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April 8 (Eclipse) operating plan and procedures:
In the interest of further understanding and making sure everyone is on the same page, I am listing ops plans for both EOC and NC here.
Monday only – 12 hours, three (3) 4 hour shifts for both EOC and NC
Sunday night the club 70cm repeater will be disconnected from the wide area network, and will remain so until Tuesday at noon unless emergent circumstances arise. Jerry and/or Kelly will do the shut down and restart.
Log in! Both on-air and written station log.
EOC:
1 Trainee per shift. Select your preferred trainee, and coordinate directly with them.
Trainees can do the logging and monitoring the repeater(s)
Trainee can also act as a runner (if needed.)
Basic Non-interference is the default action with other EOC personnel
Bored chit-chat results in possibly missing critical transmissions.
If you are on-shift, stay on the cans and stay on the mic while on duty.
Let your trainee hanlde the station during bathroom breaks.
If you have to leave, Set up your own replacement for relief.
Don’t leave your post until relieved. Log out when you go.
The EOC is strictly Tertiary Net Control only if needed. Let the NCs handle the minutia.
Logging each transmission is not necessary. Logging significant events and issues is. These logs will serve as a record and a critical part of any after-action reports, assessments and training.
TO BOTH EOC AND NCs!
DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELVES TO BE OVERLOADED!
Be clear, concise and quite pointed if necessary. Direct language in plain english works best.
NC will operate on Span of control protocol. 3~7, 5 preferred. If needed establish work groups.
Individuals report to Net Control, Net Control reports to the EOC. ONLY NC reports to EOC unless otherwise instructed. EOC will ask for reports from Net Control as needed.
TO ALL STATIONS! Remember both repeaters and simplex are party lines. Scanners will be operating.
Use the MCP, and use the repeater Protocols as listed on our website.
DO NOT USE DIGITAL MODES – Analog FM only
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Reportable Events:
Fire & Medical Emergencies
Traffic Clots
Access / egress problems
Large spontaneous gatherings
Disturbances / Conflicts
Mechanical breakdowns needing assistance
Private Drones over populated areas
Uncontrolled / marauding animals
Staffing: NC staff – please arrange/negotiate your own backup ops, and list them below in a separate post. Thanks a million!
EOC:
Shift 1 Primary _Randy N5DDS___ Assistant __Jeff _KJ5DNA______
Shift 2 Primary _Steve KG5VK____ Assistant __Bill KJ5ABG_______
Shift 3 Primary __Mel K5KEY____ Assistant ____________________
Net Control:
Shift 1 Primary __Jerry WA5KZA__ Assistant _____TBD__________
Shift 2 Primary __Johnny WB5JT__ Assistant _____TBD__________
Shift 3 Primary __Randy N5DDS___ Assistant _____TBD__________
As needed fill-ins:
Dan KB7JZI
Steve KG5VK
Haskell KI5VGQ
Kelly W5KJC
If anyone has further info or suggestions please post them below, and give me a call on the 76 machine, or on my phone if I’m out and about.
TNX everyone!
All,
We just blasted the following email to 276 recipients:
All,
The April 8th Solar Eclipse event is now just around the corner. In preparation for doing our part we are going to conduct an additional Information Net at 1900 tomorrow, Friday, April 5th. It will conducted on the “76 repeater” (VHF: 146.760 – PL 203.5).
Please log in with us, even if just briefly, tomorrow evening. At that time we will provide the latest guidance from local emergency coordinators. By joining us tomorrow evening, even if you rarely or never participate in our nets, you will be able to confirm that if needed on Monday you will be able to communicate with us and we will be able to communicate with you.
For the latest at any given moment, perhaps before we can send an email, please click this link – THE GREAT DARKENING! Aka, April 8 Eclipse – and see what Dan Beard (KB7JZI) is putting out. He is the vice president of RRVARC, the ARRL District Emergency Coordinator and the Club point person in the Solar Eclipse 2024 event.
73
RRVARC Officers
Please join us at 1900 tomorrow evening if at all possible.
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
SecretaryAll,
During the 1900 net tonight (Friday, April 5), the subject of logging came up. If you are a net control operator or working at the EOC we will need you to please fill out a form called an ICS 214. The form might be kind of daunting to someone at first glance, so please don’t be daunted. Is that even a word?
Please log the time when you go online, log reportable events (as defined above), log when you leave your station (first advise that you are leaving) and when you return; keep a log of the things that someone following up and asking a question of you would allow you to look at your log and be responsive to the question. My suggestion is for you to use a legal pad or something else you are comfortable with and take notes. Look at the ICS 214 form and see what you think they are asking for and then do your best with your notes. Afterwards, we will work with you to figure out how to make sure your notes get into the ICS 214 where you will not feel like you are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Here is a link to the ICS 214 form.
Thanks to all for your assistance with our efforts on Monday.
73
Phillip
TO ALL participants, please see to it that me or Haskell gets your newly filled out copy of the current ARES registration form! This is required of all members and participants who will be participating in ARES operations and club events. If you already had one on file, please renew your form with any new or changed data.
https://www.arrl.org/files/file/fsd98(2).pdf
Thanks again, everyone.
Dit dit
EOC ops: YOU will find your ARRL ARES /IC forms in the manila envelope at the EOC. These are required to be filled out and logged.
TNX.
All,
For those that have Ham Radio Deluxe, please make sure your satellite tracking home is set to your location. Then, make sure you have moon and sun tracking turned on. Should be cool. 😉
73
Phillip
All,
A personal thanks for your participation in this exercise. We have 156 people on our standard email distribution list. Special thanks to Mark Johnson (W5PTX), Rick Leonhardt (NN7ET), Dan Beard (KB7JZI) and Bill Townsend (KJ5ABG). Each of them at times helped with digging out contact information on a number of hams, more on that in a moment, and through their efforts we signed another 117 up for this exercise. That means that each time we sent an update at least 273 ham operators received it. The open rate was very high and I hope that some of the non-Club member recipients will decide to join the Club going forward.
