SC ARES NET NOTES

· A training class for hospital radio response teams was held in DHEC Region6 (Conway, SC) on Tuesday May 13th. The training included a training
net. The newly licensed technicians checked into the net and passed traffic. Classes for DHEC Region 4 are scheduled for May 30th and
June 30th in Florence.

· According to Chinese Radio Sports Association, 14.270, 7.050 and 7.060 Mhz are reserved for amateur radio emergency service in the

rescue. Please spread this message as far as you can and keep the frequencies clear for emergency use.

· The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team infrastructure project (SCHEARTS) is making good progress.

Please visit the new web site at www.scheart.us. The site includes a map page showing current linking status of the entire system. You can also listen to

· SCEMD will hold their annual full scale exercise on June 4th and 5th. The scenario is a hurricane. SEOC Callsign will be K4E. Aiken County,

Bamberg County, Beaufort County, Charleston County, Chester County, Clarendon County, Dorchester County, Georgetown County, Greenville County,

Horry County, Lee County, Marlboro County, Newberry County, Orangeburg County, Richland County, Saluda County, and Spartanburg County will be

participating. The venue sites being exercised are the SEOC, SC Highway Patrol Lane Reversal Staging Areas, and the following county EOCs: Bamberg,

Beaufort, Charleston, Chester, Clarendon, Dillon, Dorchester, Georgetown, Greenville, Horry, Marlboro, Lee, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda and

· A joint Canadian - American Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) demonstration is being planned. During the second week of March each

year, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors a “Canadian-American Days” festival. March 2009 is the time for this important special

event and demonstration. We have agreed to host the event in Myrtle Beach and are working on the details. Our Myrtle Beach operators may need help to

· A Sunday night ARES net is being held at 8:00 P.M. on the SCHEART system reflector. All stations that can participate are invited to join the

net. .You can access the reflector by inputting “*70” on any of the SCHEART system repeaters. Use “73” to bring down the link.

have been asked to testify at hearings on the bill. I’ll keep you informed of the bill's progress.

· The South Carolina ARES web-site URL is www.ares-sc.org. You can use the site for information on the South Carolina ARES program.

· The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team infrastructure project (SCHEARTS) is making good progress. The antenna installations at the Beaufort/Walterboro, Conway and the Florence sites are complete. Antenna work at the Columbia site is next. If you are working on providing support for your local hospital and have not yet joined the SCHEARTS yahoo group, you should consider joining so that you will know what is going on.

· Work has started on a South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team System Management Plan. The plan will be the controlling document on use of the system. Anyone interested in participating in development of the plan should contact me.

· I am working with USC-CPHP as they develop their budget for the next year. As it is being submitted, the budget includes recruiting and training for the recently licensed amateurs on how to provide support to the hospitals.

· The new South Carolina Emergency Communications Plan has been issued. It is posted on our Web-Site. The new South Carolina Emergency Communications Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is also posted on our Web-Site. As you read the documents, be aware that the Volunteer Emergency Communicators have the opportunity to participate as members of the “B” teams.

· The South Carolina ARES web-site URL is www.ares-sc.org. You can use the site for information on the South Carolina ARES program.

· Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.

· Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, our South Carolina Section Manager, and I traveled around the state on Field Day again this year. We visited 9 sites. Four of those were sites we had never visited before. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could visit all the sites on our plan. We didn’t get to go to the upstate.

· The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team infrastructure project (SCHEARTS) is making good progress. The antennae installations at the Beaufort/Walterboro and the Conway sites are complete. Antenna work at the Florence site has been delayed due to weather. If you are working on providing support for your local hospital and have not yet joined the SCHEARTS yahoo group, you should consider joining so that you will know what is going on.

· The South Carolina ARES web-site URL is www.ares-sc.org. You can use the site for information on the South Carolina ARES program.

· Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.

· The annual South Carolina Statewide exercise took place Wednesday June 6^th and Thursday June 7^th. The scenario was an earthquake in the Charleston area. We used the opportunity to use the SCHEARTS equipment in hospitals. The SCHEARTS portion took place on Wednesday between 1300 and 1500 hours except for the Aiken Regional Medical Center. That facility participated on Wednesday between 1200 and 1300 hours. While many participants have submitted reports, I am still waiting for a few more before writing my report. If you participated but have not yet submitted a report, please do it right away. Thanks.

