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MOU with IEVHFRA

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Published: 06 May 2023 06 May 2023

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Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Regarding Emergency Operations

On Repeater Systems in Spokane County

Public Service is the one of the primary "calling's" for Amateur Radio. One aspect of Public Service is known as Emergency Operations. To ensure good understanding and communication for all concerned in preparation for and during Public Service Events and Emergency Operations, this document describes the terms for cooperation between:

• Spokane County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)/Auxiliary communications System (ACS)/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) (Use of ARES implies ARES/ACS/RACES)
• Inland VHF Radio Amateurs (IEVHFRA Club) 

For the purposes of this agreement Public Service and Emergency Operations shall mean, but may not be limited to, the following depending on the nature of communications need:

1. Public Service Events include those community service opportunities shared among Radio Amateurs for the purpose of coordination and communication for parades, marathons, and other such events where Amateur Radio operators may be asked to assist by event organizers.
2. Operations during states of emergency (“Emergencies”) declared by city, county, state, regional or national departments of Emergency Management or other served agencies or organizations including but not limited to FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security or the American Red Cross.
3. Training events simulating operations during Emergencies including tests, drills, exercises, and events which enhance field operations such as Field Days and the annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET) and other such events.

The three aforementioned organizations support Emergency operations in various ways.

1. Spokane County ARES/ACS/RACES is the primary center for Emergency Operations and is activated in such an emergency at the behest of the Spokane County Dept of Emergency Management. Their meetings, operations and repeater are the primary facilities for these operations.
2. The IEVHFRA Club supports emergency operations by providing back-up coverage for primary operations should the ARES repeater system be overwhelmed or otherwise down, or additional alternate coverage when more than one system is required. IEVHFRA also provides “packet” and UHF signal transmission support which can also be utilized for either a real situation or simulated.
   1. Example 1: During an exercise, part of a simulation would be the "147.30 repeater went down;" became non-functional. Therefore, all traffic would be moved to the alternate repeater (which would be published prior to the event); in this case, the 146.880 repeater (using the published tone and standard offset).
   2. Example 2: During an exercise, an alternate net is needed to pass specialized traffic such as weather reports. The alternate repeater at 146.88 would be tasked for that purpose
   3. Example 3: FEMA ICS forms such as the ICS 213 or the WA State ICS 213RR would need to be communicated via Winlink using the IEVHFRA packet nodes into Winlink RMS Gateways, using published frequencies and packet node paths

Standard practices will be observed while operating on any system by either party to this MOU, such as leaving a few seconds between transmissions for emergency traffic. On-air announcements will be made at the onset of either a real or simulated emergency and at regular intervals to alert nonemergency traffic to the situation. Additionally, attempts will be made in advance to alert nonparticipants of any upcoming simulated event by communicating on all and any forms available to ARES and IEVHFRA at the time, e.g. groups.io, club nets, etc. These attempts are to prevent a “War of the worlds” panic type situation, should anyone not realize that the simulated event is indeed a simulation. The announcements need only to state that between “X” time (both Zulu and local) and “XX” time, that members of ARES and IEVHFRA should expect heavy traffic due to an emergency simulation. The contents of this Memorandum of Understanding between ARES and IEVHFRA shall be posted on the websites of both ARES and IEVHFRA and all members shall be informed of said agreement.

Either party to this MOU has the right to amend, change or otherwise modify any content of this agreement only after verbal or written confirmation by the heads (Presidents) of both organizations. 

Either organization has the right to dissolve or otherwise discontinue participating at any time in the future. In this event both organizations are held harmless to any results from this action. (Peaceful dissolution, no hard feelings, etc.)

Point of Contacts as of May 2023 (contact information should be revisited annually and revised as needed):

Spokane County ARES/RACES:

• Asa Jay Laughton W7TSC, email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Website: http://spokares.org

Inland Empire VHF Radio Amateurs club:

• President email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Website: http://www.vhfclub.org

Effective date: Upon acceptance by all organizations; supersedes previous versions

Revision #5: 2023 05 06 – complete re-write based on other ARES staff submitted revisions and revised via telephone with IEVHFRA.

Mel Ming's RFI Resources

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Published: 20 February 2021 20 February 2021

Hits: 4851 4851

RFI Resources
By Mel Ming N7GCO
(NOTE: I am not going to deal with noise caused by
antennas and antenna feedlines)

1. Locating noise from within your home.
(Note: I find this is much easier to do with a friend. One can watch the radio while the other turns off and on circuits are checks a room.)

