Emergency Communications
From WARCWiki
Contents |
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS FREQUENCIES:
Main repeater: 146.640, -600KHz offset, no tone. -- USE FOR EMERGENCY NET AND HIGH PRIORITY MESSAGES.
Secondary repeater: 146.835, -600KHz offset, no tone. -- USE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER COORDINATION MESSAGES.
UHF repeater: 444.225, +5MHz offset, no tone. -- USE DETERMINED BY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Local simplex backup:
- ARES "A": 147.585
- ARES "B": 147.525
- ARES "C": 147.795
NVIS 80 meters: 3.925 MHz -- MN Piconet All Day Watch (PAW)
NVIS 40 meters: To be announced.
CLUB EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT ACCESS
The WARC has some property which might be helpful in case of an emergency--feedlines, antenna guys, and other items. The property is stored at the Winona Knitting Mills complex, 902 East Second Street, Winona. Clare K0NY and Jim KB0THN have business offices in the complex and may be able to provide access to the property if they are available. In the event that neither is available, the facilities maintenance staff can provide access. Their 24/7 phone number is (507) 458-7378.
GO PACKS FOR EMERGENCIES
Hand Held Radio
Cash
Prescription drugs & aspirin
Spare batteries for radio
Flashlight or LED light
Hat
2m or dual-band twin-lead J-pole
Materials to string or support antennas
Electrical and duct tape
RF and audio adapters
Power cables and adapters:
1. power pole to 1/4 inch lugs (for hooking directly to power supplies,
2. power pole to Molex,
3. power pole to spade connectors,
4. power pole to bare wire, plus
5. a few spare power pole connectors.
Extra coax & patch cords
Headphones
Wire antennas
Area maps & compass
Small tool kit
Small first aid kit
Message forms,log forms
Frequency and net lists
Call-up phone tree list or phone list of local hams
Amateur Radio ID sign, badge, or patch
Non-perishable snacks, meals, emergency water packs--enough to last 48 hours
Sleeping bag, tent, clean socks, underwear
Portable stove, mess kit
Copy of Incident Management Structure for recording specifics of incident organization
Copy of ARES Communications Plan for the area
Telephone numbers and contact info for agencies and Section ARES leaders
Copy of FCC license
A complete checklist of all the expensive items NOT kept in the kit, such as radios,
power supplies, and tuners (ID key items with call sign)
Expedient training materials for spontaneous volunteers
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS - ADJACENT COUNTIES
Houston County, MN
Greg Hovland, KC0IKU
812 Juniper ST
La Crescent, MN 55947
(507) 895-6959 Home
(608) 385-8121 Cell
greg@kc0iku.net is one of multiple email accounts I have...
Pepin County, WI
STEPHEN N FISHER, SR, WB9NTO
411 DRIER ST
DURAND WI 54736
wb9nto@nelson-tel.net
Home phone is 715-672-5033
Local repeater is 145.35 output and 144.750 input 110.7 PL
Buffalo County, WI
Mark Smick, N9UNW
N20040 US HWY 53
GALESVILLE WI 54630
cte82559@centurytel.net
(608)582-3102 home -rural Galesvillle
(608)790-1234 cell
Buffalo County Emergency Management Director, Steve Schippli.
Goodhue County, MN
Robert Stone, kc0gyf@arrl.net
290 Camp Pearson Rd
Red Wing MN 55066-1461
Cell Phone 651-246-0631 or Home 651 488-2113
Jackson County, WI
Roger Turner, N9PPB
W11851 THOMAS ROAD
BLACK RIVER FALLS WI 54615
cell 715-299-3062
home 715-284-3062
work 715-284-0675
jacksonec@ceas.coop
Olmstead County, MN
Robert E Wiles, AB0BW
2018 Jade Ln NE
Rochester MN 55906
gerboafalcon@yahoo.com
JPEG SIZES FOR TRANSMISSION BY RADIO
I have experimented with jpg sizes and resolutions for possible transmission of .jpg files from remote sites to stations with network connections to the Emergency Operations Center. What I was looking for was small file size of a jpg that still had enough detail to be useful.
I started with a full size picture of WA9IGK's vehicle. This image is about 3000x2000 pixels and the jpg file was about 2.2 Mbyte. A file this large would use too much time and bandwidth at speeds of 19KBaud or slower, but has more than enough resolution for most emergency purposes.
