Re: CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code Test)

[charles allison-2]

Hi,

One thing that most miss in this debate, especially on the gov. is the
realization that communications is a skill that is every bit as important as
the technical knowledge required to turn a piece of wire into a working
antenna.  It seems on the gov. side that communications skills means the
glib ability to push BS on a receptive audience and not convey information
in an efficient manner.

Pushing license renewals, birthday greetings and the like on a regular basis
by whatever net means, cw, phone, gives one a great advantage over those who
don't

While the disadvantage of CW is both speed and accuracy among those of us
with little skill, it's advantage is massive.  It offers maximum range for
minimum power and equipment, conditions that prevail in most bad disasters.
While using a computer digital mode can even increase this range / power -
it requires a power hog of a computer.

Sure vhf is the preferred short range method, maybe 40 - 50 miles max with a
good repeater and with a network of repeaters, there's no limit.  Guess what
happens when there is no repeater and the most you can get is about 15 ft
off the ground with a makeshift antenna.  You can forget regional
communications unless you have a series of stations to relay.

The benefit of amateur radio emcomm is that it can function in devastated
areas without the necessity of a communications infrastructure.  It can
function with minimal equipment and there are many skilled communicators who
can improvise, unlike button pushing dispatchers.

The emcomm classes teach that there are preferred means for various types of
messages for desired security, accuracy and speed.  They also explain the
nature of the situation and how and why the standard infrastructure
communications of the gov. fail.

Amateur radio emcomm is not obsolete nor is it a simple rudimentary system
of obsolete technology.  It covers the full range of technology from CW to
HF radio links straight into the computer packet radio and even the internet
email network via Winlink.  It is comprised of vhf and hf, portable, mobile
and fixed stations both within and outside the affected area.   VHF and HF
comm, digital, CW and voice radio comm are merely tools to be selected for
use in the particular situation.

This disaster, Katrina, and the NOLA levee break the next day - which is its
own disaster, a massive localized catastrophe that was precipitated by
Katrina but actually happened after the storm went through, is a good
example of what is described in those ARRL emcomm courses.  Things were made
worse by the fact that many hams living there evacuated and were not allowed
back in to many areas, some legitimately like NOLA were very dangerous due
to two legged predators while other areas were merely storm damaged.  The
absence of amateur communications during the predictable communications
infrastructure failure made things worse, perhaps in NOLA, far worse.

The first communications with the affected area from the outside were HF CW.
It provides the most bang for the complexity and battery backup power makes
for simple but low power operation.  Also, the sunspot cycle is near minimum
and HF comm has been rather poor for weeks with various propagation
problems.  The next mode to come up was voice, ssb which works while the
generators are running and is down when the ops have to scramble for more
gasoline.  It took about 3 days for the digital modes to be restored or
setup, the direct Winlink internet modes and packet modes.  VHF may work
ideally inside the affected areas for short ranges but with massively tall
antennas and/or repeaters, the coverage of a handitalky is more in city
blocks than in miles.  Tall antennas and working repeaters in an emergencies
are not only rare occurances, they are a scarce resource when things really
get going at the local level.

In our area, which is flat as a pancake,  vhf comm can get us to the nearest
city and some of the surrounding counties, comfortably with repeaters,
possible without.  There are prepositioned VHF/UHF/HF stations at the
weather service, emergency op center, some hospitals, and other places.  Our
regional communications is HF which has greater than the repeater system
down here.  Amateur radio and amateur volunteers form an essential core of
volunteers for the emergency management professionals and are offered formal
training for both natural and manmade disasters along with the professional
first responders - however that is intended to enhance our abilities at
communicating in disasters rather than to put us in the teletubby suits and
scba to mop up some toxic spill.

A demonstration of communications difficulities was done as a part of a
level I or II hazmat class to emphasize the virtual impossibility of
detailed communications between responders over the radio.  It involved
describing how to construct a lego block  vehicle out of the blocks in order
to match a built one in another room by communicating over vhf handitalki.
When the last pair of participants, the only one composed of two experienced
amateur operators,  finished the instructor had to recover from his
amazement because it was the first time he'd ever seen the exercise
completed successfully in all the classes he had taught.

