Run Surrey Run
September and October have been busy months for SEPAR. At the beginning of September, we started off with the Run Surrey Run 5/10Km race. The Race was held on Sunday September 7th This year was the first year to have the streets completely closed to vehicular traffic. The race is growing every year and trying out different things to help improve the management of the event. This year the race organizer brought in commercial radios for the organizer and his staff, as well as their own bike observers with commercial radios. Previously SEPAR had provided amateur radio volunteers on bikes.
The plan was to provide a commercial bike radio and event management radio to the SEPAR trailer (running the event communications). A set of these would also be provided to the EOC with the amateur communications liaison station. Prior to the event day we did not know what these commercial radios would be, if a repeater was involved, and it they had been tested for coverage around the course.
SEPAR had 21 volunteers posted around the race course, in the communications trailer, EOC, two on bicycles and at the Start/Finish area. Set up was quicky completed in the park and EOC. The extra event radios were delivered to SEPAR and tested. The commercial radios did work outside and Paulette VE7VPE acted as the liaison juggling three radios and the phone for SEPAR. The event radios did not work within the EOC building. We could at times hear a communication but most were unreadable. With this failure the EOC relied on all race communications through SEPAR net control (Andrew VA7LGN).
Within the EOC the city has Police and Traffic management to oversee deployment of officers and management of issues related to the race. The police also work together with the traffic management staff to ensure roads are closed and monitored.
Prior to the race the contracted traffic management company’s radio system had some challenges which led to delays in road closures. It also delayed the race start. After some investigation the problem was identified. To fix the problem the traffic management staff needed to move to another channel on their radios. This was taking some time as each intersection on the course had personnel which needed to be contacted. SEPAR stepped up and a broadcast to our team was made. This broadcast asked SEPAR operators to contact any nearby traffic staff and have them switch to the identified channel and check in with their dispatch. Our two SEPAR bike riders started a lap around the course passing this message along. Once this was done and the traffic closures were confirmed, the race started, albeit late.
The runners began and the first runners were followed around the course with the radios being used to pass the location to the race organizers. The full 10km race was two laps around the course and as the 10km runners caught up to the 5km runners the course became very busy. Shuttle drivers were contacted to bring water and other items to the support stations around the course. Towards the end of the race, finding the last runner/walker was important to help with reopening roads, ensuring everyone was now off the roads.
During the event we did have one injury, a fall with minor injuries (one of our volunteers), we had a small fire in the park near the finish line, and had some angry residents that wanted to use the closed roads prior to them being opened. Each one of these was relayed and dealt with using the assistance of the SEPAR radio team.
When the event ended, the equipment was taken down and most of the SEPAR team met at a local restaurant to chat and debrief. Overall, it was another successful event showing the use of amateur radio and also showing how we have good radio coverage in a dense part of our city. The other agencies and city staff in the EOC saw how useful the cities’ volunteer radio operators are.
Feedback that we have identified from this event, for next year, is the value the amateur operators with bikes are to the event. We will try and increase the number of bikes in future years.
The other lesson learned was as a result of the issue the Traffic Management group had with their radios. Their commercial portable radios in the field only had channels 1-16 on the knob without any alpha numeric display. The EOC mobile radio being used had an alpha numeric display and names for the channels without numbers. This helped create the one of the issues they experienced. Learning from their experience SEPAR created a new simple channel naming and numbering plan.
New SEPAR Short List Frequency Plan
Horace VA7XHB is one of our very busy members who helps with support the SARC Repeaters, Winlink Gateways and assists with programming radios to anyone who asks on Saturday morning. For some time, we have discussed a radio programming plan. We do have an agreed upon frequency plan within each municipality identifying primary and secondary repeaters, and simplex with both VHF and UHF identified. This frequency list is what the Province and Volunteer Emergency Radio groups will use during a disaster.
Some radios only have frequency display, some have alpha numeric, some radios are single band and other multiband radios. With the SEPAR program radios we can control the layout while the volunteers manage their own radios. They also have their own favorite repeaters and way in which they operate. So rather than create a big plan Horace had a very creative idea.
SEPAR now has a SHORT LIST FREQUENCY PLAN
Our webpage (https://www.ve7sar.net/separ/frequencies) explains it well:
SEPAR maintains a short list of frequencies for those in the Surrey area to use. This list has deliberately been kept to just nine entries which cover the primary frequencies used by amateur radio operators in the Surrey area. By limiting the size, we allow radio operators to assign any block of 10 memory slots and then refer to them by channel number, without disrupting their existing frequency list. These blocks could be frequencies 1-9, or 541-549. For example, Channel 2 (VE7RSC VHF South) could be Frequency 2 or frequency 542 if your SEPAR block starts at 1 or 541, respectively. We request that amateur radio operators in the Surrey area reserve any block of 10 memory slots and assign these frequencies to them for use in emergencies.”
If your radio doesn’t have the 440Mhz or 220Mhz bands available in it leave those channels as blank/not used the number order. For clarification: In the list below if you don’t have 220 then channels 4 and 9 would read not used/blank.
Using the naming format shown in the table allows those with limited alpha-numeric size limit to also use the same name, as the maximum name size is just 6 characters.
This plan ensures that we can clearly communicate by both channel number and name where we are operating. If we need to move to another channel for any reason, it can be clearly identified and easily moved to. Most modern radios have large memory storage capabilities so we hope this is not a big ask for SEPAR volunteers.