Also developed for this exercise, not completed but functionally capable and showing great promise as a “proof of concept” item, is a Google Earth Pro distributable (see static image below). Through the efforts of those mentioned above, we were able to pull data on a geographically dispersed set of amateur radio operators in the Red River Valley area of operations (Bryan, McCurtain and Choctaw counties in OK, Fannin, Lamar, Hunt, Delta, Red River, Franklin and Titus counties in TX). This data will continue to be refined and continued outreach to other operators in the area will be an ongoing project.
The distributable was sent to all the other amateur radio club presidents in the surrounding counties, with instructions for how to tailor it to their own needs. Going forward that distributable and a companion website plugin will be useful for tracking APRS beacons at events like Tour de Paris. And if we can obtain an appropriate radar data stream, we hope to integrate that feature into a “all in one” tactical display with layers that can be turned on or off. This will help keep operators and those monitoring operators, such as staff at the Emergency Operations Center, situationally aware of the big picture.
Congratulations to all. We have received a lot of complimentary remarks reference how smoothly our part of the operation went. From those that performed as net control operators to those that checked in and provided reports; this exercise demonstrated the value that the RRVARC and amateur radio operators provide the community.
73
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Well, that one’s in the books now. Once again the denizens of the heavens have continued in their set courses, and been duly noticed doing so. The conical shadow of lunar progression has drifted its way across the face of the planet and Texas producing little or no physical consequence … save a few badly confused chickens … and a few thousand Emergency Response Agencies with a glorious case of the jittering screaming meemies.
Upon the lives, minds and countenances of men, however, it scorched its way across the land like the burning focus of a magnifying glass of panicky curiosity and superstition. Nothing unusual there. It just does that. Always has.
I can’t pretend I wasn’t (and won’t be in the future) susceptible to some of that. Looking around the sky and the land … and at my fellow observers during totality was indeed a surreal experience. It almost inspired me to a short science fiction story, but I resist. That’s a theme which has been done to death. Besides that, after Isaac Asimov’s story classic story, Nightfall … everything else has been but a pale and poor imitation.
On to the business of the matter.
I would like to thank everyone involved in getting ready for this event, and especially those who stepped up and put in the hours on the cans, microphones and in the EOC. A special thumbs up to the typically unsung but critically vital guys and gals behind the scenes and safely out of the limelight. This could never have gone as smoothly as it did without the incredible in-pouring of help and understanding donated. Once again, proving that there isn’t much stronger than the hearts of volunteers.
A special note here. We recently had elections at the RRVARC, and it needs to be recognized that a double handful of the progress that was made here came on that watch. Thank you, gentlemen. Well done.
I will be posting later today or tomorrow (depending on storms and such this afternoon), with more details once I collate the reports and get them out the door to the Section Emergency Coordinator and the Section Manager.
In the meantime, to all the EOC personnel and the Net control operators and secondaries … Out-bloody-standing! Thank you!
More later.
District Emergency Coordinator
KB7JZI
73 es dit dit
-30-
All,
I was having an exchange with Club member Steven Lott Smith (KG5VK), who is also the ARRL North Texas Section Manager, about some ARRL “stuff” and he shared the communication below. He is sending it off to ARRL HQ because they are looking for some content reference the eclipse. I asked if he would like for me to post it on our forum and he said yes, so it is posted here with his blessing and without any editing having been done.
Enjoy,
Phillip
Jeff KJ5DNA is answering some questions that Randy N5DDS has during the Shift Turn over while Bill KJ5ABG looks on and Steve KG5VK takes the Photo.
Left to right –
Bill Townsend (KJ5ABG), Jeff Laughlin (KJ5DNA) and Dr. Randy Holland (N5DDS)
Photo by Steven Lott Smith KG5VKKJ5ABG & KJ5DNA served the first 4-hour shift 8-Noon, while N5DDS & KG5VK served the Noon-4pm shift.
KJ5ABG & KJ5DNA served the first 4-hour shift 8-Noon, while N5DDS & KG5VK served the Noon-4pm shift.
There were No significant event traffic handled.
We had one info request for Vehicle traffic on a Farm to Market road which was reported on by N5JEP Leo, who was travelling in that area at the time the report was requested by the EOC Manager.While at the EOC we also did some WinLink software familiarization training.
KI5VGQ Haskell Maroney, Lamar County EC (Emergency Coordinator) and KB7JZI Dan Beard the
ARRL NTX ARES District Emergency Coordination for district 7.
Also performed installation of a new 80/40-meter antenna on the roof before the EOC became active,
this antenna was successfully tested and used by Randy N5DDS to Check in to the 7290 Traffic NET.
Sign on the Square of Paris Texas for the 8th April Eclipse
Photo by KG5VKSteven Lott Smith
KG5VK
ARRL North Texas Section ManagerAll,
David Grigg (KB5MIQ) “Bigboy” from McCurtain, OK, gave us a shout out on his YouTube channel. Nothing big, but he did mention our Club and some others in the area as supporting the solar eclipse effort. If anyone is interested, here is a link to the video. He has about 1500 subscribers, so anytime we can get a mention, that is good.
73
Phillip
ARRL Letter has a several Paris Amateurs Highlighted…..
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2024-04-11
Cheers!
Steve
KG5VKI just heard more mention of the Paris Texas Amateur radio OPS involvement in the EOC activity
while listening to the ARRL News Segment……https://www.arrl.org/files/file/News/Audio%20News/AAN-2024-04-12.mp3
How about that!
Cheers!
Steve KG5VK
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