ARES
Stan Broadway, N8BHL Ohio SEC, Delaware EC
SET 2021 - Lots of movement in Delaware County!
Our goal was to activate, set up communications plan, then get people deployed to test
communications, send messages and use fldigi to send digital messages. Here’s a report:
The 2021 SET was a great success!
We had 12 stations participating, and were able to provide radio coverage to 8 critical locations.
We used 146.46 simplex to run most of the net and pass the messages, skillfully directed by K8MP.
Each station was directed to send two messages. One said they were at their assigned location and
how well they were hearing the net control station K8MP. The other message described the disaster
situation at their location. All messages were sent in standard ARRL Radiogram form.
Half of the stations have digital messaging capability, and they demonstrated how incredibly faster
and error-free that mode is relative to voice mode. The lesson here is that everyone should get set up
for digital radio. It is easy. Just download FLDIGI and FLMSG onto your PC. Then you can use acoustic
coupling between your radio and PC, with no other equipment needed.
The digital net we run every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 pm on the 19 repeater was very valuable in
training our folks in using digital radio. You are all invited to participate!
Bob W8ERD
Big thanks and a “Well done!” to Bob and Joe and everyone who participated! As an example of
how you do it right, Prez Mike, W8MDC actually scoped out Genoa Fire prior to the event, talking
with firefighters about what we were doing and making sure he had both signal and permission
to be there. After that test, Mike went to the ARC to test radios there.
As mentioned in the “ARC” page, we did have a couple issues. It appears the fldigi isn’t decoding
on others’ radios (sounds fine if you listen… but… ) so we’ll have to adjust something there. I’m
of the opinion that it’s time to install the Signalink on the VHF station for both fldigi
improvement and the addition of Winlink. The 7300’s are good directly plugged into their PC’s
for HF work.
At any rate, excellent work, everyone! I think all had fun and learned something to boot!
Ohio SET Results 2021
Overview
Each year, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors a Simulated Emergency Test (SET)
for all ARRL Sections across the country. The purpose is to reinforce our training, exercise our
ability to set up and operate temporary/portable amateur radio stations and to pass simulated
emergency messages much as we might be tasked in a real emergency. Each Section (ours is
the entire state of Ohio) then submits a ‘score’ for its activities from September through
December. While exercises can take place at any time during that period, the national date set
aside for the activity was October 2, 2021.
Ohio has consistently placed in the top three nationwide with our SET efforts. This year, the
scenario was a derecho with large scale wind damage followed by days of extreme sub-zero cold
which resulted in loss of power and communication services including Internet. Our amateur
radio stations were then tasked with deploying, setting up portable/mobile stations, and passing
message traffic within their county, to surrounding counties and to the Ohio EOC station,
W8SGT.
Ohio Design and Activity
Previous SET exercises have been “top down” where the structure and design was fed out to
counties from management. These included participation in several “Black Swan” operations.
This year we elected to reverse the process and impose on the EC the responsibility of designing
and executing their own local-oriented exercise. The EC will be far better at recognizing potential
disaster operations in their own counties and should therefore be a better source for exercise
design.
Within Ohio, our goals were as follows:
1.
Activation: We want county and district units to practice activating, checking in and staging
operators. That includes notifying your DEC (as described in OSERP) and SEC (see below).
2.
Deployment: We intend for operators to be deployed to various key places in their county
where they should set up radio communication and originate some messages.
3.
Communication: Our goal is that basic messages be sent as would happen in a real
emergency. Each EC (County Emergency Coordinator) should construct the following:
a.
Messages from stations to stations within your county (as many as possible)
b.
Messages from your county to three neighboring counties (resource, status, or H&W)
c.
Messages to “The Sarge” in Columbus
i.
First required: “My county is participating with __ number of operators”
ii.
Second, desired: Generate 3 resource requests to the state
iii.
Third, extra points: Send a 205 to your District and The Sarge (digitally)
iv.
Send these via any form available: district net, digital, voice, direct or through traffic nets
Our exercise was set to operate within the hours of 0900 to 1300 October 2, 2021.
We requested each participating EC to work up activities that would fit into our scenario, putting
operators into the situation for the minimum period of time with challenges to overcome.
1.
EC’s should create realistic situations that would face operators in the scenario-
a.
Extended power loss in severe cold
b.
Repeaters without backup are gone
c.
Repeaters with backup are available (unless they fail…hint)
2.
You may want to insert cold weather challenges:
a.
Battery failure
b.
Frozen equipment/locks
c.
Transportation problems requiring substitutions
d.
