METERS Newsletter - January 2007

A monthly publication of the Middle East Tennessee Emergency Radio Service, Inc.
METERS is a registered non-profit service organization based in Knoxville, serving all the surrounding area.
Club call sign: KG4NLF Website: www.metersinc.org

Meetings are held at 7 PM, the 4th Tuesday every month. Our January 23rd meeting will be at the Tennessee Technology Center, 1100 Liberty Street, Knoxville, TN 37919. (See the website for directions, or watch the Net Reminder.)
Licensed Amateur Radio Operators are invited to join METERS and assist in meeting the needs of our served agencies.
Members’ submissions are invited for this newsletter, in plain text formats, subject to space available and editing. Editor: John Randle, K9RSQ; e-mail to john.randle (at) tds.net; Phone (865) 675-1293, or mail to: John Randle, 10625 Summit Mtn Ct, Knoxville, TN 37922.

President's Statement for January 2007

Happy New Year! May it be a healthy, prosperous one for all. As those reindeer hoof prints melt in the snow, we need to move on to a big year ahead. We have many activities planned and lots of work to do.

We have a great lineup of speakers for the January meeting focusing on public service. Frank W4NCS participated in an emergency tabletop exercise for his employer (utility company) and will talk about that experience and lessons learned. He said that METERS sponsored training was very useful. Our featured guest speaker is Colin Ickes, KEMA Operations Officer, who will make a presentation about the potential targets and hazards of Knox County and the surrounding area.

Training Opportunities We have planned two public service events this year - the Strawberry Plains Half Marathon (Feb 17) and the Knoxville Marathon (Apr 1).

Our SKYWARN training session by Howard Waldron (NWS) will be on Saturday March 10 2007 at 10AM at the Knox County EOC.

Field Day is Saturday/Sunday June 23/24 so get ready for another fun-filled weekend of amateur radio camaraderie.

At our general meetings, we will continue our trend of featured guest speakers who present material applying our education and training to real world situations. Our Operations and Support Staff training sessions will continue as long as they are beneficial and will include increasing participation by the Ops and Support personnel.

-- Tyra Buczkowski AI4KG METERS President

Vice President's Statement for January 2007

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that another year has passed. I am sure that it went by so quickly because we at METERS have been so busy. You don't know what you are missing if you haven't been to a meeting in a while. Please come to the January meeting and pay your dues (now $15.00, inclusive of our new photo ID badge). Our guest speaker, Mr. Colin Ickes, promises to rivet us in our seats with his presentation about the hazards and potential terrorist targets in the greater Knoxville area. As far as I know this presentation can only be seen at our meeting, so please don't miss it.

In the last six months we had a series of great presentations by outside experts, and some from our own expert members. All in all, our meetings have been very interesting and well worth the time.

This month I'd like to share with you a summary of the contents of two presentations that I made, one at the September 2006 meeting, and the other at the November 2006 meeting. The second talk was a continuation of the first, but both stand on their own. Unfortunately, I don't have the space here to give you all the details, but maybe I can whet your appetite a little, so to speak.

Last summer I started thinking about the many METERS members who were very involved in the organization, in the community at large, and in other organizations. It struck me how unusual this is. What I mean by that is that METERS members as a group seemed to be very committed to public service and very committed to METERS. More specifically, we have a very high participation level in the organization and in the community. Intuitively I knew this, but I was quite surprised at how much we do when I actually counted the number of formal defined jobs we do at METERS. I presented my results in the September meetings. Basically it boils down to these simple facts.

This is quite remarkable and we should all be proud of ourselves and of our fellow members.

The real "meat and potatoes" came in November, when I presented the second part on METERS values and culture. Its going to be hard to summarize that one, but all I can say right now is that if you weren't there, then you missed a great discussion. You also missed an opportunity to really understand what makes us so special and how much we benefit from being part of METERS. I'm running out of time and space for this Newsletter, so I'll have to keep you guessing until the next installment. Until then, 7 3

-- Gary Buczkowski AG4XO METERS VP

Secretary's Notes - January 2007

Training Topics

We will have a different style of training this month when Colin Ickes, KEMA Operations Officer will talk to us about "Potential Targets and Hazards in Knox County and the Surrounding Area." Colin has been responsible for portions of our CERT training and is an interesting speaker. Don’t miss it!

-- de Dick WI8X

Treasurer Talk!

