is based on relationships. Contacts
made with members of Congress about H.R. 4969 contribute to
establishing relationships that can be maintained and enhanced in the
future. Does your Congressman know how Amateur Radio makes
your district a safer place to live if disasters occur? Does your
Congressman know how Amateurs in your district introduce young
people to hands-on experience of how wireless communications
work, laying the foundation for careers? Realistically, we won’t get
support for H.R. 4969 from every member of Congress who is
contacted by Amateurs. What we certainly can do is to
build relationships that will serve our interests – and the public
interest – if not right now, then in the future.
Fort Wayne Radio Club Supports Local Makers Faire
Recently, I received an e-mail from K6ETA, a ham in the San Francisco
Bay area. He was attempting to organize radio clubs in cities that had
planned "Maker Faires" to allow communication between them and
to encourage participation in the Faires. Just what is a "Maker Faire"
you ask? The following statement from Electronic Design magazine
sums it up very nicely:
“A core focus of the “maker” movement is education, whether for
newcomers getting their first taste of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) applications at school or
industry veterans looking to learn something new.”
Members whose Congressmen have become co-sponsors are
encouraged to thank their Representatives by phone, e-mail, or postal
mail. It’s good manners and good relationship building
strategy. Members can also seek out opportunities during the
present recess to make the case for the bill at local offices and events.
In short: Keep on!
The Faires themselves are a very eclectic mix of science, technology,
home brewing and Art. You see things like homemade turbo jet
engines, unique games, technology training in all sort of disciplines
(like soldering and welding), and a lot of 3-D printing.
73, Kay N3KN
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Although conditions were not that great that weekend, we did
manage 59 contacts in 12 countries. We also made contact with other
Maker Faires in San Francisco and Orlando, but heard nothing from
about 6 other cities that were holding them. We had a lot of interest
from people at the Faire, and were surprised by the number of people
who said "yeah, I got my Ham ticket, but just never got on the air.....".
Sound familiar??
All in all, the effort seemed to be worth it, to show the public a little
bit of the original "Makers". I had some Kits from Ten Tec on display,
but Jack, W9GT, also brought some of his tube type QRP rigs built in
cigar boxes for display. Cool Stuff! Hopefully, we can come back again
next year, and do an even better job of showing off Amateur Radio, a
hobby you might consider if you call yourself a "Maker"!
Fort Wayne Radio Club members at Makers Faire
(Photo courtesy of Al Burke)
Steve Nardin, W9SAN, FWRC President
At our Maker Faire there was a hot dog cooking robot that was
"programmed" to prepare a hot dog to a customer's desires. Other
venues, like the American Bicycle Museum were there to display
some of their more unusual entries. They even had their own version
of Junk Food Alley, with some pretty tasty fare!
There is a commercial side to all this as well. Some companies set up
booths to display their products which are usually of a technical
nature, but some not so technical (we had a Chiropractor next to us!).
The Fort Wayne Radio Club's set up consisted of three separate radio
stations. The first was from Tom KU8T on 20 meter PSK-31 with the
club's end fed 20 meter half wave set up on the west side of the
pavilion. Then there was Joseph, K9RFZ's go-kit set for the 146.91
Echolink repeater with a twin lead collinear vertical. Then, Rob, K9BLI,
had his D-STAR rig set up to access the W9TE D-STAR repeater that is
in downtown Fort Wayne.
Jack Shutt, W9GT with homebrew transmitter and receiver
(Photo courtesy of Al Burke)
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Miami County Jumpstarts Northern Indiana Repeater
Linking Project
In May of 2003 I moved from the Fort Wayne area to Peru, IN. I was
very surprised that there was very little traffic on the local 147.345+
repeater. I was even more surprised when the first severe storm
moved through the area and when I listened to the repeater there
was no SKYWARN net…in fact no traffic at all.
In the last three years the Miami County Amateur Radio Club has
gone through an aggressive rebuilding process which has included
many new club activities and four Technician classes resulting in 35
new hams. We now have a weekly club net on Sundays at 8:00 pm,
weekly ARES/RACES Net on Mondays at 8:00 pm, and the weekly
“Ladies with a License” Net on Thursday evenings at 8:30 pm. We also
have ECHOLINK Node 692641 on this repeater. Needless to say there
is a lot more traffic on our repeater now.
Two years ago, after participating in a District 3 Hospital
Communications Exercise, Dukes Hospital donated a Kenwood UHF
wide-band repeater to our club. We were very happy to receive this
repeater, however in the back of my mind I thought, “this repeater is
going to get very little use.” I knew that the clubs in the surrounding
counties had UHF repeaters that also were under-utilized. After
discussion with area clubs, it became obvious that there was
definitely interest in linking little used repeaters together to create a
wide-area network.
On September 13th we had our first Repeater Linking Planning Session
in Peru. Eighteen people were present at the meeting and four more
who couldn’t make it to the meeting have expressed interest in being
a part of the project. Participants at the meeting were from Fort
Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, South Bend and other communities
throughout the northern half of Indiana. Practically everyone had a
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repeater that they wanted to link. We observed a DMR presentation,
had discussions about D Star, IRLP, and various options for linking
repeaters. It was concluded that the two most important
considerations were (1) to keep the system implementation and
ongoing costs LOW and (2) assure system reliability be HIGH. We are
therefore moving ahead to create a wide-area network with radios
linking VHF & UHF repeaters.
Jamboree on the Air at Camp Belzer October 17 - 19
Several years ago the Crossroads of America Council BSA decided that
they would like to sponsor an Amateur Radio Station at the newest
Learning Center at Camp Belzer on the northeast side
of Indianapolis. The Camp is one of the oldest scout camps around
and has had a rich history.
We have requested that everyone who has a repeater which they
would like to link provide us with information about their repeater(s),
controller(s), and site information. Four participants at the meeting
have volunteered to review this information and make
recommendations for beginning the linking process at our next
meeting.
Several local Amateurs found out about the plans and were
interested in helping set up the amateur station. Randy Biggs
(WA7BSA) and Dave Johnson (N9EZW) started getting local Hams
involved and the station was born. As soon as construction was done
with special consideration given to routing coax in and out of the
building, the station started coming together.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, November 1st at 9:00 am in Peru.
If you have an interest in attending the meeting or participating in
this project, please contact Bill McAlpin at 765-244-0511 or
[email protected]
The call sign for the station was acquired as WD9BSA and the name
was chosen to honor Dave Johnson's father who was a great scouter
in the Crossroads Council for many years. Now named The WD9BSA
Bert Johnson Memorial Scout Amateur Radio Station and with the
kind donation of a lot of equipment to the cause, the station has been
on the air for several years now.
Bill McAlpin – WD9GIU
Miami County ARES Emergency Coordinator
President, Miami County Amateur Radio Club
Recently a large donation of equipment came from the estate of
another local Amateur, Joseph Lobraico, K9OOA from his widow Betty
K9OOB. Several of his transceivers will be in use for 2014 Scout
Jamboree on the Air (JOTA). The WD9BSA Group is working on a lot
of youth programs currently, from Technician Classes and license
testing, to various requirements for Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts
Radio Merit badge. We have an Open Operations Day once a month
where all Scouts and Scouters are welcome to come visit the
station. It's the second Sunday of each month from 2pm to 7pm. The
upcoming JOTA will be October 17th from 5pm till October 19th at
2pm when we'll tear everything down. All Scouts and Scouters are
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welcome to attend and get on the air with us. This year we will try
and make contact with the USS Indianapolis memorial Radio Room at
the World War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis which will be
hosting several troops. Ransburg Scout Reservation on Lake Monroe
will also have a portable WD9BSA/2 station on hand.
