From the EC’s Desk

by Nathan NA7EE on 2015-12-29

As we near the end of another successful year, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of the members that make Multnomah County ARES possible. Currently there are in excess of 70 active members in Multnomah County ARES. It takes us all to be a well operating unit.

This past year we have seen our operating skills and abilities grow by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the efforts of our membership, the trailer project has gone from a dream to being deployed on multiple training and operating occasions. This new tool will allow us to perform control and relay functions free from the shortcomings of our brick and mortar operating locations. In October, during the Disaster Relief Trials, we operated both a voice net and three different digital modes (video/still imagery/Winlink) from the field simultaneously. This included over six field stations and two mobile operating trailers coordinating the efforts of our radio operators. I was so impressed by your abilities during that event that I am ecstatic for the future.

Regarding our path forward, I have met with the Multnomah County Emergency Management Director, Chris Voss, and the Operations Manager, Alice Busch, and our directions are clear. We are to grow our ranks so that we can operate as many field deployable digital teams as possible. This will require a renewed recruitment and training effort. The leadership team has created the training outline for next year, and I’ll share details at the January meeting.

On the recruitment side of the house, we need to spread the word about our organization and mission. If you know anyone that would be a good fit with us, please encourage their participation. We are one small part of the massive task that is preparing Multnomah County for disaster, but I am confident in both the vision of our Emergency Management team and in our abilities as operators, and I will seek to provide the trained operators that the County Emergency Management team has asked for. Here’s to a great new year of growth and development!

District 1 News

by John KX7YT on 2015-12-21

First, thanks to James Bryant KD7WZI for his years of service to Oregon ARES and especially District 1.

Within recent weeks there have been lot of changes in Oregon ARES/RACES leadership. Bruce Bjerke K7BHB in Florence has been appointed to the top state position as Oregon Section Emergency Coordinator. One of his top priorities is to resurrect the District Emergency Coordinator structure within the state as most of these positions have been vacant for some time. As SEC, he has appointed me to the DEC-1 position. For the past several years, I have been in an Assistant SEC position organizing SETs.

Steve Taylor N7BEF has replaced Lynn Burrell KE7WME as Washington County EC. Lynn is now EC for the OEM Amateur Radio Unit in Salem.

I have been in ARES for many years in various positions and have been licensed for 45 years. I enjoy HF radio contesting as well. Thanks to all for your service.

Training & Certification News

by Eli W7ELI on 2015-12-15

Your leadership Team got together for an all-day workshop to lay out the plan for the coming year. We went over the survey responses and tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as were workable. The calendar of training and events that resulted is at the end of this newsletter. Many of you requested more hands-on training, and we attempted to address that need. The BEST way to get hands-on training is to participate in SETs, exercises, and public service events. We will let you know about as many of these as we can via the website, the newsletter, and announcements at our monthly meetings.

At the request of our County Emergency Manager, Chris Voss, we will also be putting a strong emphasis on digital radio communications. We are launching our Packet RMS Radio Operator Certification. Look for the task list on the MCARES website under the Training tab. We encourage all ARROs to get this certification.

The Portland NET program is about to launch their own ARO training program! It is modeled after our own ARRO training and is tailored to the specific needs of the NET program. For those NET hams who would like to be more involved with emergency amateur radio communications, becoming a member of MCARES, joining the Rover team, and participating in our meetings, exercises, and public events is encouraged.

I will be conducting three sets of ARRO workshops in the coming year. All new provisional members should attend these workshops after completing the FEMA IS-100, IS-200, and IS-700 on-line courses. This is a slight change from the past in that we are asking all members who are not yet ARRO certified to attend these workshops, and the ICS classes must be completed before attending the workshops.

Membership News

by Deb KK7DEB on 2015-12-10

Our County EM, Chris Voss, has requested that we develop mobile response teams with digital capability to serve various county communication needs. We also need to strengthen our served agency teams. This will require a focus on recruiting this year. Steve W7SRH, our PIO, and I will work together in this new recruitment effort and we will need everyone’s help.