The Great Shakeout Exercise
The other recent big event was the annual Great Shakeout. This is held the third Thursday of October. This year Oct 16 at 10:16 we “had a large earthquake”. The community at schools, workplaces practices “Drop! Cover! Hold On! (https://www.shakeoutbc.ca/)
For SEPAR this meant after 10:16 a net would be started on the local repeater. This is part of the standing message in our weekly net script:
After an emergency or disaster SEPAR members are asked to go to the repeater 147.360+ T110.9 (or via the south repeater using T103.5) to check in. If the repeater fails to respond, go to the simplex frequency of 146.550.
This year Scott VE7KAT volunteered to “start and run the net”. Scott is an experienced ham but not one of our regular NCO’s. He was simply given a copy of the script (available on our website) and some instructions on being prepared to take notes on information given by stations checking in. This is the realistic expectation of the first person on the frequency after an event. The net control continues until they are relieved and have passed any relevant information to the NCO assuming the net. As we develop tools and aids these will be posted to the SEPAR page on the website to make them available to everyone.
Those checking in were asked to provide to the net:
- Your general location (Nearby cross street or hundred block)
- Do you have any injuries or emergencies to report?
- Do you have power, phone, internet connection?
- What type of radio capabilities do you have right now. How long will your power last? Any damage to your home/business?
- If you are mobile, please report your direction of travel and any problems or issues you have seen on the road as a result of the earthquake.
If capable, participants were also asked to send a “Did You Feel It” Winlink Report into the USGS, SEPAR, the Provincial Regional Emergency Operation Center, to our neighbors south of the border in Whatcom County EOC, and the WINLINK ETO training group.
- We had a successful net with 26 voice check ins from within the city, surrounding municipalities as well as from our US neighbors in Whatcom County.
- There were 12 Winlink check ins with 6 of them from the US side.
Evaluation:
- Positive experience from participating radio operators.
- Net control did a good job.
- Net control built a form to aid with gathering data from participants during their check-ins.
- Most individuals checking in are not experienced in providing a concise report.
- Gathering the name of the person checking in can waste valuable time. (Most amateurs know each other)
- A brief report is all that is initially needed and some will provide to much information.
- Understanding what is important to provide is important. Injuries, significant damage in some areas with little damage in other areas can help responders know where to attend first.
- Greater training and use of the Winlink system would increase use.
Of Interest only one other amateur in British Columbia participated via Winlink.
VE7PAE (top right) near Salmon Arm BC also checked in.
Feedback from Whatcom EOC:
- Established contact with Surrey, BC
- Good comms with Surrey SEPAR on both the Sumas VHF (145.230) and Surrey VHF (147.360) repeaters.
Outcome/Actions
New SEPAR Net Protocol has been created. This has resulted in an updated net script and includes a checklist to encourage participants to provide specific information to help improve reporting. The net script was also changed to help eliminate unnecessary information being repeated. For example, we will no longer ask if people will participate in the Simplex or Secondary net. The NCO will simply announce the net is changing frequencies and do a quick call down the list for everyone, no reply and they will move on quickly. Changes to net script and check-in protocol development have been published on the website (https://www.ve7sar.net/separ/separ-net-protocol).
We have created a list of important information to gather, a color system to help speed things up and some examples of how to use the script.
Protocol Information reported and Color Explanation:
- Callsign & Location: Self-explanatory.
- Radio: Is your station fully operational, sufficiently charged (if portable), and ready for use? Green means your station is fully operational and ready for use. Yellow means it is operational but not perfectly functional. Red means that while you are able to check in, your station is not expected to remain operational. A few words after Yellow or Red to briefly explain are welcome.
- Internet: Do you have access to the Internet (either through your cell phone or your wired Internet)? Green means you have full access to the Internet, either through your phone or via wired Internet. Yellow means you have access to the Internet, but it is compromised. Red means you do not have access to the Internet. A few words after Yellow or Red to briefly explain are welcome.
- Grid Power: Is the power grid operational in your area? Green means grid power is fully functional. Yellow means power is available but it is intermittent or compromised. Red means grid power is out. A few words after Yellow or Red to briefly explain are welcome.
- Roads: Are road conditions normal? Normal includes routine traffic. Green means roads are normal for that time and place. Yellow means something unusual is happening, either an obstruction or higher-than-usual traffic. Red means something severely unusual is happening. A few words after Yellow or Red to briefly explain are welcome.
- Mobility and Availability: Do you have mobility and are you available for SEPAR assignments? I am mobile/not-mobile by car/foot/bicycle/transit/other and am available/not-available for assignment. Explanations are entirely unnecessary here. If you are unavailable but anticipate being available later, please state this briefly.
- Any further traffic: Important issues only. Focus on conveying information as efficiently as possible, with as few words as possible.
The website provides definitions to help people understand the color system and why we are making this change. The SEPAR net is not a conversational net but a practice net for the emergency program. We encourage check ins and participation. To allow all hams and visitors to feel welcome the SEPAR Net Protocol is optional.
We will continue to evaluate and improve our program and will welcome feedback and comments.
As always if you have any questions or want further information on the SEPAR program please reach out.
Volunteer SEPAR Coordinator
No comments:
Post a Comment