emcomm – Page 2

What I ride!

“What a long, strange trip its been” a line from the Grateful Dead’s song Truckin’. This was one of those years for me. The beginning of 2024 started off normally — until Mary, my wife needed to have a hip replaced. Her recuperation went well, slow but well. That put a back log on things that needed to be done on the home and property.

November was my one year anniversary of retirement. I discovered that there were way more rabbit holes to go down and far too many “squirrels” that filled up my days. I was busy doing a lot of things, but this past month or so I started asking myself am I doing the right things?

I enjoy writing. In my professional life writing was a good part of it. Some of my work is published in a federal handbook. Writing is my creative outlet; I can’t draw (or cursive handwrite), and I am only a mediocre guitar player. I do sing solo — so low no one can hear me. In my retirement, I have done very little writing. I feel the pain. Work provided me with topics and content to write about, but in retirement, I was a ship without a rudder. Becalmed in a sea non-creative web-surfing, youtube sargasso, I was doomed to sink in the Bermuda Triangle of failure.

I can fix this; I can repair the rudder, start the motor, and navigate back to fair seas. I had to give myself a topic. I decided to write a book. I know in the movies, actors sit down behind a typewriter and bang out novel right before your eyes. For us mere mortals, it is not that easy. There is planning involved. Writing a book of 80,000 words is very different than writing a blog of 500.

This required some changes. I moved into a Mac machine. I have no qualms with Windows 11. The computer I use for radio is a windows machine. At issue are the apps in Windows. I find them clunky and disruptive when I am in a creative mood. The Mac environment and its asssociated apps are more elegant, they get out of your way and let you concentrate on content. Apple products are designed to work together. I can create on my Mac, iPhone and iPad, and easily switch between them. An analogy I use is a computer should be like a hammer. You pick it up, you use it — bang! If you have a hammer where you have to fiddle with the head each time you use it, you soon have a new hammer.

I am still setting things up to get ready to write. I have some reading to do, some new apps to get used to, but I am almost there. One issue I have is making sure I have enough time, and enough time at the right time of day to write. I need to introduce a little discipline back into my life. The current book I am reading is Getting Things Done by David Allen. It has been a big help in getting me back on track.

Where’s KK4Z? A question I often ask myself on this blog. I’m here and I am busy with radio, just a different busy. Living in Georgia, I was close to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. They affected friends. I have been involved in EmComm for 26 out of the almost 30 years of my involvment in amateur radio. In the past I have deployed to actual disasters, but as my wife and I age, going to a disaster is becoming less of a reality. I also took a look at POTA and what I was doing there. I have over 10,000 contacts in POTA and most of those are the same thing. I quick exchange and on to the next one. I need to do something else. I need to better serve my communities. I will still do POTA and some SOTA, it is fun, but I need to get back into public service. I have recently joined US Army MARS and SHARES (SHAed RESources HF radio program). Both are federal government sponsored programs. With both programs I keep my operations within FEMA Region 4 (Southeast United States). I also participate with my local ARES group. I maintain my position as an Official Emergency Station with the ARRL.

Retirement is a new world, a new beginning. You can either grab the bull by the horns, or lay down and die. I still want some adventure in my life, though it won’t be as hair raising as it was in my youth. If you still want a little gusto in your life you need to “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome” (US Marines). 73 – de Scott

It’s been a busy month

Here in the southeast, life is slowly returning to normal. The exception is those hit hardest by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. These hurricanes are a stern reminder that none of us are immune to the effects of severe weather.

I’ve just completed my first year of retirement which is a round about way of saying I am not young anymore. These hurricanes caught me in the middle of other commitments that precluded me from going to help out. I felt the longing to go. I train pretty regularly for just such an instance. However, times change, things change, and some of the things I do now may be better done at the home QTH than out in the field. Over the years, I have become a pretty good NCS or Net Control Station. Much like playing an instrument, it takes practice to become proficient. There are not many NCS’ out there. The only path to becoming a good NCS is to be an NCS. YouTube cannot help you.

