ALERTradio ERC | CMS

It’s time again for Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day (ARMAD) on 23 May 2009, here in Madison/Huntsville, AL.  We will be setting up at a new site this year.  When more information come available we will announce the site location.

The Asterisk Amateur Radio Network will be join with the Drake State Technical College Amateur Radio Club promoting the use of amateur radio along with giving thanks and appreciation to our men and women who have served and who are serving now in the Arm Forces.  This will be a great day for all to come out and support the troops on a job that continues to be at the fore front of our mission for the country and the world.

We hope to have HF/VHF/UHF radio system setup for operations. Making contact to other ARMAD or any amateur radio stations. We will also use VoIP systems such as Asterisk, IRLP and Echolink for those who would like to call in. There is also a special IRLP reflector for all IRLP station to call into. This IRLP reflector is experimental node 0011.  This is a special IRLP reflector and you will need to make sure your IRLP node are setup to make the call into.  More information will be put out on these special parameters in a few days. So stay tune.

For Asterisk call in, one can call in on AST node 2048, this way you will be able to talk to IRLP and echolink nodes alike. For Echolink nodes one can call in on the Kansas Reflector, node 44445 and W4WWM-L, node 54572. Any of these connections will be fine.  We would also like to try something new. We will have a control Ham Radio operator standing by for third party calls. This way we can also show the power of Asterisk PBX. So look for more special information on how this will happen here on this site.

Anyway we will look for all to come out and support this great day for ARMAD and to make radio contacts using our hobby, amateur radio to communicate.  73 and Stay tune for more info!

Will / W4WWM

It’s all about being ready …

When was the last time that you checked over your supplies? Not just the gear in your Go-bag, what about the gear in your vehicle, home and most important your own physical health.

Good physical health has to be the greatest supply that we overlook, yet it is very critical in order for us to be able to accomplish our mission.

When we are activated for a mission are you ready?

Severe cases will require the assistance of a mental health professional. For many, however, the best medicine you can provide may be a sympathetic ear.

Disaster-induced stress and trauma are “normal” reactions to an “abnormal” situation. Read more »

Remember the Manual …

Ever been in the situation during normal conditions (let alone an emergency operation) where you were trying to figure out a particular function that you knew that a piece of equipment (e.g. radio, repeater controller, generator, etc.) has, but just couldn’t remember how to get it work.

Do you have a Quick-Guide available for the equipment that you are going to use during operations?

Remember that there will be times when someone else will need to use your equipment – Will they know how to use your equipment without the manual or Quick-Guide?

In the 1800s there was the frontier of West. Today we have digital frontiers to explore. The digital frontiers may not always be digital voice or data that appears within this new frontier.

Some may remember the days of 1200 baud packet that was quite popular in the 1990s. This technology is now present in APRS, with even a hint of low-speed data showing up within the VHF and UHF bands via D-STAR enabled radios as well as telemetry.

For those that have radios such as the Icom ID-1 it is possible to have 100kbps data from the Internet available in your vehicle. In order to do this a base station with a ID-1 or a D-STAR 1.2GHz data repeater is required.

Most of us have some form of a wireless network in our home or business that operates via the 802.11 standards. Did you know that this same equipment can be used in Amateur Radio with higher RF power and higher gain antennas? Within Amateur Radio this technology is known as High Speed Multi Media or HSMM. The primary bands for HSMM are 2400, 3300 and 5800 MHz. The 902 MHz band can also be used for high speed data. One of the key advantages to HSMM is in its nature of being able to take a “off-the-shelf” wireless network adapter and access point add a higher gain antenna to them, and for longer range RF amplifiers can be added under FCC Part 97 rules.

Imagine having access to high speed video, IP-phone and Data Connectivity in your vehicle,or during special events and emergency incidents being able to provide data, video and voice to the agencies served. As well as providing “last mile” coverage into a disaster area.