Our vision is to have geographical teams of three to four operators that can be rapidly deployed. Let me know if you are interested in being on one of these teams. The first pilot team is the West County Mobile Team with Steve W7SRH as team leader. We hope to expand to other areas as our membership grows.

We hope to have the trailer finished in early 2016 and plan to put it to work in our recruitment effort. If you know of an emergency preparedness event that could be a recruitment opportunity, please let Steve or me know.

Welcome to our new members, Kirk KG7WXN, Bill KG7SEU, Lily KG7WYG, Leslie KG7VGL, Pete KG7MRZ, Lou KG7SUF, and Herman KG7ZBI. Please reach out and greet them at the January meeting.

Multnomah County ARES Communications Trailer Project

by Web Manager on 2015-10-28

It’s hard to believe that a year has already passed since we began our campaign to build an emergency communications trailer. Last October, in partnership with the Portland Amateur Radio Club, Multnomah County ARES launched a fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 to buy a cargo trailer and convert it into a mobile radio station that would be used for disaster relief, drills, education, and public outreach. Through a combination of an Indiegogo campaign, raffles, generous individuals and organizations – and a lot of gumption – we were able to purchase a 7×14-foot trailer that is quickly becoming an incredible communications and education asset.

We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who has donated both financially and with their talents to help make this project become a reality. Thanks to the craftsmanship of our members we’ve completed the flooring, walls and insulation, electrical wiring, and the cabinetry and work surfaces. And as of this writing, the AC and DC infrastructure is at 80% and getting dialed in. Lighting, ceiling, and graphics are in the near future.

We were awarded a grant from the state which will fund much of the radio equipment, including three VHF/UHF radios for voice and digital communications, an HF radio, generators, and more. In addition to this generous grant, we have also received donations from several corporations whom we would like to thank, including Repeaterbook.com, Tigertronics, Kantronics, DX Engineering, RIGOL, Home Depot, Ubiquity, Cisco, and Cradlepoint. That list is still growing every day.

Throughout its construction, the trailer has been constantly field tested through drills and public events including Walk MS, the Spring SET, and most recently, the Disaster Relief Trials. For this event, we utilized the trailer for net control and digital operations to provide race participant updates for the DRT staff. We were able to refine the trailer’s design from what we learned. Its most interesting test was an outing to a campground in the Mount Hood Wilderness to practice HF operation as well as analyze how best to operate remotely and independently from luxuries such as electricity and running water.

We’re hoping to have phase one of the trailer project complete in the first part of 2016. We also have a few “Phase 2” goals, including solar capabilities, which will be useful in making the trailer more resilient and functional, but we’ll need the continued support of the community to achieve these goals.

Please stay tuned for further updates on this project, and feel free to contact us with any questions and comments you have.

Served Agency: Oregon Food Bank

by Steve W7SRH on 2015-10-26

The primary mission of the Multnomah County Amateur Radio Emergency Service is to ensure that qualified amateur radio operators (AROs) are ready to provide communications support to organizations – served agencies – that have requested these services in times of emergency.

One of our serviced agencies is the Oregon Food Bank. The following is an interview with the MCARES Oregon Food Bank Team Leader, Kiri K7KAH.

Steve: Where is the OFB located?

Kiri: We are stationed at the OFB HQ on NE 33rd in PDX, a couple miles from the airport. There are additional OFB locations in Washington County, Tillamook, and Ontario with radio equipment.

Steve: How long has the OFB been a served agency of MCARES?

Kiri: I believe we fired up in late 2013. Adam KF7LJH was originally the team lead. I joined as team lead when Adam moved into his current position in mid-January 2014. Essentially 2 years.

Steve: How will your team support the OFB during an emergency?

Kiri: Provide backup communications between OFB sites, and OEM and other agencies if there is a grid-down situation, or landlines are clogged. I envision most of the traffic will be passed relating to movement of food stuffs around the state between OFB sites. OFB operates in emergency situation under the national response framework. So whatever they are mandated to do under the emergency support function we would be helping passing traffic.

Steve: Who are the OFB Team members?

Kiri: Kiri K7KAH, Chris KE7OSH, and John KF7ZWX.

Steve: How long have you been Team Leader?

Kiri: Since January, 2014.