I may still have a few deployments left in me. I still like to take my radios camping a couple of times a year. This year I didn’t get to go out as much as I like. That and I have had a shift back towards EmComm. I am concentrating my efforts in the southeast United States or FEMA Region 4. In addition to ARES and AUXComm, I am involved with US Army MARS and SHARES. I also help with the SouthEast Emergency Network (SEEN). I’ve always had a penchant to serve, and I do so through radio communication. I have been doing a lot of digital modes, maintaining proficiency so I can get traffic through when needed. As Hurricane Helene proved, High Frequency (HF) radio communication is still needed in an emergency. CW for now has taken a back seat. Hopefully, I will get back to that.

Don’t wait for bad things to happen before you decide to “help”. On several deployments I have had an operator come up to me with a broken radio saying something like: “If you can help me fix this, I can help.” Don’t be that guy. Get your act together now. Get your gear together now. Be proficient in your skills. The next time a bad thing happens, you may be the most experienced guy. People who really need help, may be depending on YOU! 73 de Scott

Letting Go

I’ve been retired almost a year now and I have enjoyed it. With retirement comes age and with age comes “stuff”. Until you reach retirement, you really don’t know what it is really going to look like. I’ve had some discoveries along the way.

Time. You think you will have time to do everything you thought you were going to do. For me this was a case of my eyes being much bigger than my stomach. Over the past year, I have been paring down my list to about a half a dozen activities, amateur radio being one of them.

Money. In retirement I do not make as much money as I used to. My wife and I are not eating Alpo, we are living quite well, but I can feel the reduced spending power. I have to give a little more thought to how I spend my money.

Age Related. Getting older means your body starts slowing down. More trips to the doctor, more preventative care, reduced ability. I led a pretty active life with 8.5 years in the U.S. Army and 20 years in the trades. I am now on the receiving end of all that wear and tear. Things hurt. I have to think more about how I do things and for how long I can do something. I still walk about 100 miles a month but power lifting at the gym is out. Coming to grips with your body not doing the things it used to do can be a humbling experience. Getting old is not for the weak.

My wife and I are spending more time taking care of each other and our special needs daughter. This means more time at home. Writing this, I am at the back side of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. I had a strong desire to go, 20 years ago I would have left in a heartbeat. Today, my responsibilities have changed. In any EmComm or disaster situation, the first rule, is always take care of your family first. It is a good rule and a smart one. It is the rule that is helping me to let go. While I may not deploy anymore, there are still things that can be done at home. I have a good home station and just added an SPE Expert 2K-FA amp which is MARS modified. I can comfortably run digital up to 1 kW. This mission hasn’t gone away, it has changed. Plus, I can still do the occasional POTA activation when I find time between all the other things I do. Stay safe and enjoy life. 73 de – Scott

Well My Bags Are Packed, I’m ready to Go

The 2024 Hurricane Season started of slow but boy did it pick up steam. Right now, the country has been rocked by the devastation left by Hurricane Helene and now Florida is bracing for Major Hurricane Milton. There are lots of good people doing lots of good things out there. I want to give a shoutout to AmRRon and Grindstone Ministeries for all the work they are doing in the Tennessee/North Carolina areas. You can find out more about these organizations at https://amrron.com and https://grindstoneministries.com.

I have been blessed in that both of these powerful hurricanes missed me. Helene about 40 miles to my east and Milton several hundred miles to my south. Just because I got lucky doesn’t mean I should sit back and rest upon my laurels. Contrary to popular belief, ham radio operators in the affected area are typically not able to operate after a hurricane passes through. Their number one concern is the safety of their family and the protection of their property. Many have left the area and are holed up in a motel somewhere or are with friends/family. This is the time and the place for those not affected by the storm to lend a hand. With families and property safe and secure, amateur radio operators can travel to, set up and operate their portable stations, relaying valuable information to public safety and/or nervous families wanting to know that their kith and kin are safe.

