November - December SEPAR report

 Fall happenings

Fall has finally arrived. The long very dry summer has ended, and the fall winds and rain have started. For many of us it is time to put away the summer garden and prepare the outside for winter. For many amateurs, the time to do any outside antenna work etc. is rapidly disappearing. Our work at the Operations and Training Center (OTC) this last weekend involved blowing the leaves off the building roof and checking that the downspouts were not plugged. In the past, lack of this maintenance has caused leaks inside the building. This is now a planned fall work activity we do as part of the building maintenance.

We also spent some time moving our wire dipole antenna up higher. One of the group brought his arborist throw line air cannon and helped “shoot” a pull line about sixty feet up a nearby tree. With a new line in the middle of the antenna (near the balun) we were able with a bit of work pull the middle of the antenna up higher.

One other area of unanticipated work was moving one of the guy lines off our trailer tower to a new concrete block location. The original location was anchored to the corner of a nearby shipping container. However, the container owner was removing the container, so we had to temporarily remove the line and crank down the tower until a new anchor location was decided and set up. With the work all done for the day our antennas were back in service, hopefully for the coming fall and winter.

SEPAR also participated in the annual Great Shakeout Earthquake exercise. Like previous year’s we “dropped, covered, and held on” wherever we were at. After doing what we have planned to do (check our family for injuries, home or business for damage etc.) our plan is to go to the VE7RSC repeater. If this fails, we go to the Surrey primary simplex frequency we would use.

While this is the plan for SEPAR it is open to any amateur radio operator. We start a net and ask those checking in for some basic information:

· call sign

· location

· injuries or immediate assistance required

· obvious visible damage or location report

· and the amateurs' capabilities:

◦ do they have power,

◦ internet,

◦ phone,

◦ what type of radio do they have available with them (VHF/UHF/HF/Digital),

◦ and also backup power, and

◦ If the person checking in is mobile, what have they seen during their drive.

Net control will gather this information and pass this “picture” on to the city or to another amateur who will take over the net.

So like previous years this is what was done this year. We had approximately 25 check-ins from around both the city and neighbouring areas. We also reached out to Whatcom County EOC in Washington State. They are the immediate southern border county to Surrey.

Prior to this exercise we had quite a discussion surrounding what a Volunteer was to do during an unplanned event. We discussed the plan about starting a net and who was to do it? The answer is the first person on the air. So, we explained how our weekly net is a good example of how to run it. We also practice a simplex portion of the net weekly. This should help members understand who they can normally “hear” and how to use a “relay station” to communicate with those who you cannot reach directly (or without a repeater in the middle). This is also a good lesson for many to help them understand that a good antenna and a mobile/base radio is better than having just a handheld with the stock antenna. Of course, a handheld with a good antenna is also a great tool to have with you. As part of the radio licensing classes offered, we hold a workshop and have the students make a roll-up j-pole. This helps make a small portable radio kit that you can keep with you in a bag at work, or your pack you take to work regularly etc. Regardless of the radio used, those who are regular participants in nets with their equipment quickly understand their limitations of their equipment.

Our discussion also led to a plan to create an emergency preamble to the net that can be used in place of the weekly “practice” net. The regular net script was sent out to a group for feedback to update it if needed. During the net the “new” net control made a sheet to help remind him of the information that would be important to gather. It will become the start of a template others can use moving forward.

As a follow up we will map out the approximate locations of each check in to show the capabilities of the amateur community to provide within 30 minutes or so of an earthquake.

We will also be looking at how we can get this information into the EOC prior to moving our net control to the radio room there.

We also had the local frequency plan which is agreed upon by the Greater Vancouver Area Municipalities’ volunteer groups refreshed and it was sent out to the new amateurs who have been participating in the local GOTA net.

As we meet and debrief from the exercise there will no doubt be other learnings and outcomes we have not yet identified.

As I started this article talking about fall activities around the house there are some other personal things everyone should consider as personal preparedness items as winter approaches.

Winter Storms often impact power and the ability to travel.