Steve: What kinds of Ham equipment do you operate at OFB?

Kiri: Each OFB site has a portable set that was put together by Garrett AF7RF and Dean (OFB liaison).
UHF/VHF: Yaesu 8900
HF: Yaesu FT897-D
Commercial: 800 MHZ for county communications (Emergency use only)
Antennas: horizontal dipole for HF, I don’t know the brand of VHF antenna.
We have headsets, no desk mics, just the mics that come with the radios. No TNC.

Steve: Do you have Winlink/Winmor capabilities?

Kiri: Not yet.

Steve: What are some of your operating challenges?

Kiri: We are at a low point in the city, so sometimes getting to places over the hills on simplex can be a challenge. We also have challenges reaching our Ontario and Tillamook stations on HF when the propagation is bad. They are getting ready to install a massive generator at our location. We will have to see if that introduces any interference to our operations. When they test the generator out we will need to fire up the station, so that’s on the to-do list.

Steve: Has the Team done separate training apart from regular MCARES drills?

Kiri: I try to meet with Dean on a monthly basis to test the radios. We have done HF calls to Ontario a few times. Eventually we’ll want to get tests out to all the stations, if possible on a monthly basis. And get the rest of the MCARES team and OFB hams in on these meetings when possible. Our next big challenge is testing the Washington County location which has not been operated at all – hopefully some time in November.

Steve: Are there other facts or statistics that you feel may be of interest to the general MCARES membership?

Kiri: We need more people on our team, so if you are not on a team yet and you live in NE and you’re interested in food safety, movement, and volunteering with a great organization for a great organization, let us know!

Membership News

by Deb KK7DEB on 2015-10-15

Welcome to our newest members Eric KG7GCQ and Matthew K7MWS.

Thank you to all who have filled out the Member Survey and John K7TY for putting it together. New this year all who fill it out can view all the replies. There is still time to reply if you have not had a chance yet. This information will help the leadership team plan for the future and prepare the 2016 training schedule.

Summer Wrap Up

by Eli W7ELI on 2015-10-11

It has been a very busy summer – lots of opportunities to practice your skills. Every event is a training event. MCARES members participated in the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, Field Day, Oregon International Airshow, MCARES HF Radio Campout, Race for the Cure, Portland Marathon, Quake Ex II, and we will wind it all up with the Disaster Relief Trials (DRT) this Saturday. Whew! Did any of our members work the Providence Bridge Pedal? If so, or if you worked any other communications event, please let me know at eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com

I hope you all also had some fun away from the radios this summer.

In preparation for the fall and winter stormy season, our October 22 meeting will feature SKYWARN Weather Spotter training. See you there!

Trailer Project Update

by Deb KK7DEB on 2015-09-27

We are all very excited about the progress on the trailer project. The air conditioning unit has been purchased and installed in the ceiling. Interior cabinet building is under way, thanks to Will KG7LPW and his crew. The desk and bench are completed and the electrical and IT cabinets will be started next week. We expect the equipment grant to be funded in the next thirty days. Woohoo!

October 10 Exercise Scaled Back; Marathon and DRT Prevail

by Web Manager on 2015-09-22

It was decided at the leadership meeting that we will minimize our participation in the statewide exercise on Octtober 10. We will only activate and staff the County ECC for this exercise. The team will handle the Winlink traffic from the State ARES/OEM. The ECC team will be contacted by team leader Deb to staff this.

The exercise activities requested by the state ARES leadership involve field deployment, which we have done already fairly extensively this year. We feel it is too much to ask of you to devote three weekends in a row to ARES. It is more important and more valuable to your training and to the community that we put our effort into providing communications for the Portland Marathon the week before the exercise and the Disaster Relief Trials the week after.

The Portland Amateur Radio Club coordinates communications for the Marathon and Multnomah ARES coordinates communications for the Disaster Relief Trials. This is where we need to concentrate our efforts and our volunteer hours in October. Both of these events are fun to work and provide very different communications and radio experiences. We will be using interesting technologies for the DRT with APRS, EasyPal (Photos), HSMM (high-speed data), and field VHF Winlink.

Please sign up for one or both of these public service events. We need your help!