Generator failure (personal or at shelters- requiring a MOVE of people)
3.
Follow the OSERP (Ohio Section Emergency Response Plan) structure in your response
and net structure
a.
EOC (real or simulated if you don’t have access)
b.
County Control Station
c.
Various typical warming shelters
d.
Hospitals and medical facilities
e.
Police/Fire/dispatch centers (real or simulated)
4.
If you are able to obtain prior permission, operate out of actual locations
5.
If no access is available, use a parking lot. Otherwise, select a park or some other location
to “simulate” the assignment. (We would prefer it NOT at your home- the idea is to deploy! Set
up a portable operating position and send messages/communicate!)
The following messages were suggested:
1.
Send a message to W8SGT: “My county, ___, is active in the SET with ___ operators
participating.” Send by any means available.
2.
(Extra points) Send an ICS-205 for your county’s net structure to District and W8SGT Send
digitally.
3.
Deploy to a minimum of five locations within your county.
4.
Send messages between your operators
a.
Resources needed, problems encountered, status reports, etc. *Keep a log!*
5.
Contact three adjoining counties (can be a status report, request, etc.)
6.
Send 1 formal message to a neighboring county. (can mix with above)
7.
Generate 3 resource requests over the exercise period to State via W8SGT (any mode).
W8SGT operation
The Ohio EOC amateur radio station, callsign W8SGT (and referred internally as “The Sarge”) was
fully active for the SET. We also made use of the Ohio Digital Emergency Net (OHDEN) to
transmit forms and messages digitally. We operated on two local VHF repeaters, one to collect
ARRL messages from the Central Ohio Traffic Net, the other to monitor ‘weather conditions’
from the Central Ohio Severe Weather Net (Skywarn). We had four operators for the period.
In addition to voice, our digital data transmissions made use of “fldigi” software which allows us
to converse and send pre-designed ICS/ARRL/Red Cross forms digitally. We also used Winlink, in
which remote stations can send official forms and normal emails across radio frequencies to
access the Internet.
Voice net operation:
3.902 MHz
Digital net operation:
3.584.5 MHz
COSWN:
146.76 repeater
COTN:
146.97 repeater
Winlink:
Loaded over Internet from radio-generated messages
(Not tested)
WebEOC would typically be in use at the station as well
(Not tested)
We have access to FEMA and SHARES for interoperability
Results
Counties active:
31
There were several more who were committed to providing communication for local events, or
who had scheduled exercises on other dates.
Amateur Operators Involved:
200+
Message Totals: (Messages that were sent to the Ohio EOC’s station.)
WINLINK FORMS (205, 213, other requests)
35
ARRL MESSAGES (by voice)
31
Tactical (unformatted) messages (Winlink)
11
(Digital)
6
Total messages received:
`
83
Exercise Evaluation
The results of our SET for 2021 are encouraging. We had fewer counties participating than last
year but there were several who were otherwise committed this year. Their exercises will count
toward Ohio totals. Unlike some exercises in the past, this year’s involved operators actually
deploying to the field and setting up operating stations to pass messages. The leading county in
the exercise was Montgomery, which fielded 36+ operators and set up stations at 9 hospitals
and 6 shelter locations.
New to SET this year was the Queen City Emergency Net (QCEN) which is a longstanding
organization primarily service Cincinnati area Red Cross. Also new was the Central Ohio Severe
Weather Net, which took advantage of our scenario to exercise their own operators.
Use of Winlink for forms transmission has become the ‘gold standard’ for emergency
communication worldwide. We were impressed with the strong showing for Winlink messaging
from around Ohio. This capability will continue to grow to be our strongest resource for Ohio.
Internally, the station operation was flawless, with a proven ability to reach across all portions of
Ohio.
A huge “Thank you!” to everyone who participated! This is your organization, and as each of you
participates, has fun, learns a little and gets more prepared for an actual activation, you make
our entire group better!
Amateur Radio is more than
a hobby- it becomes an
important service when
other forms of
communication fail. It’s up
to all of us to stay ready,
stay trained, and stay
available. We could be
required on a moment’s
notice.
Delaware County ARES is part of the
national ARRL program. We rely on
our volunteers. We operate during
several large public events including
the national-level Ironman
competition.
We hold a radio net on the 145.19
repeater (no tone) on the first
Thursday of every month at 8PM.
We hold a training meeting on the
second Thursday of every month at
7:30 usually at the Red Cross building.
All amateurs are invited!
For information, contact Stan, N8BHL
the Delaware County Emergency
Coordinator, or Joe, K8MP or Craig,
W8CR.