Georgia Section On My Mind
July 2011
Georgia on My Mind:
I wish I could have visited the Field Day sites for all in Georgia.
But I ran out of time after I attended five locations. First was the
outdoor group at Milledgeville. Hard to see whether the grill or the
key in Charles' (K4GK) hand was hottest. But as the beef was smoking
I had to leave for Warner Robins where Dave KN4DS greeted me with an
invitation for dinner. Big turnout here with outdoor cover for several
stations using a big generator courtesy of the Baptist Mission there.
Left there in time to get to Americus where a motley crew had erected
several clothes-lines and a pole or 2 and were busy making contacts
under a tent. As darkness began to fall (I had sworn to myself and to
my wife that I would not drive these deer-laden highways at night) I
made my way to Tifton where the CPARC guys had an indoor event spread
throughout a church property donated for the day. Just to be sure the
Hospital's radios were in good shape, the usual hospital's Pelican
Case with the equipment was also pressed into service. It was late
dark, but there was still a crowd with some teen-agers.
The next morning found me at Thomasville as the mop-ups began. Some very young
children who had participated in contacts were sleeping it off after
going to a mattress at 4AM. The TV crew arrived for an interview about
2PM Sunday as the antennas were being prepared for the drop. All seemed
to be tired, and pleased. I hope you had a great Field Day also. Maybe
I will see you next year. Incidentally, I documented 16 groups taking
advantage of the 100 points for sending formal messages to SM. All FD
traffic left the field day site via rf, but they finally arrived by
SSB, Winlink, and email.
From the ARES meetings in Dayton the "Headliner" was the remarks
now re-quoted from FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate that the Amateur
Radio Operator is "the ultimate backup, the originators of what we
call the Social Media". He said that "we get so sophisticated and
we have gotten so used to the reliability and resilience in our
wireless and wired and our broadcast industry and all of our public
safety communications that we can never fathom that they'll fail. They
do. They have. They will." "Yes, most of the time [the amateurs
are] going be bored, because a lot of the time, there's not a lot
they're doing that other people aren't doing with Twitter and Facebook
and everything else. But when you need Amateur Radio, you really need
them." Now, this is not a ham, maybe full of himself, but the big guy
looking at us. Guys and Gals, those are big shoes to fill, and we are
expected to be ready to fill them when the time comes.
The Cherokee County group got lots of local recognition in the Cherokee
Tribune for their part in making Georgia the number one for the national
Simulated Emergency Test in October 2010. Congratulations to us all!
The disaster in Joplin, MO saw many hams (some from GA) volunteering
and supporting communications for SATERN, American Red Cross and
others. Missouri SEC Kenneth Baremore, WØKRB, sends thanks all who
rose to the occasion (including at least one from Georgia) giving up
vacation time or personal time to help.
Charles K4GK reports on a massive power outage due to a storm with much
damage at 9:22, June 15. The Sheriff's repeater system was down and
they had to go to back-up VHF simplex. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Pennsylvania Governor Corbett proclaimed June 2011 as "Amateur Radio
Month". John Davis KB4QDX and others contacted Governor Deal who
proclaimed June 19-25 as "Amateur Radio Appreciation Week" in
recognition of the Field Day activities.
Robert KF4VBR, our webmaster for GAARES.ORG announces the creation of a
Twitter account for ARES. (Twitter is FREE!) The Account is
<@GA_ARES>. Look at the right sidebar on the GAARES.ORG site.
Robert says "This will give us the ability to post information that
can be picked up by smart cell phones or any computer connected to the
Internet and could become a valuable tool to our ready-kits. Messages
like: ‘147.200 Repeater down - switch to 146.460 simplex' could be
sent out to alert ARES members coming into an area where the local
repeater is down. Or even on a Sunday ARES Net if you had to change
from 80M to 40M for some reason. The information can be sent quickly
and could even be used to give highlights of each weeks net for those
members that do not have HF like: ‘Upcoming SET - April 2- call
WX4PTC - Net Control' or ‘Special Meeting held at Pizza Hut in
Dalton, GA on April 17 at 8pm', ‘NET Control operators needed for
the month of May - contact Charles', or ‘Two Tornadoes entering SW
corner of DeKalb County- Take shelter now'. The sky is the limit on
how this can help us get information out to our members."