For those able to deploy, preparations should start long before you leave hearth and home. Radios and coax need to be checked for proper operation, antennas checked for damage? Are all of your batteries charged, generators serviced, and solar panels operating properly? Is your vehicle ready: tires checked, engine serviced, lights work? Do you have enough fuel for your vehicle and your generators? Do you have a place to sleep and something to sleep on? Do you have water and do you have food? Always bring food and always bring water, regardless of what someone promises you.

And what about you? Are you in shape? When was the last time you were to the doctors? Do you have any conditions that may affect you and are they serious enough that not being near an emergency room might kill you?

I’m not young anymore and my days of traveling to a disaster areas are coming to a close. However, I am ready; I keep a running talley on my gear. How? I practice with my gear almost everytime I go to park or a campground. The same gear I use in a park is the same gear I use for a disaster. I know how it works and I know I have what I need. I call this FunComm, which to me, is practice for EmComm. My field radio stays packed and ready to go. My basic kit looks like this.

The top box contains my radio and associated gear.

The bottom box, contains my batteries, power stations and a couple of solar panels. I also have 2 larger solar panels that I would also bring. I do not always bring batteries with me for FunComm but I see that they are charged up several times a year. Two notes. 1) Check your gear. Out in a disaster, you probably won’t be able to get whatever it is you left behind. I recommend that when practicing FunComm, you go at least 20 miles away from home. That is about the distance too far to drive back home again — either make do or call it a bust. 2) Solar power generation is iffy. On a good day, a 100 watt solar panel puts out about 6 amps. Your radio at 100 watts output consumes about 18 amps. That means for every hour of transmitting, it requires 3 hours of solar power generation at max efficiency. Don’t forget, you will have to feed you laptop, lights, cell phone etc. Yes, a cell phone has other uses besides a phone. My battery box looks like this.

You EmComm types may chuff at Parks on the Air (POTA), but they know their gear, because they use it often. Take the time now. Check your gear, get it ready, get yourself ready, sometimes, when they need you, they need you now. My prayers are for those in the paths of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and also for those souls who when the call came were ready. When the call comes, can you cry out “Here am I” 73 and God Bless de Scott

NVIS a Real Time Look

This past weekend I camped at Ft Mountain State Park in northwestern Georgia. One of my goals was to test NVIS and see if it would work during my stay. I collected data using FT8 from Friday afternoon when I got set up until about 2130 hrs eastern when the 40-meter band started to fade.

Conditions. I set up in the campground in Ft Mountain State Park. My elevation was approx. 2,400 feet above sea level located in a depression (-200 Ft.). The antenna was a Chameleon EmComm II ver.1 in an inverted vee configuration. The ends were 6-6.5 feet off of the ground and the apex was 10-12 feet. There was a counterpoise run beneath the antenna. The radio was an Elecraft K3(s) running FT8 at 25-35 watts.

During my stay I made 121 contacts on 40 meters. 7-8 MHz is considered the upper limit for NVIS operation. NVIS is also not guaranteed as it relies on proper atmospheric conditions to reflect the radio waves back downward. When creating the following maps, I only included states where I had 3 or more contacts. In addition, some states had no contacts and that may have been due to propagation, or no one was on at the time. Also, I reported the average signal strength for the state (not individual stations) as well as the percentage of the contacts from that state based upon 121 contacts. If you add up all of the percentages on the following maps, they will not equal 100%.

The first map shows all of the states with 3 or more contacts.

Generally, a good signal for FT8 is any signal above -10dB. A closer view shows that except for Texas the stronger signals are within 300-400 miles of the transmitting station. The circle in the map below has a radius of about 350 miles. As you can see there is a rather sharp drop off in signal strength beyond about 350 miles.