· Jim Boehner, N2ZZ our South Carolina Section Manager, and I will be traveling around the state on Field Day again this year. Please let me know of your Field Day plans. I need the group’s name, the FD Site location directions (also the address and/or latitude and longitude would be appreciated) and duration of your operation. Some groups do not operate the entire time.

· The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team infrastructure project (SCHEARTS) is making good progress. The antennae installations at the Beaufort/Walterboro and the Conway sites are complete. The two sites will be capable of linking as soon as the radio equipment is installed. Antenna work at the Florence site is scheduled to start this week. If you are working on providing support for your local hospital and have not yet joined the SCHEARTS yahoo group, you should consider joining so that you will know what is going on.

· The RACES Volunteer Emergency Communicator Identification Cards have been made. I sent out the cards to local coordinators who are helping me distribute them.

· The South Carolina ARES web-site URL is www.ares-sc.org. You can use the site for information on the South Carolina ARES program.

· Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.

I was unable to conduct the net tonight using normal procedures and timing due to the thunderstorm approaching my location. I made contact with W4NTO and KE4EAN just prior to normal net time and gave them the announcements. I asked them to pass on the information to others who might check-in later. I was able to shutdown just prior to the thunderstorm reaching my location. It was a good storm that came complete with well defined Wall Cloud and Beaver Tail. When I called NWS in Columbia, they had just issued a warning on the storm. Now on to the Announcements.

Announcements:

· The annual South Carolina Statewide exercise will take place this Wednesday June 6^th and Thursday June 7^th. The scenario is an earthquake in the Charleston area. Wednesday will be exercising the Response tasks and Thursday will be exercising the Recovery tasks. We plan to use the opportunity to use the SCHEARTS equipment in hospitals and the linked system. The SCHEARTS portion will take place on Wednesday between 1300 and 1500 hours except for the Aiken Regional Medical Center. That facility will participate on Wednesday between 1200 and 1300 hours. We also plan to give some of the new hams a chance to operate in an exercise environment.

· The South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team infrastructure project (SCHEARTS) is making good progress. The tower installation at the Beaufort/Walterboro site is complete. The Conway site installation has started. The two sites will be capable of linking as soon as the radio equipment is installed. If you are working on providing support for your local hospital and have not yet joined the SCHEARTS yahoo group, you should consider joining so that you will know what is going on.

· The RACES Volunteer Emergency Communicator Identification Cards have been made. I sent out the cards to local coordinators who are helping me distribute them.

· The South Carolina ARES web-site URL is www.ares-sc.org. You can use the site for information on the South Carolina ARES program.

· Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.

Notes from the 9/4/06 net:

Announcements:
·         Thank you to all those who responded to Tropical Storm Ernesto. Fortunately the storm only brushed against the state and was not all that powerful. I would appreciate after action reports from those counties who deployed for the storm.
·         My time at the SEOC was well spent. I had the opportunity to talk to many people who are normally too busy to spend the time. That and the good work of Ron Twining and Leo Zimmerman led to the potential to upgrade some of the SEOC radio equipment. Joe Semer, SEOC DEC, is developing a list of appropriate equipment.
·         Leo Zimmerman is working on the SEOC computers. He successfully solved a password problem that had been blocking conversion of the computers from their previous use to SEOC use.
·         There are two more storms forming in the eastern Atlantic at this time. Neither is very well developed. Since this is the height of the hurricane season, we need to keep a close watch on these storms.
·         A South Carolina ARES web-site is being developed. Please submit any of your web page links you would like to have on the site. Special thanks to Lloyd Mitchell, KO4L, for his efforts to get the URL and arranging for the site. The test site is up and running with place-marker information. The URL is www.ares-sc.org
·         I continue to receive completed Volunteer Emergency Communicator Registration Forms from County Emergency Managers. If you haven’t already done so, please fill out and submit your form. The contact and capabilities information is being put in a database for use in making identification cards and in an emergency. A list of the volunteers who have completed at least some of the NIMS training courses was submitted to SCEMD. The first batch of volunteer information for cards will be submitted soon.
·         Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.
·         Does anyone else have anything for the net.
·         This net will meet again on Monday, Sept. 18, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. local time.
·         Net Frequency is 3993.5 kHz.
·         Alternate Net Frequency is 3990 kHz.