 When one realizes the amateur radio op's primary skills are the familiarity
with communications equipment and the ability to communicate, things should
take on a shift in understanding.  These abilities in an emergency are
scarce resources, even more scarce than other first responder skills.  We
usually tend to think in terms of communicating over amateur radio because
that is our interest and background.  In an emergency, our skill is
communicating, whether it is filling in for the missing police dispatcher,
or running lists thru the last working fax machine in the county, or running
a VHF local emergency net, or sending out traffic to regional authorities
trying to determine the conditions and determine the appropriate response of
outside aid.

This communications skill comes from emcomm training, participating and
regular practice.   30 yrs of being an amateur operator doesn't and neither
does participating in contesting qualify you to be a net control.  NOLA is a
great example of what happens with a total lack (or at least a serious
insufficiency) of trained amateur radio operators and involvement in the
emergency operations facet of the community (along with other serious
deficiency problems there).

When disaster strikes, there will always be a serious lack of trained
amateur radio operators in the area.  They will need help from the outside.
While there may never again be a preferred case for CW operation, there will
be cases where CW is the only possible means.  Really, the same goes for all
of the amateur radio communications, it's not going to be the preferred
means or the optimum means but during a major disaster it is probably going
to be the only means at times and the only additional means once any
existing communications infrastructure gets overloaded which is the standard
case to be expected in any major disaster.  Those public officials who
believe and act differently usually only do so until the onset of their next
disaster when they find out the hard way that they were in serious error and
are now in serious, perhaps even life endangering, trouble.

For those of  you who are involved in nets and emcomm, Good Job!  For those
of you who aren't, I hope you start and get serious about it, beginning with
training classes like the ARECC ones Kevin teaches.  I've had all three and
found most of it was not something I had learned elsewhere doing or studying
other things.


best regards,

Charles
wb5izd

>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 36
> Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 17:32:36 -0700
> From: Kevin Rock <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code
> Test)
> To: [hidden email]
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-15
>
> Thank you Ron ;)
>     My first experience with the Amateur Radio Service was through
> participation in nets.  These were FM repeater nets initially, then SSB HF
> nets, and finally CW NTS nets.  I learned to pass traffic for NTS both
> using voice and via CW.  It takes practice.  Net procedures, phonetics,
> prosigns (both CW and voice) are something which requires repetition.
> When an emergency occurs and one is required to work ECOM the training
> needs to be so ingrained phonetics and procedures are automatic.
>     Ms. Patricia and I have trained quite a number of folks in ECOM (ARECC
> levels 1, 2, and 3) for the local ARES/RACES group.  I have been involved
> in ARES and in MARS for a number of years.  One of the reasons I started
> the Elecraft CW Net was to get folks used to the idea of using CW using
> net procedures and getting them interested in contacts other than rag
> chews or contests.  Tom, N0SS, and I have modified and adapted normal net
> procedures and QN codes to our needs.  Working a CW NTS net is different
> but not wildly so.
>     Gaining proficiency in CW is one thing but passing accurate traffic is
> another.  When Pat and I train folks we have them pass traffic in groups.
> Carter, N3AO, gave us some tips.  One of them was to have multiple people
> pass traffic simultaneously in the same room to mimic the chaos in a comms
> center.  It worked.  Our trainees have worked comms at the local sheriff's
> office and at the county EOC where the noise level gets pretty high.  They
> valued our training and told us so as soon as the emergency was over.
> Thank you Carter, you gave great advice.  Pat and I developed our hybrid
> classroom material to cover ECOM for the Oregon and Pacific Northwest
> area.  We don't get hurricanes but do have floods, typhoons, earthquakes,
> and forest fires.  Handling traffic is an important part of our training.
> I have not had the chance to teach others CW ECOM work but I would love to
> do so.
>     We may have a call out of our local ARES group to assist some evacuees
>  from New Orleans.  I am on the list.  I got to sell amateur radio and
> ECOMs to the local TV station last week for some work I had done for the
> SATERN folks.  I did not get a chance to view the interview since we
> cannot receive television here but was told by an op I had never met that
> the interview portrayed the service in a very good light.  I am thankful
> for that.  I have worked in a newsroom before and know how a story can be
> spun in various directions.  The reporter and camera man were both very
> kind and caring individuals.  Hopefully they will send me a copy of the
> spot.
>     Kevin.  KD5ONS  (Still Net Control Operator 5th Class)
>
>
> On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 14:32:25 -0700, Ron D'Eau Claire
> <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> ...
> > I submit that the reason virtually ALL emergency nets are phone is that
> > CW
> > requires a skill few Hams have today: even routine CW ops. Handling a
> > QSO,
> > even a rag chew, is a far, far cry from participating in a controlled CW
> > net. That's a skill that takes time, more time, and even more time and a
> > lot
> > of patience and dedication to master. Just ask Kevin Rock who runs the
> > Elecraft CW net!
> >
> > Getting enough Hams current with the skills to do that efficiently has
> > always been a huge problem, even when every Ham had to be proficient at
> > CW
> > to get a license. That's the real reason for all those routine traffic
> > nets
> > we used to have across the bands every night. Even back then, how many

