Composite ICS213/ARRL Radiogram form available as a fillable pdf HERE.

Monitor 3.905 LSB during Illinois emergency conditions.  (7.230 LSB 40 meter alternate)

Adjacent States nets:  Missouri  3.963  Indiana 3.920 and 7.290  Wisconsin  3.967

Latest news:

Posted 22 May, 2013

Amateur Radio Week in Illinois

Governor Pat Quinn has issued a declaration that the week of 16 - 23 JUNE 2013 will be Amateur Radio Week in Illinois. 

This declaration was made at the request of our Section Public Information Coordinator (PIC) and Peoria County EC Fritz Bock, WD9FMB. 

A copy of the actual declaration document has been uploaded here.

Posted 5 may, 2013

About OES’s

Note:  I have no political agenda (not League politics, not state or national!) in writing this, so, that’s my disclaimer.

Recently, I’ve had a couple of communications by email from EC’s and others regarding the Official Emergency Station appointment.  What is an OES?  And, what is expected from an OES?  The answer to both questions is more, certainly, than what we’ve been experiencing. 

Here’s an excerpt of what www.arrl.org  says in regard to the Official Emergency Station (emphasis added):

“The OES appointee must be an ARRL member and set high standards of emergency preparedness and operating. The OES appointee makes a deeper commitment to the ARES program in terms of functionality than does the rank-and-file ARES registrant.

“The OES appointee is appointed to carry out specific functions and assignments designated by the appropriate EC or DEC. The OES appointee and the presiding EC or DEC, at the time of the OES appointment, will mutually develop a detailed, operational function/assignment and commitment for the new appointee. Together, they will develop a responsibility plan for the individual OES appointee that makes the best use of the individual's skills and abilities. During drills and actual emergency situations, the OES appointee will be expected to implement his/her function with professionalism and minimal supervision.

“Requirements: Full ARRL membership; Experience as an ARES registrant; Regular participation in the local ARES organization including drills and test; Participation in emergency nets and actual emergency situations; Regular reporting of activities; Encouraged to earn certification in Level 1of the ARRL Emergency Communications Course.”

In the Illinois Section, as of the date of the last database report of Field Organization appointees, I find 91 individuals hold the OES appointment!    That’s a lot of folks that I’m betting many of us who are involved in ARES management rarely ever hear, much less hear from.

So, in the coming days, I’m going to parse the most recent Excel spreadsheet I got from Newington and send each of you who are currently bothering to send in monthly reports and/or are active in the Section ARES program a list of your resident OFFICIAL EMERGENCY STATIONS.  I hope you take the time to contact them and try to get them involved in your organization.  At some point in time, they were interested, or said they were interested, in making a personal commitment to the ARES program. As the old saying goes, ‘there ain’t no free lunches.’  The price for wearing that OES badge at a hamfest or having the certificate hang on the ‘shack wall is participation in the ARES program.

SYNTOR-X Packet Program

As many of you who have connections in or with the public service communications world know, the FCC mandated that all the FM rigs on VHF and UHF channels in the U.S. had to comply with narrowband emission requirements on 01 JAN of this year.  Some of the newer radios were capable of being reprogrammed to meet the new deviation and frequency standards.  Others, including the Illinois State Police fleet of VHF Motorola Syntor-X transceivers were not, and, they became surplus to the State of Illinois .  All of these radios, about 925 of them, were headed for recyclers.   I heard about this and started an initiative to get them repurposed for ARES and RACES use.  With the help of others, including Jim Pitchford, N9LQF, and Charlie Richey, K9DUE, we have successfully managed to stay the virtual execution of these fine, 110 watt transceivers.  There are currently 15 pallets of them at the Illinois ’ Central Management System’s warehouse in Springfield .

