Digital
Saturday Provides Training in Digital Modes -
Twenty-five Gwinnett ARES members gave up most of their
Saturday to participate in training in several digital modes for Amateur
Radio. Classes were conducted in APRS, Packet Basics, D-STAR Data,
Winlink 2000, D-Star Operation and Programming, and PSK31.
Each of the hour long classes provided
information on the topic as well as hands-on demonstrations of each
technology. An RMS Packet node onsite allowed emails to be transmitted
and received via Winlink 2000 and the Airmail client. Digital Saturday
was also featured in the ARES E-Letter published by the ARRL. The
story can be viewed at
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/ares-el/index.html?issue=2008-04-22.
A special thanks goes out to the instructors for the sessions. David Adcock, KA4KKF, conducted PSK31 and APRS training. Paul Branson, KA4YZR, provided training on Packet basics. Ed Woodrick, WA4YIH, taught D-STAR data. Tom Olley, KG4VUB, the Assistant SEC for Digital, provided instruction in Winlink 2000 and John Davis, WB4QDX, gave instruction on D-STAR Operations and Programming.
It is hoped that Digital Saturday will allow Gwinnett ARES members to become more proficient and use various modes of digital communications. Presentations form Digital Saturday can be viewed or downloaded here.
|
Upcoming Events |
|
| May 4, 2008 | Metro Atlanta ARES Net, 4:00 pm (146.82-, PL 146.2) |
| May 22, 2008 | ARES Planning Committee, 7:30 pm (GJAC, Board Room) |
| May 27, 2008 | ARES General Meeting, 7:30 pm (GJAC, Conference Room C) |
Distribution of New ARES ID Begins
- New photo IDs for Deployable Gwinnett ARES members began
at the April General Meeting on April 29th. The original photo IDs
expired in April and are being replaced with a new design. Photo IDs
will only be issued to Gwinnett ARES members who currently qualify for
DEPLOYABLE status.To receive a new ARES ID, you must turn in your old ID. All members should bring their old ID to the April meeting where Deployable members will receive the new ID. Old IDs will no longer be recognized by our served agencies and Gwinnett officials. If you have not received your new ID and are Deployable, contact John Davis to exchange your ID. You cannot receive a new ID unless the old badge is turned in.
ARES
Participates in GARS Techfest - The
Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society (GARS) hosts Techfest each year to feature
Amateur Radio technologies of all kinds. Techfest 2008 was no
exception. On display were many facets of Amateur Radio including
Asterisk, MT63, Airmail and D-Star along with info on the G.L.A.S.S. 6 meter
net, ARRL, North Georgia QRP Club and other clubs and organizations.
The Gwinnett ARES table featured info on recent
events and technologies used by the group including photos from the 2008
SET, the Channel 46 news video of the 2005 SET and some radio equipment used
by the group. The ARES Emergency Communications Vehicle (MCV) was on
display outside for tours. MCV team member Tim Blitch, N4EEE, also
displayed his complete go-kit on wheels complete with everything needed for
quick and easy setup and operation.
Statewide
Digital Network Plan - A plan for a
statewide digital network using the Georgia Public Broadcasting television
towers across Georgia was presented at the Section ARES meeting on January
26th. The heart of the plan is the deployment of a D-Star repeater
network. Using the GPB sites and the Internet connectivity provided by
GPB, the repeaters can be linked on an ad-hoc basis to provide a
state-of-the-art digital network capable of voice and data. Each site
will be equipped with 2m, 70cm and 23cm repeater modules. On 1.2 GHz,
the system can handle 128 Kb high speed data transfer. A copy of the
Section Meeting presentation can be
downloaded here.
KE4IKF
Appointed AEC - Response Teams Amy Woodrick, KE4IKF, has been appointed to the position of AEC - Response Teams. She replaces Scott Hartlage, KF4PWI, who has served well in the position for a number of years. Scott will continue as AEC - Paging, managing the ARES paging and notification system.
Amy has been the Response Team leader for the North Team and has been very successful at building a strong, active Response Team. She has excelled at organization and maintaining strong communications with her team and brings these qualities to the position
KI4BQS
Appointed AEC - Training Ken Dalton, KI4BQS, has accepted the position of AEC - Training. He has been a very active member of both Gwinnett ARES and GARS. Ken will provide tremendous leadership in planning and executing ongoing training for our ARES members. His other responsibilities will include maintaining all training records for members.