of

> > those experienced ops would be in the middle of the disaster, ready to
> > handle traffic? Not many, not often.
> ...
> >
> > Ron AC7AC
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 41
> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:32:25 -0500
> From: "Craig Rairdin" <[hidden email]>
> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code
> Test)
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <006601c5b293$9cf907f0$6a01a8c0@Laridian1>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> > I submit that the reason virtually ALL emergency nets are phone is that
> > CW requires a skill few Hams have today: even routine CW ops.
>
> > In the Ham world, using phone means that more operators are available
> > everywhere, so there are likely more operators available any time and
> > in any place they are needed.
>
> It seems to me that the most likely use of ham radio in an emergency is to
> quickly establish local communications in areas where all communication is
> out. That's likely to be VHF, perhaps aided by a quickly deployed repeater
> or two.
>
> I think the more interesting philosophical question long-term revolves
> around the ubiquitous Internet. Back 30 years ago when I was more involved
> in handling traffic during natural disasters, it seems like most of what

we
> did was health/welfare inquiries. Now, if survivor lists can get to a
> location with Internet access, these lists can be placed on the Web and
> anyone in the world can access it directly.
>
> Combine this with 24-hour cable news networks and you eliminate most of
the
> need for long-range communication. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC had *cameras* and
> live reports deliberately placed in areas that were *about* to be hit, and
> reported live while Katrina was hitting them. They then were *there* at
the
> Superdome and convention center in N.O. before the Red Cross, Salvation
> Army, or local ham radio club.
>
> If DHS Secy Chertoff and FEMA Director Brown had watched Fox News instead
of
> listening to state and local government officials, they would have had a
> much better idea what was going on in the hours immediately after Katrina
> passed through, and supplies and transportation could have gotten to
> hard-hit areas much earlier. But since they depended on "official"
channels
> and didn't turn on a TV, they didn't know what was going on.
>
> I suspect that both ham radio and the federal government are living in the
> past. The Internet has eliminated much of the traditional ham radio
activity
> surrounding disasters (with the exception of course of local VHF
activity),

> and 24-hour news networks have become better eyes and ears than the
> "official" government communication channels.
>
> Craig
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 42
> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:01:00 -0700
> From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[hidden email]>
> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code
> Test)
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <000101c5b297$97f29330$c5ddfea9@RONPORTABLE>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Craig wrote:
> I suspect that both ham radio and the federal government are living in the
> past. The Internet has eliminated much of the traditional ham radio

activity
> surrounding disasters (with the exception of course of local VHF
activity),

> and 24-hour news networks have become better eyes and ears than the
> "official" government communication channels.
>
> -----------------------------
>
> A well-honed system always lags behind the latest/greatest technology. I
> used to chuckle as I worked on required shipboard CW consoles in a radio
> room that also had TOR, satellite telephones and, when needed, an internet
> connection! All within easy reach of the guy at the key, like many of our
> hamshacks today.
>
> The problem with VHF has always been limited range. When repeaters are
> available, that's fine. But often they aren't. That's where people like

the
> HF Pack ops and others all equipped with a K2 capable of SSB, maybe a
> buddypole or even a whip stuck in their backpack, and some batteries can
get

