July - August 2024 SEPAR Report

  Another Field Day Success

Field Day 2024 is now behind us, and it was a great success. One of the purposes of the annual event is treating it as an exercise to run emergency communications for 24 hours. This involves the planning, set up, actual operation as well as the demobilization at the end.

Whether the event is being held in an outdoor temporary setting or at an existing EOC (Radio Room) there are so many different areas to utilize for the contest points.

Once again, this year we chose to activate at the SEPAR/SARC Operations and Training Center (OTC). This is a shared space with the South Fraser Search and Rescue Team that the city provides to our respective volunteer organizations for the purposes of providing these emergency programs.

We moved “Bigfoot” our portable 110 foot antenna trailer from its covered parking into position on the grass next to the building and set it up. This unit has a beam, and rotator along with a propane generator and all the required coax to set up anywhere we can find a level spot. We have worked with the city, and they have prepositioned 3 large concrete blocks to use as anchor points for the tower guy ropes. This location does allow us to have a splace and plan that we can move onto and set up whenever it is needed.

SEPAR does have a radio room at Fire Hall One for EOC communications. Our OTC will allow a remote radio relay point to be staffed and operated with minimal impact around a very busy operational fire hall. The OTC is the extension of the Fire Hall 1 radio room allowing for two HF towers and a dipole in the nearby trees.

We expanded to add another HF station outside of the radio room to provide another HF radio station to operate. In this shared room we have added a junction box on the wall to hook up coax etc. to help keep cables off the floors. This is also available during our weekly drop-in to have space to hook up and test radios etc.

Outside in the parking lot we again set up the SEPAR trailer and public display tables. The SEPAR trailer has an HF Station and two VHF/UHF spots. This year ICOM Canada allowed us to borrow an IC-7610 radio for the GOTA station. We set it up and those dropping-in were able to try to make a contact or two. Again, during set up we identified a couple of areas to improve the trailers operation and also areas to improve / fix. Some missing items were identified to be purchased to help ensure the trailer is fully equipped for future deployment.

Many of the projects worked on last year (see previous SEPAR Updates in the Communicator) worked very well and made our set up so much easier and safer.

Speaking of safety we did have a safety briefing by the Field Day Coordinator Andrew VA7LGN.  He led the field day planning team and organized a great event. During his briefing he made sure everyone signed in (also making provisions for guests to sign in), identified the muster point, had emergency instruction if help was needed and posted these throughout the area, in the radio room, on the trailer etc. The City does require a legal agreement and proof of insurance when we set up the tower. As part of the city’s emergency program the Fire Department assisted us in getting the agreement looked after. They also worked with the City Council to Proclaim Amateur Radio Week in the city, recognizing the volunteers and their commitment to making a safer community.

Invitations were sent out and we had representatives from the City Council stop by, say hello, and tour of the event. We also had a representative from the Provincial Government’s Emergency Management & Climate Readiness (EMCR) stop in. Our city is the location of one of the PREOC’s (Provincial Regional Emergency Operation Center) so it will become a hub for communications in a regional emergency. Also, we had visitors from the Fire Department and from the city’s new municipal Police Service stop in for a tour.

There were also visitors from the public, other radio clubs, and families who stopped in at various parts of the event. Those who came by around dinner time on Saturday were invited to join us for another great BBQ hosted by SARC and prepared by two of the SEPAR volunteers Nell and Ralph. During the BBQ several
commented on how important the times of just visiting, hanging out and laughing etc. are to make such an active group a success.

We had some firsts that will likely be covered in other articles, but in summary we saw our new satellite radios and antenna array in action, we had a 10 Ghz radio demonstration, and had two visitors inquire about licenses and sitting an exam. One of the club’s examiners offered to have them write the exam immediately, if they wanted to try. They agreed and both passed. So, we immediately encouraged them to go out to the SEPAR trailer and “get on the air” which they both did. After this success we invited them to join us for dinner to celebrate.

Overall, we had a great time. Many who came to operate may not realize that all the equipment setup, testing, repairs, and planning, including providing food and drink, are all part of an annual exercise to help our community be ready should a disaster occur.

A big thank you to everyone who helped with this year’s event. Having such a great team of volunteers makes our volunteer SEPAR program a success.

If you would like more information on the Surrey Emergency Program, please reach out.

Please note our new email address below (SEPAR@ve7sar.net).