Team eagerly accepted the challenge and began working with Bert to
plan the logistics of the radio room. In the Spring of 2014, the work
began on prepping the space with donated furniture and sorting out
the donated equipment. The work quickly progressed to running
coax and placing antennas on the roof. The final touches on the new
radio room were completed in August and the only thing left to do
was to test its capabilities to communicate with a Salvation Army field
location.
Tom O'Nan, N9CXI
Salvation Army Collaborates with Marion County ARES
The Indiana Division of the Salvation Army has a new resource that
will improve their ability to respond to a disaster and maintain vital
communications. The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services
(EDS) training facility, located on the Northwest side of Indianapolis,
recently added an amateur radio room to the facility. The new radio
room is equipped with donated equipment from the amateur radio
operators in and around Indianapolis. This new radio room will allow
the Indiana Salvation Army to maintain contact with Salvation Army
resources around the state when other forms of communication are
overloaded or completely unusable.
Salvation Army EDS Amateur Radio Station
(Photo courtesy of Brent Walls)
The Salvation Army EDS amateur radio room was physically
completed and the club call of N9EDS was ready to be used, but it
needed to be tested. Bert had the perfect opportunity to test the
new amateur radio room by communicating with a deployed canteen.
The EDS program was scheduled to provide canteen support for the
Indiana Civil Air Patrol (CAP) exercise scheduled for September 5, 6,
and 7 at the DeKalb County Airport. Bert requested a field station at
the CAP exercise location to communicate back to the EDS radio room
in Indianapolis. The Marion County ARES Team quickly engaged the
Section leadership to request support from ARES volunteers in DeKalb
The new amateur radio station is a direct result of the collaboration
between the Marion County ARES Team and Salvation Army EDS
metro director Bert Williams. Bert approached the Marion County
ARES Team in late 2013 requesting assistance to design and build an
amateur radio room at the EDS facility. The Marion County ARES
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County. The DeKalb and Steuben County ARES Teams quickly stepped
up and volunteered to provide a field station at the CAP exercise. The
planning for the communications test was a joint effort between the
various ARES teams and provided a great opportunity for several
ARES teams to work together.
Evansville Hamfest Ends 21 Years of Operation
The Electronic Applications Radio Service (EARS) and The Ham Station
regret to announce that the Evansville Hamfest has ended. For 21
years, EARS has worked hard to bring you the best hamfest we
could. The Ham Station has been our corporate sponsor for the last
several years, and has been along with us every step of the way. We
cannot offer enough thanks to all of our vendors (a few of which have
also been there every single year), the people who attended, the Old
Post Amateur Radio Society who provided concessions every year, the
VE testing crew, and those who graciously volunteered with security,
ticket sales, labeling flyers, giving out prizes, QSL checking, and
more. We hope you will continue to patronize our vendors online
and/or at other hamfests.
DeKalb and Steuben County ARES Operation Tent
Several people have asked why the hamfest is ending. There were
many factors that we had to consider, including: a date conflict with
some vendors for this year, rising expenses of the 4H Center, low
attendance, lack of profit, and loss of manpower to help prepare and
run the hamfest. We explored other locations, other dates, and other
staff. We were unable to come up with a plan that would work.
(Photo courtesy of Bert Williams)
On the afternoon of September 6th, ARES volunteers from Marion,
DeKalb, and Steuben counties successfully tested the capabilities of
the new EDS radio room by establishing communications on 40 meter
voice, 40 meter digital modes, and Echolink. The communications
test employed the use of Echolink to provide coordination between
the two locations and was very useful when testing the digital modes
as adjustments were needed. The voice communications on 40 meter
sideband were very reliable and signal reports from both ends were
good. The 40 meter digital modes proved to be a little more
challenging since the radio room was using an acoustic connection
with headphones held up to a microphone. The communications test
was successful and proved to the Salvation Army that ARES can
support their auxiliary communication needs state wide from the EDS
radio room.
We do not have any plans to revive the hamfest in the future at this
time. Most of the original EARS volunteers have moved away, and
some have traveled long distances to keep the show running. And,
due to lack of use, EARS transferred the 145.15 repeater over to the
W9WIN repeater network 2 years ago. EARS still operates 146.925
and 443.925 repeaters in Vincennes, along with Echolink and IRLP.
Our audio stream is still online, we are still connected to the Central
Indiana SKYWARN network, and our online RADAR and weather alerts
will continue to serve areas of Southern Indiana as long as possible.
Again, we thank you for your past support of the hamfest. 73.
Brent Walls, K9CFE Marion County ARES EC
Neil Rapp, WB9VPG
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We need co-sponsors for this legislation and YOUR help is needed in
getting the word out about this critical bill. Get informed and ask your
fellow Hams to write to, or visit, their Congressional representative and
ask them to co-sponsor this bill. Send your letters to ARRL HQS; they will
be hand-delivered to Capitol Hill. Opposition is steep and vocal and time
is of the essence. Please act now.
Public Information Outreach
As the leaves began turning to the colors of fall, September flew by
quickly, but offered opportunities to publicize the value of amateur
radio during National Disaster Preparedness Month. If you missed an
opportunity this year, keep your eye out for a local community Public
Service Day offered by local fire and police departments being planned
for next Sept. In addition to first responder displays and exercises that
draw big crowds in shopping center parking lots, there were vendors
with tents handing out brochures – including local ARES/RACES, CERT
and Emergency Management Vans; some of you set up portable stations
using generators and solar power in a kind of mini “Field Day.” All great
ideas that promoted amateur radio and preparedness at the same time.
If your local first responders did not have a “Public Service Day,”
consider approaching the police, fire chief, or EMA director with a
suggestion for next year. It’s great PR for them too. To those of you
who took advantage of it this year, Bravo Zulu! Next September will be
even bigger and better.
Leonard Award Nominations
Nominations for the 2014 ARRL Bill Leonard Award are due December 5.
This is your chance to recognize that reporter in your area who told the
story of Amateur Radio to the public in a compelling way. Each recipient
— one for audio, one for video, and one for text/print — receives an
awards plaque and a $250 donation in their name to the charity of their
choosing. Help promote the folks who help promote us.
PIO Ideas from FEMA
FEMA has a very informative guide on what it takes to be a PIO. “Basic
Guidance for Public Information Officers (PIOs)” contains a wealth of
information on emergency and disaster response. If you have seen it,
take a few moments and review it: http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/assets/documents/12578.
H.R. 4969
If your club has not already done so, consider taking a bit of time from
the next meeting to fill out letters to your Congressional District
Representative. ARRL is conducting a major PR initiative to support
HR4969, a bipartisan bill that would extend the PRB-1 laws to private
land-use regulations, including Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions
(CC & Rs). There is a web page on the ARRL site devoted to HR4969
which explains what the bill is, why it is so important to many amateurs
whose ability to operate is restricted under these conditions, and how
radio amateurs can petition their member of Congress to co-sponsor the
bill.
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September Indiana Media Hits
The Reflector
http://www.indianagazette.com/news/community-connection/radioclub-offers-ham-licensing-course,20492359/
The ARRL PR Reflector has been quiet as of late. Maybe that’s due to a
quiet hurricane and severe weather season. However, that’s no reason
to not share PIO tips, club outreach efforts, or other projects your group
is currently involved with. With over 500 members, it’s a great place to
ask questions about anything related to being a PIO. Take advantage of
the knowledge base of your fellow hams interested in PR outreach. If
you’re not subscribed to the ARRL PR Reflector, send an email to Sean
Kutzko, KX9X - media and public relations manager at ARRL HQS and
he’ll get you signed up. We all want to reach out to the younger
generation to promote amateur radio in Indiana, our club, and the art
and science of radio. You can gain a lot of ideas from this PR tool. And
don’t forget to keep up with the latest in ARRL Public Relations on
Twitter @ARRL_PR.