Ken has recently completed a very important training and development activity by mentoring of his granddaughter, Brittany, who recently obtained her Technician license and is now on the air as KI4WNY. When any member completes training such as FEMA online or ARRL EmComm courses, please forward copies of certificates or successful training to Ken at training@gwinnettares.org.
D-Star
Activity is Growing - The Gwinnett
D-Star repeaters are undergoing some changes. The original 440 MHz
equipment installed at the GARS main repeater site has been returned to the
Atlanta Radio Club to be combined with the 2 meter and 1.2 GHz voice and
data repeaters to be installed in January at the Georgia Public
Broadcasting/WGTV tower atop Stone Mountain.At the end of December, a VHF digital voice repeater operating on 145.550(-) was added to the UHF digital voice repeater on 440.550(+). A 1.2 GHz data repeater was also activated on 1250.550 MHz along with an Internet Gateway for linking and connectivity to other D-Star repeaters around the country and around the world. The Gateway is currently undergoing testing with Icom and will be activated in the next few days. The 1.2 GHz digital voice repeater is planned in the next few weeks.
Look for some exciting announcements at the Georgia Section ARES meeting in Forsyth, GA on January 26th related to D-Star deployments in Georgia. For more information on the D-Star technology in Georgia, you can subscribe to the GA_DSTAR Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/ga_dstar.
Simulated
Emergency Test 2007 -
October 6, 2007 marked another successful Simulated Emergency Test for
Gwinnett ARES. Gwinnett County Homeland Security and Emergency
Management requested an exercise simulating an outage of the county's
communications system and use of ARES to provide critical communications
traffic to fire and Police services.
The exercise began at 0600 with a call to activate a Resource Net followed by assignments to three critical locations with fixed stations at the 911 Center, Westside Police Precinct and Fire Station 11. The ARES Mobile Communications Facility was deployed and activate at a staging area just outside the exercise area for staging of people to move into positions during the exercise. The MCF also functioned as a cross-net communications point for the three nets in service and dispatch of personnel to exercise positions. Mobile communications was established with Police and Fire vehicles to provide communications from the 911 Center and the hub locations of the two emergency services.
Parallel
traffic was sent from the 911 Center over normal county communications and
also given to ARES personnel operating in the center for dispatch to
evaluate accuracy and timing of communications. According to Greg
Swanson, Gwinnett County Emergency Management Coordinator, the exercise
successfully demonstrated the ability of Gwinnett ARES to provide critical
communications in the event of a failure or impairment of the county's
primary radio communications system.
New Gwinnett ARES members who had not participated in an SET were paired with experienced operators, where possible, to gain valuable experience for future exercises. The exercise concluded with a lunch debrief session for the valuable exchange of exercises successes and areas for improvement.
Photos from SET 2007 will be posted soon in the Photo section of the GWINNETTARES Yahoo group.
Thanks to GARS for the use of the site and to Mike, K4HBI, for the use of the repeater. A new Pocket Frequency Card has been uploaded to the website and may be downloaded in the Frequencies section.
UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL INFO - All ARES members now have access to the Online Member Database to view and keep their personal information up-to-date. Information such as address, contact numbers, email addresses and license info may be updated by each member. If you have not received your logon information and password, contact Tom Hughes, KD4OEZ.
If you have not registered your contact numbers such as cell phones and PDAs to receive Gwinnett ARES notifications, contact Scott Hartlage, KF4PWI. Notifications with the Emergency Notification System offers the fastest and most reliable notifications for callouts, weather nets or other important information.
Deployable Status - If you have not completed the required FEMA online courses IS-100 and IS-700, remember that you must complete these two courses along with either the Gwinnett County Basic Skills Test or ARRL EC-001 to receive the new Gwinnett ARES ID. The new ID card indicates DEPLOYABLE status and is recognized by Gwinnett County first responders. The old ID is no longer valid and not recognized by county agencies. Contact Ken Dalton, KI4BQS, AEC for Training for more information or to email training confirmations or test answers at training@gwinnettares.org.