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
   SEPAR Coordinator
   SEPAR@ve7sar.net

 

May - June 2024 SEPAR Report

 It is that time again to provide an update.

SEPAR continues to see new members who have in interest in volunteering within the community join our group. Most of the new members come as a result of taking the Amateur Radio Licensing Course offered by Surrey Amateur Radio Communications. During the class they hold a Saturday Morning antenna workshop where students build a roll-up J-Pole and get some practical experience tuning an antenna. This hopefully reinforces some of the radio theory they have been learning during the course.

During these hands on courses the students get introduced to several club members and we get an opportunity to explain the SEPAR program and how licensed amateurs can help. From each class some of the students start to join us on a regular basis either for our breakfast or drop in at the OTC.

As these newly licensed hams become active through the Get on the Air Workshop, weekly nets, etc. they will often join the city’s Emergency Program. We also get individuals who reach out through the city via their Emergency Program website and we follow up with these individuals as well.

Today I spent a few hours with a recently licensed amateur who is also a local teacher. He has received the local school boards approval to teach an RF electronics course over the summer for students.

We discussed the impact RF has in day to day lives whether through wifi, bluetooth, GPS or cellular and how it is often not “visible” to the users. As part of the class students will also be taught the required material to take the Canadian Amateur Radio Licensing exam. We are excited to see the impact this will have and whether we will see any of the students become move involved after the summer school program finishes.

As I was thinking of the potential I also reflected on some of the new SEPAR members and their contributions to building a better program. One of the new members has started helping with a group to understand the new Meshtastic devices and seeing how these devices could help in situations where normal commercial communications are not available.

Another one of the members recently volunteered to help with radio communications for the local Sun Run. He has helped in the local Run Surrey Run race and is now helping again with another event. The practice and understanding of managing this large event will be invaluable during an emergency.

We also have one of our members who immigrated to Canada and through the Amateur community has made friends throughout the area. She was recently interviewed about her experience coming to the city and how she has integrated with the community. In fact during my morning commute she was active on the air checking into a local net. During her interview she spent time to ask for the portion being filmed to be done in the radio room at the OTC. This is an excellent promotion for the program, and also helps demonstrate the value volunteering makes to community. She has also spent many hours at the Fire Hall Radio room, cleaning, organizing etc.

Another member has helped take on the task of checking in on the monthly Inter-Municipal Emergency Radio System (IMERS) commercial radio system. This is a check of the commercial radio system which allows for EOC to EOC communications as well as coordination with the Provincial Regional Operations Center (PREOC). This is a midweek morning checkin so it is helpful to have retired volunteers that have the ability to participate at times when others may be at work.

Our upcoming field day (again an emergency exercise) is being organized this year by one of our newer SEPAR volunteers. This is a big event in our calendar to test our equipment, bring awareness to our capabilities and get as many of the members involved as we can. We also invite our local political leaders, and emergency service etc. Last year we focused on GOTA and this led to many new amateurs getting excited about HF communications. This has increased contest participation and radio operators skills.

Some non-radio organizational skills have also been impactful to help our organization. Our website template was rebuilt by one of our members and is maintained by another. He is also a volunteer who has helped with our repeaters and getting the Wires-X working on one of the repeaters. On a very regular basis he also comes each Saturday morning to help program newly licensed hams’ radios. He has taken the time for review the radio communications plans in each of our program grab and go kit radios to have each be consistent with the local communications plans.

While it seems there is a never ending long list of things to do, and some great ideas it takes a team to make our program successful.

We have many volunteers that take on small tasks to build such a large program. I cannot detail all of the individual activities that go into SEPAR/SARC programs and this update is certainly not exhaustive. As I was reflecting on all of the actives and people involved I was grateful for the volunteer team involved in our city’s Emergency Program.

I want to take the time as the volunteer coordinator to thank each and everyone who has helped in the program. As volunteers we form part of the fabric of our community and it is a better place because of you.

If you would like more information on the Surrey Emergency Program please reach out.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK

 

March - April 2024 SEPAR Report

More updates at firehall one

In the last update we talked about the ongoing work updating our radio room at Surrey Fire Hall #1. Again our amazing team has continued to work on small but important tasks. We have all of the VHF/UHF and 220 radios functional and reprogrammed. Our computer is updated and working. There are still a couple of remaining tasks. Our HF radio still needs the roof top antenna serviced. We have permission to go to the roof top to to make the necessary repairs. This does need to be done during business hours and we are waiting for some improvement in the weather to get this task completed.