Even the NWS stations are getting into the free social media (Twitter
and Facebook), see Peachtree and Tallahassee, for example. SEC Mike is
working on a Facebook account for ARRL in GA.
We do now need a new "Net Directory" for Georgia. As earlier
stated, it is so out of date that it is more misleading than helpful.
I tentatively plan to ask Bob K4PHE to take out all the entries in the
existing list and put in the following entries for which I have current
data:
• For HF I have "Georgia ARES", "Southwest District HF
Weather", "Georgia Traffic and Emergency Net".
• For VHF/UHF I have "Thomasville ARC", "Southwest District
ARES Net", "Southwest District ARES VHF Net", "Paulding Douglas
County ARES Net", "Barrow County ARES VHF Net", "Barrow Amateur
Radio Club Net".
Of course this list may be amended now or at any time. The directory
must be dynamic with the changes over time. Any adds at this time?
Following are the items needed for your Net Listing: ARRL-GA.org. For
HF or Simplex nets
1. Name of Net
2. Frequency
3. Time. (State whether AM/PM or UTC). If two times are necessary
then use two separate listings.
4. Days of Operation. Eg.: M-F, M-Sa, Sun., MWF, Fourth Sunday.
5. Purpose of Net. NTS, S=Skywarn, E=Emergency, A=ARES,
C=Conversational/Club
6. Date of listing
7. Net Manager and Contact information. Preferably the Call and email,
but postal or telephone number accepted.
Coming up:
Newton County Hamfest at Covington July 30. See http://www.ncrcga.org/
for details.
Also, in the near future:
Paulding ARC Hamfest in Dallas, 9/17/2011. See http://pauldingarc.com
LaGrange Hamfest on 10/8. See http://www.lagrangeradioclub.org
And (same date): Augusta Hamfest on 10/8/2011. See http://w4dv.org
Georgia SEC Mike Brown KE4FGF and his crew have been hard at work
planning for the S.E.T. in October. I hear of 2 major emphases.
First, look for new relationships to be born as we cooperate with
contiguous Sections in the event (Mike loves to break political
barriers). Secondly look for emphasis on involvement of Technician
licensees. Still a way to go in final formulation.
The EC 016 course for "Public safety Emergency Communications
Management for Radio Amateurs" continues to attract a few select
amateurs. Tom Kirkbride K1EOD of Fayetteville is working to achieve
this. Thanks, Tom for your energy and dedication.
Again I pass along the announcement of the D-STAR Academy at Mt. Dora,
FL. See http://cfldsg.org/academy.htm. This would be excellent for us
newbies to DSTAR, but unfortunately it conflicts with the Newton County
Hamfest (see above). So "you pays your nickel and you takes your
choice". (The Hamfest is free!)
