UPDATED 11/27/2024
We are members of the local Sheriff’s Communications Unit (COMU) organization. COMU is a uniformed team of volunteers in our County Office of Emergency Services and is structurally an element of the Emergency Services Support Unit along with Search and Rescue etc.
Private Sector coordination is also provided by the Auxilliary Communications Services (ACS) AKA AUXCOMM, also staffed by Amateur Radio volunteers and others within the community. ACS has functionally replaced RACES nationwide although the term is still used/familiar.
ACS/AUXCOMM is under the National Incident Management system; it also includes such things as CERT (Community Emergency Response) communications etc. In our county, CERT also uses FRS and GMRS radios in addition to Ham radio equipment and frequencies. This expands the volunteer base very well.
Community interest in emergency preparedness ebbs and flows according to the frequency, location, duration and impact as various “events” occur. This is understandable.
Why do we practice emergency communications?
Because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics: “Stuff Happens”.
Loma Prieta earthquake in California 1989. The 50 KW Clear channel powerhouse AM radio KGO San Francisco knocked off the air with severe damage to all 3 towers.
Above: Part of the wreckage of the massive antenna system from the top of the World Trade Center, 2001. It carried most of the television, FM radio, police, fire and public safety communications for New York City and New Jersey metropolitan areas. Radio Silence. For a LONG time, when the need is critical.
California has also experienced multiple system-wide power utility shutdowns as a reaction to several HV power line/vegetation fires due to high winds. They even have a name for it: “Public Safety Power Shutdowns”, PSPS.
These outages have lasted many days, including “brownouts” due to grid demand overload. Pacific Gas and Electric has advised residents to buy generators. “You’re on your own”…
“But I have a smart phone – it always works!!” “and my electric car too!”
I have been a member of our county emergency communications since the late 1970’s and participate in various Nets to check in and exercise our equipment, organization, training and systems. We also participate in annual “Field Day” events to exercise emergency communications capabilities in an adverse “field” environment as well as other Simulated Emergency Tests (SET).
Call outs to Sheriff Departments “Incidents” and public service events are also part of our long-time participation.
I was also a member of the Nassau County RACES group that operated on Long Island in the 1960’s. That Net was on 28.720 mc and used AM since FM use had yet to become widespread. Many stations including mine used modified 5 watt “CB” radios and typical ground plane antennas for county-wide connectivity. I also had a set in the family’s 1965 Volkswagen with its 102″ whip. While I was in High School it was “social networking”with all my buddies before Smokey and the Bandit or even the Internet. How fun is that?
Our organization also supports the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams on callouts. That included SAR communications response support to the recent California wildfires that essentially destroyed whole neighborhoods and parts of Santa Rosa, Paradise and Napa.
Part of our emphasis on Situational Awareness is the monitoring of most County public safety and government communications systems. These have all transitioned to a digital, trunked system here and in adjacent counties. Here is the scanner we use:
Not much happens in our County without us knowing about it; in real time. This new system replaced analog systems that were simple and reliable but had interoperability issues. However the digital trunked system is extremely complex and has a limited number of available, shared frequencies for all county agencies to use. So far so good, but in a major regional contingency like a big earthquake we hope it does not become overloaded and fail. It might.
Like the cell phones which work great when you don’t really need them, the cell system (sites) probably won’t work when you desperately DO need them. We hope the trunked system with its limited number of “talk group channels” is resilient enough. Murphy’s Law applies. Hence the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Communications Service.
In the past several years we have experimented with digital messaging using “fldigi” (Fast Light Digital) protocols to pass lengthy messages that require high accuracy and filing organization. Using primarily MT-63 2K-Long on both HF and VHF/UHF circuits. Fldigi is a component of the Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software (NBEMS) which is becoming a national standard. Passing and transcribing lengthy voice messages are problematic but held in “deep reserve” as a contingency.
We also belong to CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) which is sponsored by the local Fire Protection District. We have set up portable radio stations at various CERT/SET training sites to practice “EMCOMM”, Emergency Communications. We participate in both the Sheriff’s and periodic Fire Department CERT Nets and larger exercises run by both organizations.