The other large project is to get our Digital communications updated and working. Fire Hall #1, our SEPAR trailer and the Grab and Go Kits all have SCS Pactor modems installed. This part of our renewal will see the computers updated and our Winlink stations revitalized.

This will also lead to a training focus to ensure our members are able to work with Winlink and are confident in using the program to pass messages.

In SEPAR we also are part of the BC Wireless Amateur Radio Network -BCWARN (https://bcwarn.net/). Our primary repeater site hosts a link to form part of the regions network. This allows us to connect Fire Hall #1 and our trailer to this network. From this we have a phone system to other EOC’s and a connection to the internet outside of our local area. Again with the help of the BCWARN technical team and our SEPAR Team led by Reg VE7ZEB the switches for this system have been replaced and upgraded, our phone and the data via BCWARN network is once again tested and functional.

We have both primary and back up switches installed and tested. The Yeasu Fusion repeater with Wires-X is also now using the internet via BCWARN. We hopefully will see further expansion of our use of this system within Surrey and the surrounding areas.

BCWARN

“From the BCWARN website here is the description of what this network is designed for.

BCWARN is an association of amateur radio groups sharing the common goal of building a high-speed data network, capable of operating independent of commercial "internet" providers.

One of the goals of BCWARN participating groups is to assist in connecting Emergency Operations assets (EOC's, PEP HQ's, reception centers, etc) together with a common, independent network.

The BCWARN network allows its users to exchange information between the connected sites such as email, internet-chat, remote printing, VoIP telephone and fax calls, and virtually anything else that you would use the "internet" for, but without having to rely on commercial network infrastructure.

Note however, that during the majority of the time, there are gateways to the "internet" that allow traffic from BCWARN sites to communicate all over the world. However, should a major incident cause those gateways to fail, the BCWARN sites will still be able to communicate with each other and exchange their information.”

SARC VE7RSC Repeater Site

Next Steps

As the weather begins to improve we look forward to completing the rooftop antenna work. We will also continue on the SEPAR Trailer work we began last year. This will include updating the BCWARN equipment in the trailer, updating the radios and computers. This will also see the digital equipment upgraded.

Our weekly nets, and Saturday drop in sessions continue to be well attended. We continue to see membership growth and interest from our program volunteers.

Kjeld Frederiksen VE7GP SK

It is with sadness we mourn the passing of one of our oldest SEPAR and SARC members.

Kjeld Frederikson VE7GP joined SEPAR prior to Oct 2007. He was a very active participant and in earlier years hosted one of the original club repeaters at his home. He also helped with the build out of our SEPAR trailer. It was an honour to have him spend his time with us and to help build a safer community. He will be missed.

If you would like more information on the Surrey Emergency Program please reach out.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
   SEPAR Coordinator.

 

January - February SEPAR Report

Winter happenings

It is time again to look forward to a new year and also to look back at our learnings and successes in 2023.

What a good year 2023 was for renewing our SEPAR program.

Our radio community in both our Club (Surrey Amateur Radio Communications -SARC) and emergency program (Surrey Emergency Program Amateur Radio -SEPAR) have grown. We have had so many new ideas and opportunities we haven’t been able to get to all of them.

Relationships and Community

Many of the areas of success an outside observer would say have nothing to do with the emergency program. Some of the activities by design are just fun. (Annual Foxhunt, Parks on the Air, Christmas Potluck etc.) However, one of our biggest successes is the growing community of amateur radio operators.

In emergency management it is often said “relationships are key”, “it is not what you know but who you know”. We are seeing that many individuals with diverse backgrounds being willing to help and contribute to SEPAR. This ensures we have a successful core group to work in and on the Emergency Program.

I have heard comments from many of our people about how happy they are to have found our radio group in Surrey. They have found a community.

Regular Meetings

Weekly we meet for Breakfast at a local Denny’s restaurant. Each week there are between 15-20 individuals coming with a core attendance of about 12 every week. After this we move over to the OTC (Operations and Training Center) with many other different individuals coming there. Some weeks we run a class, others we build a project (thanks Dino VE7NX for leading this) while at the same time having some participate in contest using the radio stations.

