June 2021 Monthly Meeting at the EOC: Field Day Plan and Shack Tour #12 – WCARES EOC

The June 2021 WCARES Monthly Meeting was in-person at the EOC.

Cliff Batson (N4CCB) gave a presentation on the final plan for the WCARES Field Day 2021 event:

and Jack Cox (KA4OTB) gave a tour of the Auxiliary Communications room inside the Williamson County Public Safety Center:


May 2021 Virtual Monthly Meeting: Field Day, WSPR antenna experiments, Shack Tour!

Field Day initial discussion
With six weeks until Field Day 2021, it’s too soon to have a comprehensive presentation… but it’s not too early to begin making Field Day plans. This video gives viewers an overview of Field Day and presents a list of things to consider when planning their Field Day event. A more thorough presentation will be made during the June 2021 WCARES monthly meeting.

WSPR Experiment
In this video, Rob, KN4RHI experiments with WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) with his HCLW-20* antenna.

*Highly Compromised Long Wire antenna is Rob’s tongue-in-cheek designation of this makeshift antenna located only 10′ off the ground.

Virtual Shack Tour
Paul, KM4PT takes us on a virtual tour of his ham shack and also shares his love of portable ops.

 


Geomagnetic Storm underway – May 12, 1250UTC – 1800UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 7 or greater expected

Valid From: 2021 May 12 1250 UTC

Valid To: 2021 May 12 1800 UTC

Warning Condition: Onset

NOAA Scale: G3 or greater – Strong to Extreme

NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at

www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation

Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 50 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.

Induced Currents – Power system voltage irregularities possible, false alarms may be triggered on some protection devices.

Spacecraft – Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites and orientation problems may occur.

Navigation – Intermittent satellite navigation (GPS) problems, including loss-of-lock and increased range error may occur.

Radio – HF (high frequency) radio may be intermittent.

Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon.


ARRL RF Exposure FAQ – Updated April 27, 2021

Update – April 27, 2021
New RF Exposure FAQ (V1.4) has been posted to the ARRL.ORG website

The updated RF Safety exposure FAQ (V1.4) is available from the
ARRL RF Safety page at;
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/RFsafetyCommittee/RFXFAQ.pdf

According to the ARRL, “… updates [to the FAQ] might be very common as
details come into better focus as the discussions between the FCC
and the ARRL develop clarifications and recommendations.”


Original:

The ARRL has released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document related to RF Exposure and the recent FCC rules announcement. This document answers some common questions and includes information on evaluating your station.

A copy of the FAQ is available here.

ARRL Bulletin 11, ARLB011, has more detail on the FCC announcement:


ARLB011 Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on
May 3

The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 2019
Report and Order governing RF exposure standards go into effect on
May 3, 2021. The new rules do not change existing RF exposure (RFE)
limits but do require that stations in all services, including
amateur radio, be evaluated against existing limits, unless they are
exempted. For stations already in place, that evaluation must be
completed by May 3, 2023. After May 3 of this year, any new station,
or any existing station modified in a way that’s likely to change
its RFE profile – such as different antenna or placement or greater
power – will need to conduct an evaluation by the date of activation
or change.

The Report and Order can be found online in PDF format at,
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-126A1.pdf .

“In the RF Report and Order, the Commission anticipated that few
parties would have to conduct reevaluations under the new rules and
that such evaluations will be relatively straightforward,” the FCC
said in an April 2 Public Notice. “It nevertheless adopted a 2-year
period for parties to verify and ensure compliance under the new
rules.”

The Amateur Service is no longer categorically excluded from certain
aspects of the rules, as amended, and licensees can no longer avoid
performing an exposure assessment simply because they are
transmitting below a given power level.

“For most amateurs, the major difference is the removal of the
categorical exclusion for amateur radio, which means that ham
station owners must determine if they either qualify for an
exemption or must perform a routine environmental evaluation,” said
Greg Lapin, N9GL, chair of the ARRL RF Safety Committee and a member
of the FCC Technological Advisory Council (TAC).

“Ham stations previously excluded from performing environmental
evaluations will have until May 3, 2023, to perform these. After May
3, 2021, any new stations or those modified in a way that affects RF
exposure must comply before being put into service,” Lapin said.

The December 2019 RF Report and Order changes the methods that many
radio services use to determine and achieve compliance with FCC
limits on human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The FCC also
modified the process for determining whether a particular device or
deployment is exempt from a more thorough analysis by replacing a
service-specific list of transmitters, facilities, and operations
for which evaluation is required with new streamlined formula-based
criteria. The R&O also addressed how to perform evaluations where
the exemption does not apply, and how to mitigate exposure.

Amateur radio licensees will have to determine whether any existing
facilities previously excluded under the old rules now qualify for
an exemption under the new rules. Most will, but some may not.

“For amateurs, the major difference is the removal of the
categorical exclusion,” Lapin said, “which means that every ham will
be required to perform some sort of calculation, either to determine
if they qualify for an exemption or must perform a full-fledged
exposure assessment. For hams who previously performed exposure
assessments on their stations, there is nothing more to do.”

