At our last meeting, I announced that I was searching for an AEC to assist me with the duties of EC in my absence. While no one in particular has reached out to me jumping with glee to fill the position, I have reached out to one of our members, who has been very helpful to me and the group in all he does.

While a little reluctant to commit to a position that could potentially require a lot of time, I assured him that I would not ask of him much more than he already does. Time is valuable to him in this current season and I understand this.

He and I both feel we work well together. And, I feel we have common interests in the Amateur Radio field. I look forward to working with him.

He has just this year upgraded to Amateur Extra Class and recently received his Volunteer Examiner Certificate and will be helping at his first VE session this weekend with N7WEB. With his knowledge in the IT field and his willingness to help our group by maintaining our website, and as our Community Liaison, I think he has and will continue to help our group move forward.

Please congratulate Lee Lukehart, K7AVR as our new AEC for K7BNR!!!

Thank you, Lee, for accepting my request!!

Mark Earls, K7MEE Bonner County EC

Hi everyone! I hope 2020 is going at least somewhat well for everyone. It definitely has presented us with different challenges.

Within the last month, we have had Field Day 2020. It was a success, with several operating on-site at Bob and Gayle’s house. A BIG thank you to our hosts. And several operating from home which sounds like they too were successful. I cannot wait to see all the results.

Immediately following Field Day, we discovered the Baldy Repeater to be off the air. That’s no fun! So, we had our chance to practice a grid down type scenario for our nets for a couple of weeks. Just yesterday, I was accompanied by Bill Steele to the site where we changed the power supply on the repeater. That seemed to do the trick…it is still operational.

At our July 7th monthly meeting, Dave Merritt retired from his position of Emergency Coordinator. Dave agreed years ago to volunteer for 1 year until someone could take over. But, I think Dave had so much fun, he decided to stick it out for 4 more years. Thanks, Dave!!! You and your team did a great job of getting us where we are now. Dave was presented with a certificate of appreciation for all he has done. Cake and refreshments were also enjoyed.

With Dave’s retirement, that means someone has to fill the slot. The question was asked of me at Field Day and at the recommendation of Dave and Bob, our served agency representative, I accepted the offer. My name was submitted to the hierarchy within the state and ARRL and with the help of our very own member and District Emergency Coordinator, Dave Holten, WA7DH, I was assigned as Bonner County Emergency Coordinator.

The position does not come easily, as I have some big shoes to fill and a 5-year tenure of hard work to maintain and continue to build. I believe that is possible with everyone participating.

As with most volunteer groups, we have more folks on the roster than we do active members. I would love to see that change, the active part that is. That can easily begin just by checking in on the Net every Monday evening at 7 pm. I am Responding sends out a reminder every Monday at 6 pm. I hope to hear more of you on the air.

Meetings – I asked at the meeting if everyone was satisfied with our meeting day and time. I wasn’t sure if work schedules and/or dinner times were an issue, or if we should consider another day/time. The consensus of those present was to leave it as it is. So, it remains first Tuesday each month at 1730 hrs local.

I am Responding – if you do not get the reminders or any other alerts, please let me know so I can get you added. Send me an email at k7mee1 at gmail .com. Also, include who your cell phone service provider is.

Repeaters – I already touched on the Baldy Repeater. Hopefully, we will get the repeaters up onto Long Mountain soon. Our hopes are to have it linked directly to the Baldy machine. We are also looking at what we can do to get better coverage on the west side of the county; (Oldtown/Priest River/Newport, WA). Nothing so far, but we are looking at and discussing possibilities.

Multi-Use Facility – closed for in-person meetings until further notice. It is reserved for EMS personnel should anyone become COVID positive to have a place to quarantine should they not have anywhere. Previous arrangements within the county fell through and another option had to be found. We can hold Zoom meetings if the need arises, but for now, I think we will forgo any until at least after fair.

Fair – Yes, it is still happening. While most of the other events leading up to or during it have canceled (PRCA Rodeo, Challenge of Champions Bull Riding), our kids are still working on projects and will have them on display. And livestock auction is still planned. The fair is requesting everyone to be respectful of others and social distance at least 2 animal lengths apart, farm animal of your choosing. We plan to have the Comm’s Trailer at the fair again this year. We’ll get a sign-up sheet sent out soon for anyone wishing to participate.