So here is KE4QCM Tom Fuller's ARES report for the Section:
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE
Total number of ARES members: * 937 Change since last month: -126
reported (+, -, or same)
# of DECs/ECs reporting this month: 50
,# of ARES nets active:
188,
# with NTS liaison: 0
Calls of DECs/ECs reporting: see below
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 254
Person hours: 4389
Number of public service events this month: 16
Person hours: 686
Number of emergency operations this month: 25
Person hours: 488
Total number of ARES operations this month: 295
Total Person hours: 5563
Comments: see below
Signature: Thomas Fuller Call sign: KE4QCM
Please send to ARRL HQ, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 by 10th of
the month
FSD-96 (1-04)
* 937 members reported, 1063 from last report, with -126 reported by
EC's
ASECs/DECs/ECs reporting
ASEC/DECs:
DEC Central/KN4DS , ASEC Digital Communications/KG4VUB, DEC East
Central/KD4CK, DEC GEMA/K5AES, DEC GA Public Broadcasting/WB4QDX, DEC
Georgia State Patrol/W4SKB, DEC Handiham/N0FBV, DEC Metro
Atlanta/WB4NWS, DEC National Weather Service-Peachtree City/KD4YDC, DEC
Salvation Army/WA4UJC, DEC West Central/KA4KBX
ECs:
Central:
Baldwin/W4OY, Butts/K3GWK, Dodge/KC5AVR, Peach/KI4YNZ, Putnam/KF4EOH,
Twiggs/KJ4LAM, Washington/K4GK
East Central:
Columbia/K1OYQ, Richmond/AH6IW
Metro Atlanta:
Cherokee/WW4WX, Clayton/AJ4GT, Dekalb/W4TGA, Fayette/AG4ZR,
Gwinnett/WB4QDX, Newton/WA4UJC, North Fulton/W4UOC, Paulding/K4DMF,
South Fulton/KJ4NAX
Northeast:
Forsyth/KG4AOX, Greene/KF4EOH, Hall/,AA4BA Towns/W4VFZ, Walton/AI4JI
Northwest:
Dade/KD4EKZ, Gilmer/KC4GH, Murray/AI4ZV, Pickens/K4SJR, Walker/W4LWC
Whitfield/AI4ZV
Southeast:
Chatham/K4GTM, Toombs/KG4BKO
Southwest:
Baker/K4GCR, Dougherty/N4GPJ, Grady/KE4URL, Lee/W5VRV, Seminole/K4TPD,
Thomas/N4KXL
West Central:
Muscogee/W4OZA, Troup/AD4GS
Comments:
ASEC/DECs:
DEC Central/KN4DS, Field Day was huge this month across the central
district, with major FD operations in Milledgeville, Dublin and Warner
Robins. Hurricane season is here, and we've spent time on 2 meter
simplex. We're also planning for the SET in October... that will be
fun!
EC East Central/KD4CK, DEC GEMA/K5AES, Most of the activity for June
was field day and planning meetings for a regional hospital SET in
September. Field day seemed to go well overall with the two clubs in
the district with normal glitches. Both clubs had new members
participating and a reasonable turn out.
DEC GEMA/K5AES, 1. Configured all home computers Desktop & Laptop with
GPS position reporting capability. 2. Participated in DEC Webinar, 2
hrs
DEC GA Public Broadcasting/WB4QDX, Installation of Albany D-STAR
repeater
DEC Georgia State Patrol/W4SKB,Due to health issues I have nothing to
report for June. should do better this month....
DEC Handiham/N0FBV, Working with 2 members to test have a nice july 4
don
DEC Metro Atlanta/WB4NWS, The Metro Atlanta District ARES Net was held
on June 5th at 1600hrs with Newton County hosting and Charles Davis,
WA4UJC as Net Control. There were 24 checkins and the net lasted 45
minutes. The time for each checkin is recorded in the GA ARES database
under each individual with their respective county. As information, I
attended the North Fulton ARES meeting in June, along with attending
the Atlanta Integrated Warning Team (IWT) Workshop, hosted by NWS on
June 1,2 at GA TECH Research Institute. Also attended North GA Health
District Technical Assistance Review (TAR)- CRI/SNS on June 30th at
Cherokee County EOC.
DEC National Weather Service-Peachtree City/KD4YDC, Svr Wx: June 24 - 2
people, 8 man-hrs; June 26 - 1 person, 6.5 man-hrs. Misc: Nat'l Wx
Service open house on June 4th, and coordinating a new tower - 1
person, 6 man-hrs.
DEC Salvation Army/WA4UJC, Participate in the weekly SATERN Net. Please
check into the SATERN Net on Saturday at 11am on 7.265 MHz
DEC West Central/KA4KBX, Attended ARES meeting at Dayton and Atlanta
Hamfest. Attended ARC and several other club meetings within District.
Promoted training through email by providing links to various training.
NIMS 802 is not hard, all of my children completed it in less than
thirty minutes, so it is time to get all of this training.
ECs:
Central:
Baldwin/W4OY, ARES activities were down because of repeater problem.
Submitted training to members. Publicity: Received a proclamation from
the Mayor of Milledgville for Amateur Radio Week and the role of
Amateur Radio operators in City and County. Members participated in the
annual Field Day and was visited by SM.