Have you a plan for backup power and tested your plan? e.g. run the generator and make sure it starts. Do you have fuel? Are your radio batteries charged?

If your power goes out, will you lose your heat? How about your internet and communications?

Do you have your vehicle prepared for winter with appropriate tires? What about winter supplies if you get stuck?

Have you changed out the summer clothing to winter clothing in your 72-hour kit?

Now is the time to gather those extra supplies and think through what you learned last winter.

One last area is make sure you sign up for your local area alerts. In Surrey we use the Alertable App for emergency communications. You can define the alerts you will receive and be aware of storms or other emergencies that could impact you.

We received a very nice letter from the RunSurreyRun organizers complimenting SEPAR on our communications for the event.

If you are interested in the SEPAR program and wish to become more involved, please let us know. Our website is www.ve7sar.net and there is a contact information to contact us.

You can also check out the blog at www.SEPAR.ca

Our weekly nets are every Tuesday night on the SARC repeater on 147.360 + T110.9 at 07:30 pm PST. All are welcome to check in.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
SEPAR Coordinator

 

The September - October SEPAR Report

Trailer Update

Since our last issue SEPAR has continued with our weekly nets and weekly Saturday drop ins at the Operations and Training Center (OTC). Prior to going to the OTC many attend the local Denny’s for breakfast. Each week we see between 10-20 individuals often with some new first time attendees as well. Along with SARC we have also had a couple of summertime social events to keep the friendships going strong. We have also seen several new “on the air” individuals move from the Get on the Air (GOTA) net to now start joining the regular nets. The GOTA net helps with practical issues including “mic fright” to have those recently licensed actually be comfortable with using their radios.

Work by a couple of our SEPAR members (John VA7XB and Steve VE7SXM) on the SEPAR trailer was also done. John completed the work of moving the inside lights and rewiring them, did some further work on the new outside front storage box as well as installed new rear stabilizer jacks. These help maintain the stability of the trailer when deployed and with the low ground clearance of the trailer took some work to get a workable solution.

Along with the installation of the storage box a couple of stabilizer arms were also installed to help with vibration on the Hi-Q screw driver antenna also on the front.

Steve helped on the inside of the trailer with removal of an existing rack and remounting the radios on the front wall. He also rewired the radios and created a new battery power solution inside. This now allows for the radios to be activated prior to generator or shore power being used. It is great to see the trailer refresh work being completed.

Work has also been ongoing by John VE7TI with the now second annual Run Surrey Run race being scheduled for September 10th. (We are looking for volunteers still to help with this event).  John has been working with both the City and Race Organizers on the event plan to ensure that the communications component is well set up and full communications throughout the events course is available and covered by volunteer amateur radio operators. This is a great learning opportunity to work with the city and help those involved understand how communications may be run during an emergency instead of a fun event. More information about the event will come in a future issue.

The personal communications plan

This issue we want to continue with the personal communications plan theme. Last issue we explored your family communications PACE plan. This issue we want to start expanding to work with your neighbours.

Today as this is being written our Province (BC) is in the midst of the worst even recorded wild fire season. Hundreds of homes and commercial properties have been destroyed by fire and thousands have been forced to flee these terrible fires. More than 67,500 people are on evaluation alert with many fires being fought hard for multiple days and are still out of control. As these fires go through the power and communications infrastructure are also impacted. This can mean that even though your home is safe from the fire you can still be without power and communications. The ability to gather up-to-date and accurate information via the internet can be very difficult in these conditions.

In SEPAR we have been working on developing a plan to help non-amateurs communicate with each other within their immediate neighbourhood. In conjunction with the local Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program we have been working on a plan to use FRS/GMRS (non licensed) radios in the local area. Even though these radios are marketed on the package saying they will work up to 20-35km the reality is these are good for approximately 1 km if you are outside. If you are talking from inside a building the range will be that much less. This range will allow neighbours to talk with each other.

If there is a single amateur in the community that person can act a relay station to move the messages outside and back into the community. We have been working with the NEPP program and will provide a class on communications and also offer licensing classes to help get someone in the neighbourhood licensed for amateur radio. This is an excellent strategy to use in your strata community/townhouse group.

