“Shortwave radio has been a go-to vehicle to reach listeners in conflict zones for decades, used to deliver crackling dispatches to soldiers in the Gulf War, send codes to spies in North Korea, and pontificate through the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.”BBC broadcasts will take place on 15735 kHz between 4 and 6PM (9 and 11AM EST), and on 5875 kHz between 10PM and midnight (3 and 5PM EST).Those without shortwave or ham radio gear can listen via remote internet receiver sites such as http://kiwisdr.com/public/ and https://www.globaltuners.com/.
Author Archives: w1wcn
Post-hurricane Season Maintenance for Your Ham Radio Station
The best thing you can do for your ham radio station is to spend a little time doing regular maintenance and the end of hurricane season is the perfect time to do a little touch-up around your shack here in Florida. Maintenance works for cars, checkbooks, and relationships, so why not ham radio?
An ongoing task is to keep a station notebook. Open the notebook whenever you add a piece of equipment, wire a gadget, note a problem, or fix a problem. Over time, the notebook helps you prevent or solve problems, but only if you keep it up to date.
Then when you do your post-hurricane season maintenance you can refer to the notebook to inspect, test, and check the individual components that make up the station.
Use your notes to check cables, power supplies, batteries, wires, ropes, masts, and everything else between the operator and the ionosphere. Doing this now gives you time to replace gear, make repairs, and make upgrades before the rush just before the next storm season. Your equipment and antennas are of no use if they’re not working. The choice is yours. You can address an issue when it shows up or when it blows up.
Start with the following list and customize it for your station:
- Check all RF cables, connectors, switches, and grounds. Make sure all connectors are tight because temperature cycles can work them loose. Rotate switches or cycle relays to keep contacts clean and turn up problems. Look for kinks in or damage to feed lines. Be sure that ground connections are snug. Also, check power supplies for anomalies or batteries that may be losing their capacity.
- Test transmitters and amplifiers for full power output on all bands. Also, double-check your antennas and RF cabling. Use full power output to check all bands for RF feedback or pickup on microphones, keying lines, or control signals.
- Check received noise level (too high or too low) on all bands. The noise level is a good indication of whether feed lines are in good shape, preamps are working, or you have a new noise source to worry about.
- Check standing wave ratio (SWR) on all antennas. Be especially vigilant for changes in the frequency of minimum SWR, which can indicate connection problems or water getting into the antenna or feed line connectors. Sudden changes in SWR (up or down) mean tuning or feed-line problems.
- Inspect all antennas and outside feed lines. Use a pair of binoculars to check the antenna. Look for loose connections; unraveling tape, ties, or twists; damage to cable jackets; and that sort of thing.
- Inspect ropes and guy wires. Get into the habit of checking for tightness and wear whenever you walk by. A branch rubbing on a rope can eventually cause a break. Knots can come loose.
- Inspect masts, towers, and antenna mounts. The best time to find problems is in autumn, before the weather turns bad. Use a wrench to check the tower and clamp bolts and nuts. Fight rust with cold galvanizing spray paint. In the spring, check again for weather damage.
- Vacuum and clean the operating table and equipment; clear away loose papers and magazines. Sneak those coffee cups back to the kitchen, and recycle the old soft-drink cans. Make sure that all fans and ventilation holes are clean and not blocked.
You may not want to haul the vacuum cleaner into the radio shack, but it may be the most valuable piece of maintenance gear you have. Heat is the mortal enemy of electronic components and leads to more failures than any other cause.
The dust and crud that settle on radio equipment restrict air flow and act as insulators, keeping equipment hot. High-voltage circuits, such as in an amplifier or computer monitor, attract dust like crazy. Vacuuming removes the dust, wire bits, paper scraps, and other junk before they cause expensive trouble.
As you complete your maintenance, note whether anything needs fixing or replacing and why, if you know. You’ll probably get some ideas about improvements or additions to the station, so note those ideas too.
Over time, you’ll notice that some things regularly need work. In a mobile station, for example the antenna mounts may need cleaning, vibration loosens connectors, and cables can get pinched or stretched. Always be on the lookout for these problems.
Looking for a New Deployment Handheld Radio?
The temps are dropping and that means that it’s time to drop some wishlist hints for Santa about a new radio gear, like a new deployment HT. Not sure what to wish for? Check out “What’s the Best Ham Radio for Preppers” on Creek Stewart’s Willow Haven Outdoors website.
Or are you ready to purchase your very first HT, but have no idea what to buy? Check out our own W1WCN’s “The Best Ham Radio for Beginners” on the Valiant Outfitters website.