We also participate in annual cross-band communications exercises on shared channels with US Defense Department military organizations and stations.
Above: Be Prepared! Our little 20 watt solar panel charges a big, deep-cycle 12 volt storage battery via a home made charge controller and system monitor. Although it is a small panel it will run things indefinitely at the rate and duty-cycles that we operate. If commercial power fails the equipment automatically switches to solar/battery power. This station has been solar powered since 1979.
Before it was cool ! ;o)
I recently upgraded the system to a 100 watt panel to better support additional equipment and higher duty-cycles. This one can deliver up to 5.8 Amps (full sun) to the Size 27, 88 Amp-Hour deep cycle, dual purpose battery system. More than enough for indefinite, grid-down, day/night radio communications with family and friends:
Even on very cloudy days…
My homemade charge controller is used to protect the battery from being over-charged. Any commercial controller sized for the system will work. It measures both panel or battery voltage and the charging current. The controller, panel, battery, relay (contacts), wiring and fusing should be specified and selected for the size of the station equipment load, the amount of “solar powered” time your load needs, sun exposure etc.
Above: A rough block-diagram sketch of the automatic solar power transfer system. The basic idea is that commercial AC power powers the Astron 12 V power supply which powers 12 relay coil. That relay then powers the station equipment via the left-hand relay contacts. The coil holds the relay in the “AC Power Source” position.
When commercial power fails, the Astron goes off and the 12 volt relay coil looses power. Then the spring-loaded transfer relay “lets go”, automatically transferring the station equipment 12 volt power distribution system box to the solar battery power, via the right-hand set of “DC” relay contacts. I can also run the radio system solely on solar/battery power as an exercise simply by switching the Astron 12 volt power supply Off. The battery is currently a 75 amp-hour AGM type, more than sufficient.
This sketch is an oversimplification, not all loads or fuses (Safety First!) are shown but it illustrates the concept and process. When commercial power fails, I hear a “click” from the relay and the entire system keeps operating as before. Except nothing else in the house (neighborhood or region) is now working.
Update: I have recently replaced the relay-based power control system seen above with a solid-state device. It is the Epic-H PWRgate made by West Mountain Radio. It performs exactly the same load transfer function as the relay did but with no moving parts, no “click”. It also provides solar charge control directly without the need for the external controller. So far, so good.
I also installed a panel-mounted combination voltmeter with 3 USB charging jacks connected directly to the battery.
Another handy device – a small solar panel for charging 5 volt USB devices like my ancient Flip Phone or even newer ones. The phone may work but without the local, supporting wifi/cell site infrastructure the phone will be useless.
We also have “Plan B” at the ready:
Like most machinery and electronics – it needs to be run occasionally. This one gets a quarterly operational test run. (I was in the Navy – it’s how we do things.)
I run it under a fairly light (150 watt) load and then alternately plugging it in/out to cycle the voltage regulator governor system. It runs reliably. The little pouch on top contains the jumper cables for charging external 12 volt radio or vehicle batteries.
TOOLBOX RADIO SET: Below is a portable kit I built to assist in these exercises and it is kept “at the ready” with the battery trickle-charging and frequent operational tests. It has a LOT of battery capacity. It is designed as a “Grab-N-Go” system, it includes everything you need to set up a portable 2 meter station for any purpose. The TR-751A provides for fun while mountain-topping!
This is a simple, self contained radio station built inside a Craftsman heavy-duty plastic tool box with a few modifications. Inside is a Kenwood TR-751A two meter transceiver which can operate in FM and SSB voice modes as well as CW. The transmitter puts out either 5 or 25 watts to a BNC connector mounted on the side for an external antenna connection.
The box also contains a deep cycle 12 Volt “garden tractor” battery and is capable of powering this radio for several days or more, depending upon the power setting and transmit duty cycle. In a normal “just receiving/monitoring” mode it should be good for at least a week – the receiver draws very little power.