When explaining how the radios work we advise users to pick a channel and not to use any privacy tones on the radios. These actually make the radio “deaf” to anyone without the correct tone and you may miss that someone is on the channel if these are in use. These low power radios will work well in a small area and if the next street over wants they can select a different channel to make sure they don’t interfere with one another. This can be repeated throughout the larger community and you can basically hopscotch the FRS/GMRS channels through out the area (or city) reusing channels when they get too far away to cause interference with someone else using the same channel.

This idea is not new and many communities have started some form of this in their area. In our region one of the best examples for this is the plan in use on Saltspring Island. They have the entire island mapped out with neighbourhood channels and can actually relay a message via each neighbourhood if needed. Now they also have several strong amateur radio operators in the community that can relay over much longer distances.

The draft plan in Surrey for channel use does have some specific channels identified for other uses based on some of the best practices we have been able to identify in our research. Our sample plan also takes into account the radio channels 8-14 are low power and are good to use only within a neighbourhood. Channels 1-7 and 15-22 are high power and are best used to reach the entire neighbourhood or a surrounding area. Channel 1 is often taught to be used for distress calling and in the US the “Channel 3 Project” also recommends using channel 3 for calling others so we have designated this for general calling outside of the neighbourhood.

This means that we will recommend channels 2, 4-7 and 15-22 for various neighbourhoods as the dispatch channel and 8-14 within a neighbourhood to be used as needed.

Regardless of how you work the assignment of channels a plan on how to get information from within an area to the outside must be created. The plan is to select a primary high power channel for your street and use it to help coordinate your plan.

Neighbourhood Dispatch Channel:

To communicate with a) Block Captain or b) Team Leader or c) Incident Commander or d) local ham for external communication.

THIS IS THE INITIAL GO-TO AND MONITORING CHANNEL

Often it is you immediate neighbours that you are going to get help from in an emergency and working with them to find a way to communicate when regular communications fail should be part of you planning process. These local FRS channels can be used to check in with your neighbours and if you are the local amateur, you can put together a report on the condition of your community and any needs etc. that exist. You can use your amateur radio to get this information onto your local emergency responders or EOC to help in the local response to the ongoing emergency.

If you are interested in the SEPAR program and wish to become more involved please let us know. Our website is www.separ.ca and there is a contact form to get in touch with us.

Our weekly nets are every Tuesday night on the SARC repeater on 147.360 + T110.9 at 07:30 pm PST. All are welcome to check in.

Gord Kirk VA7GK
SEPAR Coordinator

The July - August SEPAR Report

 

 The Summer report

The lead up to field day is always a very busy time for the amateur community as SEPAR members can attest. We had several areas to look at in preparation for two events. Two weeks prior to field day SEPAR attended an Emergency Preparedness Fair along side the Langley Amateur Radio Association. This was a 4 hour event for the public to attend and see various booths promoting Neighborhood Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness, First Aid, Water Storage and Filters, Food Storage, Cooking without Power, How to Build an Evacuation (bug out) Kit, Building a Documentation Binder, as well as discussing Fire Safety.

SEPAR was asked to present on Family and Neighborhood Emergency Communication plans. We had 10 volunteers show up to help with our set up and to demonstrate various equipment to the attendees. One part of our focus was to discuss with already licensed but inactive amateurs how to get on the air and help with understanding that a simple inexpensive handheld radio with the stock antenna may not meet their needs for communications if they have not tested it.

We had various member’s grab and go kits, example antennas ranging from home build, to purchased Buddipole antennas. One of our members Larry (VE7LXB who runs the GOTA net) showed how to set up HF from the back of your car if you live in a townhome where larger antennas are not possible.

Our presentation session focussed on some of the areas we covered in previous issues of the Communicator, including how to get situational awareness, using phones and internet for planned communications moving to satellite texting devices like the Garmin inReach Mini, and of course amateur radio. Overall this was a successful and fun day despite the rain which came down most of the time.