What we’re going to do with these transceivers is to have a team of ISP radio techs – hams, volunteering their expertise and time – modify these rigs to become single channel transceivers.  This single channel will be 145.610 MHz, our Illinois Packet Network frequency.  The radios will have connections for audio in, audio out, push-to-talk (PTT) and DC power connections.  We plan, thru the auspices of the Illinois Emergency Services Management Association (IESMA), to offer two, each, of these transceivers to every emergency management agency in the State of Illinois .  That’s all the county EMA ’s, and all the home rule community EMA’s.   What we will ask in return for the transceivers is an agreement from these EMA’s that they will provide a packet radio 1200 baud TNC, power supply, antenna, feedling, PC and, hopefully, a 24/7 Internet connection, so that these transceivers can become part of a statewide Winlink 2000 VHF packet system.  The Illinois RACES program (state level) will oversee management of the network.  Obviously, each EMA will have to establish a working relationship with local hams in order to legally bring these systems up on amateur radio frequencies.  That’s where ARES comes in.  Y’all will have an opportunity to have a hand in the building, operation, and, maintenance of this network, and, you will have a ready resource for your ARES (or, RACES) group’s digital communications needs.  Running the Winlink Development Teams’ RMS Relay program will allow traffic to continue to flow across the network even when the Internet is not available.

I am also going to be contacting the Illinois Dept of Public Health in an effort to initiate a similar Syntor-X radio program for EVERY hospital in Illinois .  That is, at this point, however, not something that has been accomplished.

More on the Syntor-X Packet radio program as it develops and we get the kinks worked out.  Trying to find storage space for 925 radios, plus arranging for transportation and a production line of techs to work on them requires more than a little time and finesse.  Stay tuned for more!

5 March, 2012 From Brad Pioveson, W9FX: -- Illinois ARES and SKYWARN volunteers in the southern half of Illinois were awake and watchful during the very early morning hours of Leap Day, February 29, as the leading edge of a cold front caused an outbreak of what would become deadly severe weather. As the storms crossed from Missouri into Illinois, SKYWARN groups in several counties including St. Clair and Madison were activated. 

The storms did little in terms of damage until they got further east, however. Perry and Union Counties were pummeled by high winds and hail. Both counties saw small scale structure and power line damage. SKYWARN groups closer to the Wabash and Ohio Rivers continued to carefully watch as this storm system continued to intensify. 

Ryan Buckingham, KC9KWN, Franklin County's Emergency Manager, chased the funnel cloud, then, EF4 tornado that roared from northeastern Williamson County into Saline County, then, to the county seat, Harrisburg, where, as the morning wore on, it was learned that six residents were killed. 

The SKYWARN activity seamlessly became an ARES operation, according to District 11 EC Bruce Talley, WA9APQ. Talley says, "The 147.09/146.88 MHz [linked repeater system] was an extremely valuable resource for this event. It was used for SKYWARN activity for about 2 hours and then for organizing and confirmation of resource deployment, for the remainder of Wednesday. And then again on Friday, for SKYWARN alert, as NWS ramped up watches and warnings for several states." While Harrisburg's 78 bed hospital had to be evacuated owing to a lack of power, EMS units from adjacent cities and counties responded and were able to effect patient transfers. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has a fleet of trailer-mounted communications systems, one of which was deployed to Harrisburg for communications during this event. Talley also serves as one of the volunteers who sets up and maintains that unit. Several of the other volunteers who staff this unit are also hams, he notes. 

As the sun arose and news of the Harrisburg disaster became known, Illinois Section ARES members were alerted to keep rigs tuned to the primary Section HF net frequency, 3.905 MHz, should the need have arisen for EMCOMM support,. Since only a small geographic area was affected by Harrisburg's EF4 tornado, no request for communications support was received from any served agency or NGO.

ARRL ILLINOIS SECTION SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST

Brad Pioveson, W9FX

ARRL Illinois Section Emergency Coordinator

Illinois Emergency Management Agency State RACES Officer

EXERCISE NAME:  BLINDING SUN

EXERCISE PERIOD:

                The Section portion of the SET begins at 0800CDST/1230Z 01 OCT 2011 and concludes at 1230CDST/1730Z on 01 OCT 2011.