Did we mention telephone service? With the development of Internet telephone services as well as telephone servers such as Asterisk which provide flexible interoperability between PSTN, Internet Phone and Radio dial tone can be presented along with the last mile capabilities of High Speed Multi Media create a resource that can be highly beneficial to the community and the nation.

What is next in the Digital Frontiers? As it was in the 1800s with the migration West the same is occurring with the digital migration. With networks such as Asterisk the migration is made easier as analog and digital technology is made one. On the Internet you can find more information about Asterisk and HSMM at http://www.asteriskradio.net.

Just like other living things there are good and bad times for dynamic paths that are taken.

One can opt to be static yet knowing dynamic paths will move you.

---

What does this mean to those that work in the area of emergency response?

Be flexible with the methods that are used, yet maintain the basic standards that allow a incident operation to be conducted safely. Standards which remain static can be used as a basis for operation integrity and also represent a road map to a successful mission.

Standard Operation Procedures provide the static portion for operational planning yet they should also be dynamic so that when new methods are presented they can be placed into the Standard Operation Procedures as soon as possible.

Every situation, every incident is different, thus the need for being dynamic in operational style. At times incidents will take place that are not amongst the normal operational situations. This indeed is one of the times that we need to be dynamic in readiness and response.

Flexibility is a key ingredient to readiness and the “all hazard” approach to emergency response and planning.

As a organization which path are you opting for: static or dynamic flexibility?

Suppose now that the question returns to the meaning of “regular basis” and “occasionally,”  we can not leave out “incident of normal amateur radio communications” either.

Let’s take a look at the words … Read more »

This is an introduction to today’s Army MARS. Our discussion is general in
nature, and organized around three questions: (1) What does MARS offer as an
asset to the military, to emergency management, and to the broad community of
emergency responders? (2) What kind of skills do MARS members develop? (3)
Looking ahead, who will MARS members be?

Read more »

OPERATION FROZEN ICEMAN

- Better Prepared -

• Automatic Standby Generator 220/110 VAC
  
• Gas engine with alternator and battery (to
  start vehicles and recharge batteries)
  
• 12 VDC heaters (warm small areas)
  
• 12 VDC lights (use led modules, brighter
  and longer lasting)
  
• Use MRE heaters to prepare food (water activated
  heaters).
  
• Develop some sort of chemical package that
  could be placed in a freezer to keep cold
  (frozen) for up to three days or more.
  
• Window Solar Heater
  
• Notebook computer with 12 volt battery power
  supply.
  
• Solar Power / Wind Generator with battery
  bank.
  
• Phoneline power (what can be operated by
  it?)
  

Electrical power went out on the 4th of January
2005 at approximately 21:30 CST. The power
was still out on the 6th of January 2005
(11:15 CST). Was using the gas stove to heat
during the day, and a window was open slightly
.

• Space Blankets
  
• Heater for Pump House
  
• Chemical toilet
  
• Battery backup for
  
  
  
  • telephone
    
  • wireless router
    
  
  
• Siphon pump for 50 gallon water drums.
  
• Emergency Fund
  
  
  
  • at a secure location yet accessible
    
  
  
• Chain Saw
  
• Wash Board
  
• Rope, tackle and block
  

The electrical power was restored on the
7th of January 2005 at approximately 20:15
CST.

This particular outage was "short term"
when compared to the couple of weeks plus
that some in Western Kansas have endured
during this winter of 2007. Are you prepared
for the possibility of long term outages?

* The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first
name) and last name put on them.

* If someone takes your check book they will not know if you sign your
checks with just your initials or your first name but your bank will know
how you sign your checks.

* When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

* Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home. Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) you can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

* Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides
of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your
wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.

* Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my
passport when I travel either here or abroad.

* We’ve all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in
stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc.

But here’s some critical information to limit the damage in case this
happens to you or someone you know:

We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the
key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily.

* File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen,
this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step
toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here’s what is perhaps most important: (I never even thought to do
this).

Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place
a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application
for credit was made over the Internet in my name.

The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft,all
the damage had been done.

There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves’
purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend.(someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their tracks.

The numbers are:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271