These types of activity are always good to confirm our equipment is working. We have a small cargo trailer set up with three radio positions and there are always improvements and maintenance that can be done. One of our members (John VA7XB) is helping design a new cabinet to help store the folding tables and pop up canopies. He also helped with repositioning the chair storage to hangers on the rear door. He mounted a new box to the front tongue area of the trailer for miscellaneous equipment, helping to clear up some clutter. We also discovered what looked like an attempted break in to the rear doors and the part was repaired.

We also installed a 12 Volt Battery Box with battery to run the equipment inside. Previously it only ran from 110V through either shore or generator power.

With this equipment in place the next setup was our club’s Field Day. The focus this year was to place the GOTA station in the trailer and have it running the entire time with newly licensed hams (or unlicensed visitors) under supervision. This helped the new people to spend some time in the trailer and see what was there and also get the support to try HF which most had not previously used. The biggest challenge of the day or Larry the GOTA coordinator was getting the operators to give up the radio to allow others to try. The end result was many newly licensed amateurs now excited to move into HF on top of being active on the VHF and UHF bands.

During field day we also set up our portable 100 foot tower and tested everything out on it. The HF antenna was assembled and the tower raised. Last year at field day we had identified work needing to be done on the trailer and over the year most was completed. This included new tires, brakes and an inspection to certify its safety under the BC Motor Vehicle Act. We also repaired our generator which failed last year, and we did some rewiring to allow the tower hydraulic system to work both from generator or shore power. The generator also had a 220V outlet installed to make it useful for move than tilting and raising the tower. From the 220V outlet an extension cord is available to split power to two 110 volt outlets for powering other items as required.

After a fabulous BBQ dinner during field day, I had a conversation that amateur radio is often seen as a solitary hobby. But with an active club it is far from a lonely time. We meet for breakfast/coffee weekly, have a weekly drop in, three nets during the week and a monthly meeting. In the summer the monthly meetings become an evening get together to visit in our lawn chairs and just have some food and fellowship. In reflecting on the conversation I was reminded that it also allows for some of our members to check in everyday on some of the nets just to keep connected with our friends. Becoming connected to a volunteer organization provides so many benefits to so many of our members.

As mentioned in our last article we will be continuing our look at communications plans. The last issue you were encouraged to write down the answers to four questions. This included who you wanted to talk to (don’t forget work contacts), why, how you would do so and when. Also note this is being build to communicate with family and friends and many of these significant individuals in your life may not be amateur radio licensed.

With that information collected it is time to lay out a plan. So many individuals and groups are promoting the use of a PACE plan. This is an acronym which stands to Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency plan.

In building your PACE plan, start with the first person you want to connect with in an emergency or communications outage and write out that persons name, phone number (work numbers too), email, what social media or communication platform (i.e. Telegram, Messenger, Instagram) you could use to reach them, Satellite phone number or if they have a satellite message device and what type of radio they may have. This may be other than a Ham radio, it may be FRS/GMRS, CB, commercial radio and don’t forget marine radios. Last  with the answer to the four questions and the list of information about each start creating your communications plan.

Primary: what do you normally use to communicate with that person, how often and when will you try. (e.g. do you call your spouse as you’re leaving work and on the way home each day - note this is a predicable time).

Alternate: If the phone system (including regular text messaging) fails try an internet based messaging app.

Contingency: Send a text via a satellite messenger or now try on the prearranged radio frequency.

Emergency: This may be your out of town contact and or a prearranged meeting place.

The Primary and Alternate are easy to start with and the Contingency and Emergency plans may only be tried by the other if a regular communication window is missed or if a known emergency/disaster is happening (i.e. you just felt an earthquake).

Having situational awareness of coming weather or incidents (Wind storm, snow storm, wildfires or flooding) you can prearrange and remind others to be prepared to use the PACE Plan. With prearranged times and a plan written out for each person you want to contact. You may find  that most of you will use the same method to contact others, and that it will be very easy (think group text or chat). Others may only  be contacted with a specific plan for them. In all cases both parties will need to have a copy of the plan and have tested all of the component systems you choose to use.