The system also provides 12 Volts to a 30 Amp Anderson Power Pole connector to power other external equipment; these connectors are a national EMCOMM standard to insure interoperability. There is also a jumper to permit charging the battery with an external source of 12 volt power such as a vehicle, gas generator or my 20 Watt solar panel. With the solar panel connected, this station can operate indefinitely. All radio, charging and accessory jacks are fused appropriately.
The box lid, seen on the right snaps in place to make the box easily carried with its built-in handle. The box top includes the TR-751A Channel/Frequency chart, the local RACES frequency plan as well as pencils and pens as needed. There is lots of extra room inside the box for additional accessories and supplies.
The box also has a 20 watt, 4 ohm speaker mounted on the side as well as an earphone jack for headphones which disconnect the speaker when plugged in. The antenna normally used is a roll-up “J-Pole” antenna with a raising halyard and fishing sinker to launch it up over a convenient branch or other support. The antenna and coax line are stored inside the box next to the battery. The box also contains pencils, pens, repeater directory, flashlight, headphones, spare fuses, an FRS/GMRS walkie talkie, tape, coax adapters and a note book.
Everything with the exception of the speaker is easily removable in the event that is more useful. The transceiver is fitted in using closed-cell foam for shock mounting and easy removal. The heatsink has adequate circulation and it does not get overly warm during extended transmitting at the 25 watt power setting. Five watts usually does the job easily via repeaters.
Here’s a view of the inside. Simple, nothing fancy, very flexible. It also provides 12 VDC to a cigarette lighter socket, a USB adapter and to an Anderson Power Pole connector for powering other, external equipment such as cell phone / Walkie Talkie chargers and the like. All circuits are appropriately fused.
Some selected off-grid “Field Ops” over the years.
Below is a photo of our first deployment of the ToolBox radio at a RACES training exercise at the local high school. We had a serious terrain masking problem to the remote site so we installed our 7 element Yagi antenna on its 18 foot mast. Lashed to my trusty, well equipped “camping truck”, it did the job. I have since improved the vehicle mast mount so it doesn’t have to rest on the ground. (See my post on “Antenna System Ideas” for more details on this Yagi setup.) The radio system worked very well.
The ToolBox radio set in operation: Note the PVC J-Pole antenna mounted on the plywood under the radio. Attached via a 1/2 inch pipe flange, the weight of the radio held the antenna in place. Unfortunately, the J-Pole did not have enough gain to overcome the terrain issues during this specific exercise – hence the Yagi. Otherwise, the PVC J-Pole works great. Simple, easy to set up, flexible, cheap, has gain! Even on a cold, rainy day.
Below is a photo of our 2008 RACES – CERT Field Day site using different gear at our Central Park. Some new hams here – they worked HF contacts all over the western US and Alaska. “Wow! This is cool”
Below is a photo of our 2009 RACES – CERT Field Day site. It was HOT – hence the parachute! The AB-85 aluminum mast held our HF dipoles as well as the ‘chute. This station was solar powered and operated on 2 meters and most HF bands, both SSB voice and CW. That curved antenna above the operating table is a 2 meter J-Pole antenna built inside a piece of PVC pipe and taped to the table leg – simple, effective, not too straight.
Another view below. Note the 20 Watt solar panel in the background – it is portable. Yes, that’s a Korean War PRC-6 “Handy Talkie” for 6 Meters on the table. Impresses the Teeny Boppers with their Me Phones ….
Below is our station set up at the CERT – SET earthquake response exercise in 2009. We were set up in a parking lot adjacent to the local park/tennis courts which generated a lot of questions from curious citizens in the area.
We were running an FT-897 on HF and 2 meters and FRS walkie talkies to take information from the CERT teams surveying the neighborhood for “damage”. We also had the ammo-box scanner to monitor all the local police and fire traffic and other CERT teams in the area.
I had a PRC-25 handy for 6 meters and also to talk with the local US Army base if that was needed in an actual “life or death” emergency.
We relayed our information to the Fire Department who then relayed it to County OES. The station was battery powered with a small solar panel for trickle charging.