Notes from the 9/18/06 net:

Announcements:
·         The two big storms in the eastern Atlantic are not considered to be a threat at this time. Gordon has 90 mph winds but is moving Northeast out in the Atlantic. Helene is a Category 3 storm with winds of 125 mph. It is still a threat to Bermuda but not the United States. We are at the peak of the hurricane season. We still need to watch the tropical weather.
·         A South Carolina ARES web-site is being developed. Please submit any of your web page links you would like to have on the site. Special thanks to Lloyd Mitchell, KO4L, for his efforts to get the URL and arranging for the site. The test site is up and running with place-marker information. The URL is www.ares-sc.org
·         I continue to receive completed Volunteer Emergency Communicator Registration Forms from County Emergency Managers. If you haven’t already done so, please fill out and submit your form. The contact and capabilities information is being put in a database for use in making identification cards and in an emergency. A list of the volunteers who have completed at least some of the NIMS training courses was submitted to SCEMD. That information has been forwarded to the appropriate people to help us get our emergency communications volunteers covered by workman’s compensation insurance. Coverage will depend on completing the NIMS training and other training. I’ll keep you informed on our progress in this important matter.
·         Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.
·         Does anyone else have anything for the net.
·         This net will meet again on Monday, October 2, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. local time.
·         Net Frequency is 3993.5 kHz.
·         Alternate Net Frequency is 3990 kHz.

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Announcements:
·         I attended the upstate hamfest on May 6^th. I enjoyed seeing many of you there.
·         I will attend the Final Planning meeting on May 18^th at SCEMD for this year’s exercise. This is a reschedule from the planned May 2^nd meeting. The exercise is planned for June 7^th and 8^th. The scenario will be a major hurricane that makes landfall in South Carolina. June 7^th will be to simulate the evacuation phase of the response. June 8^th will include an assumption that the hurricane has already moved through and is now clear of SC. Therefore we will be in the recovery phase. 16 counties are projected to participate in this year’s exercise. They are: Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chester, Colleton, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Orangeburg, Saluda, Abbeville, Clarendon, Hampton, and Jasper. We plan to use the new NVIS HF Antennas to communicate with the various counties.
·         I attended another Earthquake Communication Plan meeting at SCEMD on the May the 9th. We worked on the package of items to be supplied to the deployment team members. The plan assumes that an earthquake would create 18 virtual islands in the Charleston area. Those virtual islands would lose all normal communications capability. Individual amateur radio operators living or working within those virtual islands would be vital part of the emergency response communications capability. In addition, three deployment teams are planned. Each of those teams would have an amateur radio operator. The teams would be air-lifted (via helicopter) into the impact area at the local EOC. Significant plan changes were made at the last meeting.
·         Support for SC Hospitals. A Yahoo group has been established for the people working on this initiative to interact via Email
·         Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.
·         Does anyone else have anything for the net.
·         This net will meet again on Monday, June 5^th, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. local time.
·         Net Frequency is 3993.5 kHz.
·         Alternate Net Frequency is 3990 kHz.