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/september/ariss_event_0309
.htm#.VBpH9WMtD3g
http://www.tristatehomepage.com/story/d/story/students-contactastronaut-on-international-space/92921/G-UMeW6OfE6jKcA2dNFoWQ
http://www.courierpress.com/news/education/making-the-grade/edsstudents-make-contact-with-nasa-astronaut-in-space-via-hamradio_37480756
http://www.14news.com/story/26439236/evansville-day-schoolstudents-talk-to-space-station-astronaut
http://uncovercalifornia.com/content/21436-evansville-day-schoolstudents-contact-astronaut-aboard-iss
If you or your club had a story published in any Indiana publication,
please send the online link to [email protected].
Indiana Special Event Station in October
Celebrating 98 years - The Indiana Masonic Home in Franklin, IN will
celebrate their 98th anniversary with a Special Event Station
appropriately using their club call sign W9IMH from 1800Z to 2359Z daily
from October 19 thru October 22 on 146.460mhz FM simplex; on/near
28.420 MHz, 14.240 MHz, 18.140 MHz and 7.240 MHz USB. Special
Event QSL cards will be available. Please check QRZ.COM or QSL direct to
Brenda (Fran) Carter - KC9WLI, 916 Solomon Dr., Franklin, IN 46131.
(Thanks to Rusty Kirts, N9LLP, and Sam Carter, WA9VBG, for info).
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As you can see by the number of PIOs reporting in every month, there
are quite a few counties where ARRL PIOs are needed throughout the
Section. If you would like to consider the challenge, or if you know
someone who would be a perfect public information officer for your
area, please either email me at [email protected] or call me at the number
below. It’s way more fun than work and quite rewarding.
PRT
Public Relations Tip for PIOs: Whenever engaging in any amateur radio
activity in a public venue – exhibit booth, storm spotting, school/hospital
demonstrations, outdoor field training, etc., ALWAYS take a few action
photos with high megapixel camera, or at the very least, your smart
phone (you can use the highest resolution selection). These can be
easily captioned and marketed to local media, placed on your club’s
website, posted on Facebook, and even sent to your Section officials.
There are plenty of potential outlets with creative application of
marketing skills.
Congratulations
AM, in Community Room A and B of the Peabody Library 1160 E. State
Rd. 205 - Columbia City, Indiana.
Kudos to Vanderburgh County PIO David Vogel, WA9C and the Tri-State
Amateur Radio Society (TARS) team for their work in promoting a very
successful ARISS event in Evansville (see clips below).
As always, my sincere thanks to our Section PIOs who continue to work
tirelessly in promoting our great hobby around the state; their monthly
reports follow below.
73,
Roger McEntarfer/ N9QCL
Whitley County TS
Whitley County PIO
Whitley County W5YI CVE
Vanderburgh County PIO David Vogel, WA9C
To one and all – Keep those electrons flowing!
73,
Joe March, KJ9M
Indiana Section Public Information Coordinator
[email protected]
What an exciting event for our local club, The Tri-State Amateur Radio
Society (TARS). The club supported a team for an ARISS contact Sept.
3. That team planned for 10 months with the school, Evansville Day
School (EDS), and the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science.
The Museum had just replaced its planetarium with new Immersion
Theater. Our club and the school were excited to use this setting.
PIO September Reports:
Whitley County PIO Roger McEntarfer, N9QCL:
As PIO for Whitley County, I did the following:
On Wednesday September 10, I made a presentation about our Mad
Anthony Radio Club K9NCS station to the Raytheon EmComm group with
participation from 13 hams representing 8 Raytheon sites across the
country.
I announced in the local newspaper, Several HF Nets and several of the
local nets about the Whitley County Amateur Radio Club monthly
meeting on September 11 where Josh Church K9KOP put on a
presentation flying his Quad helicopter drone. The next W5YI Test
session will be held on Saturday October 25, 2014 from 9:00 to 11:00
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See videos/photos at;
http://www.courierpress.com/news/education/making-thegrade/eds-students-make-contact-with-nasa-astronaut-in-space-viaham-radio_37480756
Half of the upper dome displayed our computers which were tracking
the ISS and using Skype we communicated to the lower grades to the
whole school observed the Contact.
The students were all beaming as the exited the Theater. All our
planning was a success and media coverage was very positive.
David Vogel WA9C
ARRL Public Information Officer
Vanderburgh County
Evansville, IN
Hamilton County PIO Joe March, KJ9M
Mike Alley, W9MSK and Steve Kramer, KF9ZA (L-R)
National Disaster Preparedness Month and Ham Radio -- ARES/RACES
members manned a portable station and handed out ARRL brochures in
support of National Preparedness Month. In the photo, Steve Kramer,
KF9ZA, holds one of several ARRL brochures distributed at the Hamilton
County Emergency Management tent during Public Safety Day at
Westfield, Indiana's Village Park Mall on Saturday, Sept. 6. ARES
member and RACES officer Mike Alley, W9MSK (left), among
others, promoted amateur radio as a valuable disaster service tool
during the 6-hour event that included demonstrations by local fire
rescue, police, EMS and other support organizations. The group
demonstrated "off-the-grid" communications using a generator, a local
repeater and simplex and IRLP capabilities, answering questions from
the public drawn to the
parking lot activity from their Saturday shopping. Photo was sent to the
editor of QST and ARRL media and public relations manager.
73,
Joe – KJ9M
ARRL PIO, Hamilton County
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Hendricks County PIO Barry Palencer, KC9WMS
September has been busy for the Hendricks County ARES group. This
month was our big public service communications event for the
Plainfield Quaker Days Festival. It is a 3 day event of which we are
involved in it for 2 of those. We provide the safety communications for
the event. We also set up a booth at the event. We had some
interested folks on the subject of Ham Radio, and have contact
information for a couple of them to follow up with on upcoming training
classes. This event had 17 volunteers totaling 115.5 man hours of
service to and for the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce.
We have also been busy setting up for our upcoming SET on October
18th. I have generated a Press Release for this event and have
submitted it to both the newspapers in Hendricks County.
I also have been working with another of our Hams who has contact
with one of the Boy Scout troops, to try and build interest in amateur
radio within that group. I have been talking with some of the local area
Hams and looking to reach out to some of the local area Middle & High
Schools to see if we can develop an interest in amateur radio. As some
of the local High School already have robotics, and other electronic
clubs, that might benefit from amateur radio.
Barry Palencer, KC9WMS
ARRL PIO, Hendricks County
AEC Hendricks County - Public Relations
Marion County PIO John Emerson, KC9YHE
Statewide outreach continues with Indiana radio stations being asked to
include ARRL produced public service announcements in their public
service announcement rotations. Since the last report, an additional
nine radio stations have agreed to add the messages into that inventory.
Traditionally, fourth quarter is the highest demand time for commercial
radio inventory by advertisers. Radio stations desiring to maximize
revenue will likely cut back on produced PSAs in favor of utilizing that
time to improve their bottom line revenue figure. Come January,
inventory should free up again and we can expect a higher rotation of
announcements to fill unsold airtime.
On September 8th, I participated in a morning drive on-air discussion on
WSLM-FM/Salem, Indiana regarding September being designated
National Preparedness Month. Points made included that during
disasters Amateur Operators have the ability to communicate when
other lines of communication may not be available. The key role
Amateur Operators provide during emergencies is being a link to
government agencies. During severe weather, the National Weather
Service counts on SKYWARN in reporting ground level weather related
events. The host seemed genuinely interested in Amateur Radio and the
benefits offered by being a licensed operator.