While this isn’t a proper detailed experiment, some generalizations can be made. The transmitting station was located in a depression (-200 Ft), there is a good probability that NVIS was used. The signals close in were stronger, meaning that the signals were within the skip zone and that signal strength beyond the skip zone (beyond about 350 miles) noticeably dropped off indicating NVIS operation. There were more stations contacted within the circle. As the transmitting station turned away from the sun the ability to copy close in stations diminished. The white elephant in the room is Texas. In my experience, there always seems to be a radio pathway between Texas and Georgia. Not sure why that is but in all my activations and at home there always seems to be at least one Texas station in the mix.

As amateur radio operators, we often think in terms of how far we can reach, how many miles per watt, to reach that atoll on the other side of the world. What is equally important and in some cases such as EmComm, is how close can we get. Sometimes the most important link is just on the other side of the mountain. Knowing how to utilize NVIS in your comms plans will help bridge that gap. You may be saving a life instead of collecting a QSL card. Below are some links to other NVIS posts I created. — Scott

What’s Up With NVIS

Antennas and More

Luffed, Muffed, and FOT’d

FTX Fort Mountain State Park

This weekend I decided to camp at one of my favorite parks. Ft Mountain State Park. I go back a long way with this park. Thirty three years ago I spent a wonderful honeymoon there with my bride and princess. We recently spent a weekend there in the same cabin we spent our honeymoon in. Memories.

This time it’s a solo trip. I came up here for some radio adventure and I got it. On this trip, I did more EmComm related stuff. This was more like an FTX (field training exercise) than a simple POTA activation. I grabbed my normal gear and set myself some tasks to accomplish while out. I wanted to stretch my gear and me, do a grab and go like it would happen in a real scenario. I did not do any extra prep than I normally would do for a POTA activation.

My first task was to receive the National Intelligence Brief (NIB) from the Early Warning Network. I am the Communications Director (G6) of the Early Warning Amateur Radio Network (EWARN). We are building the EWARN system to best suit the needs of the Early Warning Network. This network collects information, analyzes it, and then disseminates the intelligence in products like the NIB.

Right now l receive the NIB via email and one of our projects is to be able to send the NIB to me and others via radio. We are looking at options to include using operators from AmRRon which we are developing a relationship with. AmRRon has some very talented operators. Getting back to my task, I received the NIB via my cell phone while on my way to the park. I pulled over in a gas station, connected my computer to my cell phone via the hotspot and downloaded the NIB onto my laptop.

I got the NIB ready to send over the radio. This includes formatting the document and then signing it using a PGP key. By signing the document this way, anyone with the public key can verify that the document was not altered. The document is not encrypted so it can be sent over the air. The next step is hooking up the laptop to the HF radio in my truck and sending the message. I decided to move since I didn’t think transmitting with a radio near gas pumps was a good idea so I moved. I found a pullover near the bottom of the mountain, on a road that leads up to the State Park. The radio wan an IC-7100 hooked up to ab AH-730 and a 102” whip.

Issue. I am having trouble formatting the file correctly when PGP signing the file in FLmsg. Next week I am going to get with a buddy who is a pro user and get this sorted.

I stopped, hooked the laptop up to the radio, turned it on and using VarAC on 40 meters connected to N4WXI near Birmingham AL. It took me about 2 minutes to send him the file. His group will inject it into the AmRRon system to be passed as traffic from coast to coast.

After I sent the NIB I continued up the mountain to Ft. Mountain State Park.

Antenna. I decided to use my Chameleon EmComm II ver. 1 for this FTX. Since I would be on the lower bands I wanted a larger antenna. I ended up configuring the antenna 3 times before I felt like I had the right combination. The first time I used my push-up pole to get one end of the antenna about 12-15 feet off of the ground and set it up like an inverted L with the counterpoise underneath the antenna. I didn’t like this version as I had power lines nearby and while I felt the setup was safe I erred on the side of caution. My second attempt was to attach the balun to the camper and elevate the center of the antenna wire in an inverted Vee with the counterpoise underneath it. I didn’t like this way because it left the counterpoise touching the camper and I didn’t want to radiate the camper. They say threes a charm and so it was in this case. I made a loop of cord between the camper and the unun which when the antenna was stretched, it pulled the unun and the counterpoise away from the the camper. The counterpoise was run underneath the antenna and this was the setup I ended up using. The radio was my Elecraft K3(s) and the laptop was a Lenovo Thinkpad T14.