Well, here it is. a whole new year! It's time for us to think ahead. Which means we should also be getting our membership dues in order! This year is special as this year we want to include you in our FIRST order of the new nifty METERS ID Badges. Remember, you can pay your dues at the next meeting, or can do so my mailing a $15 check to me, and I will make sure your name is placed on our new 2007 METERS Membership roster. - ALSO - don't forget to make copies of your certifications and send them to Larry W8JYQ, so we will know what to put on the ID badge. We also have to get your PHOTOGRAPH for the ID badge. If you have one on your computer, or if you can scan one, simply email it to me (ke4ybz-AT-metersinc.org) and I will put it on file with our ID Badge order. (A normal head-shot will do, under 1mg in size) If you don't have a digital photo of yourself - or a scanner, I will bring MY digital camera with me to the next meeting, and we can get it taken care of quite easily.

We will also be going over the METERS Budget for 2007 at the next meeting, as required in the by-laws, and I hope you will be there to give us your thoughts as we prepare for another exciting year! Remember, if you have any ideas on how we can generate revenue other than what we currently have in place, we all want to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Dave KE4YBZ

Net Notes!

The METERS nets are running really well. The members voted to continue with the Tuesday RACES nets. Bill WR4MS has graciously stepped up to be net control for the third Tuesday of the month. We need two more volunteers for net control station operators for the first and second Tuesdays of the month. We are restarting our rotation of net controls for the second Monday of the month Check In net and the second Wednesday of the month Emergency Training net. Please choose the month you want to take your turn as NCS and let me know so I can reserve it for you.

METERS needs more members if we are going to do all the work we have to do. We need more team members for the hospitals because some teams have only one or two operators. That's not enough to do a good job. If you know a ham who wants to help out in an emergency and is interested in emergency communications, invite him to the next meeting to see what METERS is all about.

Operating: Third party traffic is allowed as long as the amateur radio operator identifies his station properly and maintains his position as the control operator while the third party is communicating. The ham should ID with his FCC call sign and say "Stand by for third party traffic." Then he should let the third party talk while the ham monitors and controls the radio operation. If the communication takes longer than 10 minutes, the ham must ID every 10 minutes and at the end of the transmission.

Third party traffic is especially helpful when someone is involved in an emergency wants to contact their family members or when a doctor wants to relay medical instructions to another medical professional.

Bobby/KA4OKJ

Board Member at Large

No one has talked to me about any topic that interests them or vexes them. If you have such a topic, please phone or e-mail me

-- de Dick WI8X

Recent and Up Coming Public Service Events:

Strawberry Plains Half Marathon will be Saturday Feb. 17th, with early arrivals meeting at 0700 at the Cracker Barrel restaurant off I-40 at Strawberry Plains Pike. All volunteers must be at the "Rush Strong" School at 0800 for assignment as the race starts at 0900. This event should be over inside of three hours. Participating 'hams' will be asked to sign up at the next meeting (Jan 23). The Strawberry Plains half-marathon needs support from about 8 radio operators, Saturday at 8AM, February 17, 2007, the race will be completed by noon. Contact AF1P ( at ) ARRL.NET if you are able to participate.

Knoxville Marathon will be Sunday April 1st, covering much the same route as last year, depending again on construction obstructions for final routing. Jerry handed out info on last year’s race. Jerry will advise on a preliminary race prep meeting date and time and Larry will assist with location as soon as this is determined. Planning for the Knoxville marathon is underway, so put Sunday, April 1, 2007 on your calendars for about 6AM till 1PM. More to come on this event at the February and March METERS meetings. We will need over 30 radio operators for this event, so other clubs will be contacted as well.

Jerry Moore, AF1P, Special Events Coordinator.

METERS Members in the Spotlight: This month it’s Bill Renaud WR4MS.

One night in 2005, I was listening to a METERS net and one check-in said, "This is Whisky Romeo 4 Mike Sierra." I recognized the voice as Bill Renaud, but not the call. I remembered him as KD5WCT, a call he brought with him from his home state of Mississippi. As he explained later, the vanity call combined two of his initials (WR) and two initials (MS) from his alma mater, Mississippi State University.

You also know Bill as the recently new weekly Net Reminder editor and METERS Web site manager. These are time-consuming jobs, and they are well done.

Growing up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Bill Renaud (you say his last name "Reno," like the city) played trumpet in his high school band and was "On the soccer team. I also refereed soccer for several years." After graduating, he went to MSU in Starkville, Mississippi where he earned his degree in Computer Science, graduating in 2000. Many of you know Starkville as home to MFJ Enterprises.

In March, 2004, a former boss called him from the Oak Ridge nuclear facility to tell him that Oak Ridge was expanding and that there was a tech support opportunity on super computers including the Cray ‘Jaguar’ and other Cray systems. An interview landed him the job at Oak Ridge in 2005.

Bill was licensed KD5WCT in Mississippi in 2003; upgraded to General the same year and upgraded again to Amateur Extra in 2004. "On D-Day," he says. Following his move to Knoxville, he applied for his vanity call, WR4MS, in 2005.

