January 12, 2008
Glen Sage, W4GHS
VA Section Manager

The month of December was a quite month as we moved through the Christmas and New Years holidays. It is with a sense of sadness that we report the death of Tom Jones, K4JM, on December 7th. Tom was first licensed in 1932 and was active for a 75-year span in Amateur Radio. Tom was one of the founders of the Virginia CW (VN) back in 1947. He was active as a net manager, CW contester, Official Relay Station, ARC president along with many other ham activities. He will be missed all those that knew him.

Amateur Radio antenna support structures (towers) continue to be a “Hot Button” within the Virginia Section. It appears that some progress is being made in Franklin County and we are hopeful for a reasonable resolution for the difference in state law and the local ordinance. In other counties and cities there is code in place that allows Amateur Radio antenna support structures to be 50 feet or less. If the antenna support structure exceeds this height then the ham must comply with cell tower type restrictions. Few hams would be able to comply with these restrictions. The good news is that the code of Virginia § 15.2-2293.1 gives us protection from restrictive codes that restrict towers to less than 75 feet in jurisdictions with high population densities and 200 ft with low population densities. Local county planners are either unaware of the law or have chosen to ignore the Code of Virginia. I have researched many counties on the Internet and have found a number that do not comply with state code. It is important that local clubs and ARES groups go to their local courthouse and research the most current code for their jurisdiction. Sometimes Internet articles are out-of-date. Bring this issue up at you next club meeting and take action to ensure that you are not confronted with a problem when someone applies for a permit to put up a tower.

A number of local Skywarn groups are beginning to take advantage of new free software (WXSpots) that is an excellent tool for Skywarn spotters. This software allows for real time spotting and also provides for text messaging and chat room functions. Many spotters supporting the Blacksburg National Weather Service office are using this software extensively. You can download a copy at www.WXSpots.com.

Our SEC Henry Wyatt, K4YCR has reported that we are getting in most of the Simulated Emergency Test reports that are due the last of January. Our SET this year enjoyed strong participation from across the Virginia Section but some jurisdictions that had high rates of activities have yet to report. These SET reports need to be sent to Steve Ewald wv1x@arrl.org with a copy to Henry Wyatt, K4YCR and your DEC.

The Virginia Section congratulates the Portsmouth (PARES) Amateur Radio Emergency Service for being named the “heavy weight” champion of the Portsmouth Citizens Corp. Since 2005 they have supported 44 public service events. During Hurricane Katrina, they sent 5 hams to the gulf coast and provided 505 volunteer hours in providing communications for the community of Cameron Parish Louisiana. Outstanding performance PARES!

A recent joint FBI and Marine Corp communications exercise was supported by Gordon Winn, WW4GW EC for Buckingham/Cumberland Counties, our SEC Henry Wyatt, DEC for District 12 Gordon Howell , WA4RTS and repeater owner Brian Justin, WA1ZMS. When WW4GW Gordon introduced himself to the FBI representative as the ARES EC for Buckingham/Cumberland Counties he was pleased to learn that the FBI had full knowledge of ARES and who we were. This in itself is a real compliment to all the volunteers that have given countless hours to provide a service to others in need. It’s the special moments of recognition like this that let you know that what you are doing is worthwhile and very much appreciated by others. Thanks to all those that went the extra mile for the military and a government served agency in this exercise.

Our state ARRL Convention is being held at the Frostfest in Richmond Virginia on Saturday, February 2, 2008. We will have a special forum from 9 am until 10 am. Presentations will be made by Mac Mc Neer, K4YEF Virginia RACES Officer and Dan Sullivan, KO1D. Dan will be presenting the working draft of our Section Emergency Communications Plan and Mac will follow this with a presentation on the working relationship between Amateur Radio and VDEM. We will also have a table for the section at the hamfest.

73

Glen Sage, W4GHS
Virginia Section Manager

December 10, 2007
Glen Sage, W4GHS
VA Section Manager

The month of November has been both a busy and exciting month. There have been a number of notable ARES activities in recent weeks. The Virginia Section Emergency Plan continues to progress as Daniel Sullivan, KO1D serves as editor and has been busy fielding documents submitted by a number of Section Cabinet members. The issue of reasonable tower ordinances continues to be a problem in a number of jurisdictions within the section. We are continuing to see the impact of greater expectations in the area of security requirements and training expectations from the agencies that we serve. The affiliated clubs from the Virginia Section have done and outstanding job of keeping their registration process in order. We only have a single club that may be declared as “inactive” if they fail to update their registration before years end. This is a process that each affiliated club must do every two years to maintain their status as an ARRL Affiliated Club.

ARES has had a couple of major drills in recent weeks. Jimmy Flanary, K4GV from Scott County reported on their recent interoperability exercise. "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 they 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."