We are very fortunate to be able to offer licensing classes throughout the year. The students also get a one-year membership in the club to participate in the activities. This helps bring them into our community building relationships, introducing them to the SEPAR program. It also helps them get on the air. We are seeing volunteer numbers in the Emergency Program increasing almost monthly.

At our breakfast often the emergency program is discussed and what we need to work on next is planned. At breakfast about 6 weeks ago we talked about the Radio Room we have at Fire Hall 1 (where the cities EOC is located). Since COVID it has only been active about once per month to test the Inter-Municipal Emergency Radio System (IMERS). This has been led by Ron VE7VTA for the last couple of years. The Winlink Station was very old and some of the radios had been disconnected, with the HF station to have a known issue with the HF antenna.

Another couple of SEPAR members, Ion (VE7NL) and his son Jean Luc (VA7JLU) have also give their time to try and keep our Winlink stations active and support our documentation plans. Ion has spent hundreds of hours working on a documentation manual and with renewed support from others we hope that this can be expanded and completed.

So, a few weeks back a group went over for a visit and things then really began to move along. A list was made, and whirlwind of activity began. It started with checking which radios would work, connecting antennas etc. and trying to rebuild an accurate list of frequencies that would be programmed into all the radios. Horace VA7XHB took the lead on this. (He also is the person who helps program radios with the same list on Saturday mornings for people who come to the OTC). This frequency list is coordinated with surrounding municipalities and has many of the area repeaters and simplex frequencies. Reg VE7ZEB set up a Trello group to communicate tasks and their status.

He recently sent out a couple of email detailing the work by so many individuals and has given me permission to share (edited versions) as part of the report:

Fire Hall 1 Radio Room

Email #1:

Everyone,

I'm sending this email out after having a chat with Gord at the SARC meeting tonight.  The topic is the SEPAR radio room at Firehall 1 which has fallen into a state where it could use some attention.  The immediate goal is to get everything in that room working.

Gord, as discussed, I've sent this to the people I thought appropriate, but if others should be included, please reply to all and add them to the list.

Computer

Status:

The new video cable was deployed, and the computer now boots, and one can log in correctly.

Radios

Status:

· Radio 1: Powers on, no tail on the repeater, no response to radio checks.  Unknown if this is functional.

· Radio 2: Does not power on.

· Radio 3: Powers on but is not set up for regular repeaters.  Marked digital.

· Radio 4: Working and tested.

· HF Radio: not tested but it does power up.

Tasks:

1. We need to get all five radios working.

Misc

Erika fixed the clocks.  She put a new battery in each and correctly set the UTC and Local times.

This is an amazing radio room, and we are lucky to have it.  Horace is already working on programming the Icoms.  If anyone else wants to play a more active role in getting this facility more functional, please let Gord know and/or reply to all in this email.

Several of us (Gord, Erika, and myself for now) are tentatively planning to visit Firehall 1 after breakfast every Saturday for the foreseeable future.  Everyone is welcome to join us and I would be happy if you do.  This should happen at approximately 9:30 a.m. and the goal of these informal meetings will be to do small tasks right then and there, and to set out a handful of tasks for the coming week.  If a few people give the room half an hour now and then, this will become one of the best radio rooms in the city.

If you can, make it on Saturday after breakfast, that's great and I look forward to seeing you there.  If not, expect another email after Saturday, at which point I should have more detail on exactly what needs to be done to get the radios working.

Best,

Reg VA7ZEB

 

Email #2

Everyone,

It's hard to believe my first email to the group was only 2 and a half weeks ago.  Much has been done.  Trello is our place to participate in the ongoing discussion on this, but I'm sending out this email update as I know some of you aren't following the Trello yet.

I got the Windows 11 computer working and on the Internet.  Feel free to use it as needed for SEPAR matters.

 

Horace got all the Icom 2820 radios programmed.  We called out on every single repeater and asked for signal reports.  Every repeater that didn't at least trigger was dumped from the list, as there's no reason to have repeaters programmed in that you can't reach.  Some repeaters had users report that we were unreadable, and those repeaters were dumped, too.  At some point I would like to get a mobile radio programmed in with all those frequencies and take it out of the firehall to test if we are getting a clean signal in.  Again, there's no point in having repeaters programmed which we can't communicate on.

