Henry Wyatt, K4YCR, SEC
| Total number of ARES members | 1176 | Change since last month | +34 |
| DECs reporting this month | 11 out of 15 Call Signs |
ARES nets active | 206 sessions (reported) |
| ECs reporting this month | 43 out of 75 Call signs |
Nets with NTS Liaison | most of these nets |
| Number of Drills, tests and training sessions this month | 64 | Person hours | 372 |
| Number of Public service events this month | 8 | Person hours | 370 |
| Number of Emergency operations this month | 0 | Person hours | 0 |
| Total number of ARES operations this month | 58 | Person hours | 593 |
ODEN
From K3EP:
- November 5 was EOC night. We had 7 EOCs check in; 5 government EOCs and 2 medical center EOCs. Conditions were absolutely terrible that night; which probably accounts for the low turnout altogether. We'll try this again in the spring. Thanks to all who made the attempt.
- Propagation for the November 19 net was worse than the November 5 net. No one heard me, I heard no one, and I received a few emails from across the Commonwealth stating the same. We held an impromptu net on 160 meters (1.900 MHz) at 1845 hours and had 4 stations check in from the four corners of the state (that happens to be the Virginia Digital Net winter alternate frequency). If 75/80 conditions continue like this, we may have to use more of 160. I will post an alternate frequency on the web page and in the emails I send out so all will know in advance. 1.900 MHz is used for another net at 1900 hours, so I'll have to look for an available frequency.
District 1
- From Mark N3MG, Clarke EC, the new 50-ft tower was erected on Blue Mt. to be used for ARES. The repeater is in the shop, should be back up & testing in 1-2 weeks. Repeater call is K4USS/R.
- From Ben, N4FSG, Page EC, Page Memorial Hospital communication center was manned during the Pandemic Avian Flu drill held on 29 Nov 2007. A familiarization, training session on the PMH Communications Center was held on 30 Nov 2007.
District 2
Was a very busy month due to the Marine Corp Marathon. [More to follow on this exercise next month.]
District 3
- From N3DFS in Greene County: A slow month. There were fewer participants in GCEN and the net was moved to Sunday Nights, effective Dec 07.
- From WW4GW in Buckingham / Cumberland Counties: Met with the EOC coordinator for Cumberland County and discussed further plans for the ARES presence within his county. We have established a regular monthly meeting in Cumberland to include the EOC, County Administration, Sheriff's office and emergency dispatch center along with ARES members. This meeting will take place the third Thursday of each month, holidays excluded, and will begin in January. The E-911 coordinator for Buckingham will be invited to attend these meetings as the two counties work closely with each other, and share some joint communications for their emergency backup needs.
District 4
- Dick, W6WLG, EC/RO, Orange County: Nothing new (Thankfully) in Orange. Drought worsened according to all local information. A new email address for Orange EC/RO: is effective immediately. Click on the BLUE callsign to send email to Dick at his new address.
- Tom, KI4AFE, EC/RO, Spotsylvania County: A quiet month given the holiday.
- Steve, KD4KNR, EC/RO, King George County: Continued working on the new KG EOC. Hopefully in December, we will mount a dual band antenna.
- Tom, W4LLK, EC/RO Fredericksburg City: Another quiet month.
- Boyd, KO4WK, EC/RO, Caroline County: Enjoyed the Thanksgiving holidays and trust all of you did too. We had a fall-off of check-ins on the CarCo net, but still enjoyed it. Damon, W4HDM, checked in via EchoLink, and also participated in the CW net - he hasn't done CW before, so it is pretty exciting to see a new one jump in. If anyone wants to get their CW feet wet, this is a good way to do it. Check out http://www.aresva.org/aresva/script.html 73, Boyd
- Bart, N3GQ, EC/RO, Stafford County: In November, we hailed 3 new hams: 2 Technicians and one General! On Veterans’ Day for 4 hours, ten hams installed 5 runs of hard-line antenna cable into our Amateur Radio station room in the new Stafford County Public Safety Building. The building is scheduled to open in February or March 2008. We are making plans to offer monthly 1-hour Saturday morning training sessions (starting at 0700) that will culminate in certification at Level I of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Courses. CDR Luis, KI4QIY, our surgeon member, and his office will be offering us FREE CPR/AED and First Aid certifications. We will open the classes up to District IV ARES/RACES members after members of the Stafford Amateur Radio Association have signed up (class limit will be 40). We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
District 5
The Sheriffs Dept. of Middlesex County has asked that the ARES Members be officially "sworn in" along with all of the other county emergency personnel. This will allow access to areas where sensitive information and operations may be inadvertently revealed. A County I.D. will be issued to each ARES Member, which would allow passage through any road block during emergency responses.
District 6
- W4FEG (Goochland): Too much turkey this month as there was very little activity otherwise. Hope all had a great Thanksgiving and wishing you a beautiful and great Christmas and New Year. 73, Ralph.
- K2QIJ (New Kent): Happy to p/u one new member who just passed Tech and then General. Looking forward to D6 Monthly Net! VA RACES, Inc has been invited to participate in this net.
- KI4PXU (Powhatan): We sent out a letter this month (I and Duke W1ZA) to announce the formation of an ARES group in Powhatan. We got quite a few responses from the letter so we set up a meeting for Tuesday November 27 and invited all of the respondents. We had 5 interested Hams attend plus myself, Duke and our District 6 DEC Anthony Harbour-KG4YXP. In the few days after the meeting we have had 4 Hams register with ARES and we have several more, who plan to in the near future. The next step is to meet with the county again, now that we have a team, and see where they want us to concentrate our efforts. The future of ARES in Powhatan is looking really bright.