John Emerson, KC9YHE
ARRL Public Information Officer
Marion County, Indianapolis
13
Shelby County PIO John Walker, K9SVL
Our focus for the next couple of months will be in producing the 100
Years of Radio in Shelby County exhibition at the Grover Museum in
Shelbyville. In conjunction with the local radio station and newspaper,
we are trying to raise folks’ awareness of the upcoming event and also
have them look in their attics, basements, and storage rooms for any
artifacts or relics that might pertain to Radio in Shelby County to put on
display at the Museum during the exhibition. As I reported earlier, we
are also planning a special event day at the Museum during the 3 month
long exhibition which has amateur radio as its main focus. We applied
for and obtained through the ARRL a special event call sign for the event
day. We will be operating from the Museum under the special event call
sign of W9S. This will be sometime during the dates of January 10 to
January 24, 2015. Members of the local club, Blue River Valley Amateur
Radio Society, will operate the special event station.
73,
John Walker, K9SVL
ARRL PIO, Shelby County
Technical Specialists – Helping Hams
TS September Reports:
I’m happy to report that I received reports from all TS’s this month
and applaud their continuing volunteer efforts to help others and
further amateur radio.
Reporting: AC9AZ, KB9BVN, K9NDU, KK9EJ, NF9K, N7BBW, N9LYY,
N9QCL, N9SFX, Ni9Y, W9BGJ, WA9FGT, WB8WOR, WB9L, W9WEL,
K3HTK, N9AWM, N9OZ
There are a few very interesting reports from the TS’s this month,
Brian KB9VN on kit building, Bill, NF9K on DMR, and Mike, WA9FGT,
report that the 147 Mhz repeater in Winslow is back on the air, as
well as other interesting information in the reports.
This month I did some more work on getting the kit building day
ready for the October 18th meeting of the Midstate Amateur Radio
Club in Franklin Indiana. We're building
Arrow 2m/440 Open Stub J-Pole antennas from their kit.
I’m very happy that a few of our newer TS’s are really bringing
forward some of the newer technologies and I for one am learning
from them. This is a great trend for our group and the younger age is
reflected once again this month with the birth of a new child rather
than a grandchild, which would closer match my age. This is a
wonderful complement to Amateur Radio and the ARRL. In my job I
work with mostly young people under the age of 35 and to see an
influx in the Technical Specialist group is really a powerful statement
for the future of amateur radio.
I'd like to remind everyone that the annual Boy Scouts Jamboree on
the Air is the weekend of Oct 17-19, scouts and scouters from all over
the world will be on the air that weekend giving amateur radio a try.
Please try to work them if you get a chance.
Also I am building another Regen Receiver. This time it is from the
Four States QRP Group. The rig is called the Ozark Patrol Regen. Very
nice kit, I hope to have it built this weekend. Would be a great first kit
for any radio enthusiast.
I’ve had correspondence with two individuals who have expressed
interest in becoming a Technical Specialist and hope to receive an
application from one in the next month.
73,
Brian Murrey, KB9BVN
I’m still looking to add a few Technical Specialists in some
underserved areas especially in the East Central and South Eastern
area of the state. For anyone who may be interested in becoming
please send me an email.
For the Month Of September it was a very exciting month here, We
had the birth of my first daughter and the starting of a new career.
As for ham radio related activities, I have been working on the Mesh
project, I have been able to tunnel the internet through but I’m
working on block the regular internet and only allowing certain
website and telent through (ham radio related). I pick up a couple
Ubiquiti link and hope to flash them to use the same software as the
Mark Westermeier, N9OZ
Indiana Section Technical Coordinator
[email protected]
14
Linksys WRT-54gl devices I’m currently using. The Ubiquiti are a
single antenna and have more output power than the Linksys Devices.
The interesting thing about DMR is that it takes a standard repeater
frequency pair and splits it to two time slots via TDMA. So a
standalone repeater is capable of carrying two simultaneous
voice/data channels at one time. Those time slots can be further split
up into talk groups, although only one given talk group can be active
at a given time. The standard offering here in Indiana looks like this:
73
David Spence, K9NDU
Not much to report other than a little bit of antenna design and
experimenting with digital decoding using an RTL-SDR dongle.
TS1:
TG1 - Worldwide
TG3 - North Amertica
TG13 - Worldwide English
TG310 - TAC-310
E.J. Caylor, KK9EJ
September was a bit of a slow month due to our regular vacation to
Gatlinburg, TN and a business trip to South San Francisco. However
even with losing two weeks out of the month I still found some time
for experimentation.
TS2:
TG2: Local
TG719: Eastern Indiana
TG3118: Indiana Statewide
TG3169: Midwest Regional
DMR, or Digital Mobile Radio, is a new mode that seems to be
growing like wild fire. Others may recognize MotoTrbo which is
Motorola's take on DMR. While stlll maintaining basic compatibility
with non-Moto gear, there are features that may not work when
using non-Moto radios with Moto repeaters. However, I have yet to
find any such incompatibilities.
For those who are carefully playing at home, you're probably
wondering how two time slots and eight talk groups work. The
answer is as you suspect, only one talk group can be active on a time
slot at any given time. So while tie model is based a bit on over
subscription, what I see happening is that the broad contacts are
made on TS1 and perhaps then transitioned to TS2. I've been playing
with DMR for the last two weeks and have found it enjoyable and
rarely have I been "bonked" when trying to use the system.
Indianapolis got its first DMR repeater online while I was on vacation.
It's a UHF machine on 441.200+ (Color Code 1) and has fairly good
coverage. As this repeater participates in the DMR-MARC network, it
is a Motorola Repeater. The DMR-MARC Network currently only
allows Motorola repeaters (XPR8300, XPR8400, etc.) to join because
other manufacturers (Hytera for example) do not have a compatible
version of their IP Site Connect. Additionally, the MARC stands for
Motorola Amateur Radio Club, so even if a Hytera repeater were
compatible, I'm not sure the politic would allow it to join, but there
are talks of trying to do just that.
I'm currently working with several radios including:
Motorola XPR6550 Handheld
Motorola XPR4550 Mobile
Connect Systems CS700 Handheld (Available to licensed amateurs for
$180)
Hytera PD362 Mini Handheld
15
Hytera MD782G Mobile
Hytera PD782G Handheld (still on it's way)
Kirisun DP770 Handheld (still on it's way)
On Wednesday September 10, I made a presentation about our Mad
Anthony Radio Club K9NCS station to the Raytheon site wide
EmComms group with participation from 13 hams representing 8
Raytheon sites across the country..
My experience has shown the mode to offer very reliable and good
quality voice with great range. I've done a lot of ops from an HT with
a stubby duck inside of a car miles from a repeater with great results.
I operated the Fort Wayne K9NCS station as net control for the
Raytheon EmComms On-The-Air event held on Thursday September
18th. We operated 15, 20 and 40M voice along with 20M PSK-31 and
made contacts on EchoLink and IRLP.
For those of you who might be experimenting, I'm usually monitoring
the Local TG2 on the W9AMT repeater. And in the spirit of things, if
you have any questions regarding the mode or specifically any of the
radios I've worked with, please feel free to let me know. I'm happy to
share what I've learned. I'm also updating my website on a regular
basis with my findings.
During this net, we had 14 hams representing 9 Raytheon sites across
the country
I set up my Windows 7 laptop with FLDigi and Ham Radio Deluxe
digital software to add more functionality in my mobile operation.
Let's hope by this time next month we're not putting down the HT's
and picking up the snow shovels!
I operated mobile and portable during my September 26 to 29
Shakamak State Park fishing trip. During this trip, I mentored a fellow
ham fishing buddy Chuck Voors WA9TAL on mobile HF operations
also with many digitals modes.