I shrank the picture using a linux utility call “convert.” The command line is below:thumb.256x256.wa9igk.pontia
convert -size 120x120 wa9igk.pontiac.jpg -resize 120x120 thumb.wa9igk.pontiac.jpg
The resulting thumbnail looked just fine viewed at its natural size of 120x120 pixels, but when enlarged 600% so someone could see detail, the detail was pixelated and missing. The file size was 16 Kbyte.
Next I tried 256x256 pixels:
convert -size 256x256 wa9igk.pontiac.jpg \
-resize 256x256 thumb.256x256.wa9igk.pontiac.jpg
The resulting thumbnail is slightly over twice the size in each dimension but has over four times the information. This thumbnail proved to be satisfactory for enlarging and viewing detail. For example the license plate call letters are clearly readable. The file size was 30 Kbyte. Interestingly we get 4 times the picture size when the file is only twice as large. A picture this large will take only about 30 seconds to transmit at 9600 Baud effective throughput.
wa9igj.pontiac.jpg
thumb.wa9igj.pontiac.jpg
thumb.256x256.wa9igj.pontiac.jpg
HIGH FREQUENCY NVIS COMMUNICATIONS
The following reference materials were provided by Red WO0W and were part of his presentation to the April 2008 monthly club meeting:
Draft NVIS Frequency Plan -
Table to be formated for Wiki.
NVIS References and Links
References for more information about NVIS and about propagation in general
1. Near Vertical Incidence Skywave Communication, LTC David M. Fiedler, (NJ ARNG) (Ret) and MAJ Edward J. Farmer, .P.E. (CA SMR). World Radio Books, Sacremento, CA. 1996.
2. Ionoshperic Radio, Kenneth Davies. Peter Perigrinus Ltd, London, 1990. This book is for those with prior understanding of physical and mathematical principles. It is available from college libraries and on the used book market.
3. Radio Amateurs Guide to the Ionosphere, Leo F. McNamara. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, FL, 1994. Mr. McNamara’s professional work is involved with studying propagation. This book bridges the gap between esoteric tests and technically inadequate tracts. I recommend it highly to serious amateur operators.
4. The New Shortwave Propagation Handbook, George Jacobs, W3ASK; Theodore J. Cohen, N4SS; and Robert B. Rose, K6GKU. CQ Communications, Inc., Hicksville, NY, 1997.
5. The ARRL Handbook For Radio Communications
5. The ARRL Antenna Book
[1] - This article was high on GOOGLE. It covers many aspects of the topic that are often overlooked but I feel it leaves out many points that may lead a person to incorrect conclusions. Read it critically; don’t accept everything in it without understanding the limiting conditions.
Wikipedia - [2]
Home brew portable antenna terminated on vehicle - [3] This is the source of the drawing in the presentation. It covers the details.
L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, notes on NVIS antennas - [4] You can trust Cebik to present the facts!
• 1. NVIS Propagation and Antennas: Some Background Basics: a review of NVIS propagation and other background information necessary for the effective use of subsequent notes - [5]
• 2. Basic NVIS Antennas: Dipoles, Loops, and Vs: a survey of the basic radiation properties of fundamental antenna types on various bands and over various types of ground quality - [6]
• 3. Basic NVIS Antennas with Reflectors: Dipoles, Loops, and Vs: an examination of the properties of both parasitic and planar reflectors for basic NVIS antennas - [7]
• 4. Practical Basic NVIS Antennas: Dipoles, Inverted-Vs, 1-Wavelength Loops, and Doublets: a survey of practical NVIS antennas, including both monoband and 2-band antenna forms - [8]
• 5. Some Basic Fixed 3-Band NIVS Antennas: A sampling of techniques for including 75, 60, and 40 meters in NVIS antenna coverage - [9]
• 6. Special Purpose NVIS Antennas: A sampling of some special purposes antennas, such as those with perfectly circular patterns, those having maximum usable gain, and those capable of tilting the NVIS radiation pattern - [10]
Homebrew AS 2259G/R NVIS antenna by W9WIS, Redgranite, WI. The article provides good information for building a two band NVIS antenna. However, the dimensions are totally wrong for the 80 and 40 meter bands. Use an antenna modeling application to correct the dimensions and use the construction ideas provided in this article. It mentions military products manufactured by Telex and by Harris – The link is [11] The Tech Manual for the AS 2259G/r is at [12]
An unsigned article from qsl.net, appears to be from WB5UDE - [13]