Below is another CERT – SET event at a local community center “CP”. Training a local resident on RT procedure. CERT uses FRS and GMRS radios extensively to coordinate their local teams. We function as a data fusion center/CP to relay that info out of the immediate area via long range Ham radio circuits.
As before, I use my Ammo-Box scanner receiver to monitor police, fire and all the FRS channels and my small FRS radio to talk with our teams. This community center was in a deep canyon which made 2 meter antenna improvisation a “must” to maintain comms. The station was solar powered.
Below: Here’s another Field Day set up to practice “emergency” communications; this time in a remote spot in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In this case we were running a CW (morse code) station using a military AN/GRC-109 transmitter-receiver “tailgate portable”. We also used SSB voice on the County HF frequency to check into their local net. Good practice for “The Big One” out here in California. Plus the scenery was great!
(I have been interested in military “surplus” radio equipment since I was a kid. It turns out to be nearly ideal for many tasks due to its simplicity, ruggedness and repair-ability if necessary. I take various pieces along on any camping (training!) trip or exercise. It does the job.)
I do a LOT of field radio communications since I do a lot of camping and they make a great combination. A good opportunity to “Elmer” my buddies – they think I am crazy, slinging HF wire antennas up into the trees – but then they ask me how to get a Ham license.. “This stuff is cool!” So far these camp trips / remote radio operations have resulted in 9 new hams for our ranks. Below: Camping on the Stanislaus River, Stanislaus National Forest.
Practice, practice, practice. There’s no substitute for actually getting out there and doing it.
Above: Exercising emergency communications from locations WAY off-grid is excellent practice where no fall back option is even remotely available. Make your Go Kit and comms work. Here, making many regional and long range contacts via morse code on a 4 day, self sustained camping trip. Lots of lessons-learned went into developing this capability; many new ones learned along the way. Field Day 2016, Sierra Nevada mountains.
Note the smoke on the distant horizon from the massive “Rim” forest fires near Yosemite National Park. Since then, California has lost tens of thousands of structures, scores of deaths and urban/wildland fire destruction in the Camp, Paradise, Santa Rosa and Napa fire areas in additional to the previous Oakland Hills fire. It gets real. Be prepared.
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Some sample exercise from the past and recent – in no particular order:
RACES Exercise of 5-21-11
The intent of this exercise was to try to link all major towns in the county via 2 meters, Simplex VHF radios. The intent was to try low powered portable radios to simulate the loss of all local communications, including the ham radio and public service repeater systems due to failure or overload. Fixed-portable stations setup as below.
The above photo is my “camping truck” station set up in a nearby neighborhood during the exercise. I was using the 7 element Yagi antenna to contact various towns in the county on 2 meters FM simplex. I was using the “tool box” radio setup with its internal 12 volt battery. The Yagi is now supported by a section of AB-85 aluminum mast permanently bolted to the Bronco spare tire carrier.
With the Yagi aimed at Mount Diablo off in the distance I get very reliable simplex comms with stations in the numerous valley’s, hollows and masked locations in the county. It works by either direct terrain-bounce or knife-edge refraction from the mountain itself and its ridges. It works great but takes a little power/gain from a normal home or mobile setup.
To set up the Yagi, I just assemble it, put it on top of several other sections of AB-85 and then drop it into the bottom section. Takes about 10 minutes and I can aim it just by turning the lower mast. Very effective. I had good comms. Photo by Patty, K6PYM.
Tailgate Ops Center. Running the toolbox radio just sitting on the tailgate. You can see the Yagi mast mounted to the spare tire carrier. Very quick to set up and move if necessary. Photo by Patty, K6PYM.
RACES Field Day 2011:
We drove the mobile up to a neat picnic site on Mt Diablo and worked the event with the mobile gear and the new mobile HF whip antenna. The purpose of the event was to participate in the ARRL Field Day “contest”. The goal is to set up in a remote field location and operate away from fixed facilities and power to simulate emergency conditions. We worked 18 different states as far away as Connecticut and Hawaii, all on CW. The new mobile rig and antenna set up worked very well on their first shake down cruise.