Once the rest of the station was setup, I sent a quick VarAC vmail to my buddy in Alabama to make sure everything was working. My next task was to send out the NIB via Wnlink email to the regional NCS’. The equipment and the Winlink software worked fine. However, I had a fail. The note app on my phone failed to sync across my devices so I did not have all of the email address for the regions. Luckily I had two in my possession so I was at able to get the NIB out partially. One of the quirks of this campground is there isn’t any cell service. A good test of your gear and you.

Issue. App on my devices was not syncing. I am going to move my files to a better app.

After Winlink, I ran FT8 before and after the net. I did so to see if I was operating NVIS. The antenna was configured for NVIS but that doesn’t mean conditions were favorable. My initial impressions were that I was using NVIS to make many of the contacts I did on 40 meters. Forty meters is about the upper limit for NVIS. Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning I made 121 contacts on 40. Charting out the average signal strength and percent of total contacts leads me to believe that NVIS was in use. More on NVIS in a separate post.

The net ran fairly well, I had 23 contacts and I was able to send the NIB using FLmsg. Flirig, and FLdigi. These apps worked well. The net macros worked well and need only a few adjustments. This completed another task.

FLamp was another story. I couldn’t get it to work right even though I had the most current version. I found out after the net that this version is quite buggy and I should have used the previous version. No cell service, no internet to fix it. Just like real life in EmComm. I will have to fix that when I get back home. Another issue I had was with the antenna. It does not do a good job running a digital net with above normal duty cycles. The balun would heat up causing the SWR to rise lowering the output power. If I run the net again I would probably only run FLmsg. I have a couple of other antenna options to try.

Issue. The Chameleon antenna was not up to the task of running a digital net with a high duty cycle. It would warm up, increasing the SWR. I was running 30-35 watts (I did reduce power). Further research showed that while the antenna was rated higher for Voice/CW, on digital it is only rated for 20-25 watts. This was not apparent on the website or instructions. For digital modes a rating of about 30% of PEP would be about max. My solution is to get a higher rated UnUn and derate it for digital.

Issue. Even though I had the latest version of FLamp, it was buggy and it wasn’t until I got my cell service back that I discovered that. The solution is to find an older version and install that or see if there is a patch to fix the current version.

Saturday morning the bands were in so-so shape. In addition, it looked like some weather was moving in so I broke down the station and started working on the video and this blog post. It was a nice day but I decided to go home this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. So much to do, so little time.

Even though I’ve been doing stuff like this for 25+ years, there is still a lot to learn. Experience is only gained by doing so I leave you with a quote from Leroy Jethro Gibbs: “Grab your gear!” 73 de Scott.

Addendum. I had a total of 166 contacts. The 45 additional contacts were above NVIS and were not included with the 121 above. Here is a QSO map of all of the contacts.

POTA FunComm with EmComm Practice

This past weekend I spent some time at Florence Marina State Park US-2174. It had been a while since I had a chance to get out and I felt the need for a shakedown cruise. Peak hurricane season is just a couple of weeks away and I wanted to make sure I was ready. While most people connect hurricanes with the summer season, September is acutally the busiest month.

I usually work FT8 as a digital mode when doing a POTA activation but I wanted to test out my other modes making sure my radio system (radio, computer, antenna, etc) was in good working order.