Butts/K3GWK, Assisted Newton County ARES with their tornado siren
testing.
Peach/KI4YNZ, July's Hospital Net was a bust....only 2 other stations
and no NC. (Bad timing...4th of July activities.)
East Central:
Columbia/K1OYQ, The Columbia County ARC held Field Day up at Lake
Thurmond this year. We had 28 members and guests participate and eight
were ARES members. We held a VE Test session on the 25th at the FD
site. We operated 2A from a couple of FEMA trailers. The County EMA and
Sheriff paid us a visit (no we didn't get arrested). We operated CW,
SSB, Digital, Satellite,VHF/UHF and put on a D-Star demo. Great fun and
a great ARES experience
Richmond/AH6IW, 4 hours (2 people) hospital net 5 hours (3 peopl3)
planning meetings for Sept. region G hospital exercise.
Metro Atlanta:
Cherokee/WW4WX, We had 70 checkins on our nets this month and 2 tests
for a total of 342 total hours. 26 participants worked Field Day as we
operated 3 Alpha GA with a 6 meter GOTA Station and a VHF Simplex
Station. Highlights included the use of a FLEX 3000 SDR on 20m, FT-950
on 40m/15m, PSK-31 Station with a 160m dipole, 80m di-pole, 40m
di-pole, 6m di-pole and 2 VHF/UHF antennas. The catered in BBQ was a
hit and dessert was a cake labeled with
Clayton/AJ4GT, 1}4 Weekly nets -- 2}3 Skywarn operations -- 3}2 General
officer meetings with AECs Removed inactive members to inactive status &
gained 3 new members of Clayton/Henry ARES TEAM
Dekalb/W4TGA, Participated in PDK Good Neighbor Day, supported DCFR at
apartment fire with canteen, attended MMRS meeting and Fulton County
Health POD meeting.
Fayette/AG4ZR, 911 time, meeting with EMA, Field day, various nets and
various other projects
Gwinnett/WB4QDX, Addition of 3 new members to Deployable status, 1
deleted as SK.
Newton/WA4UJC, We were activated 3 times this month for severe weather
operations. We check the weather sirens each week in the county and
report the results to the 911 Director and EMA Director.
North Fulton/W4UOC, • Our speaker this month was Lans Rothfusz,
KD5EJN, Meteorologist in Charge from the National Weather Service
office in Peachtree City.
South Fulton/KJ4NAX, Participated in Field Day with Alford Memorial
Radio Club. Invited officials from AFCEMA but due to demands of last
couple of months, no one could attend. Working on co-ordinating a net
that will not interfere with other ARES nets in the area and existing
nets on the 146.820 repeater. Working with ARC repeater manager to
coordinate net for South Fulton. Also working on a net for hospitals in
Fulton to test and operate their DStar radios. Coordinating that effort
with Barry W4TGA and John WB4QDX for reflector and/or normal FM
communication. Hope to have the VHF DStar net active by Fall.
Northeast:
Greene/KF4EOH, 11 of us had a terrific time at Field Day!
Walton/AI4JI, Had a great field day with over 25 participants.
Northwest:
Gilmer/KC4GH, Field Day/ ARES exercise
Murray/AI4ZV, Please see Whitfield County report for combined report
for Murray and Whitfield Counties.
Pickens/K4SJR, Jasper Radio Club/Pickens County ARES had 5 regular nets
in June, one from the EOC. We had one monthly training meeting and one
miscellaneous activity. We ran a 2A with GOTA and VHF on Field Day this
year.(Modes: SSB, Digital, CW and Satellite) We had 12 operators and a
total of 43 persons attending this year. We had children Get On The Air
for the first time this year. As an added bonus, my grandson Tre (age 3)
made his first contact this year at Field Day
Walker/W4LWC, During Field Day events held at LaFayette Middle School,
we were visited by Catoosa County EMA Deputy Director and Walker County
EMA Director. Both were very complimentary of our event and demonstrated
capabilities. We hope this marks a step toward greater cooperation
between Amateur Radio operators and local Emergency Management in the
Northwest Georgia Area.