RACES Field Day 2014
Below is the simple setup for Field Day this year. Worked lots of stations all over the US on 20 meters SSB, CW and VHF FM using a simple 50′ random wire strung in the trees as an Inverted L. We used a J-Pole on 2 meters FM that was hanging from an upper tree branch.
Above: The FT-897 running off a solar-charged 12 Volt garden tractor battery. This would basically run SSB and CW indefinitely with their low duty-cycle transmitters. This system is perfect for RACES / CERT operations in any emergency; both local and very long range communications.
Above: The little battery provides plenty of solar power storage. The DIY charge controller protects the battery from overcharging and provides battery voltage and charge current monitoring. Plus, it can tell you when sunset arrives…Keep that ground stake wet!
Above: As part of Way-Off-Grid emergency communications preparation, we also practice operating in austere environments with no infrastructure support. (That includes a supporting vehicle as shown in the posting above.) Here in a very remote location 40 miles north of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains exercising our solar-powered high frequency CW (morse code) capability.
This training evolution exercises our “Go Kit” and our ability to set it up and operate it from nearly anywhere. The Kit also includes long range, high frequency SSB voice capability and that is used to check into the weekly County Sheriff’s HF Net from this location over 150 miles away.
This setup is capable of operating indefinitely and can provide local, regional and cross continent emergency communications when local systems have failed, are overloaded or too short range for a given task. That might include regional power grid failures, repeater power or equipment failures, massive infrastructure overloads, cell phone system failures or re-prioritization of Cell Site resources for public safety – only usage.
The AN/GRC-109 radio set shown above can also be run by a human-powered hand cranked generator as an alternate power source in the unlikely event that the solar battery system fails. The panel and small garden tractor (or any vehicle 12 volt battery) can sustain lengthy Net operations at night or after only partial sun charges the battery.
As a plus, the food is much better out here too!
RACES/ACS Exercise August 16, 2014:
This county-wide Sheriff’s Department Auxiliary Communications Service exercise was to set up and test portable 2 meter stations (and in our case an additional HF station on 75 meters SSB). We passed traffic around the county and also provided HF relay to stations outside VHF range. Our VHF station was solar powered, the HF station was powered from the truck battery. The 1 KW generator was available to charge 12 V batteries or to provide any needed 120 VAC power. A good exercise.
Above: The Bronco with the AB-85 mast attached to the spare tire carrier and its 7 element Yagi antenna. Good comms despite significant terrain blockages during this exercise.
Above: Off grid power sources available. The solar panel could recharge either the truck or VHF “toolbox” radio battery; here it is connected to the external VHF station. The generator could charge either battery or power 120 VAC equipment (such as lighting) as needed.
Communications Leader Exercise (COMLEX) 11-14
Another Auxiliary Communications Service exercise, this time in support of the local town CERT program. Our tasking was to link the Fire Department Emergency Operations Center with the County Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Center via simplex radio.
Above: The installed equipment and antennas at the local Fire Department were not adequate to establish VHF simplex communications with the County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Operations Center due to terrain blockage. This was solved by the use of the portable Yagi and mast mounted on the Bronco. Simple – on the air in about 10 minutes from “landing”.
At this location, local terrain blocking precluded a path to the County OES even with the Yagi antenna. This was solved by aiming the Yagi at Mt. Diablo which could be seen LOS from both sites. This provided a very reliable, passive “terrain bounce” relay which works great.
Above: The “Back End” with tailgate operating table, Go Kit equipment and antenna supports. Note the backup J-Pole antenna lashed to the vent window doorpost. Improvise, adapt, overcome.
Above: Usually there is no substitute for antenna GAIN. We were able to provide full-quieting voice signals on 2 meters FM and also digital messaging using fldigi on a partner’s Laptop computer.