The Twin County ARES unit (Carroll, Grayson and the City of Galax) worked with Wythe County in a Region 4 VDEM exercise. This was a two-day event with the tabletop taking place on November 2nd and this was followed by a full-blown exercise on Saturday November 3rd. VDEM, law enforcement from the Twin Counties, Twin County Regional Hospital, Wythe Hospital, area rescue squads, fire departments, and nursing homes, Twin County and Wythe County ARES and the Woods River Chapter of the American Red Cross were all active participates.

The exercise involved the passing a heavy volume of traffic totaling 525 formal written messages. This included 250 via Winlink and 275 voice messages. Over 150 Winlink messages were sent across the section at the beginning of the exercise. These messages were requesting 4-wheel drive radio equipped vehicles with operators. By the end of the 6-hour drill we had confirmation that 18 of these vehicles would be ready for deployment. Within a couple of days we had commitments from 45 hams with 4-wheel drive, radio equipped vehicles that were willing to serve. Others indicated that they would have been willing to assist if the distance had not been so great. Our contact information resource was the ARES online registration forms completed by the section ARES membership. Without this tool it would have been impossible to contact such a large pool of volunteers. We would have been in a position to make these contacts if telephone service, local Internet service via dial-up, cable or wireless would have been down. Even with the absence of AC electrical power, our Winlink satellite Telpac gateway would have been up and running.

Within the past several weeks our section has used HF voice, CW, HF digital (Chip64) and Pactor, VHF/UHF voice and digital such as packet, and Winlink 2000 Airmail. D-Stars was used at the Marine Corp. Marathon on 23 cm. We have a broad array of resources in our toolbox and each has an area where they excel. The communities and agencies that we serve should rest a little easier because we are packed and ready for deployment.
In the area of ID and security requirements, Verlan Hall, AA4HQ the DEC for District 5 reports of recent changes in his district. 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 roadblock during emergency responses.

Bart Bartholomew, N3GQ our ASM and DEC for District 4 reports plans for upgrading skills within their district. “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)”. With this offering and ICS/NIMS online courses ARES members may complete all the requirements for inclusion on the national major response database as well as requirements for the Virginia Section Emergency Response Team. This is all at minimum cost for most courses and will be free for the ICS courses.

Gordon Winn, WW4GW EC in Buckingham / Cumberland Counties is currently involving county emergency management people in meetings with his ARES group:  “We 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 of 2008. 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.” These are the kinds of partnerships that all ARES groups need to work to develop.

Local tower ordinances continue to be one of the greatest threats to the future of Amateur Radio in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is in spite of the fact that we have one of the 5 best state laws in America. Our state code goes a step beyond the federal law (PRB-1). The 15.2-2293.1 of the Virginia code defines that a locality “shall impose the minimum regulation necessary to accomplish the locality’s legitimate purpose. The code then defines tower height based on population density. This code allows a minimum of 200-foot towers in areas of low population density and 75-foot towers in highly populated jurisdictions. Most local planners back off ordinances that state a tower height below state code when they are made aware of this violation of law. We still have a number of counties that define the height of an Amateur Radio tower as being 50 feet or less. Some of these codes have been written since 15.2-2293.1 became law. Every Amateur Radio club or ARES groups should check the ordinance in their communities prior to some ham making a decision to install a tower at his or her station. If local code is in violation of state code this needs to be addressed.

The second problem that is faced with tower construction is a question of what is the “reasonable minimum regulation?” This gets into the arena of setback and screening requirements. Counties can write a code that allows for the height to be consistent with state code but make the setback and screening requirements to where someone that doesn’t own a farm can’t comply. For example we have a county that is proposing code that requires a 100 % setback from neighboring property lines. Two neighboring counties with greater population density require a minimum of 40% setback to an occupied dwelling on the neighboring property. These two counties have defined a tower as an accessory structure that requires as little as a 10 feet setback from property lines. To my knowledge these counties with less requirements have never had an Amateur Radio tower fall and do damage to people or neighboring property. One of the counties with these oppressive setback requirements have also proposed requiring “Certified Engineers” to sign off on prints, foundation plans and grounding systems. This would create costs for tower construction to a point that only the affluent hams can comply. In time, “what is the minimum requirements necessary” may require testing through litigation. Once a precedent is established then jurisdictions will be less likely to attempt to eliminate Amateur Radio towers in their jurisdiction by this backdoor approach of restrictive ordinances.