District 8
- At Eastville, County-hired riggers installed two new Diamond X50-NA antennas for our Eastville repeater and APRS. In the past, we have experienced many delays with tower riggers but finally, it all came together. This installation gives us better coverage in Northampton County and up the Eastern Shore.
- Additionally, seven new emergency radio kits have been purchased and new frequency lists are being composed at the Dept. of Public Service for programming those radios.
District 12
Some 20 ARES members participated in the 25th running of the Mountain Masochist 50 Mile Trail Run in early November. 16 aid stations were staffed, along with a number of roving positions to support the 300 runners participating. KA4YNO continues working on getting antennas and feedlines in place at the Bedford County Communications Center. Campbell County ARES members put the county EOC station on air for the 4th week's ARES net, and the station at Concord Rescue was also exercised. WD4GYW has returned to putting on the Amherst County EOC station every six weeks for the ARES simplex net. WW4GW [EC Buckingham/Cumberland] is a regular ARES net check-in from Buckingham County [Bubbaham!].
District 13
November activities focused supporting K9PJ against an illegal determination by the Franklin County Planning Commission that would have required his tower removal. Phil Jung had been advised that no building permit was required prior to tower erection and had, as part of his property sales contract, the right for it's installation. His local Home Owners Association however filed a complaint with the Planning Commission who found K9PJ to be in violation of an ordinance solely pertaining to cell towers. This ordinance was subsequently found by the County Attorney to be in violation of the provisions of PRB-1 and State law 15.2-2293.1. In a unanimous decision by the Board K9PJ's application for a Special Use Permit was approved.
- Floyd: Our highway clean up this month was accomplished by another public service organization.
- Franklin: On November 27 the Franklin County Board of Supervisors ended K9PJ's 7 month Tower ordeal with a unanimous approval of a Special Use Permit. We are now participating with the County towards a new Amateur Radio Tower Ordinance that must meet all criteria under Virginia State Law 15.2-2293.1. Franklin County Amateurs are deeply involved with the details of a new ordinance and one proposed provision in violation of Federal law has already been struck down by the County Attorney.
District 14
Participated in a simulated emergency exercise for Carroll and Grayson counties called "Winter Fury", which simulated a major ice event. We worked with state and county emergency responders and agencies in a two day event, the first day being a table top exercise and the second day a drill where our local hams manned nine fixed and mobile locations. We also included Wythe County hams at their hospital and EOC. The table top exercise gave us a chance to get to know and work with representatives of local government and agencies, most of whom were appreciative of our ham group, understood how we could be of assistance, and some had personal experience in emergency conditions with the ways that we could assist them. During the drill on the second day, we passed a total of 525 messages (250 Winlink 2000 and 275 voice) in six hours. There was a substantial response by Winlink from around the state from rapid response teams with four wheel drive vehicles on standby in case they were needed. This was a very beneficial and interesting exercise and, coming within one month of the October SET, helped us to correct some previously noted weaknesses and reinforce the things we did well. Of the 13 hams that participated, eight were licensed since 2003.
I mistakenly left off the comments of our Scott County EC, Jimmy Flanary K4GV on the October report. His group had a very unique and interesting experience, as follows:
"We held an interoperability exercise with the county and the VA National Guard on October 13th. It went really well, better than I expected. The equipment that the National Guard flew in worked on all frequencies used in Scott County. The only thing that didn't work was the video satellite uplink. They had a software problem and couldn't get the video to work. The satellite voice communications worked just fine. We really learned a lot about the military equipment. Actually, it's not that much different from ours."
For the November EC comments:
- Jeff Sexton KI4TSK, Carroll and Grayson Counties: Helped set up and do a SET training for two days on Winter Fury "07 in Galax with a table top and radio drill. We will work on recruiting new members and completing a list of all licensed amateurs in Galax, Carroll and Grayson Counties. We are also working on rounding-up radio equipment for Grayson County. Howard Roland KI4LWA, Smyth County: We added one member to team this month, Jackie Branson KI4NQY. W also met with another ARES member from another area who has moved to my county and needs to be re-registered, Mike Lagerholm AB4X. He is still in process of purchasing a home and ongoing study of ENCOMM materials.
- Charles Peake K4CWP, Russell County: Just got the ARES Net started. First net was 11/29/07. Nobody checked in to the net. He will try again next Thursday night.
- Robert L. Jones KD4CZE, Washington County: November was a quiet month for MEARS (Mountain Empire Amateur Radio Society). The weekly Wed. night nets were held. Check-ins have increased greatly over the last several weeks. The regular monthly meeting was held with good attendance. Plans were made for the Dec. meeting which will be an eating meeting for Christmas with election of officers. Representatives from the Husky Dog Sled Serum Run were present for the meeting, and plans were made to assist them with communications again this year. It will be a 2 day event. They expect a larger turnout of people this year due to extra advertising sponsored by a pet food distributor.
- Donnie Dotson KB4KTH, Dickenson County: I have spoken with hams about joining our group. I also checked the hospital radio and found it to have more problems. I called David Resnick but haven't gotten a call back yet. I also talked to the state EMS Director for Dickenson County, Ron Kendrick.
- Audie Kennedy N4AUD, Wise and Lee Counties: Participated in SWVA Health Department drill along with George Williams W4GLW. Equipment was tested at the Wise County Health Dept. and local hospitals. I am trying to set up meeting with Lee County officials.
District 15
[Thanks Don!]
Thanks to all those submitting their reports and activities.
Submitted:
Henry L. Wyatt, K4YCR
SEC VA ARES