EXERCISE OBJECTIVES:

                Primarily, this exercise is, as are all our Section-wide exercises, designed to motivate local ARES groups to make contact and create or renew relationships with existing or potential new served agencies.  Primarily, this exercise is, as are all our Section-wide exercises, designed to motivate local ARES groups to make contact and create or renew relationships with existing or potential new served agencies.  Primarily, this exercise is, as are all Section-wide exercises, designed to motivate local ARES groups to make contact and create or renew relationships with existing or potential new served agencies.  Equally important, an additional primary goal is the motivation of local ARES groups and individual members to be, both personally and corporately, prepared for disasters, and, especially to be prepared to respond to foreseeable threats. 

                Secondarily, this exercise is intended to stimulate Illinois ARES groups and members to exercise their back-up power source(s); to encourage all members to learn how to format and effectively communicate messages using both voice and digital radio circuits.

EXERCISE SCENARIO:     

                At 1245Z 01 OCT 2011, a coronal mass ejection (CME) created by a massive solar explosion /flare  hits the earth.  The energy and particles create gamma radiation in the atmosphere which creates an electromagnetic pulse of energy (EMP) wave.  The power grid in Illinois is rendered inoperative as switches and transformers are fatally damaged by the electromagnetic pulse.   Telephone lines are rendered inoperative as induced kilo-voltages destroy switches, line amplifiers, routers, and attached equipment.  As a result, there is no A.C. power, no Internet, no landline telephone capabilities.  No cellular telephone capabilities are functional.  No satellite communications are available as satellites have been rendered inoperative by the EMP wave and high energy particle bombardment.

EXERCISE DISCUSSION:

                Electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, events come in two forms.  The type of EMP event most of us have had some contact with – in amateur radio writings, perhaps – is currently referred to as ‘HEMP,’ or High altitude EMP.  This type of event is caused by the detonation of a nuclear device at altitude.  The resultant EMP waves take three forms which are referred to as E1, E2, and, E3.  The E1 and E2 pulses exhibit extremely fast rise times (time it takes for the voltage to go from zero to it’s maximum value) – measured in fractions of nanoseconds.  There are HEMP-specific weapons that, according to the Russians, who developed them, will generate up to 200,000 Volts per square meter within a few hundred miles of the blast, and, still pack a walloping 100,000 Volts per square meter at the east and west coasts of the U.S.  Only hardened and/or shielded equipment can survive such an event.  This is not what our BLINDING SUNexercise is about.

                The Illinois ARES SET is based upon what is referred to as a ‘Carrington event.’  A Carrington event, named by the fellow who figured out what caused the inducement of high voltages in telegraph lines after a solar flare in 1859, thankfully, generates only an E3 wave.  The E3 wave features a much slower rise time, perhaps 20 nanoseconds, and may induce up to 20,000 Volts per square meter in terrestrial power grids, telecommunications wiring, and, the like.  When the power grid goes down from this type of stimulus, it will be down for a very long time – perhaps  years, as the massive transformers that are situated across the country are not off-the-shelf replacement items.  They are custom built and take months to construct under the best of circumstances.

                The RF sections of well designed amateur radio stations that are equipped with properly installed PolyPhaser-brand or other similarly rated surge protectors should survive a Carrington event.  (If you’re in doubt about whether or not your feedling surge protector will survive such an event, contact the manufacturer or check the specifications regarding maximum voltage and response rise time.)  Whether or not the AC-mains-connected portions of these same stations survive is another matter.  Surge protectors are available that will protect the whole house/office/electrical entrance panel, or, which are designed to protect specific branch loads, as in the case of power strips.  Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV’s), the protective element of commonly available surge protection devices, may be adequate to do the job.  The problem with MOV’s, of course, is that they are sacrificial elements, and, there’s no way (of which I am aware) to test them.  If they don’t blow up when the surge hits – which can happen under some circumstances  – you really have no way of knowing if they are still functional or not.

                Well designed LMR (public safety) radio installations may survive.  Trunked 700/800 MHz public safety repeaters (StarCom21, for instance) may also survive, but, without landlines, each repeaterinstallation reverts to ‘site trunking,’ which means that any local user may communicate with any other local user as long as both can literally ‘see’ the same tower.  All of the networking capabilities are gone.

