SAR City 2007: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Track
For general information on what SAR City is see: www.CERTsponsor.s5.com, click SAR City.
Introduction.
For SAR City 2007, Dr. Cliff Cheng, WW6CC, Neighborhood Emergency Radio Project, www.NERP.myEweb.net has been asked to coordinate the Amateur Radio Track. This track has not been offered at SAR City for about half-a-decade.
Amateur radio is very useful for search and rescue! Some SAR squads are provided with police/fire/sheriff radios and find them sufficient. Others need some form of radio communications. Please visit the Neighborhood Emergency Radio Project’s free, non-profit, non-commercial, educational website for a discussion on what the different kind of radio services, besides amateur, are available – www.NERP.myEweb.net.
Amateur radio may be used for non-commercial communications. A license issued by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is required. Since the 1980s amateur radio licensing requirements have been reduced a number of times. Morse code is no longer required for any class of license. The examination question pools are published. You can study the actual pool of questions from which the actual questions on your exam are drawn from. Test passage rates for the entry level license are accordingly in the high 90th percentile - usually.
The Technician license is the entry level amateur radio license. With this license one earns privileges on VHF and UHF, where the bands most useful for search and rescue are; and other privileges too. You will be able to use voice, digital communications, TV, and if you choose to learn Morse code you may also use that. You can use up to 1,500 watts of power.
The code-free Technician licensing test is easy! No Morse code is required. There are only 35 multiple choice questions. You can study the actual question pool of 392 questions and answers those 35 questions are drawn from. The questions and the right answers can be found at: http://goodkin.net/public/HamRadio/LAACARC The question pool is grouped into 10 categories, called sub-elements. You can miss as many as 8 questions and still pass!
Most people go to any variety of free websites to take a practice exam or two. Please visit: www.NERP.myEweb.net and click Ham Radio Practice Exams. Once they see on-line how easy the test is, they take the practice test. When you pass a few practice tests, come and take the exam at SAR City.
Amateur Radio Track Discount.
Those registering for the ham radio track, and a limited number of Dr. Cheng’s ham friends, CERT alums and other friends are welcomed to come under his group rate provided they pre-register by Sept. 27, 2007. Dr. Cheng’s discount will make the fees $70 instead of $85. Meals are provided in that fee. Even if you are not coming to get an ham radio license or attend one of our workshops, if you are one of Dr. Cheng’s ham friends, CERT alums, or other friends you can come under his group discount. Email him if you are interested.
Schedule – Course descriptions and Instructor Biographies follow. Room assignments will be made just prior to the start of SAR City starts. Check the bulletin board frequently for last minute changes.
Sat., Oct., 13, 2007, 8am to 9am - Communications Volunteers and Emergency Response at Wildland Fires. Instructor - Joe Maddas, AE6JM. (Proceeded by brief - Welcoming Remarks by Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC, Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Track Chairman.)
Sat., Oct., 13, 2007, 9am to Noon – Emergency Power Workshop. Instructor - Marty Wool, N6VI. If you take all 3 emergency power sessions, you will earn a special SAR City emergency power workshop certificate.
(lunch)
Sat., Oct., 13, 2007, 1pm to 4:00pm – Technician Study Hall. Facilatator - Norm Goodkin, K6YXH, assisted by Amateur Radio Track Chair Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC and staff.
Sat., Oct., 13, 2007, 4pm to approx. 6:30pm – Amateur radio Licensing Examination. Accredited Volunteer Examiners - Norm Goodkin, K6YXH (Team Leader), Marty Woll, N6VI, Jock Souter, KC6IIH, Jim Seifert, AD6WL, Norm Odette, K6UO and Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC. Federal Communications Commission amateur radio licensing examination. Special $4 fee; pay at exam. Note – Test takers are welcomed to leave and go to dinner when they finish.
Sun., Oct., 14, 2007, 8am to 9am – Buying a Walkie-Talkie. Instructor - Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC.
Sun., Oct., 14, 2007, 9am to noon – New Ham Orientation. Instructors - Carl, WU6D, and Cathy Gardenias, K6VC.
Course Descriptions.
Technician Study Hall. Our code-free Technician licensing session at SAR City will be run by Norm Goodkin, K6YXH, (see biographical note below), with help from Dr. Cliff Cheng, WW6CC, and others. Norm has a high passage rate, see his biographical note below. Norm’s technique focuses on rights answers. He wants participants to only study the right answers.
This licensing session will be a 4 hour study hall; not a traditional lecture class. Norm asks participants to come having studied the question pool and to the point they are passing on-line practice tests. Norm and his friends will answer your questions. At the study hall, participant will read the question pool. Every hour, there will be a 15 minute demonstration or lecture. After 4 hours of reading, the volunteer examiners (VE) will come in and give the exam.