The ARRL Laboratory staff is available to help amateurs to make
these determinations and, if needed, perform the necessary
calculations to ensure their stations comply. ARRL Laboratory
Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, who helped prepare ARRL’s RF Exposure and
You book, explained it this way. “The FCC did not change any of the
underlying rules applicable to amateur station evaluations,” he
said. “The sections of the book on how to perform routine station
evaluations are still valid and usable, especially the many charts
of common antennas at different heights.” Hare said ARRL Lab staff
also would be available to help amateurs understand the rules and
evaluate their stations.”

RF Exposure and You is available in PDF format for free download
from ARRL at,
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/RFsafetyCommittee/28RFSafety.pdf
.

ARRL also has an RF Safety page on its website at,
http://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure .

The ARRL RF Safety Committee is working with the FCC to update the
FCC’s aids for following human exposure rules – OET Bulletin 65 and
OET Bulletin 65 Supplement B for Radio Amateurs. In addition, ARRL
is developing tools that all hams can use to perform exposure
assessments.



April 2021 Virtual Monthly Meeting: Puerto Rico deployment for Hurricane Maria, Identifying Severe Weather Features, Shack Tour!

Presentations & Shack Tour!
ARES & Public Service: Father Raphael Ortiz (W4RAO), Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator for Eastern Tennessee, talked about the ARES response to the Puerto Rico deployment for Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Tech Topic: Krissy Hurley (Warning Coordination Meteorologist, NWS) gave  a presentation on Identifying Severe Weather Features.

Virtual Shack Tour: Dave Matthews (KI4PSR)


WCARES Technician License Classes 2021

We received the go-ahead from the EMA to hold in-person Technician License classes at the EOC starting on Saturday, May 29th. The EOC is in the Williamson County Public Safety Building, located at:

304 Beasley Drive in Franklin, TN.

Classes will be held in the main EOC room and run for five weeks ending on June 26th, with testing held at the EOC starting at 1:00 pm that afternoon. Weekly classes will run from 8:00 to 12:00 pm.

The final class and testing happen to fall on Field Day, but with Field Day being virtual again, that should not be a huge issue.

We will have a limit of around 30 students and we have already started a list. This time we will also be offering the class to a group of Sea Scouts so we expect spaces will fill quickly.

Jack Cox is coordinating with the instructors (Michael Richardson and the leader of the Sea Scouts) and he will serve as the keeper of the master student list.

Those interested in attending should contact Jack Cox via email at: ka4otb@comcast.net


March 2021 Virtual Monthly Meeting: Grounding/Bonding, ARES Public Service, Shack Tour!

Presentations & Shack Tour!

N0AX – Grounding and Bonding

Ward Silver (N0AX)

(Note that this is a link to his presentation on another channel… not the WCARES Media YouTube channel)

ARES and Public Service: Boston Marathon

Jeff Schwartz (KC1DWP)

Virtual Ham Shack Tour

Tim Kreth (AD4CJ)


EmComm training drill opportunity – Whirlwind Boom 2021 exercise

If you are looking for some additional EmComm training, a friend of the Red Cross EmComm Drill, Gordon Gibby in Florida, has his annual training event coming up very soon.  Here’s the info:  

All volunteer radio amateurs & groups are welcomed to join in our training exercise March 19th, Fri 7-9 PM EDT –  from local simulated shelter volunteers, city/county/state groups or plain individual volunteers accepting simulated disaster agency and personal traffic to move via working email if out of the simulated disaster area. 

This exercise is structured as a DHS HSEEP exercise, helping participants gain experience and familiarity with structured voice & data traffic.  Every means of moving traffic is encouraged.  The more volunteers engage with authorities such as in this exercise, The more likely they will actually be productively utilized in a real disaster.  View https://www.qsl.net/nf4rc/whirlwindboom.pdf for more info or reach out to Gordon at docvacuumtubes@gmail.com.  


Tennessee Severe Weather Awareness Week 2021

Unfortunately, there won’t be SWAD this year, but in its place, starting Sunday, February 28th, the National Weather Service offices that serve Tennessee will be conducting Severe Weather Awareness Week 2021. Each day, a new topic will be covered by way of online presentations. You will be able to register for any or all of the FREE classes that will be offered during the week.

Find all the details on the OHX website:

https://www.weather.gov/ohx/swaw2021

 

 

Skywarn® and the Skywarn® logo are registered trademarks of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.


(Updated) Feb. 2021 Virtual Monthly Meeting: Powerpoles, DMR and Shack Tour!

This month RJ, KC4LRR has a presentation on Anderson Powerpoles, Andrew, AK4FA gives a Technical Presentation on DMR and Scott, KD4VVC takes us on a tour of his radio shack including a look at the tower, antenna switching, lightning protection and grounding!

Update: PDFs of RJ KC4LRR’s Powerpoles and Andrew, AK4FA’s DMR presentations have been added under:

Library & Special Interests --> Presentations

Videos

Anderson Powerpoles: RJ (KC4LRR)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhEZSsD568

Digital Mobile Radio (DMR): Andrew Gossett (AK4FA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zgms8Ko-pg

Virtual Shack Tour: Scott Gray (KD4VVC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-dRSMHgxvQ