"I heard about METERS through RACK and rode with Gary AG4XO and Tyra AI4KG to WNOX for a RACK meeting and radio station tour. Gary and Tyra worked on me and I eventually went to a METERS meeting. I am now a member. I’m also a member of the Oak Ridge club and the Civil Air Patrol."

In addition to being the weekly Net Reminder editor and METERS Web site manager, WR4MS likes participating in public service events. As many of you know, METERS conducted a Technician license class last year. The first meeting was Saturday, July 1, 2006, and Bill brought his Yaesu HF rig plus a mag mount antenna to demonstrate HF. He made several contacts and has a QSL card from at least one of them. In later weeks of the class schedule, he taught a class in electronic theory, and succeeded in making the complex understandable.

At a future meeting, introduce yourself to Bill Renaud WR4MS and get to know this valuable METERS member.

-- Dick Wolf WI8X

Notes from The ARRL Letter

ARRL Colorado Section Emergency Coordinator Ben Baker, KB0UBZ, says Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers activated this week after a blizzard struck December 20 and continued into the next day, paralyzing a large part of the state and stranding thousands of air and highway travelers. Snowfall totals averaging 20 to 30 inches around the Front Range of Denver and 40 inches or more in the foothills west of Denver, Baker said.

"ARES districts all along the Front Range are active, reporting snow totals as well as responding to served agency requests," Baker told ARRL Headquarters December 21. "Amateur Radio operators supporting the Red Cross and The Salvation Army have been staffing shelters, while other ARES members have been using their four-wheel drive vehicles to transport essential and emergency personnel to their assignments."

Colorado Gov Bill Owens declared a state of emergency and activated the Colorado National Guard to assist in rescuing stranded motorists. The Colorado Emergency Operations Center as well as county and local EOCs were opened By week's end, major highways and Denver's airport were reopened to traffic.

Elsewhere, ARES and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) teams across Western Washington activated December 14 after severe weather struck the Pacific Northwest, ARRL Western Washington Section Manager Ed Bruette, N7NVP told ARRL. Eight people died, and nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses lost electrical power in the wake of the strong winds and heavy rainfall, although the communications infrastructure "pretty well stayed intact," Bruette said.

"The need for ARES/RACES was to be staged and have circuits established at the local EOCs and ECCs in case of major communication outages, with a secondary mission to support Red Cross shelters," Bruette explained. "I'm fairly certain every local ARES/RACES team in Western Washington was activated." Fifteen American Red Cross shelters opened across the affected region, and the state activated its EOC at Fort Murray.

Winds approaching 70 MPH were clocked at SeaTac Airport, Seattle's official observation point, damaging the terminal and canceling flights. Bruette predicted it could take several days to restore power in outlying areas.

Meanwhile, he noted, imprudent use of portable generators and other devices had caused at least two deaths and sent many more to emergency rooms with carbon monoxide poisoning.

"The number of CO poisonings in the area have been termed epidemic," Bruette said. "In one case, 30 apartment dwellers were burning charcoal indoors to stay warm." Gov Chris Gregoire urged Washingtonians to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poising and to spread the word to those without power or heat.

Downed trees closed several major highways, while others fell victim to flooding. Blocked roads affected public safety agencies' ability to respond, Bruette said.

After weathering the worst of the storm at his fire district headquarters, Bruette says he returned home to find he still had power -- and "all my antennas are unharmed." Other radio amateurs in the region were not so lucky, he added.

The FCC has put new Amateur Radio vanity call sign processing on hold while it modifies the software that handles vanity applications. The suspension is a result of a rule change that went into effect December 15 to discourage the filing of multiple applications by one individual for the same call sign. The FCC is still processing vanity call sign renewal applications.

"The Commission continues to accept [new] vanity call sign applications," says a brief announcement on the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS) Web page <http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/>. "However, these applications will not be processed until software changes in accordance with the recent rule making have been fully implemented." Just when that might happen is not known.

As revised in the FCC's recent Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 04-140, §97.19(d)(1) stipulates that if the FCC receives more than one application requesting a vanity call sign from a single applicant on the same receipt day, it will process only the first application entered into the ULS.

"Subsequent vanity call sign applications from that applicant with the same receipt date will not be accepted," the rule concludes.

The FCC says that when processing resumes, it will handle pending applications for new vanity call signs "consistent with the date order in which they were received.

This suspension affects new vanity call sign applications submitted on December 18 or later. Typically, it takes 18 days from the time the FCC receives a vanity application until the call sign is issued -- or the application is denied. The FCC granted the last Amateur Radio vanity call signs on January 4 for applications received December 15.

All vanity call sign renewal applications, including those for club stations, must be filed via the ULS. The current vanity call sign fee, payable for new applications as well as renewals, is $20.80 for the 10-year license term.