                Note that BLINDING SUN occurs a scant few weeks ahead of the State Level Exericse 2011 for which the scenario will be a major New Madrid Seismic Zone earthquake.  Consider BLINDING SUN to be a warm-up exercise for the November 15-17 SLE 2011 event.  Communications

EXERCISE CHALLENGES:

                Following a Carrington blast from the sun, there will be no AC power (in your city, county, state, and, nation).  If you have a generator, battery back-up, and/or solar power generation capabilities, you’ll need them. 

                Your jurisdiction will be in panic.  Hospitals will have just kicked on their emergency power.   The same will be true of EOC’s, 911 centers, Sheriff and police departments, fire stations, and the like.  But – and, this is key to understanding the seriousness of this event – there will be NO communications available to your citizens.  No telephones.  No cellular telephones.  No Internet.  No VoIP.   No Starcom21.

                Some homes and businesses will be burning from the overvoltage applied to their appliances and electrical devices.  The only way the fire department will learn of the need for their services is if someone goes to the fire station and tells them, they see the smoke themselves, or by ham radio. 

                People who rely on AC power for healthcare equipment (oxygen concentrators, etc.)  will be in dire need of medical intervention, but, they will have no way of communicating that need to the EMS crews.

                Typically, in large metropolitan areas, when the lights go out, pillaging and looting begin.   This time, however, there is no ‘911’ to call.

                How will your local emergency management agency communicate with citizens to tell them where to go for water  (pumps are down); medical assistance; food; shelter?

                How will the shelters communicate their needs for food and supplies?

EXERCISE  PLAN:

                The Illinois ARES HF Net will activate at 0800 local time on 01 OCT 2011 on 3.905 MHz.  Coincidentally, the State RACES station, NC9IL, will be activated. 

                NC9IL will be operating on:

3.905 Mhz LSB

3.590 MhzWinmor (in peer-to-peer mode)

145.610 MHz 1200 baud packet (Winlink 2000 email link – nc9il@winlink.org

MARS Pactor III Winlink 2000 (if you’re in MARS, you’ll know where to find us)

                If your local ARES group, or, you, as an individual, are participating in SET 2011, I ask that you prepare and send a radiogram, addressed to NC9IL.  This message should include the following info:

1.       Your callsign

2.       Your location (city or county)

3.       Your source of power for this exercise (generator, battery, mobile, etc.)

4.       How long you can continue operations with current power source and fuel (1 hour, 2 days , or ?)

Here are few samples of the text portion *shownwithout the headers* of exercise messages:

1.       N9LQF

2.       Macoupin County 

3.       Generator

4.       24 hours

1.       W9OES

2.       Morgan County

3.       Mobile

4.       12 hour

1.        WA9VRH

2.       City of Peoria

3.       Generator

4.       36 hours

I’d like for all participants (that can do so) to send that message two ways:  First, I’d like to see the message in email format and send it using Winmor to NC9IL@winlink.org  Additionally, I’d like to see it formatted as an ARRL Radiogram and send it by voice to NC9IL on 3.905 Mhz.  If you’re unsure how to format a Radiogram, there is a wealth of info available at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%2520Service/MPG104A.pdf   or, you can contact our Section Traffic Manager, Roy Eades, KA9MZJ, for more info.  I wouldn’t be too surprised if Roy invites you to fire up a rig on the Illinois Sideband Net (3.905 Mhz, 1800 local time, daily) for practice.

EXERCISE MISCELLANY:

NC9IL will be operating from AC mains, but, the state-owned facility in which NC9IL is housed is equipped with an automatically activated, diesel-powered generator, and, if this were a real event, that genset would be online. 

From regional and local perspectives, DEC’s, ADEC’s and EC’s are strongly encouraged to flesh out your own scenario and response plan to meet your jurisdictions’ and served agencies’ needs.  Feel free to be as creative as you dare with the exercise scenario.  About the only thing of which one can be certain is that things won’t be as good as they think they well be – Murphy’s Law will most assuredly be apparent, as in, “Things will be worse than what they initially appear to be,” and, “The worst possible thing that can happen will do so at the most inopportune time.”