Training – I would like for us to start having training more often. Be it monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. We can do it on a Saturday to give us more time or another day if easier. We have Net Control training that we can do. There is also message handling training we can do.

ARES (State, National) – ARES hierarchy has been discussing the ARES Task Book quite heavily and the basic training requirements of members. Our served agency has a minimum requirement for us as IS-100, IS-200, IS-700 and IS-800, all part of the Incident Command System. If you haven’t had these classes, you can find them online.

This has been a long read for everyone, I’m sorry but, I wanted to fill everyone in on the changes and what’s been going on. Thanks for reading!

Mark, K7MEE

Bonner County EC

Amateur Radio “Field Day” Demonstrates Science, Skill, and Service

Members of the Bonner County ARES/RACES team will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise. Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Date: June 22 & 23, 2019 (runs 24 hours, starting 11:00 a.m. Saturday)
Location: 465838 US-95, Sagle, ID (at Dufort Rd on the NW corner; enter from Hwy 95).

For more than 100 years, Amateur Radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cell phone or the Internet. Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Over 35,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2018.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said Sean Kutzko of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

“Hams can literally throw a wire in a tree for an antenna, connect it to a battery-powered transmitter and communicate halfway around the world,” Kutzko added. “Hams do this by using a layer of Earth’s atmosphere as a sort of mirror for radio waves. In today’s electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) environment, ham radio remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology, and numerous other scientific disciplines, and is a huge asset to any community during disasters if the standard communication infrastructure goes down.”

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. It’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in Bonner County. For more information about Field Day, contact Lori Holten [email] or visit http://arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

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ARES® and Amateur Radio Emergency Service® are trademarks of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Bonner County Commissioners Jeff Connolly, Dan McDonald and Steve Bradshaw have issued a county proclamation of Amateur Radio Week in support of the upcoming ARRL Field Day, sponsored locally by Bonner County ARES (download from this link).

The text of the proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas, Amateur Radio operators are celebrating over a century of the miracle of the human voice broadcast over the airwaves; and
Whereas, Amateur Radio has continued to provide a bridge between peoples, societies and countries by creating friendships and the sharing of ideas; and
Whereas, Amateur Radio Operators have also provided countless hours of community services both in emergencies and to other local organizations throughout these decades; and
Whereas, these Amateur Radio services are provided wholly uncompensated; and
Whereas, the State also recognizes the services Amateur Radio’s people also provide to our many Emergency Response organizations, including Bonner County Emergency Management and other Public Safety Agencies; and
Whereas, these same individuals have further demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing free radio communications for local parades, bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons, fairs and other charitable public events; and
Whereas, Bonner County recognizes and appreciates the diligence of these “hams” who also serve as weather spotters in the Skywarn program of the US Government Weather Bureau; and
Whereas, the ARRL is the leading organization for Amateur Radio in the USA; and Whereas, the ARRL Amateur Radio Field Day exercise will take place on June 22-23, 2019 and is a 24- hour emergency preparedness exercise and demonstration of the Radio Amateurs’ skills and readiness to provide self-supporting communications without further infrastructure being required;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Bonner County Board of Commissioners does hereby proclaim the week of June 17-23 as Amateur Radio Week, and June 22-23, 2019, as Bonner County ARES/RACES Field Day.
DULY APPROVED by the Bonner County Board of Commissioners this 11th June, 2019.
BONNER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

The third annual “Inland Northwest Preparedness Expo” at the Bonner County Fairgrounds was held as a two-day event with talks, demonstrations and vendor exhibits. The slides for my “Go Bags: Survive the first 72 Hours” talk are attached here, to provide the contents list, resource links and prime objective of a Go Bag (which also goes by the names Jump Kit, Bug-out Bag, Get Home Bag, and 72-Hour Kit).

For the purpose of this talk, a Go Bag’s purpose is “to keep you effective and functioning immediately after crisis onset — the first 24 hours — and surviving for at least three days. This kit is to sustain YOU while you get to a safer place or wherever you need to be. The BEST kit is the one you have with you.”

Click the following link to download/open the PDF file: Go Bags INWPE 2018.pdf