Mission Accomplished
Another Off-Grid exercise: Field Day 2015
Above: The Off Grid CW station consisted of military transmitter receiver AN/GRC-109 and a TRC-77 Transceiver, both about 10 watts output to a simple wire antenna. Lots of contacts all over the west coast with this “bullet proof” station powered by a garden tractor battery (solar panel in stand by).
Field Day 2018. Off grid campsite in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Operating the 20/100 Watt PRC-47 SSB voice radio. Thousand mile and local communications are no problem.
Exercising the “Go Kit”: Self sufficient operation off-grid for 4 days. Solar charged battery, food, lodging etc. Fun too!
Closer to home; another Sheriff’s Department exercise along with the regional CERT organizations: Exercise “Light Up the Bay” 2019.
We deployed to the local CERT Incident Command Post to support neighborhood Community Emergency Response Teams in transmitting earthquake damage reports to the local Fire Department and the County Emergency Operations Center. Here with the big Yagi antenna mounted on the Bronco, HF wires in the trees, scanners monitoring everything. We had the 1 KW generator along to power the ICP if needed.
He also had HF comms up and running despite the poor NVIS propagation conditions at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Mid-morning on 75 meters over 20 mile paths and terrain is always a challenge. A Ham 150 miles away was able to hear us loud & clear and then relay for us, quite effectively. Ham Radio is resilient.
Yet another field training deployment/exercise to include both CW and SSB voice: ARRL Field Day 2023:
Above: Field-portable HF comms also exercised Internet EMail via the Winlink/VARA HF system. Plug your Notebook PC into your HF radio via a Signalink interface. This also works with any “FLDIGI-based” communications digital protocols including MT-63, PSK, radio teletype, weather FAX etc.
This is a powerful system for communicating outside of a regional “grid down” event where Internet (to include VOIP/cell phone) connectivity is inoperable. This could be for any of a variety of reasons to include loss of utility AC power. I can just connect to a remote site (eg: out of state or even the US) via HF radio and then send/receive Internet Email via the distant HF/Internet “Gateway” station of which there are many.
Below another similar exercise, this time for the ARRL Field Day 2024. I set up my portable battery powered gear at a nice picnic site on Mt Diablo State Park. I worked mostly 40 meters CW and a few SSB contacts as well although I don’t “do” the contest aspects of Field Day.
I don’t even keep a log of contacts. I’m just there for the fresh air and to chat with like-minded people from The Bush. It is also a good site for county-wide EMCOMM work; this site is 2550 feet AMSL with great views.
This time I also brought the PRC-174 2-30 mc all-mode, 20 watt field set on the ALICE pack frame. I also had the Racal TRA-967 on 6 meters FM as well as the PRC-127EFJ HT for 2 meters. Simple HF whip and a ground radial wire made many contacts including with K6KPH at the Coast Maritime station on the Marin headlands, a reliable CW voice on the air.
I also sent and received HF WINLINK E Mail messages to the Internet via a station in Nevada; it works great and very handy if needed.
Exercise GOLDEN EAGLE 2024: This was a CA statewide emergency communications drill. The scenario was to explore the communications needed to support county-wide disaster response logistics 96 hours after the (expected) 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward fault. Here is our (solar and coffee powered) station during the exercise:
We provided HF liaison/relays between cities in the county that cannot communicate via VHF simplex due to challenging terrain realities. Repeaters and cell service are expected to be “down” for the duration so we also provided VHF FM simplex service to our local city CERT EOC and linked it county-wide via 40 meters HF SSB. We also monitored and were prepared to communicate directly to the State EOC in Sacramento if needed.
I also tried to send an ICS-213 message via HF Winlink EMail to the Internet via a gateway station outside California as an exercise. Unfortunately HF propagation at local noon had faded (SNR reported at Zero!) so the complete message did not make it to the addressee at the County EOC. Next time but it usually works very well.
Or sometimes we do more mundane things – like running a community Sand Bag station for residents to use in diverting rain runoff during “the drought”.
The usual California disasters, earthquakes, urban and wild land fires, power grid failures, floods, riots, mudslides etc….
“Be Prepared” The Boy Scouts.