73,
Bill Atkinson, NF9K
We made several contacts on Voice, PSK-31 and Olivia. We also
received several other digital modes during the evening operations.
This past month we have been working at our EOC trying to make the
radios get the coverage they need. But you know how government
money goes:(
73,
Roger McEntarfer/ N9QCL
Whitley County TS
Whitley County PIO
Whitley County W5YI CVE
That is about it from here.
73s
Lou, N7BBW
Floyd County
16
I attended a teleconference on APRS at the South Bend radio club
meeting. I enjoyed some of the band openings that happened and
talked on the 145.39 near Lansing, Michigan. I asked if N8CM has
been on the repeater and was told that he had passed away. I just
talked to him on the phone this summer. Chuck was really into ham
radio.
Don McBride, K3RLL <><
http://www.qsl.net/k3rll/
K1 #2613 | KX1 #2396 | K2 #1569 | KX3 #4565 | K3 #8404
PB #187 | NAQCC #1905 FC7 | FISTS #13504cc 2064
FP #1843 | QRPARCI #3881 | SKCC #3133 c337
73,
Pete Ostapchuk, N9SFX
Dan G. Caesar, Ni9Y
ARRL Technical Specialist
Hello Mark and all reporting this month. Well, here we are in the first
week of October and another summer has passed us by. Reminder to
all, this is the time of year to inspect your antennas and make any
necessary repairs before snow flies, Nothing worse than fixing an
antenna failure in the dead of winter and several different forecasts
are pointing at another rough one! I have been diagnosing an
interference problem in the area causing some hash on a couple of
local VHF simplex frequencies. I have narrowed it down to leaky cable
TV a couple blocks away. I’m also planning some times for another
Many thanks for listening for us on our NAQCC Parkpedition today.
You had a good signal into Kittanning PA.
XCVR: Hendricks PFR-3 “Yellow Wonder” 4 watts
ANT: 3-band jumper dipole as an inverted vee
72/73,
17
license class beginning in early 2015. Hope to see many of you at this
year’s Fort Wayne Hamfest and Indiana State ARRL Convention in
November. That’s about it for this month. 73 to all and have a great
October
BRIAN G JENKS W9BGJ
ARRL SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER INDIANA SECTION
ARRL TECHNICAL SPECIALIST
ARRL OFFICIAL RELAY STATION
[email protected]
Next, I was going to try a 64 foot -- window line -- feed line (1/8 wave
at 1.9 MHz --- a 1/4 wave feed line would be too long -- but probably
would work better).
Jeff, N9MNS has got the 147.0 Repeater in Winslow back on the
air....looking to maybe change out the antenna for better coverage.
73,
Mike, WA9FGT
Thanks,
Dave Van Doorn, W9WEL
I want to use the loop for 160 down to 10 meters so the longer feed
line might affect 80 and down which I have now. I suppose I could rig
up a separate feed line for 160 meters, but I would rather not.
Do you have any ideas that might help me?
Coaching two individuals at my place of work on how to become a
Ham. I was approached by two of my colleagues about how to get
into amateur radio and putting together online and book resources
for them to study from. Hoping to get them into the hobby by
December if possible.
DRM – Have been researching the DMR systems being put in place
around the state and globe. Looking into how DMR operates and the
possibilities of this emerging amateur radio digital mode.
Continue working on new initiatives with HSMM / Ham Broadband for
events where it may become a valuable tool for Emergency
Communications and Data sharing.
I am working on a small project for the mobiles, a little PC design.
Though, it's pretty bad when the plastic boxes cost more than the
parts to build it!
73,
Mike, WB9L
I finally got the 160 meter loop antenna up but I am having a heck of
a time tuning it.
I have had trouble in the past with 160 meters. This time, so far, I
have a 1/4 wave 40 meter -- window line -- feed line (33 feet). All the
other bands from 80 on down to 10 meters tune up OK -- except the
160. It wants to smoke the Antenna Matching variable capacitor. It
will tune to 1;1 SWR at low power -- around 20 watts -- but, when I
increase power, smoke happens. I had a 49 foot -- window line -feed line and it did the same thing.
Ed Valasek, K3HTK
It's been a crazy few months for me starting a new job. Currently in
the HAM radio world, I am working on bringing my own IRLP node
#8559 online to serve the Bargersville, Indiana area. The node will be
utilizing a 10 year old pc that has been sitting in the back of my closet
for a few years, a new IRLP v 3.0 board, as well as my Icom 208H node
radio. I will also be assisting with the Jamboree on the Air activities
with the WD9BSA/2 station down at Camp Ransburg on Lake
18
Monroe. We will be setting up my Kenwood TS520S and a few
different tree hung 20m and 40m dipole antennas.
Official Observers – We’re Listening
This month we have had a small increase in HF monitoring. We are watching
two 80 meter frequencies for two groups. The frequencies are 3865 and
3843. I have received several complaints about foul language. We will
continue to investigate this. One OO has dropped his ARRL membership and
I am waiting to see if he wants to continue with his OO duties.
73,
Andrew Murrey
N9AWM - Extra Class License
ARRL Technical Specialist - Indiana
Midstate Amateur Radio Club
WD9BSA - Laurel VE
http://n9awm.blogspot.com
Cold weather has begun and I expect an increase in monitoring do to people
staying indoors. I am reaching out to several hams to build additional
monitoring stations. If anyone knows of individuals that would like to
participate in the OO program, feel free to have them contact me.
I’m still working on Raspberry Pi projects, which will probably
continue for many more months. In addition, I just purchased a
Jetstream JT270 mobile for my work vehicle. It is so small that it is
only slightly more than an inch or two larger than just the control
head of most mobiles. While only 10 watts, that is plenty for
operating with an external antenna. My backpacking radio project is
still going strong, just not enough time to do everything.
David Epley, N9CZV
ARRL Indiana Section Official Observer Coordinator
[email protected]
Indiana Section OOC Report September 2014
CALL
HF
VHF/UHF ADMIN
ADV
I’m heading to Charlotte NC next week to attend the National Parks
and Recreation Congress, our department was a Gold Medal finalist,
one of four in the US for 2014. I look forward to finding out if we won.
I’m also conducting a session highlighting implementation of best
business practices within government agencies - always a
controversial discussion.
0
0
0
0
0
AB9SR
25
28
1
0
0
K9CFE
8
35
1
0
0
KC9DBM
0
0
0
0
0
KC9EOT
Mark Westermeier, N9OZ
0
0
0
0
0
N9CZV
23
20
2
0
0
N9FEB
0
80
1
0
0
N9OL
8
0
1
0
0
ND9C
30
40
1
0
0
W8BYA
3
12
1
0
0
W9JDW
11
0
1
0
0
WA5LOU
20
8
1
0
0
WB9FHP
2
47
1
0
0
WB9FQS
5
51
1
0
1
16
118
1
0
0
151
439
13
0
1
WS9H
TOTALS
ADV = Advisory
19
GD OP
AB9SE
GD OP = Good Operator Report
National Traffic System – Net Gains
NTS By the Numbers
Hello everyone and welcome to October. Seems that September flew
right by and the cooler weather will soon be upon us. Traffic numbers
were up again in September after a brief August lull. Thanks
everyone for all your efforts and keep up the good work. You can
view the full report in the Section newsletter. I am looking forward to
seeing many of you at the Fort Wayne Hamfest and Indiana State
ARRL Convention in November!