EC’s are invited to make this as real as you have assets and resources to accomplish.  NASA’s space weather folks, astrophysicists and solar scientists, all agree that a Carrington event is a very real possibility during this solar cycle.  In emergency management terms, it’s a ‘low probability/high risk’ event.  In other words, while the odds don’t favor such an event happening on any given day, we are overdue for one of these, and, if it hits with the force the scientists anticipate, the results will be catastrophic. 

The Fox River Radio League will offer a free 6 week class for Technician Class hams who want to upgrade to General Class.  Click here for details

To download an Excel spreadsheet with all counties arranged by district, click here.

Rev.: 2010/10/30
Folks, the time has finally arrived to make the Illinois ARES map change I've alluded to on several occasions. Effective Monday, 01 NOV 2010, the Illinois Section, for the purpose of ARES organization, will follow the Illinois Emergency Management Agency map. This map can be viewed at the following URL: http://state.il.us/iema/ contacts/contact_region.htm  

Starting from the south end of the state, here are the new District designations and the DEC's that are currently serving:

District 11 DEC: Bruce Talley, WA9APQ
District 8 DEC: Curtis Williams, W5DTR
District 9 DEC: John Van Sandt, N9YRX
District 7 DEC: 
District 6 DEC: Gary Shanks, KA9FAJ
District 4 DEC: Neil Ormos, N9NL
District 3 DEC: Bob Cockream, AB9EE
District 2 DEC: Pat Aimers, N9SOC

(Yes, there are gaps in the numbering system)

The effort, here, is not to disenfranchise or displace anyone who is currently serving as a DEC or ADEC. The intent is to break the larger districts into smaller chunks in an effort to better manage and serve the counties within those districts. With the addition of RACES to the landscape in Illinois, this redistricting effort will help to eliminate confusion in converting ARES Districts to IEMA/RACES regions.

*If you are interested in serving as a District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) in one of the Districts that are currently vacant, or, if you know of someone who you might think is qualified and with whom I might speak about taking the job, please contact me by direct email.

73

Brad Pioveson, W9FX
Illinois State RACES Officer
ARRL Illinois Section Emergency Coordinator

AFTER ACTION REPORT 2010 Illinois SET (2010-10-20)

Tim, N9PUZ, sends these suggestions on how to optimize email for use with Winlink 2000. 
Click here for pdf.

The October 2, 2010 SET was a big success. Thanks to all who participated!

Beginning at 0800 local time, the Illinois ARES HF net will open on 3.905 MHz. This will the primary exercise net and will be utilized for command and control. The NCS will call each IEMA Region in Illinois from the northwest reaches to the southeast, respectively, and, in numerical order. ARES groups and participating members within each IEMA Region will be invited to check in. If you are in doubt about which IEMA Region you're located, see the map located at: http://www.state.il.us/iema/contacts/contact_region.htm

Once communications has been established with the primary net NCS, each reporting station will be dispatched to a secondary net, on a frequency that will be communicated to them on the air, to check in with NC9IL, our station in Springfield.

There will be a liaison station appointed to shuttle between the two HF frequencies, as necessary. There will be an alternate net control station for the primary HF net to cover exigent circumstances, should they arise.

If formal traffic is brought to the primary HF net, other tactical frequencies may be pressed into service.

Note that there will be Echolink comm's available to those to whom HF assets are unavailable for whatever reason. My station will be operating on 3.905 MHz and Echolink node #393633. That node is the NIRA Conference node and a nod goes to Don Russell, W9DRR, for allowing us the use of this asset. If arrangements can be made in time (and, we are fairly confident that they
will), NC9IL will, additionally, be online via Echolink from the State RACES installation.

Questions? w9fx@arrl.net

73

Brad Pioveson, W9FX
Illinois State RACES Officer
ARRL Illinois Section Emergency Coordinator
301 Kirsch St.
Benton, IL 62812-1706
home: 618.439.9262
cell: 618.435.0213
SMS: 6184350213@vtext.com
email: brad@w9fx.net

ILLINOIS ARES SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST

DATE   02 OCT 2010

Note:  There will be additional components added to this EX Scenario within the next week.  73, de Brad, W9FX

SCENARIO:

                30 SEP 2359Z :   NWS issues major storm warning alerts for all counties of Illinois.  Massive freak winter storm is approaching from the NW and icing conditions will begin within 12 hours.  Total expected accumulation of ice is >4 inches.