I hope this helps with your building an initial communication plan. In the next issue we will look at communications in our neighborhood.

Until next time, enjoy your summer and get on the air!

~ Gord VA7GK

 

May - June 2023 SEPAR Report

 

Work ahead heading into spring

Over the last several weeks we have had multiple global events which have reminded us with the need to be prepared. Watching video of the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria and the subsequent response of nations to come to their aid has been another reminder that we too live in a very active seismic zone.

Often when we think of needs to prepare, the first thoughts of people in our region is that of an earthquake. We have also seen the consequences related to snow and the gridlock traffic in December that led to people being stuck for 8-10 hours in their cars when they should have arrived at home in 45 minutes to an hour. The previous year our neighbors just a few kilometers away experienced flooding that destroyed highways and led to many people coming to realize how quickly impassable roads led to supply chain challenges and limits on gas purchases. But in the local events we still had the ability to communicate. Other than perhaps some busy delays on the cell phone networks our communications still worked. Thankfully we haven’t had large damaging earthquakes in the area so we don’t really know what our communications will look like until (not if) the earthquake happens.

This has led to discussion amongst our local amateur radio community. We practice weekly with our nets, some area nets happen daily. The weekly SEPAR net starts on the repeater and then moves to an alternate frequency. This over the last couple of years has been on either of our planned/coordinated alternate simplex frequencies. This allows each of us to practice and try and improve our simplex communications throughout the entire City of Surrey. A city with 568,322 people as of the 2021 census covering 317.4 square km. We have valleys, rivers, agricultural areas, dense population areas with high rise towers etc. This can make communications challenging. We have north and a south repeaters available to use, but the weekly simplex portion of the net is a reminder of how we may require relay stations to ensure all of the hams can communicate if these two repeaters are no longer available.

Each year we discuss maintenance and plans of what to work on next. One of our members has started going through the City owned Radio Kits and checking coax, connectors, and ensuring the contents are in the correct boxes. We have some major updates to do on the SEPAR trailer and a couple of HF antennas that need maintenance to ensure they work properly. We have many new members and it is time to review our kits, programming and plans.

We have discussed expanding APRS availability at our repeaters, adding Winlink RMS stations to several locations in the city and one of our members is working on how we can add AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) mesh equipment. It is these digital improvements that will required more work. Whether it is securing a location for antennas, internet, backup power etc. each of these provides their own challenges. We do have a very supportive relationship with our city and want to make sure as we develop these plans that they can be maintained.

As a result of the city’s support we have a shared facility we can use and have a radio room with equipment always set up to use. Each week several of us (15-20) meet for breakfast at a local Denny’s restaurant and then go over to our OTC (Operations and Training Center) to work on projects, some to participate in contests, and of course to improve and maintain our equipment. New hams come to get advice on how to get stations set up in their apartment or strata unit, or how to tune an antenna etc.

One of the most recent topics is getting newly licensed hams over mic fright and active on the air. A newby net is being discussed and a seminar after the class licensing exam on “what is next now that you’re licensed?” It has been one of the most rewarding things to meet new people and see them become active participants on the air. We are seeing our volunteer numbers in the SEPAR program growing as well.

As we come out of winter and see some improved weather we are looking forward to kick staring several of these projects. Watch in the upcoming editions of the Communicator as we tackle some of them.

If you want further information on SEPAR please reach out.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
  SEPAR Coordinator

 

March - April 2023 SEPAR Report

 

What seems like a very long winter finally seems to be over. 

It feels like we have had weeks of rain which impacts our outside activities. But as I write this report the sun is shining and the trees around me are all covered in blossoms. This means it is time to get busy with annual outdoor maintenance. Radio antenna’s, and all of the outdoor equipment we have, as well as doing some portable operating. In this issue of the communicator if you check out the SARC Monthly Meeting Minutes, or the the Report from Larry about the GOTA activities, the number of students graduating licensing classes and the participation of those in contesting you will see so much has been happening to get those newly licensed involved.