INDIANA STM REPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
VHF/UHF NETS
NET NAME
SOURCE
D STAR NET
KC9QZE
DIST 7 ARES
W9EEU
HARRISON CO ARES
W9WXN
HOOSIER HILLS ARC
WD9EWF
HUNTINGTON CO NET
KE9WI
IMO NET
AB9PC
INDIANA PACKET NET
N9LYA
JEFFERSON CO
N9XVB
KOSCIUSKO CO EMG NET
KC9AYT
LAKE CO VHF NET
KF9EX
MID STATE ARC
K9DY
MORGAN CO 950 NET
NA9L
MORGAN CO ARES
N9JPX
NE IN PACKET NET
KA9QWC
ORANGE CO EMER SVC
WB9FHP
ORANGE CO SUN NET
WB9FHP
OWEN CO ARES
WD9BKA
SCOTT CO ARES/RACES
WR9G
SOUTH CENTRAL AREA
KA9OPL
STARKE COUNTY ARC
W9AL
TARS EVANSVILLE
KE9YK
TRI STATE 2 METER NET
W9OWO
WABASH VALLEY 2 MTR
N9YRX
WCARC SUN NET
KA9DTZ
21 REPEATER GROUP NET
KC9YBM
WHITLEY CO ARES
W9NNH
One other item that bears repeating, let’s not forget about the
Statewide Simulated Emergency Test coming one week before the
hamfest. If you haven't let us know your county’s intention on
whether to participate, please do so ASAP. Many of you have
reported by NTS Radiogram and ICS 213 and others in their monthly
online EC reports. For those we haven't heard from yet, please let us
know. Everyone have a great month and 73..
Brian G. Jenks, W9BGJ
ARRL Indiana Section Traffic Manager
[email protected]
TOTALS
NETS REPORTING
20
QNI
4
20
44
494
0
23
166
16
136
123
6
146
73
48
99
437
70
12
25
1942
26
QTC
0
0
22
0
0
31
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
5
3
0
6
0
3
0
0
1
0
14
1
QTR
15
5
105
23
183
323
0
31
147
36
202
212
62
82
201
261
72
84
125
62
276
549
103
36
57
42
SESSIONS
1
1
4
3
5
30
0
3
5
4
4
29
4
2
4
4
4
5
5
4
5
29
4
2
4
5
91
3294
170
INDIANA STM REPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
HF NETS
NET NAME
SOURCE
QNI
ARES HF NET
K9RFZ
71
ICN
WA9VBG
50
QIN
W9ILF
182
IDTN
K9JAJ
197
IN ARES DIG NET
W9SOX
ITN
KC9UJP
1889
TOTALS
2389
NETS REPORTING
6
INDIANA STM REPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
ORS AND SAR STATION REPORTS
STATION TYPE
ORGINATED RECEIVED
AB9ZA
SAR
1
16
KA9QWC
SAR
0
11
KC9UJP
ORS
2
98
N9EXM
ORS
0
14
N9WLW
ORS
0
10
NA9L
ORS
3
7
W9BGJ
SAR
8
216
W9EEU
ORS
0
6
W9ILF
ORS
0
33
W9LW
SAR
0
4
W9PC
SAR
0
4
W9WXN
ORS
1
78
WA5LOU
SAR
0
6
K9PUI
SAR
0
14
WB9FHP
ORS
23
893
K9DUR
SAR
0
10
KC9ZDA
SAR
0
39
TOTALS
STATIONS REPORTING
36
17
1459
QTC
0
2
27
29
8
166
232
QTR
230
350
630
1153
100
1451
3914
INDIANA STM REPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL
STATION
SESSIONS MESSAGES APPTS
AB9ZA
40
31
20
K9DUR
40
20
20
KA9QWC
40
40
20
KC9UJP
40
40
20
KC9ZDA
32
40
0
N9EXM
34
36
10
N9WLW
40
40
20
NA9L
36
15
30
W9BGJ
40
40
30
W9EEU
40
11
20
W9WXN
32
40
30
WA5LOU
28
18
30
WB9FHP
34
40
30
TOTALS
476
411
280
STATIONS REPORTING
13
SESSIONS
4
20
46
20
3
57
150
SENT
4
49
63
22
31
4
216
5
16
4
10
103
8
21
889
8
99
DELIVERED
10
0
18
0
0
4
7
0
1
0
0
18
4
1
91
2
1
TOTALS
31
60
181
36
41
15
447
11
50
8
14
200
18
36
1896
20
130
1552
157
3194
PUB SVC
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
30
70
10
0
50
165
EMG RES
0
0
0
5
5
0
60
0
0
0
5
0
5
80
DIGITAL
0
0
10
10
0
0
0
20
10
10
20
0
60
140
Stay Up To Date With Your Favorite Section Level Nets
21
TOTAL
91
80
110
115
77
85
160
101
150
152
137
76
214
1548
KC9EJL Jasper County, KC9RLC Jennings County, N9SIU Johnson
County, AB9ZA Kosciusko County, K9CFE Marion County, KC9QAK
Marshall County, WD9GIU Miami County, WB9FHP Orange County,
K9EOH Owen County, AD0TY Parke County, WY9L Ripley County,
WR9G Scott County, KB9ZYC Shelby County, W9DRB Spencer County,
N9GKE Tippecanoe County, W9DAC Tipton County, WB9EFH
Vanderburgh County, W9COD Vermillion County, KT9B Warrick
County, KA9HLE Whitley County
Amateur Radio Emergency Service – In Action
OES's REPORTING: W9WXN Harrison County, NN7C Marion County,
K9IUB Monroe County, K9DUR Vigo County, KC9TYA Vanderburgh
County, KA9QWC Whitley County,
ARES By the Numbers
NUMBER OF LOCAL ARES NETS ACTIVE: 39
NUMBER OF TEAMS WITH NTS LIAISON: 25
NUMBER OF ARES MEMBERS (REPORTED): 854
MEMBERSHIP CHANGE (REPORTED): 2
TOTAL NUMBER OF NET SESSIONS, DRILLS/TESTS THIS MONTH: 160
TOTAL PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 1451.25
NUMBER OF DEC/EC/OES REPORTS RECEIVED: 52
NUMBER OF APPOINTEES NOT REPORTING: 18
PUBLIC SERVICE EVENTS REPORTED: 17
TOTAL PSE PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 573
DEC's REPORTING: N1LL District 02, KB9WWM District 03, WR9A
District 04, W9BU District 05, N1ESB District 06, W9EEU District 07,
WY9L District 09, WB9EFH District 10,
EMERGENCY NETS REPORTED: 2
TOTAL EMERGENCY PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 9
TOTAL NUMBER OF ARES OPERATIONS THIS MONTH: 179
TOTAL PERSON-HOURS REPORTED: 2033.25
EC's REPORTING: KB9WWM Allen County, K9JAJ Bartholomew
County, WB9HLA Blackford County, KC9UWR Boone County, N9WSV
Clark County, AB9WB Clay County, K9PLG Dearborn County, KC9ELU
Decatur County, KC9RVL Delaware County, KC9CDS Elkhart County,
N9LJA Gibson County, N9GTL Grant County, WA0JTL Hamilton
County, N9MOX Hancock County, W9WXN Harrison County, KB9DJA
Hendricks County, W9MKA Henry County, W9NWN Howard County,
IN ARES SECTION PHONE NET
Sessions = 4 QNI = 71 QTC = 0 QTR = 230 minutes
IN ARES SECTION DIGITAL NET
SESSIONS = 3 QNI = - QTC = 8 QTR = 100
22
Indiana ARES September SEC Comments
County EC’s who want to invite served agency partners to participate
need to clearly identify this exercise as a non-HSEEP compliant
exercise. Although elements of the IDHS RACES team will be
participating, this is not a substitute for the twice annual statewide
RACES exercises.
Brian Smith, WW9A, resigned as the Indiana Section Emergency
Coordinator in September. Indiana ARES thanks him for his short
service to the Section and the ideas he promoted for improving it.
