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Monitor 3.905 LSB during Illinois emergency conditions

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

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: Andy Stubblefield, K9EMA 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? [email protected]

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: [email protected]
email: [email protected]

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.