I have been busy the past couple of months working on some projects on the EmComm side of the house and I haven’t had the opportunity to test my portable gear. In particular, I haven’t had the chance to use my Elecraft K3 with digital modes. It is a great radio so I took it and the manual with me. For EmComm, always bring the manual. My antenna was my 28.5′ random wire vertical with a 17′ counterpoise. This is a good antenna for parks as it does not put wires in the trees nor holes in the ground. Being a vetical, it does tend to be more Dx than local. If I need more local operation, I have other antennas I can use. Attached to the antenna is a homemade 9:1 UnUn and a 1:1 current BalUn. Coax was RG-8x fed into the back of the K3. The auto-tuner on the K3 is fairly wide ranging so an external tuner is not needed. This configuration allowed me to work 40-10 meters easily. My spare radio was an Elecraft KX2.

I used mains power at the campsite however, my two Honda generators will power the camper and the radios.

Band conditions were poor, you can’t pick the conditions when responding to a disaster. I booked this campsite a couple of months in advance. When I deployed to Hurricane Katrina, I had similar band conditions. You work with what you got.

I spent some time setting up the radio to run on digital, it took me about 10 minutes to get it sorted. I worked through my apps starting with Winlink. I didn’t update my propagation chart, so I had to download it via radio. I had to hunt around to find a node to connect to. Band conditions again made things difficult. I did manage to connect to a node in TX on 20 meters. I was able to get the report and send an email. Next up was VarAC. It started right up and I sent a few beacons and checked it on PSKReporter.

I had 1 bar on my cell phone and was able to get the map copied before it winked out again. Vara is a great mode and has weak signal propagation very close to JS8Call. From my experince, it is less than 1 S-unit difference.

Later that evening, I checked into one of my EmComm nets using FLdigi. Along with FLdigi, I use FLrig, FLmsg and FLamp. All worked well except that the band condtions prevented 100% copy. The rest of the time I was on FT8. the bands were up and down and the only band producing anything was 20 meters. I only made 161 contacts. On a weekend with normal band conditions I would get between 400-600 contacts. I decided to call it quits late Saturday afternoon and head home. Besides the poor band conditions, it was oppressively hot and humid. There is only so much you can do inside a small camper. Here is the QSO map for the trip.

As you can see, really strange propagation. It was almost like someone built a wall SW to NE. My antenna is normally omni-directional.

It was a good trip and I managed to check all the boxes I needed to check. if you are involved in EmComm or if you live in an area prone to hurricanes, now is the time to check your gear. For those living in a hurricane prone area, make sure you have a spare antenna, tucked away somewhere. Take it out check it and run it with your radio on the bands you think you will be using. Hurricanes can and will take out you antenna farm. Don’t forget to check out the video. Stay safe and stay ready de Scott

Fast Foods for Fast Times

The phone rings at 0400 hrs local and your EmComm Leader is telling you it’s time to deploy to BFE Florida after a Cat 4 hurricane. But wait! I’m all out of Mountain House Freeze dried beef stroganoff; what will I eat!

There are plenty of off the shelf foods that are perfectly suited for living in the rough. Before I delve into the foods, let’s talk about calories. Sustainable intake or calorie intake that will not cause weight loss would be in the neighborhood of 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day. That could be one meal at Wendy’s. Of course calorie intake would have to go up as your activity increases but here is an example. I walk 4 miles most mornings at a sub 15 minute mile pace which is faster then most people walk. I burn about 105 calories a mile. To give context, my 4 mile walk is about equivalent to a Snickers Bar.

So what do you need to be self sustaining? There probably won’t be much power available so foods that store without refrigeration would be high on the list. One example is peanut butter or an equivalent. Two tablespoons of peanut butter is about 200 calories, couple that with a tortilla and you are up to about 300 calories or more. Two peanut butter/tortillas per meal and you have 1,800 calories per day. Crackers are a good source for calories. Five saltines are 70 calories and an MRE Cracker packages contains 2 crackers for 180 calories. Add some MRE Cheese Spread with Bacon and you are up to 300 calories. I am former Army and some of this is field “comfort” food.