Notes from The Web

Continuing the discussion on the American Red Cross and the potential for Background Investigations, the following update was submitted by AI4KG for the December 2006 Newsletter. Operating under the “better late than never” principal, it is included in this month’s newsletter for the METERS membership.

The METERS members were polled at the November membership meeting after a review of the ARRL President's statement from this past October regarding the ARC checks and the subsequent ARC response in early November. The members then had a discussion period and expressed concern about the intrusive nature of the checks for volunteers and the risk for identity theft as a result of the required personal information to be submitted online. The members un-equivocally want to maintain their identity as amateur radio operators volunteering for emergency communications with an amateur radio emergency service in support of the ARC.

There were 25 members present and polling was done by a show of hands. In the questions, the checks were considered separately - criminal, credit, and mode of living. The final question considered the nature and identity of the amateur radio operators as they provided emergency communications for the ARC.

The members were split 50-50 on the question of submitting to the ARC background criminal check. According to an ARC spokesperson, this check is the standard minimum check of a social security number verification and a search of the National Criminal File for the past 7 years. Anyone assisting ARC during disaster relief, except for very brief periods, is subject to this background check apparently including ARES members. The volunteer is required to apply online at www.mybackgroundcheck.com and supply his personal information and permission for all three background checks. The main reason most members stated in not submitting for the SSN verification and criminal check was the potential for identity theft in providing personal information such as social security numbers, date of birth, etc.

The credit check and the mode of living check were both soundly defeated with NO ONE VOTING IN FAVOR. During the discussion period the members stated that they thought these were too intrusive for volunteers providing emergency communications. Also of concern was the blanket permission to the all-encompassing interviews of neighbors, family members, employers - both present and past, . . . The ARC spokesperson stated that the credit and mode of living checks would not be performed in the majority of cases which raised the question of why ask for them from everyone who volunteers.

The final question asked about providing emergency communications during an ARC disaster relief operation, "Do you think ARES members serve as ARES members supporting ARC (served agency)? Y or N" (Ed note: as opposed to serving as ARC members). (This question arose because the amateur radio operators who volunteered after the 9/11 terror attack and post Katrina were required by ARC to sign in as ARC volunteers.) The answer was YES with no dissenters.

This information regarding the background checks and volunteer group identity was requested from METERS by Assistant Director of the Delta Division LB Cebik/W4RNL. The ARRL is preparing to enter renegotiations of the ARRL MOU with the ARC soon. The current MOU expires in 2007.

Continuing with general information gleaned from the Internet, the following message from the ARRL Headquarters illustrates the different contributions that Amateur Operators make in today’s world.

ZCZC AG02
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 2 ARLB002
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT January 9, 2007
To all radio amateurs

A California radio amateur played a part in an international effort to rescue a US sailor attempting to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. Miguel ''Mike'' Morales, KC6CYK, of Riverside, told ARRL he was able to contact fellow radio amateurs in Chile to obtain and relay reassuring information to the family of Ken Barnes, whose 44-foot ketch Pivateer was foundering off South America. A Chilean trawler, Polar Pesca 1, rescued Barnes from his disabled vessel on January 5. Upon learning of Barnes's predicament on January 2, Morales said he contacted the sailor's fiance, Cathy Chambers.

"She mentioned that the satellite telephone was dying on him over there, so their communication was 30 to 60 seconds at a time," Morales recounted. ''I was lucky enough, I got in touch with some of the Charlie Echo [CE-prefix] stations until I got to someone in Punta Arenas, and then Polar Pesca, the vessel that did the rescue.''

Morales speaks fluent Spanish and has visited Chile and knew "the way things operate down there." As a result, he says, he was able to obtain credible reports via his 10-meter contacts as to what was happening.

Morales said he was able to gather information via his Chilean ham radio contacts from the Polar Pesca 1. He relayed information about Barnes's location and when he was going to be rescued. Morales said he felt it was important for the family to know Barnes's situation and how the rescue plans were playing out.

Barnes, who's 47, left Long Beach, California, late last October, hoping to be the first person to sail around the world from the West Coast. A severe storm dismasted, badly damaged the vessel and soaked his supplies.

The Chilean Navy dispatched one of the CP3 Orion aircraft Chile uses to patrol its 200-mile-offshore territorial claim. The plane spotted the foundering vessel, photographed it and even attempted to drop a life raft that missed its mark. The Chilean Navy coordinated the operation and recruited the Polar Pesca 1 to undertake the actual rescue, although Morales says the US Coast Guard agreed to cover the expense. At that point he was able to pass along news to the family that the trawler was en route to Barnes's location.

"The main thing is, Ken Barnes is back, is alive,'' Morales said. ''What I did was on behalf of the US ham radio community, I believe. That's what you're there for."

Barnes is scheduled to return home to California this week, and Morales will be among those on hand to welcome him.
NNNN
/EX