On a sad note, Tom Jones, K4JM passed away at his home on December 7th. Tom became a silent key after 75 years as a ham. The following is a note from Phil Sager, “I REGRET TO ANNOUNCE THAT TOM JONES, 89, K4JM, EX-W3BZE AND W4BZE, BECAME A SILENT KEY THIS MORNING, DECEMBER 7. HE HAD BEEN RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL YESTERDAY AND DIED PEACEFULLY AT HOME. HE HAD BEEN A LICENSED HAM FOR 75 YEARS. TOM HAD ALWAYS BEEN ACTIVE IN CW TRAFFIC HANDLING, BEGINNING IN THE 1930'S WITH TRUNKLINE "D" AND HAD BEEN ONE OF THE ORIGINATORS OF THE VIRGINIA CW NET. PIP WB4FDT” Memorial Service notes are from Art Williams, W4TY our STM and are as follows; “In re K4JM, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "The family will receive friends 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 3215 Cutshaw Avenue, where services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, December 10. Interment will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Immanuel Baptist Church, 3601 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230."

Until next month!

Glen Sage, W4GHS
Virginia Section Manager

October 13, 2007
Glen Sage, W4GHS
VA Section Manager

October has been a busy month across the Virginia Section. This has included our Simulated Emergency Test that was a section-wide event on October 6th. We have met with non-ham groups such as Search and Rescue in Richmond to outline ways that Amateur Radio could support their efforts in an active search. I have spent time in deep Southwestern Virginia, meeting with clubs and ARES groups during October. My local ARES unit also spent time this month in preparation for a disaster exercise in a Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Region 4 drill. This drill was held on November 2nd and 3rd in Carroll and Grayson Counties with the City of Galax. We also had ARES support from Wythe County ARES. We will have a full report next month on this extremely successful drill, “Winter Fury 07”. The Section Emergency Communications Plan writing is now back in the active mode as Daniel Sullivan, KO1D has been receiving documents from Virginia Section Cabinet people that have been task with areas of the document. Daniel had to set aside the editing of this project while handling major responsibilities in the recent Marine Corp. Marathon held in northern Virginia and Maryland on October 28th. This event was the 4th largest marathon in American in 2006. The marathon relies heavily on the support of Amateur Radio for communications during the event. They normally have over 100 hams supporting communications.

This year the Simulated Emergency Test took place on the designated date for the nationwide SET. A number of things were different in this exercise. It was a section-wide event with participation coming from the coast to far southwestern Virginia. The breath of this exercise allowed us to practice our communications skills with hams from outside our own jurisdiction and test propagation in daytime conditions from Virginia Beach and Newport News to Wise, Dickenson and Lee Counties on the far western end of the Commonwealth. Many of our nets meet in the evening hours but most disaster communications, other than health and welfare, take place in the daylight hours while the agencies that we support are most active.
This also allowed us to test new modes. We were able to use Chip64 on 80 meters during noon to 1:00 pm when voice signals were extremely difficult to copy. We made extensive use of Winlink across the state throughout the exercise and packet was also used. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management had the RACES station up and running throughout the drill. This drill allowed us to respond to a simulated mass evacuation due to a tidal wave that was created by a simulated tsunami while also supporting early rescue efforts. This evacuation was so massive that it required statewide sheltering resources with a number of staging areas to direct the flow of evacuees to areas that could support their sheltering needs. Hams were involved on HF voice, CW, HF digital, VHF/UHF digital, and VHF/UHF voice. Net control stations directed traffic to alternate frequencies and kept net frequencies clear for the exercise except where there was no option but to handle the traffic on the net frequency. There was extensive use of the NTS within the section handling heavy volumes of traffic. This was going on simultaneous with Emergency Nets (ODEN) caring for priority and emergency traffic. Many local nets on VHF and UHF were caring for traffic that involved their jurisdiction. Our Section Emergency Coordinator continues to try to get reports from all those areas that participated with less that half of the reports being submitted at this point. SET reports are used by the ARRL when negotiating with agencies that we support or in applying for grants of any type. It is vital that these be sent to the SEC, your DEC and Steve Ewald at ARRL.

Back about a year ago our Assistant Section Manager for Administration, Dave Potter, W4IPR sent out inquires to appointees to see if they wanted to continue serving. We received a letter from one of the Official Relay Stations that included a copy of his original certificate of appointment. It was dated 1934. This ham, Thomas Jones, K4JM of Richmond indicated he was active on CW and wanted to continue to serve as an ORS. I gave Tom a phone call and chatted with him about his long involvement in service to the section and Amateur Radio. Tom talked about getting his license in 1932 and operating actively until Amateur Radio stations were taken off the air in World War II. Tom at that point entered the Army Air Corp and served as a CW operator on a B-24 bomber flying out of North Africa until VE day. He returned stateside and has been active on Amateur Radio and in the NTS until recent months. He currently is hospitalized but hoping to return home soon. In this day and age, Tom stands out in my mind as a great example of service. He is a part of “America’s Greatest Generation”, and has served his country and served Amateur Radio for over 74 years with little fanfare. As we approach Veteran’s Day, I want to take my hat off and say thank you to Tom and so many other “Old Time” hams like him that have given so much of themselves with little recognition. Thanks again Tom and I am praying for a speedy recovery for you.

Until next month!

Glen Sage, W4GHS
Virginia Section Manager