Another favorite is GORP or Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts. this harkens back to my backpacking days. I often add chopped dates and M&M’s to it. Mandelbrot or Mandel Bread is another high calorie treat.

Before I move on to my list of deployment foods I want to discuss water.General Guidelines are 1 gallon per person, per day. That is a maintenance amount. Add in heat stress, washing (body clothes, utensils) and the number goes up. While in the Army we did a training exercise in the desert. It was over 100 degrees and we were performing strenuous activity. I was almost drinking a gallon of water an hour. Plan on 2 or more gallons of water per person, per day. Jerry can water often develops an after taste so something like Stur or Pur Aqua favoring helps.

Here is a list of foods I consider when getting ready for a deployment. I also use this list when camping and doing something like a POTA activation. Most everything on the list can be had at a grocery store and some like Walmart are open 24 hrs. One last word of advice before I present the list. Do not wait until you are in the field before trying some of these foods. One or more may not agree with you and your suffering may be compounded by poor “facilities”. Here is the list:

B&M Brown Bread
Pilot Bread
Peanut Butter
Jelly
WeetaBix (cereal)
Underwood Chicken Spread
Single Serving Spam
Saltine Crackers
MRE Cracker (Amazon)
MRE Cheese Spread (Amazon)
Flour Tortilla
Wasa Sourdough Crispbread
Foil packed chicken (usually by the tuna packets)
Fresh Fruit
Fruit Cups
Dried Fruit
Raisins
GORP
Granola bars
Ghee (clarified butter)
Instant Coffee
Instant Oatmeal
Ramen Noodles (single Serve)

Remember to include enough protein in your diet. I once did a supply run in south Florida after a hurricane and for 2 days I ate nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I was ready for some meat. By the time I got back to civilization (with electricity), Even a fast-food burger sounded gourmet. A lot of this stuff keeps well so you can store some at the house. It’s also a lot cheaper. Stay safe and 73 – Scott

I’ve Been Busy

Today is the second day of hurricane season for the United States. According to Colorado State University, this may be a busy season. For most of CONUS (CONtinental United States), hurricanes have little effect. For those of us on the eastern seaboard and gulf coast, it is time to keep a weather eye out.

It should be a time of preparation. Procuring materials to stormproof homes, purchase/maintain generators and check on fuel supplies, check the pantries for food and water storage, and ensure there are adequate medication and first aid supplies. In addition to this, is there enough cash on hand as with no power, there is no credit; cash is king. There is always the question of; should I stay or should I go? This is often a tough decision and the wrong choice could be fatal. If you are going, do you have a place to go? During Hurricane Michael, I was returning to Georgia from Virginia the weekend before the storm, there was storm related traffic up in Tennessee, people looking for a place to stay.

Even though I live in northwest Georgia, I can still be affected by a storm. High winds, heavy rains, tornadoes, flooding and power outages occur as a hurricane winds down as it travels inland.

Part of my preps, besides food, and water, etc., is making sure my communications gear is in order. Most of my gear gets used at least weekly with some of my portable gear getting use monthly. As I have said in past posts, my FunComm gear is mostly the same as my EmComm gear. I check to see that my radios are working and that my portable antennas are in good working order. I pull out my laptop and make sure all of my radio apps and OS are up to date and working. I especially check to make sure I can send/receive on my main digital modes. For EmComm I rely mainly on Winlink, PSK31, Contestia, and CW. I get on the air and send emails, check into nets, etc. I am also a Net Control Station for Phone and Digital, and I run those nets on a monthly basis. During a disaster is the wrong time to find out something doesn’t work. Been there, done that. And yes, sometimes, even though you checked, checked, and double checked, things can still go wrong, but at least you can reduce the probability.

My vehicles get serviced regularly, and I go over my little camper before each trip. My generators are checked and run on a regular basis. I also go through my Flee bag. I check to make sure everything in it is in working order, that there are no expired, expiration dates, and the clothes I have tucked in there still fit. Too big is okay, too small is not.