People who have not done this preparatory work may still take part in the study hall but will not have as strong a chance to pass as those who prepared.
The study hall is tentatively scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1pm with a test at around 5pm. You will very likely have your license by dinnertime, if you have prepared. Again the passage rate is typically in the high 90th percentile. If you can pass a driver’s license test you can pass a code-free Technician test. Of course to pass a driver’s license test, we had to study.
Technician Exam at SAR City. Norm Goodkin, K6YXH, (see biographical note below), will lead the volunteer examiner (VE) team and give the Federal Communication Commission’s amateur radio licensing examination. He will be joined by VEs: Marty Woll, N6VI, Jock Souter, KC6IIH, Jim Seifert, AD6WL, Norm Odette, K6UO and Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC.
The exams need to be prepared a ahead of time. Please pre-register for the Technician exam. If you wish to take the General or Extra exams, we are happy to accommodate you. We will have a limited numbers of these exams with us for walk-ins. To be sure we have one for you, please let us know you need one a week ahead of time.
If you pass your Tech. you are welcomed to take the General. Some hams say since you are already at the exam, why not try the higher exam. You might pass. If not, you will get experience and which will help you pass the next time.
Two forms of government issued ID are required to take the exam. We need to ask for your contact information in case there is a problem with your application.
The test fee will only be $4. Pay at the exam. None of the Volunteer Examiners (VE) who have traveled to SAR City at their own expense will receive any compensation or even reimbursement for their expenses. The $4 fee will go solely to administrative costs of the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG). GLAARG is the only VEC still charging only $4, the original fee when the VE program was started in 1984. The other VECs are charging the full $14 fee the FCC authorizes!
GLAARG also tends to be quicker in processing exams which means your license will be issued faster. Licenses will typically by granted by the FCC by the end of the week. Your call sign, if you list a California address on the application, will probably be a 2x3 call sign, KI6 followed by 3 letters. Once you received you call sign you can enjoy your newly acquired privileges! We are happy to help you once you get your license. Please email Dr. Cliff Cheng, WW6CC for a local ham or amateur radio club you can ask for help.
We want you to get your license, if this is what you desire and you can pass the test. A caveat is appropriate here. The entry level Technician license standard has been reduced to a fraction of their former requirements. You will likely get your license by merely memorization. With the license and our new ham orientation, most people will be able with some practice, to use their radio as an “appliance operator” – someone who uses ham radio as if it were an appliance like a cell phone, toaster or refrigerator. Appliance operators have little or no understanding how their radio works let alone the ability to independently get on the air and establish an emergency communications links after a major disaster damages the communications infrastructure. Such a ham is dependent on ham radio stores and old school hams to help them. These resources may not be available to you after when you are responding to an emergency or after a major disaster has occurred. We are happy to refer you to resources in your area which can help you further train and practice.
Other Sessions in the Amateur Radio Track
Communications Volunteers and Emergency Response at Wildland Fires.
Emergency Power Workshop at SAR City.
For those who have already have a license and know how to use your radio, or are just getting one and want to learn more, we are offering a workshop on Emergency Power, taught by Marty Woll, N6VI (see biographical note below), who says:
The objective of the Emergency Power session is to help participants learn how to determine their power requirements for electrical and electronic equipment that will be run independent of commercial mains, how to quantify available power sources, and how to develop a power budget to more closely match needs and sources.. The course will also address safety measures for portable power sources.
How to Buy a Walkie Talkie. After you get your license on Sat., or if you already have one, please start Sunday morning with Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC (see biographical note below), who will make a presentation to help new hams understand what the important criteria and pitfalls are to buying a handheld transceiver (HT)(walkie talkie). Most new hams buy a HT which is far too complicated for them. The HTs of 2007 do more than a desk full of equipment from 30 years ago. New hams who buy radios who are too complicated likely will not use them. They can not even program them. They give up on ham radio. Avoid the pitfalls and come to the session.
New Ham Orientation. The rest of Sunday morning, Carl, WU6D, and Cathy Gardenias, K6VC, (see biographical note below), will help new hams or if you have had one for a while and have not used it recently or ever, learn the basics of getting started in amateur radio. Learn about mobile transceivers and their installation, antennas, transmission lines, selecting and tuning portable and mobile antennas, frequencies, operating procedures and connecting with local Elmers (mentors) and amateur radio clubs.
Biographical Notes
(in order of schedule)
Track Chairman, Instructor and Volunteer Examiner’s Biogrpahy – Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC.
Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., has enjoyed ham radio since he was first licensed as a radio amateur, WN6JPA in 1975. Cliff loves to share ham radio with people. He sees ham radio as an enjoyable hobby and a way do public service through emergency communication (EmComm). Cliff joined the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) in 1976. In the 1980s he was also in the Disaster Communications Service (DCS), part of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept.
In emergency preparedness, Cliff is very much neighborhood focused and helped co-found his local Los Angeles (city) neighborhood council, the LA Neighborhood Council Congress, and has been involved in neighborhood watch since 1976. Cliff founded the Neighborhood Emergency Radio Project, www.NERP.myEweb.net, an educational project and website to help neighbors learn about EmComm. Cliff is also a Neighborhood Preparedness Ambassador, volunteer of the LA (City) Emergency Preparedness and Neighborhood Empowerment Depts. He promotes preparedness at the grassroots level, www.CERTsponsor.s5.com. He promotes the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program. Several times a month, he speaks about preparedness to various neighborhood and civic groups on behalf of the Red Cross. He and his friends frequently staff preparedness and ham radio booths at disaster preparedness fairs.
Cliff is a life member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national organization of amateur radio. He served as an Assistant Director in the ARRL’s Southwest Division, and is a Registered Instructor and Volunteer Examiner (VE). Cliff is also a life member of the Quarter Century Wireless Assn., and has served as a chapter officer. Cliff served as President of the John Burroughs Jr. High School Amateur Radio Club, Fairfax High School Amateur Radio Club, USC Amateur Radio Club, and is President of the Ted Ryan Memorial Amateur Radio Club, www.TedRyan.bappy.com. Cliff founded the Novice Historical Society, www.Novice.bappy.com to celebrate the most time of a ham’s ham radio career.
Cliff also is a Red Cross and CERT instructor, www.DisasterPrep.livejournal.com He also is a U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security - Awareness 160, Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness certified trainer.
Please visit Cliff’s personal ham page, www.WW6CC.4t.com.
Instructor’s Biography - Joe Madas AE6JM
Joe Madas has been an active volunteer for over 35 years, serving as a First Aid Instructor for the American Red Cross and the Parsippany NJ Volunteer Ambulance Squad in 1969. He has been an amateur radio operator for many years, call sign - AE6JM. He has volunteered with the ARRL, Salvation Army and FEMA, most recently working the Sawtooth Fire in Yucca Valley, and the Esperanza Fire, both last year. He is a Facilitator for FEMA Courses, having helped dozens of radio operators and federal volunteers complete their FEMA Training. He is also a verification official for the Presidential Service Awards.
Instructor and Volunteer Examiner Biography – Marty Woll, CPA, N6VI
Marty Woll N6VI has been in Amateur Radio for over forty years. He holds an Extra Class license (the highest available) from the Federal Communications Commission and is a Life Member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national organization for Radio Amateurs. Marty is a founding member of the Southern California Contest Club has served in past years as a member and chair of the ARRL’s Contest Advisory Committee, President of the Southern California DX Club and chair of the Los Angeles Area Council of Radio Clubs. Currently he is Assistant District Emergency Coordinator and Training Director for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) for the Northwest District of Los Angeles. He is also a member of and instructor for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Auxiliary Communication Service, an ARRL Assistant Director, and a Volunteer Examiner with the Greater L. A. Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG). Marty has set up and operated amateur radio stations on five continents, and he is a frequent speaker at local radio clubs.
Professionally, Marty is a retired Certified Public Accountant. He was a partner, a national-level instructor and quality-control coordinator for a major international accounting firm, and he was a featured speaker at conferences and universities. Since retiring, he has been very active in the Neighborhood Council program in Los Angeles and is an active member of the Neighborhood Councils of Los Angeles Emergency preparedness Task Force.
Instructor and Lead Volunteer Examiner’s Biogrpahy - Norm Goodkin, K6YXH
- Amateur Radio Operator since 1957
- Extra Class Licensee
- Accredited Volunteer Examiner
- Experienced Teacher – college, community and high school
- BA Math; MS Business; MS Physical Science
- PMI Certified Project Management Professional
Norm has taught traditional multi-day, multi-hour classes in ham radio for more than 20 years. He researched the topic of conducting ham radio classes on the web and found that other clubs had managed to compress the whole study/exam session into a 1-day event. Norm held his first 1-day session a year ago and has held four more of these sessions since. The pass rate has averaged 90%; students who spend a little time outside of class in preparation are sure to pass.
Norm’s boasts of having 35 licensed hams in his family – he calls it his Hamily and offers a challenge to anyone to beat that number!