The General Class License Ham Cram is Online
It’s finally here! The Ham Cram for the General Class License is available at OutdoorCore. And there’s a 15% discount through the end of October. Just enter the code OCTOBER15 when checking out.
There will be additional courses, such as How to Build a Dipole Antenna, How to Make Your First Contact, and Programming a Walkie-Talkie, in the near future.
And as always, check the Valiant Outfitters website often for new content about ham radio in the field and other wilderness survival skills.
Hurricane Ida – Louisiana ARRL Section SITREP 18
Louisiana Situation Report 13 – 2021 – 8
Hurricane Ida
Many of us are following the recovery efforts in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida’s landfall. Please find below the situation report submitted by Louisiana SEC James Coleman. This is specifically useful to ClayARES stations anticipating future deployment situations.
600 PM CDT Wednesday September 8 2021
Here is an update (Changes in Yellow)
Parishes Impacted
Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Point Coupee, St, Martin, St, Mary, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana.
Status of Louisiana Wireless System (September 7, 2021 Data)
3.7% (down from 4.6% yesterday) of the cell sites in the affected area in Louisiana are out of service
| Affected Parishes | Cell Sites Served | Cell Sites Out |
| ASCENSION | 88 | 2 |
| ASSUMPTION | 19 | 2 |
| EAST BATON ROUGE | 360 | 3 |
| JEFFERSON | 289 | 16 |
| LAFOURCHE | 78 | 14 |
| LIVINGSTON | 121 | 3 |
| ORLEANS | 348 | 10 |
| PLAQUEMINES | 56 | 9 |
| ST. MARY | 56 | 1 |
| ST. BERNARD | 36 | 3 |
| ST. CHARLES | 41 | 8 |
| ST. HELENA | 13 | 0 |
| ST. JAMES | 33 | 5 |
| ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST | 27 | 4 |
| ST. MARTIN | 48 | 0 |
| ST. TAMMANY | 260 | 7 |
| TANGIPAHOA | 118 | 3 |
| TERREBONNE | 81 | 7 |
| WASHINGTON | 55 | 0 |
| WEST FELICIANA | 28 | 1 |
Status of Louisiana 9-1-1 Systems
No PSAPs are reported as being affected.
Reports From The Field
· The Jefferson Parish EOC with DEC Nicholas Frederick, W4NDF, and City of Kenner EOC with Mary Vernoy assisting, maintained a VHF net on 147.24 primary and 146.94 secondary. Kenner’s fiber optic cable that provides them internet with Jefferson Parish was cut by Entergy so they could access one of their lines to repair it. So the only comms that Kenner has with Jefferson Parish are 2 erratic cellphones and a VHF net. Former Navy Chief Mary Vernoy had to climb onto the roof (2 stories) and pick up the 2-meter antenna after the storm. It had been knocked down by the wind.
· A Florida based communications team in support of the Florida Baptists Disaster Relief has established operations at the Metairie Baptist Church, with their communications trailer. Their report states, “There is NO power in our area except near prime targets like hospitals. There are no local “shelters” in operation. They are using chartered busses to move people clear up to the northern end of the state and putting those needing shelter into shelters there. The feeding trailer (a kitchen that can heat up 14,000 meals per day at full output) is supposed to arrive in a few hours. Mike, W4UOO, just got a vertical set up and made his first VARA connection (WINLINK So everyone very much appreciates the ham group, no matter whether we are doing IT, or cell data, or winlink, or 2 meters, or anything else”.
· Mary Vernoy, WB5IOE our EOC ham operator at the Kenner EOC and a retired Navy Chief, when told that the Baptist communications group had arrived, said, “God bless y’all. I got home from a week straight duty with a total of 8 hours off. Trying to get my house secured. Like every one else- no electricity or pots like water but the 3 showers I’ve had since last Saturday, sure felt good. Starting to feel my 74 years, especially with the herniated back and torn rotator cuff. Hang in there.
· Nich Frederick, W4NDF, our DEC at the Jefferson Parish EOC said,
“I have been speaking to Mike Crisler, N4IFD, for the past 4 days and all day today. I gave them the 444.800 repeater while they got set up. I’m not in the EOC today because I’m working on taking care of business at home. I was going to go visit them this evening.”
· The following is from Gordon, KX3Z, “The people in Metairie have it pretty tough. No power to the sewage lift stations; boil water notice, although apparently there is still water pressure. Small areas around hospitals etc. have power now I’m told. It’s hot. Hams can be a big benefit by partnering with organizations like Florida Baptist and work to meet their specific communications needs. We have tons of skills that come in handy in ways you wouldn’t expect ; One of our guys has significant National Guard and industry experience with generators. He was a huge help and cabling power from the 60 KW Florida Baptist generator. Our ham radio guys are somewhat “embedded “ within this voluntary organization. That fits pretty well with the way NIMS/ICS was originally thought up.
· ARRL is shipping HF and VHF equipment to Louisiana Region 3 for use during their recovery efforts. The Region 3 DEC Miriam Barrett, KG5BNH and the St. Mary Parish’s ED, Jackie Price, KA5LMZ, have been coordinating their efforts to assist the Council on Aging in Terrebonne Parish. The HF kit being shipped contains an Icom IC- 7300 with cabling for digi and a microphone with antennas for 40 and 80. The VHF kit being shipped contains a Yaesu 2400 dual bander with two hand held units and a dual band base antenna.
· The LaPlace, Louisiana W5RAR repeater, 146.805 Mhz., 114.8 PLT, has been in use over a four parish area, LaFourche, St. Charles, St John, and Terrebonne Parishes. These four parishes have significant wireless system damage as well as 9-1-1 system in St. John Parish. St Charles EOC would then transmit their WebEOC requests via the LWARN 440 Mhz RF linked repeater system to WB5LHS at GOHSEP. The Region 3 DEC Miriam Barrett, KG5BNH, was assisting at the Terrebonne Parish EOC.
· In Tangipahoa Parish the following frequencies were monitored: Local 2m 147.000 (WB5NET Hammond), 2M 146.610 (W5TEO Hammond), 442.275 (WB5BTR Greensburg), 80m LA ARES nets, and SHARES day and evening frequencies. The Tangipahoa parish Emergency Operations Center in Amite was activated 1800 hours on 8-29-2021 which include trained amateur radio operators staffing the Radio Communication Room. On 8/29/21 Sunday morning a call was made for only radio checks on the Tangipahoa parish 147.000 repeater, WB5NET from the Tangipahoa EOC Radio Room (W5TEO) prior to the weather conditions deteriorating. Twenty hams called into the W5TEO station for radio checks. Three amateur radio operators (KE5KMM, W5TE, KE5GMN) rotated duties to monitor all radios (ham frequencies, LWIN, CB, GMRS, SHARE, etc. As weather conditions deteriorated, local repeaters lost power and were on battery backup (WB5NET 147.00 and (W5TEO 146.610). Two other local repeaters were lost when the tower collapsed (SELARC 145.130 & 444.250) With widespread power outages, formal weather nets were not conducted to conserve the power for emergency transmissions only. Battery backup was recharged/reestablished on the W5TEO tower site as weather/road conditions allowed. As of 9-6-2021, both repeaters (147.000 & 146.610) are still on battery backup. Repeaters have been quiet conserving power. The following amateurs have or are currently participating: KE5KMM, KE5GMN, W5TE, W5KB, KE5QKR, AA5GP, KF5YBY, AI5B, WX5EOC, KG5HZU, N5RYA, KF5IVT, N5RYI, N5XES, WA5SLU, N5PRF, AE5FK, WB5ERM, KF5UUP, K5OEP, WB5FBS, KE5QKR, N5OZG, N5EKF, KF5VLX, KG5EFQ, KD5PCK, N5JHF, K5QNT
· John Mark Robertson, SM and DEC OF Region 7 in the Shreveport area, reports ten requests for Health and Welfare information either by email, text or cell phone and relayed them to the appropriate agency and area.
· Elmer Tatum, N5EKF, reports that all Ascension Parish, Louisiana Region 2’s ARC repeaters remain off the air. The 145.310 Mhz. repeater and the 146.985 Mhz. repeater have sustained damage. I will be at the 146.985 Mhz. repeater site on Tuesday. The 147.225 Mhz. repeater is off the air due to lack of power. The building it is in is a DOTD building with back up power that did not come on. The DOTD office at that tower location is still on emergency generators. Antennas at EOC and Comms Trailer were not damaged. There were 2 hams who manned the radios at the GOHSEP EOC (State of Louisiana EOC) for about 20 hours straight during the storm. I relieved them about 11:00 Monday morning and was by myself during the day. I did pass quite a few messages for St. Charles EOC over the 146.805 Mhz. repeater and 444.350 Mhz. LWARN repeater. We had serious interference from the 146.79 Mhz. repeater at GOHSEP on the 146.805 Mhz. repeater. I was taking emergency traffic from St. Charles EOC and has to switch to 146.79 Mhz. repeater to have those hams stand by which they did. I passed on quite a bit of information (not in ARRL message form) to St. Charles EOC. One request for ambulance transportation for 2 people from Luling to a medical shelter in Alexandria. Another request was for an interop # for St. John Parish SO that went from Travis to Conrad Baker, KG5FQT. Other request were for road closures and shelter information. The St. John EOC was not on the air. Occasionally we did speak to Conrad who would relay the message via his Sheriff Office’s radio. The Terrebonne and LaFourche EOC did have an occasional ham on the repeater going direct to each other. Full time operators in these EOCs would have very beneficial. A total of 3 hams operated about 40 hours at GOHSEP- Sunday night, Monday, and early Tuesday. Matt Anderson KD5KNZ, ASM, was monitoring the radio traffic and was able to help over the phone.
· Michael J. Nolan, KD5MLD, LA ARES Region 2 ADEC for Planning & NCS Coordinator, reports on a preliminary basis that the four Region 2 objectives were accomplished during the storm as follows:
o Objective 1, To establish amateur radio communication with GOHSEP, Region 2 Parish EOCs, the American Red Cross was Performed with Major Challenges.
o Objective Two, To request implementation of auxiliary communication Rapid Response Teams to assist served agencies for 72 hours was Performed with Major Challenges.
o Objective three, To promote to parish EOCs the real time value of situational reports from emergency amateur radio operators from their home locations was Performed with Some Challenges.
o Objective four, To educate amateur radio emergency operators to become embedded with their served agency of choice prior to activation was Performed with Major Challenges.
Summary
Louisiana ARES should now be on NORMAL status with the affected parishes’ status as appropriate for local conditions.
The SEC and DECs may activate a Region if additional manpower is needed to support those ECs which have activated their parish level ARES organization.
GOHSEP AUXCOMM and ARS WB5LHS have ceased operations and the request for volunteer communicators has been cancelled.
The Louisiana ARES Emergency Net is now on STANDBY. If it becomes necessary, the net will be active from 2:00 PM, CDT to 6:00 PM CDT on 7.255 Mhz. and from 6:00 PM, CDT To 10:00 PM CDT on 3.878 Mhz. Please contact Gary Stratton,******** or Joe Holland, ******** or Ed B. Hudgens, *********, for further information.
The ARES LWIN talk groups are being monitored for traffic but be aware that many LWIN sites are in site trunking mode.
The Louisiana Traffic Net will operates as per the following schedule:
· 1800 CDT, 3.910 MHz, 7 Days Per Week
The FCC’s has granted ARRL’s request for emergency waiver of the symbol rate limit for the sole purpose of handling traffic related to Hurricane Ida .
The order states, “we grant the ARRL’s waiver request for the period of 60 days from the date of this Order. The waiver is limited to amateur radio operators in the United States and its territories using publicly documented data protocols that are compatible with FCC rules, with the exception of the data rate limit waived here, for those directly involved with HF hurricane relief communications”. The order was dated August 30, 2021.
The normal SHARES South Region net schedule is being followed.
Contact the following for information:
South RCS
Gerald Taylor, NNA6GT
***********
FEMA Announces HF Interoperability Activity on 60-Meter Channels 1 and 2. Channels 1 and 2 on 60 meters will be available starting on August
30 for interoperability between US government and US amateur radio stations involved in Hurricane Ida emergency communications. This situation will remain in place until the storm has passed and the need for these channels no longer exists, or on September 6, whichever comes first.
These frequencies will be used: Channel 1 Primary voice traffic 5332 kHz channel center, 5330.5 kHz USB voice; and Channel 2 Digital traffic 5348 kHz channel center, 5346.5 kHz USB with 1.5 kHz offset to center of digital waveform. Stations on 60 meters are asked to yield to operational traffic related to Hurricane Ida.
COML, COMT and RADO volunteers for the ARC should contact Matt Anderson at****** or Steve Irving, DST Lead, Louisiana Region, American Red Cross, Cell ********
Emergency communications kits from Headquarters, ARRL, have been pre-positioned in Louisiana in preparation for this event. Contact John Mark Robertson,******* or Jim Coleman,******** if you need additional HF or VHF equipment for emergency communications purposes.
Please refer to the Louisiana Emergency Communications Plan 6.1.20 for specific guidance.
This document is available at:
http://www.wpcde-911.com/RFP/ARES%20PLAN%206.1.20.pdf
Stay safe before, during, and after this event.
James Coleman AI5B
Louisiana SEC