Nominations for candidates seeking the SEC appointment are being
accepted by contacting your District DEC or the Section Manager
directly. A teleconference for DEC’s to discuss SEC qualifications was
hosted on October 1. In the interim, Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ, current
Indiana Section Manager and former SEC (2011 – 2012) will carry the
SEC responsibilities.
An ARES forum will be hosted at the ARRL Indiana Section Convention
in Fort Wayne on November 15. The topic will be Strengthening
Digital Capabilities within Indiana ARES. The goal and progress of
building a statewide packet network and improving competency with
the FLDigi suite of programs will be discussed. I hope to see many of
our ECs present so they can carry this message back to their teams.
The November 8 statewide Simulated Emergency Test scenario has
been designed and injects for the scenario are being formulated. A list
of participating counties will be compiled in the third week of October
and emailed to all Indiana ARES appointees for verification. If your
county is planning to participate in the SET and you haven’t already
RSVP’d, then YOU NEED TO NOTIFY THE SECTION MANAGER BY EMAIL
IMMEDIATELY.
Thanks for all the effort you give in service to your communities.
Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ
ARRL Indiana Section Manager
Indiana ARES September DEC Comments
I personally wish to thank the Section NTS operators for supporting
the effort to pass ARES Emergency Coordinator ICS-213 messages in
the NTS formal nets. This was a little bit of an experiment to see how
well ECs could get traffic into the NTS nets and how well the NTS
opertors could deliver those non-standard message formats. Not
everything went perfectly, but I’m really glad that everyone seemed
to maintain a ‘can do’ attitude and work together in passing the
messages. We will need that same can do attitude on November 8
when NTS operators will be called upon to use their message handling
skills to relay messages to a centralized disaster assessment report
center.
District 3 KB9WWM: I would like to thank John Netro, N9WVM, for
giving the EC position in Wabash County another chance. For various
reasons John has resigned from the position.
At this time, there are unfilled EC vacancies in Lagrange, Huntington
and Wabash Counties. If you are interested please contact me at
[email protected].
Allen County has had a busy month for PSEs including the
Fort4Fitness Half Marathon event.
Several Counties in District 3 will be participating in the Statewide SET
on November 8th.
Further information about preparations and the mechanics of
delivering injects will be forthcoming in the last weeks of October.
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District 4 WR9A:

Attended the Tippecanoe County ARES meeting

Reviewed effectiveness of communications support for the
Wabash River Cycle Club’s annual Wabash River Ride.
interested in putting a station in the hospital facility. The group
agreed to approach the EMA Director to see if funding would be
available, but if necessary it could be self-funded. Those in
attendance preferred to self-study the ICS-700 course so the plan is to
give that one more month and if they haven’t completed we will
teach it at the next few meetings.
Spent a Saturday working with the Owen County group at a dual
function where they set up a station for the Indiana Parks On The Air,
and provided parking assistance to McCormick Creek State Park for
their annual BBQ & Blues in the Park event. Parking went smoothly,
and we had several contacts in the log, which ended up being mostly
Ohio parks. Ohio had more parks active on the air than Indiana’s total
park count. The group works very well together and good leadership
is evident.
I do plan on participating in the 2014 Simulated Emergency Test (SET)
on Saturday, NOV 8.
District 5 W9BU: During the week after Labor Day, I checked into the
Indiana Digital Traffic Net every day and sent an ICS-213 message to
the SEC.
On September 6-7, several hams from around Central Indiana and I
provided communications for the Multiple Sclerosis bicycle ride which
was headquartered in Anderson this year. Relocating the event
headquarters stretched the limits of our team’s abilities to provide
communications, but the team was up to the task. We had 2m FM
and APRS coverage for 100% of the route. Public safety officials and
the event organizers were appreciative of our efforts.
On September 27, I organized the Indianapolis Radio Club Hilltop
Operating Event. While not an ARES activity, the event did require
that participants set up temporary stations “Field Day style” and
make contacts around the state.
Clay County EC George AB9WB, and I participated in a Mock Search
Exercise with the Vigo County Sheriff’s Posse and the K-9 SAR Team.
George was part of the net control function, while I was both a lost
victim and provided communication support for a couple of K-9
searches.
Our new Sullivan County EC, Stan N9SWD, has sent a mailing to all
licensed individuals in the county. Stan says that he has received a
couple of positive responses from the mailing. I anticipate good things
from Stan and the Sullivan County group in the future.
District 6 N1ESB: Fairly busy month. Great PSE in Delaware County for
the annual White River Cleanup. Hams from Delaware, Randolph and
Henry counties pitched in to help with communications. Looking
forward to the SET and Fort Wayne Hamfest in a few weeks...
District 9 WY9L: working to get ARES established for Jefferson &
Franklin counties.
District 7 W9EEU: Attended the Clay County meeting. EC George
AB9WB attended a planning meeting at the hospital and they are very
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Indiana ARES September EC Comments
Hamilton County WA0JTL: Hamilton County is planning to conduct
SET on 10/4/14. We will attempt to also participate in the November
State SET.
Allen County KB9WWM: The Allen County ARES Team supported 2
PSEs this month. The Allen County Heart Walk and the Fort4Fitness
Half Marathon Event. The manhours worked for the events were 118.
We have 1 more PSE coming in October and are in preparations for
the event.
Hancock County N9MOX: HARC held their annual hamfest during
September. A small amount of money was raised to support the
operation of the local repeaters. Our repeater was also used to
coordinate a bicycle event from Anderson to Shelbyville (N9FEBcoordinator). Coverage was reported to be good over all of the route.
Bartholomew County K9JAJ: Thank you to all the Team members,
locally and all across the Section, who freely give of their time each
month.
Harrison County W9WXN: A special thanks to Kerry KC9UJP who gave
a NTS training class to Clark county ARES. We held 4 monthly sessions
of our ARES training net. Several ARES members helped test the
monthly sirens.
Cass County KV9N: All activity this month is from our local club net.
Clark County N9WSV: We have completed a purge of our records and
asked for updated contact information for those that want to be
active. We purged out a bunch of people we near hear from, but we
have added some new faces to our group.
Hendricks County KB9DJA: This month in ARES, attended meetings
at, Hendricks Regional Health, ESF-8, Plainfield Chamber of
Commerce, (Quaker Day Fest. meeting). Had our first HCARES
membership meeting on Sept.15th. Had our monthly hospital radio
net on the 18th, and started back up our monthly simplex net on the
9th. Our monthly simplex nets will run till May 2015, then close for
the summer.
We had Kerry KC9UJP give a class on message passing via NTS. Very
informative and we hope to have more involvement with NTS in the
coming
months.
Clark County will be participating in the 11/8 Statewide SET
The annual Quaker Day Festival in Plainfield was the weekend of 2021. This is sponsored by the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce and
we're asked to provide them with health and welfare messages
during the event. Had 17 hams participated in this year's event to
cover over three different areas of the festival. Turned in form FSD157 to the ARRL, and during the event we used ICS-211 for the checkin listings for each day, ICS-214 for our log, and ICS-217 for our
communications plan during this event.
Dearborn County K9PLG: Sept 2014 Meeting on 9.4.14 @ Dearborn
County Emergency Operations Center: 7:30 pm 9 people attended - 1
hour 37 min.
Delaware County KC9RVL: 4 Weekly nets on 2 repeaters and 1
simplex frequency; 1 Public service event- White River Cleanup on
Sept 13, 2014. 15 Amateur operators participated in this event.