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5/1/06 73 Charlie AE4UX

Announcements:
·         I regret to inform you that one of our Emergency Coordinators has become a silent key. Riley Stone, K4HYY, the Dorchester County EC died recently. Riley had been ill for some time. John Place, W4HNK, had been performing the Dorchester County EC duties while Riley was not able to. John has been appointed to the Dorchester County EC position.
·         We replaced the SEOC HF antennas on April the 18^th. Two B&W folded dipoles and one B&W Dipole were replaced with 80 and 40 meter NVIS antennas. Special thanks to Marc Tarplee, N4UFP, Tony Sealy, N4ADM, and Ron Twining, W4RET for their work replacing the antennas. The job proved to be more difficult than anticipated. It was a good thing that Marc brought along his trusty slide rule for making the calculations to determine how much to trim the antennas.
·         I will attend the Final Planning meeting on May 2^nd at SCEMD for this year’s exercise. The exercise is planned for June 7^th and 8^th. The scenario will be a major hurricane that makes landfall in South Carolina. June 7^th will be to simulate the evacuation phase of the response. June 8^th will include an assumption that the hurricane has already moved through and is now clear of SC. Therefore we will be in the recovery phase. 16 counties are projected to participate in this year’s exercise. They are: Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chester, Colleton, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Orangeburg, Saluda, Abbeville, Clarendon, Hampton, and Jasper. We plan to use the new NVIS HF Antennas to communicate with the various counties.
·         I will attend another Earthquake Communication Plan meeting at SCEMD on the May the 4th. The plan assumes that an earthquake would create 18 virtual islands in the Charleston area. Those virtual islands would lose all normal communications capability. Individual amateur radio operators living or working within those virtual islands would be vital part of the emergency response communications capability. In addition, three deployment teams are planned. Each of those teams would have an amateur radio operator. The teams would be air lifted (via helicopter) into the impact area at the local EOC. Significant plan changes were made at the last meeting.
·         Support for SC Hospitals. There was a meeting at 0900 on Tuesday April the 18^th at St Francis Hospital in Greenville to discuss the hospital needs in the upstate. Unfortunately, I was not be able to attend since I was at the SEOC replacing the antennas. Did anyone on the net attend?
·         Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.
·         Does anyone else have anything for the net.
·         This net will meet again on Monday, May 15^th , 2006 at 6:00 p.m. local time.
·         Net Frequency is 3993.5 kHz.
·         Alternate Net Frequency is 3990 kHz.

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        4/17/06 ARES/RACES net.        73 Charlie AE4UX

        Announcements:
    ·        We will be replacing the SEOC HF antennas tomorrow. The B&W folded dipoles will be replaced with 80 and 40 meter NVIS antennas. We expect to be testing the antennas at 1400 hours (2:00 P.M.). Listen for us on 3993.5, 3990, 7232, and 7243 kHz at that time.
    ·        Support for SC Hospitals. There will be a meeting at 0900 on Tuesday at St Francis Hospital in Greenville to discuss the hospital needs in the upstate. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend since I will be at the SEOC replacing the antennas. Those of you who do attend, please take good notes and pass them on to me.
    ·        I attended an Earthquake Communication Plan meeting at SCEMD on the 4th. The plan assumes that an earthquake would create 18 virtual islands in the Charleston area. Those virtual islands would lose all normal communications capability. Individual amateur radio operators living or working within those virtual islands would be vital part of the emergency response communications capability. In addition, three deployment teams are planned. Each of those teams would have an amateur radio operator. The teams would be air lifted (via helicopter) into the impact area at the local EOC. Significant plan changes were made at the last meeting. The next plan revision is expected this week. We will be meeting again on May the 3^rd.
    ·          I attended the Mid-Term Planning meetingon April 5^th at SCEMD for this year’s exercise. The exercise is planned for June 7^th and 8^th. The scenario will be a major hurricane that makes landfall in South Carolina. June 7^th will be to simulate the evacuation phase of the response. June 8^th will include an assumption that the hurricane has already moved through and is now clear of SC. Therefore we will be in the recovery phase. 16 counties are projected to participate in this year’s exercise. They are: Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chester, Colleton, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Orangeburg, Saluda, Abbeville, Clarendon, Hampton, and Jasper. We plan to use the new NVIS HF Antennas to communicate with the various counties.
    ·        Training Guidelines issued. The guidelines for appropriate training of volunteer emergency communicators was recently issued by the SCEMD. The training will give our volunteers the knowledge they will need to properly integrate their support with the rest of the responding organizations. I have already received some training reports.
    ·        The new Volunteer Emergency Communicator signup forms approved by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. I wrote a letter to the SC County EM Directors advising them of the forms and requesting that they have their volunteers fill out the form. SCEMD has not yet sent the letter to the counties.
    ·        The new South Carolina RACES identification card design approved by SCEMD.
    ·        Anyone who wants an e-mail copy of these announcements should send an e-mail to me at ae4ux@arrl.net.
    ·        Does anyone else have anything for the net.
    ·        This net will meet again on Monday, May 1^st, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. local time.
    ·        Net Frequency is 3993.5 kHz.
    ·        Alternate Net Frequency is 3990 kHz.

SC ARES NET NOTES

Net Information May 19, 2008

Announcements: