Day 1 – 75m phone net

We got off to a rocky start due to a miscommunication in the radio room. After some prompting from our ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, N4KLG, we got a proper net going. I unexpectedly found myself acting as net control when the prior control operator decided it was a good time to take a break and thrust the mike into my hand. I don’t do a lot of HF operating, much less act as net control on a HF net, so this was a bit of a trial by fire. Add to it extremely noisy band conditions from a nearby line of thunderstorms, and I had my hands full.

We ended up running two 75m phone nets a couple of hours apart. We were able to check-in 49 counties as illustrated below.

Counties contacted by KY4EOC on 75m phone

Day 2 – Airborne Repeater Operations

On day 2 of the exercise, we put a cross-band (2m/70cm) repeater onboard a light aircraft and flew it in a loop around the center of the state. Ground stations were instructed to operate on the 2m side, while KY4EOC operated on the 70cm side. We also placed an APRS tracker on the plane with SSID KY4EOC-1.

KY4EOC-1 APRS Ground Track

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well as we would have liked. We knew we were going to have problems with the KY4EOC UHF station thanks to a recent construction accident that damaged the feedline going into the antenna. We underestimated how badly the damage would affect the operation. My ground station was mostly deaf, and due to the very high SWR through the damaged feedline, I was radiating extremely little power.

Construction Equipment and Feedlines are Natural Enemies

Despite the problems, we were able to make contact with 28 counties. I am extremely sympathetic to all of the frustrated operators who attempted to use the airborne repeater. I spent the two hours of the flight being just as frustrated as everyone else. This was a good learning experience for us. Even though the results weren’t as good as we had hoped, we still, in my opinion, managed to illustrate how useful this sort of repeater system could be in a time of emergency.

Airborne Crossband repeater contacts

UPDATE1: I apparently missed an airborne repeater checkin from Scott County. I’m going to blame my handwriting on the log sheet.

UPDATE2: These maps and results do not reflect the 40m net that was conducted on day 1, nor the VHF/UHF/Echolink net that was conducted on day 2.

I want to extend my personal thanks to each amateur radio operator who took the time to participate in this exercise. Thanks to your efforts, we once again demonstrated that we take §97.1(a) seriously.

73 de AJ4KI

The author of this post is a private citizen and is not affiliated with the KY Division of Emergency Management in any official capacity. The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and in no way reflect on the official views/plans/positions of the KY Division of Emergency Management.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

On Tuesday evening, 1 May 2012, beginning at 1700(5:00 P.M.)EDT, HF testing will begin. The Commonwealth Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) will operate on both 40 and 80 meters, utilizing the frequencies currently posted in the Kentucky ARES Section Emergency Plan: 40 meters will operate 7.228MHz LSB and 80 meters will operate on 3.9725MHz LSB. Alternate frequencies are:

As for my own results, I am quite pleased that all 35 QSOs I logged were confirmed. 35 QSOs spread across 31 grids gave me a score of 1,085 points. I came in at #926 out of 1,233 entries in the database. Now I have a baseline to compare future results against.

Related: June VHF QSO Party 2011

I’m still new to working HF. I got my ticket during the bottom of the solar cycle and don’t have a fixed shack or antennas, so I’ve not had many opportunities. I set up my station in the back yard and started tuning across 10m. When I knocked shut down a short time later, I had 14 contacts across 12 counties in California. I wasn’t able to operate on Sunday, so I’m only claiming a score of 336.

This was the first HF contest I’ve worked. I’m still amazed at how little QRN there was. Every other time I’ve tried to work 10 meters, the background static has been deafening. Signals were so strong from the west coast that California may as well have been across the street. I’m starting to enjoy my hobby more and more.

While I was at it, I took a look at my LoTW account. As things currently stand, I have confirmed 16 grids, 7 states, and 1 DXCC entry on 6 meters. Now all I need to do is get on the air more so I can increase these totals!

I set up a 2-element beam on 6m and connected my very lightly used IC-7000. I was operating in my backyard in an almost field-day like setting. (I was connected to the AC mains, so it doesn’t count as a portable station.) I couldn’t devote large amounts of time to operating, so I just tuned up and down every now and again listening for anyone calling “CQ Contest”.

Propagation was favorable. On Saturday, there were band openings to Florida and the upper east coast. On Sunday, the band was open to the west. I completed 35 QSOs, including a couple of nearly 2,000 mile contacts to the Pacific Northwest.

Assuming that all of my QSOs verify, I will have worked 31 grid squares and 12 states. Not a bad considering how little work went into making the contacts. I think I like 6m.

This year featured a new set of courses in rural central Kentucky. While very scenic, the event organizers quickly discovered that cell phone coverage was spotty at best. This made amateur radio the primary means of communications rather than the emergency backup it has been in years past. Nelson County Emergency Management set up their mobile command post next to the event organizer’s tent while ham operators fanned out across the courses and manned the chase/sweep vehicle.

Our plan was to operate 2M simplex with a local 2M repeater acting as a backup. 2 meters was wide open all weekend, which proved to be a bit of a mixed blessing. We were able to reach all stations via simplex except for one that was in an RF hole. We could reach that station via the repeater, but the repeater kept keying up from transmissions propagating from well outside the area thanks to the excellent band conditions. With patience and perseverance, we were able to make it work.

AJ4KI operating 2m FM at MS Bike the Bluegrass 2011

My station was in a city park 10.5 miles from the command post. I set up a Buddipole antenna in a J-Pole configuration and was able to easily contact net control at the command post. I could make contact with 10 watts, but ran 50 watts for most of the event to make my signal easier to copy. Thanks to the lack of reliable cell phone coverage, I passed quite a lot of traffic. This is the third year I have operated at this event, and this is the first time that I have actually been busy! It was a refreshing change.

Lots of thirsty cyclists

Playing an active role in message handling also helped me to be an advocate for Amateur Radio. Many of the cyclists and a few locals walked up and asked questions about what I was doing and why. Needless to say, I was only too happy to highlight our role in emergency communications.

All in all, this was an excellent event. Money was raised for a worthy cause, 100+ cyclists enjoyed a beautiful ride in the countryside, and I got to test my newly assembled field station. I am certainly looking forward to operating at this event again in 2012!

Station details:

• Kenwood TM-D700 VHF/UHF dual-band mobile
• Buddipole antenna set up as a 2 meter J-Pole
• 35 Ah sealed deep-cycle lead-acid battery

Read more at Make Magazine.