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Howard County N9NWN: Howard Co did not have any Public Service
Communication events this month. We did submit our ICS-213 via
NTS for the State wide SET, also attended the monthly Kokomo Radio
Club meeting and talked a bit about the upcoming SET and that there
was going to be a couple of weekly nets that would have ICS-213's in
them.
implementation. However, we were first activated about 30 minutes
into the Exercise, and the Exercise itself was over about an hour later,
not giving the radio operators much time to get anything significant
done. In the future, we will be pre-staging key personnel and
equipment for quicker start up when participating in LEPC Exercises.
Also, we will be staging our own Exercises so that the
Communications goals can be met in our own timeframe.
Jasper County KC9EJL: Preparation/Participation for Annual Porter
County Popcorn Festival and Annual Jasper County SandCrane
Festival
also, weather alert during Jasper County Festival.
On September 25, a CERT Monthly Training meeting was held,
attended by six ARES members.
Johnson County N9SIU: Johnson County ARES/RACES members
provided public safety and parking assistance to the Greenwood High
School on Saturday September 29. This was for their annual Marching
Band Invitational with consisted of a total of 31 bands from various
parts of Indiana. There were a total of 13 radio amateurs to help with
is event. The event had over 5,000 in attendance through out the day.
Amateur radio was used to
coordinate parking that was spread over a mile area.
Marion County K9CFE: Marion County ARES volunteers supported the
annual Multiple Sclerosis bicycle ride on September 6th and
7th. ARES volunteers provided real time radio communications with
event staff and public safety personnel around the course.
Marion County ARES volunteers staffed the Salvation Army
Emergency Disaster Services amateur radio station on the afternoon
of September 6th to support a communications test. The N9EDS
station test various communications modes with a deployed Salvation
Army EDS canteen at the Dekalb county airport.
Kosciusko County AB9ZA: On September 22, the LEPC staged a
planned four-hour Exercise to simulate a large anhydrous ammonia
release at a local fertilizer supplier. ARES was activated to assist with
communications. After an initial Call-Up, six local radio operators
responded, along with three others that were already participating in
other capacities in the Exercise.
Marion County will be participating in the 2014 Indiana Section
Simulated Emergency Test.
Marshall County KC9QAK: RDF of Paper airplane flight.
There were several issues with emergency communications that
arose initially that will be corrected with additional training in the
future, mostly due to lack of knowledge of the radios in the
EOC. Also, to simulate an actual call-up, none of the radio operators
or equipment was pre-staged for this event, thinking we would have
the full four hours of the Exercise for call-up and
Miami County - WD9GIU: Miami Co. ARES will be participating in the
SET on Nov. 8th.
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Orange County WB9FHP: Somewhat of a slow month during
September. The group had an RDF session with fair participation, part
of this was also using location clues similar as to what a victim might
try to use if they were hurt and trying to communicate their location.
As a member of the Orange County LEPC attended the meeting where
we discussed "partnering" with another county and some discussion
of an upcoming LEPC Exercise with possible use of amateur radio.
Also making plans for the participation in the Euro-American SET in
October.
Vanderburgh County WB9EFH: EC is working on contacting non
participating members to see if they are still interested, if so, invite
them to come to our monthly meetings. Note to SEC and SM all of
our members except one are also RACES Members
Owen County K9EOH: Busy month. Began with the monthly severe
weather siren test net. Covered 10 of the 12 sirens. Will pick up the
other two next month. The McCormick's Creek State Park trail run
was covered as well as assisting with marshaling of the Yearly
Applebutter Parade. We also had a both at the festival and signed up
two people for our Technician lessons.
Indiana ARES September OES Comments:
Vermillion County W9COD: Attended the WVARA family learning day.
Whitley County KA9HLE: Whitley County ARES would like to
participate in the statewide ARES SET.
K9DUR: September was a slow month. Started teaching our annual
Technician class. Also started discussing plans for SET with W9EEU.
KA9FCU: Im working toward getting my stations set for relay work
and helping with the Sunday ARES net on 3900. Im trying to establish
myself with section nets in the surrounding states. Thats abt it from
here.
Parke County AD0TY: Chuck and I had a guest run our net once this
month as we both had pressing family matters to attend to. We split
the other 4 nets evenly. I usually list the number of nets and checkins
that I have when I am net control, otherwise it is hard for Chuck and I
to coordinate our information some times.
KC9TYA: The ARISS contact was successful. The students with the
Evansville Day School did a great job. The Evansville museum did a
terrific job of hosting the event. Amateur Radio put on a fine show.
The students asked their questions and received answers from
Astronaut Reid Wiseman, as the International Space Station flew over
Southwestern Indiana. Congratulations to TARS (Tri-State Amateur
Radio Society) ARISS Team who did a fantastic job.
I do plan on participating in the November SET, however, it looks
likely that I will be the only one participating in my county, which
could make it difficult for me.
Ripley County WY9L: We held 1 meeting and had 1 public service
event for Salute A Soldier 5k walk/run in Sunman Indiana. We are
looking at decreasing our team by members who have not attended
anything in quite some time, but have gained a couple of prospective
new members .
I attended the AUXCOMM class in Princeton, IN for 20 hrs oftraining
on Saturday and Sunday the 6th and 7th. I would encourage anyone
who has a chance to attend this training to do so. NCS for the
NWS/EMA Tri-State Emergency Net, after activation, 3.5 hours on
September 10, for the expected bad weather.
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I served as NCS for TARS on Wednesday Night Net Sept. 24th for 30
min.
Of course, I took the time to reply and describe how the Indiana STM
and ARES SEC had a face to face meeting in August to plan for our
first statewide SET. I touted the twice daily phone net and twice daily
CW net and weekday digital nets conducted in Indiana. Many SM’s
responded with kudos that Indiana is so active.
KA9QWC: Continued to support the HF digital nets within our Indiana
Section and neighboring states along with sending and receiving radio
traffic on VHF packet radio in several area counties. Relayed ICS-213
messages to our Indiana Section staff received on various radio
nets. Maintain emergency backup power for radio operations to use
on VHF/UHF/HF.
The credit for that Indiana pride goes to all of you who volunteer and
participate in these activities. Each month, I get reports including the
ARES man-hours, the net check-ins, and Official Observer monitoring
minutes from the SEC, STM, and OOC respectively. They are compiled
and sent to ARRL HQ. Shortly after my term started, I contacted HQ
and asked how they want the files formatted to help them digest all
the data. I learned not all Section Managers file reports, and so ARRL
HQ is just happy to get pne. Speaking with Steve Ewald, the ARRL
Field Organization Supervisor, he admitted that Indiana has long been
one of the most reliable Sections to file reports
W9WXN: One brief weather watch net for flash flooding. No reports
received.
In Closing
As always, I appreciate the great articles people are writing and
submitting for publication in the Section Newsletter. Everything
printed in these pages covers activities that hams across the Section
are doing. Personally, I never cared much for the slogan, “We Are
Active”, but it definitely applies and we have tangible evidence of it
each month.
Filing the requested reports is one of my responsibilities I take pride
in doing. It’s how all of you get credit for your efforts. The reports
represent a lot of hard work and dedication to Amateur Radio. It’s not
a competition with other Sections to boast about our
accomplishments. It’s reporting on your efforts and giving credit
where credit is due. Please keep up the good work and keep reporting
your activities with articles for the Section Newsletter.
As Section Manager, I have the privilege of belonging to an ARRL
sponsored mail list for SM’s only. Reading some of the posts from
other Section Managers describing the problems and lack of activity
in their Sections makes me even more grateful for all the work and
effort Indiana hams do.
Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ
For example, one SM recently posted a question on the list asking
how active your STM (Section Traffic manager) is. I was amazed that
the first responses from a few Sections admitted they don’t have an
STM or that the hams there don’t pass NTS messages. One SM
admitted his STM is the only person handling messages in the Section.
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