Manvir (VA7BKI) installed the shelf and cleaned up the HT situation totally.  He really did a clean job of it, and it looks great.  At some point, we need to figure out what we're doing with all those HTs, but that can wait for now. Erika (VA7ISI) got the whiteboard looking new and we put up a little shelf for the markers, eraser and fluid.

Mike (VE7YEG) bought RT Systems for us at his own expense and is working on installing that and testing the antennas on each radio.   He's also working with Rob (VE7CZV) to install software for the visually impaired, which I think is amazing.

I will leave the remaining to-do list on Trello, but I just wanted to acknowledge the great work people have done so far.  The radio room is already usable in emergencies, which is a great accomplishment.

Best,

Reg VA7ZEB

 

Email #3

Everyone,

We had another great meeting at Hall 1 today. Erika (VA7ISI) and Adrian (VE7YEP) are heroes for doing a serious cleaning.  There was a thick layer of dust on the top of the cabinets. It's gone. You can run your finger on the top of the cabinets now and it will come back clean.  Every surface has been dusted and then wiped down with water and cleaner. They also spent a ton of time piling up candidates for storage/recycling which were taken to the OTC today.  The room is spotless now, and no longer looks like a storage room.  I might note that Erika has more energy than Adrian and I have combined.

Even the (previously) totally disgusting air vent has been cleaned and looks great now.

Jaspal's (VE7JB) donation of an air purifier should help to keep things cleaner in the future.

Jeannie (VA7QLT) and Erika also spent a lot of time pruning some of the papers for either retention, review, or disposal.

Rob has tested his braille reader and that's working perfectly.  Mike was invaluable in setting that up, too.  I think it's amazing that we have an emergency radio room that is accessible to the visually impaired.

The Winlink station on the Toughbook has been taken down and Station A is now fully open for general use.  All the junk equipment above the cupboards has been taken down and either moved to the OTC for storage or has been placed somewhere accessible.

Erika really wants an electronic sign on the door.  Doug (VA7JDJ) has agreed to investigate that and possibly take on the project if his investigation deems it feasible.  Both Mike and Erika have ideas on the sign so I would suggest you communicate with them before starting anything, Doug. 

Gord and Stan are going to try to get the HF radio functional.  That's the last non-functional radio in the room and I would absolutely love to get it functional so I hope this can become a priority. Gentlemen, I'm happy to help where I can, and I'd like to join you for the trip to the roof if possible as I have never been up there.  When we're up there, I'd really like to document which VHF antennas belong to which radio.

Mike has done his Nano VNA testing. Mike’s exact data will be up on our Trello shortly so if anyone sees any points of concern there, please let the group know.

Very importantly, after today, the vibe in the radio room has totally changed from being a storage room a couple of months ago to being a vibrant, active radio room in which everything (except the HF rig which we're working on) is fully functional and where a radio operator could work for many hours comfortably.

I doubt there will be another update until next year.  I also don't expect any more Saturday meetings at Hall 1 until next year.  Thank you all so much for the work you've put in.   This is now one of the best radio rooms in the city.  Next year, we'll update our procedures for the rooms use, so keep ideas on that flowing.  Merry Christmas if I don't see you before then.

Best,

Reg VA7ZEB

 

We will continue to keep you updated on the work done as there is still much work to be done.

Over the past year there have been so many other things done by many not mentioned in this Hall 1 review. Steve (VE7SXM - President of SARC) and John (VA7XB SARC Vice President) both spent hours working on updating the SEPAR Trailer. John also one through each of the grab and go kits to ensure they were complete and note any deficiencies requiring repair.

John VE7TI and Stan VE7NF both spent countless hours teaching the radio licensing course and subsequent workshops to assist students get licensed.

Larry VE7LXB has been tireless in supporting the newly licensed with the Get on the Air (GOTA) Net and fielding so many questions from the newly licensed and asking for further help from the “Elmers” group when needed.

In the background we have Jeremy VE7TMY our Secretary who does such a great job with the paperwork and website maintenance, and Scott VE7HA our treasurer who so carefully looks after finances.

Lastly there are too many to call out regarding the OTC. We have help cleaning leaves off the roof, cleaning bathrooms, maintaining radio stations and antennas and so many little items.

As I started describing earlier it is the relationship and the community with regular meetings that have given the support for the SEPAR program to ensure a healthy vibrant volunteer program for the city.

I look forward to sharing what we will do in 2024.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

~ Gord Kirk VA7GK
SEPAR Coordinator

 

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