As with any program which relies on volunteers it is always exciting to see newcomers join us and grow both in their personal abilities but also assist with the program for emergency communications. We have recently had requests from NEPP (Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program) groups to talk about emergency communications. We are also participating in a local Emergency Preparedness Fair on June 10th with the ask that we talk about how local groups/ individuals can communicate during an emergency. We have been requested to show radio options and discuss these. This will be so much easier with some of the lessons learned helping with the newly licensed Hams, the GOTA class and net. In fact on the GOTA net one of the participants asked about using 440mhz as the nets are typically done on 2m. So instead of the simplex portion of the SEPAR net (where we move to a simplex frequency and then return to the repeater) we chose to have the net participants move to the 440 repeater and then return to the 2m one. This allowed the newer members to program the repeater frequencies into their radios and try it out. Even though the repeaters are side by site at the rooftop location some discovered they had a cleaner signal on 440 rather than 2m. The benefit of this is we expanded the knowledge of the group, tested the repeater equipment and increased those who can support emergency communications now on another band they hadn’t used.

The new hams often start with a simple handheld radio like the Baofengs as they purchase their first radio. As part of the licensing class we also provide a hands on antenna workshop where students build a roll-up J-Pole antenna and hopefully come away with a better practical understanding of antenna theory. As I have previously mentioned it is really quite noticeable the improvements on signals both in strength and clarity when the antenna which comes with a handheld is replaced with a gain antenna. Again this is a win to have hams understand and have the ability to improve their signal and help them get “connected” from their homes.

So, as we talk about the use of amateur radio in a disaster often we prepare but are not needed as normal communications often still work. This is a good thing, the reliability of our communications systems is so important in our daily lives we really don’t want failures. That said often the failures are small and limited in scope. It can simply be an overloaded area due to abnormal congestion, or a localized power outage, or perhaps a vehicle incident has caused a communications pole and line to be damaged. In our area it is often vehicle incidents or natural caused interruptions eg. windstorms impacting local areas.

So, that leads to the question: What is your personal communications plan? Lets start with identifying the answers to these 4 questions:

1. Who do you want to communicate with? (spouse, family, friends, employer/ coworkers)
2. Why do you want to communicate with them? (What do they need from you or what do you need from them, is it communications to let them know you are safe?)
3. How will you talk with them? This is where most people expect me to start talking about amateur radio, frequencies etc. However, in emergency communications I would recommend you start with more traditional means of communication. At least identify which of these are options you should consider:

• cell phone
• texting
• messaging app
• social media, and
• satellite communicators

are all examples of technology which might be better to start off with.

4. When will you communicate with them. Have you discussed how one person might get in touch with the other when one of the parties may be outside of any area experiencing challenges and be completely unaware of the issue.

Cell phones, texts, apps etc. allow to you to get in contact but if you are using radios how will the other person know to turn it on and start following your plan? Use of calling clocks can help with this. There is a protocol called the Wilderness Protocol and frequencies recommended to monitor. “The Wilderness Protocol” (ref. June 1996 QST, page 85), recommends that stations (fixed, portable or mobile) monitor the primary (and secondary if possible) frequency(s) every three hours starting at 7 AM local time, for five minutes (7:00-7:05 AM, 10:00-10:05 AM, etc.) Additionally, stations that have sufficient power resources should monitor for five minutes starting at the top of every hour, or even continuously.” The primary frequency is the National Simplex Calling Frequency… 146.52 MHz. The secondary frequencies are 446.0, 223.5, 52.525 and 1294.5 MHz.

Again, without a prior discussion (a plan) you might not establish the communications you think you will have.

Next month we will continue with developing our plan. For this month I ask you to spend a few minutes and write down the answers to the above questions as a start.

I hope everyone stays safe as we move into our spring and summer activities. If you are interested in the SEPAR program and wish to become more involved please let us know. Our website is www.separ.ca and there is a contact form to get in touch with us. 

Our weekly nets are every Tuesday night on the SARC repeater on 147.360 + T110.9 at 07:30 pm PST. All are welcome to check in.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
SEPAR Coordinator