With all my gear squared away, I turn to me. Have I had a check-up recently? Are my meds current to my needs?, is there anything I need to get fixed before I deploy somewhere? From here I move to my skill sets. Can I use the apps/radios I need? Sometimes a big update happens that changes the app enough I may have to relearn it. Can I still copy CW? CW is not widely used, but it makes a pretty good backup when everything else is going to pot.

How is my fieldcraft? Can I cook and eat in the field, can I purify water, start a fire, clean myself, apply first aid, make repairs, navigate; can I improvise, adapt, and overcome?

Some of this is annual and some of it is on going. I should never let my skills and gear degrade to a point where they are no longer usable. It is bad voodoo to try to learn/relearn a skill during or on the way to a disaster.

How about you? Don’t wait until the last minute. It’s no fun waiting in a long line to get something you could have gotten a few months ago for half the price. And then to add insult to injury, the guy in front of you buys the last one. Be ready, do it now! Embrace the coming storm with a cup of coffee and the knowledge you have done everything you could to be ready. Or, you could be driving around white-knuckled in a panic trying to buy the same things everything else who has waited is trying to buy. I’ve done both and I like the first option much better. Think straight and stay safe. 73 de Scott

Turning FunComm to EmComm

In less than a month, Hurricane Season starts. For most parts of the country, this is nothing more than a news item. For us in the southeastern United States, it becomes a time of preparation.

Hurricanes, are an extreme force of nature. Unlike tornadoes, whose path of destruction may be a mile or two wide, a hurricane can leave a path of desolation 100 or more miles wide. Because it it so immense, it is almost impossible to describe; you have to be there to appreciate the god-like destruction.

Last month Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science, released it’s 2024 hurricane season forecast. Their prediction is for an “extremely active” season with an “above-average” probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States (CONUS)and the Caribbean.

This year they are predicting 23 named storms (aver. 14.4) with 5 major hurricanes (aver. 3.2). The probability of a major hurricane striking the east coast is 34% (aver. 21%) and for the gulf coast 42% (aver. 27%). In the tropical Pacific there will be La Nina conditions which can increase hurricane activity in the Atlantic. In addition, eastern and tropical Atlantic surface sea temperatures are warmer than normal making conditions conducive to hurricane development. The complete report can be found here: 2024 Hurricane Season Prediction

FunComm is a great way in keeping your emergency and portable comms ready. Field Day, Winter Field Day, POTA and SOTA are good ways to maintain your emergency gear. The same gear I take to the parks is what I would use during a disaster. I have been to disasters where a guy walks up to me with a handi-talkie in 3 pieces and telling me if I can help him fix his radio, he could help me. Don’t be that guy.

Do your radios work? Do your field antennas work? Have you tested them and checked their performance? Have you tested your batteries and do they work with your radio? Do you have enough capacity? How about generators? Do you have the right kind of generator? Some of these Home Depot generators will destroy a radio. Can you bring fuel to power your vehicle and generators? If there is no power in a disaster area, there is typically no power to pump gas. Make sure you have enough gas to get back out of the disaster area.

Don’t forget about your laptop. Do you have the apps you need installed on the laptop? Are they up to date? Did you sync the time before you left? Do you have a plan to power your laptop?

Where are you going to sleep? Are you going to bring enough food? Water? What about sanitation? Again, no power, no public sanitation. Do you have a list of things you need to bring? What about cash? In a disaster, cash is often king as the credit card machines run off of electricity and the Internet. Remember, if there is no cell service, those cell phone credit card swipers won’t work either. Make sure you bring small bills, as stores will probably not have the means to make change.

The way I am set up now, I could leave my QTH in about 4 hours with a stop at a gas station and grocery store. Part of the reason is I practice my EmComm using FunComm. I have been to several wide area disasters and I made plenty of mistakes, I learned the hard way. 73 de Scott