Working with students at A.C. Stelle Middle School, Norm and his friend & teacher, Karl Beutel, managed to motivate 47 students to take and pass the Technician exam, nearly triple what they did last year. The students used the same study materials, a combination of the Questions and Only Right Answers and on-line practice tests.
Norm is active in the LA County Disaster Communications Service as well as the PAPA System repeater group – he invites new hams to learn about both organizations at http://lacdcs.com and http://papasys.net
Volunteer Examiner’s Biography – Jock Souter, KC6IIH
I started my ham life after being a CB'er many years before and experienced ham radio from my dad. I was first licensed in January of 1990 as a Novice. As a Novice I had a good time and after about 2 years I passed the Technician and the 5wpm code test. Then the FCC created the made the Technician Plus license. Then finally in June of 2007 I passed the General test.
I am very active in the Barstow Amateur Radio Club, www.wa6tst.org. I am the Vice President again this year (2007) and the club historian. I am also the American Radio Relay Leagues’ (ARRL, national association of amateur radio) appointed PIO (Public Information Officer). I am working hard to try to promote our club and the hobby.
Over my ham life I have had mostly good experiences. I really enjoy DX and have made contacts to some almost unknown places. I also try to make contacts with special event stations and like learning about places and different people. This hobby has a way of teaching you without you noticing. I have learned some geographic areas that I previously new little or nothing about.
Volunteer Examiner’s Biography - Jim Seifert, AD6WL
Jim has spent 24 years in the U.S. Marines as an electronics technician and later as a maintenance chief. He served several tours overseas to include Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar. Jim retired from the U.S. Marines in March 2007.
Jim was first licensed as an Amateur Radio operator in February 2001 as a General Class operator. He upgraded to Extra class in April 2001. Jim is currently employed as a Program Manager at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, CA.
Volunteer Examiner’s Biography - Norm Odette, K6UO - I was first licensed in 1976 as WB6ZIS, upgraded to Advanced in 1977 as KB6SD. I let my license lapse in 2005 and retested in 2006 when I applied for my current call, K6UO. I have WAS, 300 DX countries. My current interests are QRP and Software defined radio.
Instructors Biographies – Carl, WU6D & Cathy, K6VC, Gardenias. Carl was elected by the hams in the Inland Empire, Orange County and eastern LA County as their representative. He is Section Manager for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) – the national organization of amateur radio. Both Carl and Cathy are former Presidents of Southern California DX Club. They both are highly accomplished DXers; long distance communicators.
Additional Recommended Emergency Management Course
Weather and Its Impact on Emergency Response
Jay Rosenthal, Certified Consulting Meteorologist
While this is not an amateur radio emergency communication course, it is a valuable emergency management course we have recommended to SAR City. We recommended Jay Rosenthal who served for 38 years as a civilian naval meteorologist and manager and is current the Terrorism Early Warning Group’s meteorologist, teach search and rescue people and emergency managers what they need to know about weather as it relates to incident management.
In Jay’s words - this short course reviews some of the basic meteorological (weather) factors which impact decision-making and planning for both natural disasters and terrorism-related events. It describes the influence of local geographic conditions in determining how winds, temperature and humidity vary both in the horizontal and vertical directions, and also how time of day influences how these weather parameters may be expected to vary. The course also addresses the influence of inversion conditions on both air pollution transport, and radio/radar propagation conditions in the lower atmosphere. In the case of toxic plumes, some discussion is provided related to the use of plume models, and the importance of using representative data inputs to those models for emergency response.
Jay Rosenthal, Certified Consulting Meteorologist - Jay is a meteorologist with over 40 years of professional experience in meteorology including forecasting, observing and evaluating weather conditions in Southern California, and their impact on operations and planning. He holds both a Bachelors Degree (N.Y.U.) and Master’s Degree (from U.C.L.A.) in meteorology, and has been designated a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) by the American Meteorological Society, the national professional organization of meteorologists. He worked for 38 years as scientist and manager in meteorology for the Department of the Navy, retiring from civil service in 2001. Areas of emphasis included the effects of atmospheric conditions on radio/radar propagation in the lower atmosphere, air pollution transport, satellite data applications, local influences on weather, and the effects of weather on emergency response including planning and participation on terrorism-related training exercises. He has also served as consultant to industry, government agencies and the legal industry for over 25 years. He currently is president of Air, Weather & Sea Conditions, Inc. www.weatherman.org which specializes in reconstructing weather events of interest to the legal and insurance industries, and on issues of weather effects on homeland security. He is also the subject-matter-expert (SME) on weather for the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEW).