Whitfield/AI4ZV, This report includes Kids Day June 18 and Field Day on
June 25/26. This is a combined report for Whitfield and Murray Counties.
Southeast:
Chatham/K4GTM, Great Field Day on site at one of our Served Agencies,
Candler Hospital in Savannah. Setup on top two decks of the parking
garage. 100% solar power for the entire event. Field Day Chairman,
Kevin Bell, KW4B did an outstanding job this year!
Toombs/KG4BKO, n/a
Southwest:
Baker/K4GCR, not much going on which is good.
Lee/W5VRV, Nine hours covers my time as net control for the Georgia
Traffic Net and the Georgia Traffic & Emergency New. This also includes
my time checking into the various nets: GSN, GTEN, GSSBN, & GTN.
Seminole/K4TPD, The drought and heat were the highlights in Seminole
County during June. There were 12 days that the temperature reached or
exceeded 100 degrees. On June 14 I hit a high of 105.1 degrees. The NWS
in Tallahassee reported an all time record of 105 degrees on that day
also. The closest NWS reporting station to my location in Seminole
County is the Marianna, FL airport and that station reported 106
degrees on that day. Until the last three days of June I had only
recorded ½ inch of rain. Seminole County's economic engine is
primarily agriculture and the constant use of large pivot irrigation
systems has caused the water table to drop resulting in many deep wells
going dry. On the severe weather side there was some minor wind damage
to some awnings on a business in Donalsonville, GA during June. And
finally a commercial vehicle knocked down several utility poles causing
an eight hour power outage in southern Seminole County giving me an
opportunity to exercise my generator for several hours under full load.
Until next month, 73
Thomas/N4KXL, We had a great Field Day with a bunch of dedicated hams
that always seem to show up and see that things like getting antennas
up, testing, Cooking, radio opps, and cleanup and the take down.Our
club has a great group that are hard workers and Field day was a
success because of it let by our long time president Mike Brown,
KE4FGF!!!!!
And finally, of course, Charles K4GK's STM report:
Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR)
K4GK 120
K4BG 110
K4BEH 110
WA4UJC 101
WB4BIK 90
N5EEO 90
Station Activity Report (SAR) Traffic
K4BG 226
K4GK 132
N5EEO 124
WB4BIK 40
WA4UJC 31
K4BAI 13
K4BEH 6
KJ4DRW 1
Section Nets
Georgia Statewide ARES HF Net QNI-520 QTC-3 Sessions-4
3975 KHz 2200 UTC Sunday K4GK Net Manager
Georgia Single Sideband Net QNI-2046 QTC-56 Sessions-30
3975 KHz 7 P.M. Daily KE4VPD Net Manager
Georgia Traffic and Emergency Net QNI-1169 QTC-21 Sessions-30
3982.5 KHz 7:15 PM Daily W4AYK Net Manager
Georgia Traffic Net QNI-337 QTC-51 Sessjons-26
3987.5 KHz 1:00 PM Mon-Sa WA4UJC Net Manager
Georgia ARES Digital Net QNI-93 QTC-0 Sessions-4
3583 KHz 2130 UTC Sunday PSK31 WB4NWS Net Manager
Georgia (CW) Training Net GTN QNI-77 QTC-1 Sessions-27
3549 KHz 9 PM Daily slow speed CW KG4FXG Net Manager
Georgia Cracker Net QNI-782 QTC-2
Sessions-30
3995 KHz 7 AM Mon-Sa & 8 AM Sun K4LTD Net Manager
Georgia State Net (GSN) QNI-311 QTC-56
Sessions-62
3549 KHz 7 PM and 10 PM Daily K4GK Net Manager
Submitted:
Charles Pennington, K4GK
Section Traffic Manager (STM)
Georgia Section Editor's note:
I mis-reported to Charles the total QNI for GTEN as
"874"; it should have been 1169 - Gene W4AYK
Lets make it another great month, and I will see many of you in
Covington on July 30.
Gene, W4AYK
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