JULY NC SECTION NEWS
JUNE EARTHQUAKE DRILL A BIG SUCCESS
An NC Emergency Management graded NCEM/FEMA exercise was held on June 23 and
24. The exercise assumed all landline and cellular telephone systems were
interrupted and communications between involved EOC's and Red Cross offices
occurred via Amateur Radio. By all accounts, the exercise was a great
success and state and local emergency management agencies were impressed with
our capability. More than 80 stations checked-in to the Tarheel Emergency
Net during the exercise and both simplex and repeater-based VHF was used
between counties participating in the drill. Army MARS Winlink stations
provided HF-based email between the Buncombe County EOC, Western Branch EOC
in Conover and the State EOC in Raleigh. When emergency management's own
email system experienced some very real technical difficulties, MARS Winlink
was ready as a backup. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who
participated in this drill!
FIELD DAY REPORT
Thanks to all of you for your Field Day hospitality! I visited 12 of the 52
sites in the NC section, driving 511 miles. Here are some random
observations: The Rowan ARS had the local volunteer fire department on hand
and several members are also hams. I was happy to meet the new Rowan County
EC, Gary, K4GHL. The Tri County ARC in High Point was holding their first
Field Day and setup at the High Point Red Cross office, with several new hams
participating. I enjoyed visiting with Weldon, W4AJT who was operating from
an air conditioned tent at the Greensboro ARC site. Weldon has been a ham
since 1930!. The Alamance ARC had access to the county's fire training site.
It helps when the county emergency manager is a ham and is participating in
field day! The Orange County ARC and the Durham FM Association held a
combined field day with some impressive antennas and lots of good food. The
CDXA group was operating from W4DXA's QTH and probably won their category.
In Concord, the Cabarrus ARC used their club emergency trailer and also had
access to a massive crank up tower owned by the county. The Union County
club was setup in the beautiful town of Waxhaw and had a visit from a county
commissioner. Charlotte's TV14 was on-hand during my visit to the
Mecklenburg ARS site and the club got some great press coverage. The
Charlotte ARC activated their first class club station at the Salvation Army
office. But the most impressive venue was the Smith Chart ARS operation in
Raleigh. Since their Field Day was combined with a State Highway Patrol
drill, the Smith Chart group had access to the NCSHP tower trailers and
command post vehicle. Wow!
WINLINK OPERATIONAL AT BRANCH EOC'S
Thanks to the leadership of Central Branch AEC Tom Brown, N4TAB, the state EOC
and Eastern and Western branch offices are now equipped with HF Winlink.
There is also a portable unit for the state's command trailer. This is the
culmination of 7 years of work with state emergency management to secure
funding, obtain the equipment and complete installations at all three
locations. The Winlink system received its most visible test during the
Western NC earthquake drill. While there is still some tweaking needed, the
new equipment provides excellent backup email capability for the EOC's.
MEDIA HITS
Congratulations to all of you who helped out with Field Day publicity in the
North Carolina section! As mentioned above, the Mecklenburg ARS site had a
visit from Charlotte cable's TV14 news channel. The Shelby Club effort was
covered in the Shelby Star. Two TV news stories were aired in Wilmington,
one on ABC affiliate WWAY-TV and another on WECT. The Cape Fear ARS efforts
were covered in "Ham Radio Operators Not Yielding to Future" on
fayobserver.com and dailyadvance.com described the Albemarle ARS Field Day
operation. The New Bern ARC got coverage in the New Bern Sun Journal.
Blueridgenow.com included not only a great article on the Blue Ridge ARC
field day, but they also posted some video. The Tar River club made it into
RockyMountTelegram.com. Jacksonville's jdnews.com posted a notice about the
Carteret County ARS Field Day. Greenville's WNCT covered the Brightleaf ARC
Field Day and the Ashe County Field Day was described on mountaintimes.com.
NET MANAGER FOR CN STILL NEEDED!
We're in serious need of some help with both the early and late sessions of
the Carolina's Net. Check-ins, liaison stations, and net control operators
are needed, but our most acute need is for someone to serve as net manager.
Don't let your CW speed be a barrier. Sending stations will always slow to
whatever speed you can copy and I'll bet after a few weeks on the net your CW
speed will increase considerably! The CN nets cover both North and South
Carolina, so your friends from across the border are also needed. CN-Early
meets on 3573 kHz at 7:00pm and CN-Late meets on the same frequency at
10:00pm.
UPCOMING EVENTS
· July 25: Western Carolina Hamfest, Waynesville
· July 25 & 26: APRS Golden Packet Event, Western NC
· August 8: Cape Fear Swapfest, Fayetteville
· August 18: McGuire Nuclear Drill
· Sept 5 & 6: Shelby Hamfest, Dallas
JUNE TRAFFIC
K4IWW 288, N3BW 191, KI4YV 169, W4DNA 116, KI4ZJI 71, W4TTO 67, NC4VA 57,
W4FAL 44, KE4AHC 33, W3HL 33, K8SKX 21, WX4MMM 14.
JUNE PSHR
W4DNA 390, NC4VA 365, KI4ZJI 180, K4IWW 140, W4FAL 130, KI4YV 100, W4TTO 100,
JUNE ARES MEMBERS: 1,824, up 3 from last month.
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