What to title this was a struggle, so I went with what I need to do….dump my thoughts from my brain.
I hope everyone is doing well. Between the smoke and the wind storm on Labor Day, which also brought about a wildland fire on the west side of the county, the month of September has been fairly ornery. With some new fires going, some rain in the forecast is welcomed.
I was working the day of the wind storm and what a day it was, non-stop radio traffic on EMS/Fire frequency. I don’t believe anyone called up a net, I never heard of one. Anyone think one was needed? I know there were a lot of power outages throughout the county. We were without power for a couple days at home, and it allowed me to learn that my shack is not tied into the generator for some odd reason. Now I have that to get figured out.
And, listening to all the radio traffic from dispatch, reminded me how much I don’t miss being a dispatcher. It did, however, get my mind running with how can this get better? Knowing all the calls that come into dispatch during times like that day and how overwhelmed dispatch is, why aren’t we as a group doing more to help. I’ve talked with Bob, KB7REX, and I hope to start some sort of proposal to the Sheriff, who is over the dispatch center now, with what ARES can offer them in the way of assistance. While maybe not being on the dispatch frequencies, there are Tactical Frequencies we can utilize to talk with the fire department personnel and we can be the ones to call the utility companies to report the pole number, what is requested and getting and ETA. When the time comes, I will be seeking a few for input and assistance with getting this started.
KB7REX, Bob, BC Emergency Management Director has been keeping in contact with Incident Management for the Callahan Fire which is on the Idaho/Montana border. There is also the Bernard Peak fire at the south end of Lake Pend Oreille between Lakeview and Bayview. There is also the 117 Fire which is in the Talache area of Lake Pend Oreille. That one is maybe 10 acres. And another fire up north on the Idaho/Washington border called the West Branch Fire is 9 miles west of Coolin. I believe it is near the area that burned a couple years ago. So, lots of fire. One wonders how they are all starting….
Ray, K7LNA and myself took another trip to Long Mountain. They are ready for us to get equipment moved in. Ray is getting some final work done on the repeaters before we get them on site, hopefully by end of the month. The frequency info is: 442.000 (+) 110.9 and 147.000 (+) 123.0 These will be linked to the Baldy repeater. And, I am still working on what to do for the West Side of the county. Have a couple options, but not sure if the locations will allow the repeater to talk with the Long Mountain repeaters to create another link in our system. A work remaining in progress.
Before I get to October, let me mention that on September 26, what started out being the Pend Oreille County Radio Group’s annual gathering, has grown to be something more along the lines of a Hamfest among other things. Our newest member, Mark Ford, KA7LAS is helping to organize this event and would like any help possible. I will most likely be there for part of the day and will do my best to represent the group well. Anyone else interested, let me know. The details follow….
Location has changed due to increased interest. We will well exceed our outdoor gathering capacity for the state of Washington.
New location: Priest River City Park (On High St near Franklin St)
Date: September 26, 2020
Time: 10:00-1400
Event: Community Radio Networking and Projects Update. Increase your situational awareness and know what’s happening around you.
This event is for:
-Hams
-Non-hams and those interested in learning or getting their license
-Channel 3 Project (GMRS/MURS)
-Neighborhood Watch
-Police (Interoperability)
-Sheriff (Interoperability)
-Fire (Interoperability)
-Local Governments
-ARES/RACES
-Newport Area EmComm
-POCRG www.pocrg.org(will be holding their annual meeting at this event)
-All those who may be interested in alternate forms of communications for both emergency and non-emergency operations.
We will have:
-Updates on local repeater and non-repeater based communications projects for community including GMRS and 2 meter)
-After-Action on fires in Oregon/Washington/California and how radios have helped communities there.
-Portable/Deploy-able Radio options.
-HF radio demos and set ups.
-Mobile Radio Demos. Vehicle mounted options you can order for less than $100.00
-Handheld (Walkie-Talkie) type radios you can order for less than $25.
-Regional and long distance (DX) radio demonstrations.-VHF 2 meter radio demos.
-Portable and emergency antenna demonstrations.
-Show and Tell of radios and projects
Volunteers/Staff:
There will be plenty of seasoned and experienced amateur radio operators that will be available to answer all your questions.
What to bring:
-Lawn Chair
-Show and Tell items (if you have anything that may be of interest to the group)
-Sack Lunch (Picnic in the park)
Other Items of Interest:
-There may be a food truck or two arrive around lunch time
-Lawn chairs will help folks keep spread out where desired. Use good judgement.
-Looking for Volunteers, “Elmers”, experienced radio operators.
So, as you can see, they’re hoping it will become a big deal. And, why not! Another great way to promote the hobby and all it’s good for.
So, October will be here quite soon. And with October comes another event that we participate in; the annual Preparedness Expo. When is it? Saturday, October 3 from 9-5 and Sunday, October 4 from 9-4. If you haven’t signed up for a time slot, please check your email, it is dated 9/9/20. The form is in OpenOffice formatting. Some have had issues opening it. You can email me to let me know what day/s and time frame. We have some already signed up.
Our October meeting is a go for October 6, 2020 at 1730 hrs local time. And, this will be an in-person meeting and I am hoping to have the ability to Zoom into it as well. I will not be able to there in person because of work, so hopefully I can talk K7AVR into getting Zoom up if he plans to be there.
Be sure to check out the forum at http://groupspaces.com/BonnerARES/ page. I’ve added a Training category for us to discuss what we would like to do in the way of training. It was decided at our last meeting that was via Zoom to have training on the same day of the meetings. For October, that will not be the case. I would like to get more input on what kind of training everyone would like to have. So, if you can be at the meeting either in person or internet please plan on joining us.
I sent an email on 9/9/20 asking you to email me with any time you have devoted for ARES. This can include ICS, AUXCOM or ARRL in person or online training classes related to Emergency Response or Communications, Public Service Events (ie Fair, Preparedness Expo, Event such as the one listed above, parades) where you were doing Ham stuff. I include this time in the EC Monthly Report along with our Nets. This helps to show how active we are as a group. If you can include a date, amount of time, and what you were doing; Training – IS100 or Preparedness Expo. Just create a spreadsheet or a journal and send it to me by the 7th of each month. That will give me time to tally all the times for my report. Thank in advance!!
With that, I think my brain is empty now. I now have my thoughts written out and they can serve as my reminder of what needs done. Thanks for letting me dump my brain. Be safe, get on the air and have some fun!
Mark, K7MEE, BCEC