1) Power your radio by battery
2) Turn off all your electrical breakers for the entire house.
3) Note you noise level on each band (Write it down)
4) Turn on breakers one at a time and again note the noise level on each band.
5) Identify which circuits increase your receiver noise.
6) Work on each circuit that increased noise one at a time.
7) On a circuit that increases noise, turn off all lights, unplug everything.
8) Turn on each light one at a time and see if it increases noise.
     (Note: you can use an SDR/shortwave receiver to help you identify which light is causing noise.)
9) Plug in thing, one at a time and see if it increases noise.
     (Note: you can use an SDR/shortwave receiver to help you identify which electronics is causing noise.)
10) Turn on each piece of electronics on at a time (Washer/Dryer/Microwave/computer/UPS/TV/router/etc.)
11) Mark each thing that increases noise.
12) Add Ferrites to any items that increase noise until it is eliminated.
13) Do the same thing for each circuit.
14) Do not forget to turn on appliances that are on in circuit.

2. Sources for Ferrite’s

KF7P Metalworks
https://www.kf7p.com/KF7P/Ferrite_chokes.html

Palomar Engineers
https://palomar-engineers.com/

DX Engineering
https://www.dxengineering.com/search/product-line/dx-engineering-ferrite?autoview=SKU&sortby=Default&sortorder=Default

Arrow Electronics
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/search?cat=&q=Fair-rite%20mix%2031&r=true

Note: much cheaper in bulk.

Ferrites to consider:

Fair-Rite Part #0431164281
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, that nicely fits RG-8x

Fair-Rite Part #0431164181
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, that nicely fits RG-8

Fair-Rite Part #2631803802
This is a non-split 2.5 inch diameter 31 mix ferrite, will take 4 or 5 turns of RG-8x

Fair-Rite Part #0431173551
This is a split core 31 mix ferrite, with a .75 inch I.D. opening. You can make many turns of a wall wart cable.

3. Tips and Suggestions

Whenever you buy ferrites, be sure to mark what mix they are.

Palomar Engineers
Ham Radio RFI Solutions Cheat Sheet.pdf
https://palomar-engineers.com/wp-content/uploads/Ham-Radio-RFI-Solutions-Cheat-Sheet.pdf

RFI Tip Sheet
https://palomar-engineers.com/wp-content/uploads/RFI-Tip-Sheet-3D-Consumer-RFI-1.pdf

4. Technical Help

“A Ham's Guide to RFI, Ferrites, Baluns, and Audio Interfacing” version 7 by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf

“Build Contest Scores by Killing Receive Noise” by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/KillingReceiveNoise.pdf

“A New Choke Cookbook for the 160–10M Bands” by Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/2018Cookbook.pdf

“Chokes and Isolation Transformers For Receiving Antennas” By Jim Brown K9YC
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RXChokesTransformers.pdf

The EMI - RFI page by ON4WW
http://www.on4ww.be/emi-rfi.html

NK7Z.NET (Dave Cole’s website has many great RFI Resources)
https://www.nk7z.net/category/info/rfi-mitigation/i-have-rfi-series/

The ARRL RFI Book (3rd edition) $19.95
http://www.arrl.org/shop/The-ARRL-RFI-Book-3rd-Edition

5. YouTube Videos

6. Hints from others:

Mike K7STO There are so many issues to eliminate. First off I would again turn off all Service Disconnects on your property. Your radio should be running only on 12v battery supply. Questions are many and not in any specific order:

a) As Gary indicated new solar panel installations in your area.

b) Is the noise issue just now new or has it been there all along? The high S levels on all three bands. My option the noise producer is close by if 20 meters is also involved.

c) With the Service Disconnects on your property off and the radio on battery. Did you disconnect the coax at the radio? Did the noise stay or go away? If it stays it may it could be a grounding issue with the radio.

d) Did the power company recently install a new watt meter on your house? The type that transmit a usage signal to a receiver in your area and then to the power company. This also applies to gas and water meters.

e) You are also in a heavy populated area. Does the noise go up in level during the day and down at night or stay constant?

f) Check all three bands when testing for changes in S levels.

g) Do you have garage door openers with a built in UPS system?

h) Do you have new vehicles or RV’s with features that may be the noise source?

Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network

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Published: 16 February 2021 16 February 2021

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Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network