> an instant signal out many tens of miles with telephone reliability. Often
> that range can be in the hundreds of miles.
>
> Not that CW couldn't be of critical value in some scenarios,  but 99.9% of
> the time is a voice contact.
>
> Where Ham emergency communications provides a valuable resource is in
> "shadowing" key people when cellular phones are jammed. That allows the
> person to almost talk to the other end as if he were on the phone. A
> question gets an almost instant answer, often one that he can hear
> personally.
>
> It's great for filling in where traditional emergency services were

swamped.
>
>
> When the Loma Prieta quake hit San Francisco, I was working for a land
> mobile company. We had some repeaters that were still operational. We
> suspended all air-time billing and got all the idle cabs we could to key
> points so they could use the communications system. It was invaluable
during
> those first few hours since most mountaintop repeaters were off the air.
> Even the emergency service repeaters in critical areas (Mt. Loma Prieta
was
> both the epicenter and one of the most popular repeater mountains).
>
> Ron AC7AC
>
>
> ***************************************


_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

[EricJ-2]

 WHOA! Back up the bus, there, Charles. I'd like a citation for that one! I
have been searching google (a major investor in BPL) diligently and have not
seen a single reference to CW in this disaster. Not one.

Actually, Craig fingered the reality. The FIRST communications out of the
affected area were via CNN and the major networks who had pre-staged cameras
and crews in the area.

We're living a myth. All of us. Hams, ham clubs, the ARRL. We're going to
get blind-sided. That quote in the WSJ from a BPL rep saying "amateurs were
nothing", is a WARNING. With all the billions of dollars behind BPL, and
hams defending their existence with fairy tales, we are ripe for an attack
from powerful, moneyed interests and they will eat our lunch.


Eric
KE6US
www.ke6us.com


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of charles allison
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 9:17 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Re: CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code Test)


The first communications with the affected area from the outside were HF CW.
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

[Stuart Rohre]

The problem in the affected areas was the flooding of power sources or total
destruction of antennas, and structures.

Hams need strike teams with HF NVIS and VHF portable capability to work
inside the affected areas.

Well planned Disaster Plans include this.  LA. was woefully negligent, at
least on the state and City officials' part in New Orleans.  They had  a
plan, (its on the NET), but they did not follow the plan.  The plan said use
their school and city buses and evacuate people.  A lot of people who were
supposed to implement the plan bailed out of town or did not know the plan.
They also had all the other elements required for Federal aid, such as
emergency communications mentioned in plan.
BUT,
They would not allow Red Cross to enter although we prepositioned units in
N. La./ Ms. border.  They would not allow radio units in; and would not
allow Feds to take the National Guard over, and put them into New Orleans
until several days passed.

The break down of Police order, and the bad guys who did not evacuate, in
order to take advantage of property while everyone was gone, was the major
factor cited to us.

The wage of the entering officer in PD New Orleans is so low, that it is
surprising the force did not resign en mass.

Hams do need to make NVIS dipoles and reflectors and keep them rolled up in
their ARES GO KIT.  They need HF skill to use 40 by day and 80 by night to
handle messaging.  They need charged batteries, and you can always find some
low tree or fence left to tie an NVIS dipole to.  If some had had NVIS
dipoles up even during the main winds, they would have been able to stay on
the air at say 50 watts and still cover a couple of states or more on 40m.
We use NVIS dipoles plus reflector 3 feet high for the dipole, and one foot
high for reflector.  Use insulated wire, some strong kevlar rope or line,
and you are on the air in minutes.

Made of ladder line or twin lead as a folded dipole, the NVIS one will match
directly to 50 ohm coax.  The normal 300 ohm folded dipole center feed
becomes 1/4 less when low, or about 60 ohms.

Stuart
K5KVH
ARES AEC
Red Cross Comms.



_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com