                01 OCT 2359Z:  Major winter storm begins to affect NW Illinois.  Storm system moving steadily SE.  Entire state expected to be affected within next 12 hours.

                02 OCT 1400Z:  Total accumulation of ice now 6 inches, average.  90% of Illinois citizens without power.  All communications services – public service, cellular, landline telephones, satellite-based systems, inoperative.  A few AM broadcast stations in the state remain on the air, operating at reduced power owing to antenna icing and no AC power available for the big transmitters.  National Weather Service transmitters are off the air.  Gasoline and diesel fuel are unavailable, can't be pumped, and, roads are uniformly impassable.  Trees and power poles, lines and hardware, block all secondary roads.  Major jams on all interstate highways and tollways with jack-knifed trucks and wrecked passenger cars blocking roadways.  Hospitals are operating on emergency power with remaining on-hand fuel supplies.   Nursing homes and assisted living centers have no power, no generators, no heat, no light.  Local 911 call centers are inoperative – no telephone lines, no Internet service exist.   The Illinois National Guard is fully activated, it's members are told to report to their armories for deployment.  Fires are breaking out in many homes and apartments as residents attempt to heat their homes with kerosene and/or cooking stoves and use candles and gasoline or propane lanterns for illumination.   Potable water is not available universally, as pumping stations have no power.  Illinois Governor Quinn and IEMA Director Klinger make joint announcement – to the few reporters that are in the office to hear it, since their news reporting facilities are down – that an official declaration of a state of emergency has been made in Illinois, that no aid will be forthcoming to Illinois residents for at least 48 hours, and that a request for a disaster declaration from Washington has been requested, which paves the way for Federal loans and aid to start moving toward us.    IEMA can't move it's resources until the roads are cleared.  The roads can't be cleared until the power lines are rendered safe to work on.  The power lines can't be rendered safe until the line crews can be brought into the area from adjacent states and they work their way in from the state borders, clearing the lines as the move toward the center of Illinois.

 Discussion:

                Does this sound apocalyptic?  This is not entirely a work of fiction.  The scenario, above, is a fairly accurate description of the situation our neighboring state to our south, Kentucky, found itself facing in late January, 2009.  The term `Ice Quake' is used by Brig. General John Heltzel, commander of the Kentucky National Guard and Director of Kentucky's EMA, when he speaks about this natural disaster.  Gen. Heltzel gives very well-deserved credit to Kentucky's amateur radio operators when he talks about those first few days of this disaster, a time when all communications services in Kentucky – except amateur radio - were inoperable.

                We know that, to an increasing degree, public service communications in Illinois is being handled through Motorola's StarCom21, a 700/800 MHz trunked communications system.   Ambulance services, hospitals, local and county police and sheriff's departments, some fire departments, and, emergency management agencies all rely upon StarCom21 for communications.  In many cases, StarCom21 is the only communications service in use, in fact.  So, what happens when 6" of radial ice coats a StarCom21 antenna?  No more StarCom21.  No communications, in other words.  800 MHz handhelds, equipped with stubby little antennas, can communicate just about from here to the end of your driveway – unless there are trees in the way.

                So…this is the framework for Illinois ARES' Simulated Emergency Test for 2010.  How will your community be affected if you have no power. . .anywhere.  No telephones. . .anywhere.  No Internet. . .anywhere.  No fuel. . .anywhere.  No 911 centers. . .anywhere.  No way to call the FD or the PD (even if they could get to you).   How will your group deploy?  What kind of messages would  you be expected to handle – lists of needed medications, perhaps, communicated from the hospital or nursing home to one of the local pharmacies? 

                EC's – I urge you to be creative.  I also urge you to discuss this event with your served agencies, or, if you don't have a served agency, talk with your city or county leaders about the very real possibility that something like this might, just, happen in your neck of the woods.  "Got it covered!," they say?  Ask them to attend one of General Heltzel's presentations on Kentucky's Ice Quake.  I have.  It's sobering.

Illinois State Incident Response Center - SIRC