New Push

[cgray777]

Is there a new push on to get LDS Hams?  If so where is the push coming from?

[KI6DKC]

In our stake there is a push along the whole preparedness front including emergency communications.  We had some handouts about what the church learned from Huricanes Katrina and Rita as far as communcations go and it wasn't pretty.

[wb7sgl]

In our stake there is a push along the whole preparedness front including emergency communications.  We had some handouts about what the church learned from Huricanes Katrina and Rita as far as communcations go and it wasn't pretty.

Is that handout something we could post on the site for all to appreciate? If so, that would be fantastic. In addition, we have a member on the site from Europe. They are not receiving a lot of direction about using Amateur Radio but are very much wanting to gather any information available.

[cgray777]

This looks like it is a stake by stake effort.  I joined in the Broomfield net last night, they have just installed a radio in their stake center. I this also a stake level effort?  Is their funding from the stake to do things kind of things or is the money donated?  Anyone know?  I would like to see a radio in our stake center but don't know how to go about it.  any help would be appreciated.

[wb7sgl]

This looks like it is a stake by stake effort.  I joined in the Broomfield net last night, they have just installed a radio in their stake center. I this also a stake level effort?  Is their funding from the stake to do things kind of things or is the money donated?  Anyone know?  I would like to see a radio in our stake center but don't know how to go about it.  any help would be appreciated.

Putting a radio in the Stake Centers it the responsibility of the Stake. My Stake, Columbine Stake, purchased a Yaesu FT897 so they can do HF/VHF/UHF. If the region has an organized ERRS Like Denver's, the Storehouse or other designated location will be responsible for HF communications with SLC. The regional communications are done using VHF here in Denver and will probably occur the same way elsewhere.

[KI6DKC]

The handout was about 20 pages of various stuff pulled from what I believe are church website resources.  The most interesting part was the one detailing what was learned from Katrina and Rita.  I guess the church was unable to communicate with the storehouses that serviced those areas.  They also had some serious troubles getting the Sat phones working either due to conditions, lack of training, etc.  I'll see if I can find the handout and get the URLs off the pages to post here.

Our stake has passed down that wards and stakes are discouraged from purchasing radio equipment or attaching antennas to the buildings for amatuer radio.  Basically the ward and stake communication specialists are being encouraged to be ready with what is needed to provide the bishops, branch presidents, and stake president with communications capablilities via ham radio.  There is supposed to be a test of the stake's capabilities later in the year as far as communications go.  I'm only the ward executive secretary but as one of the few operators in the ward with some equipment I've been asked to attend the trainings and meetings.  This is partially in response to the very scattered nature of many of our wards and members in the stake.  Some wards cover a couple different towns over various distances making a block system nearly impossible so getting more people trained in the wards is being encouraged.  We have two units that are so geographically separated that in an emergency they would pretty much be cut off without radio and unfortunatly they have no licensed operators in their membership.  So there is a lot to work out.

But as far as I can tell there has been nothing driving this higher than the individual stake level and in fact, calls to Salt Lake by the stake folks have been very short on specific protocols to use in an emergency for communications.

Jason

[cgray777]

So what I can tell this is a limited to a stake by stake effort.

From the MARA-MW website I was left with the impression that this is a top down effort.

From the web site:

http://www.mara-mw.net/history.html

We have:

“Abstract: ……A time came, however, when the direction that some MARA chapters was moving, or the methods being employed, were no longer in line with the specific needs recognized by the Welfare Department. Paramount was the need to develop a communications service under priesthood direction. Thus, the Emergency Response Radio Service was established to be the official system for the Church, and MARA was given freedom to serve its members in whatever way they chose……”


Is this your understanding of ERRS within the LDS Church?

If so who is directing efforts in the Denver area for ERRS?

Talking with others and stake and ward levels I’m left with the impression that it is left up to the Stakes.  Some are doing much and well and others are doing very little.

[KI6DKC]

Here's a link to a part of what was in the pamphlet that was handed out.  It is about what was learned from Rita and Katrina.  http://hamradio.miyadi.org/files/Katrina%20Lessons.pdf  This isn't the original link as I cannot access the original but this is the exact thing that was handed out.  The original was taken from www.idahoerc.org which is a site I do not have access to.  I think you will agree that the assessment of the commmunications failures is interesting.

The next to pages from the handout are entitled Emergency Response Communications (ERC) Program.  This is just a document that lays out the priesthood responsibilities for the emergency communications program namely that wards and stakes make these decisions under the direction of the Stake President.  The second page is entitled Principles of the ERC Program that lists 9 principles detailed below:

1.  Emergency communications specialists and station operators are called to serve Church leaders and act under their direction.  When responding to an emergency, emergency communications specialists and station operators are communicators, not decision-makers.

2.  Church policy on emergencies, including communications, is stated in the Church Welfare Resources.

3.  Emergency communications specialists and station operators provide  Church leader communications only.  Member health and welfare is the responsibility of others.

4.  Church leaders use the telephone or cell phone if available.  Amateur radio, satellite phones, and other modes are a backup to the telephone.

5.  Although amature radio is the most reliable and effective mode of emergency communications, church leaders are not limited to amature radio.  Emergency communications specialists should recommend whatever mode works best for their unit (Family Radio Service, Citizens Band, General Mobile Radio Service, Multiple Use Radio Services, runners, etc.).  Amature radio is required for communicating with the bishop's storehouse.

6.  Cell phones may be very useful in limited emergencies.  However, cellular service should not be relied on for severe emergencies because of it's susceptibility to overload.

7.  The authority for emergency communications specialists and station operators to activate the ERC communications network is limited to 1) ERC training exercises, and 2) to establish communications during an actual emergency while serving church leaders.  Utilization of the system for any other purpose requires approval of the appropriate Church leader.  Church leaders have counselled against conducting mock dissaster or any any emergency exercise that involves ward or stake members in general.

8.  Although not recommended, an amateur radio operator may be shared between stakes until a qualified emergency communications specialist can be found.

9.  Church employees should not operate an amateur radio station in behalf of the church when they are "on the clock".  To do so may constitute a violation of FCC rules and regulations pertaining to amature radio.

(sorry for any typos).

The next page of the hand out is from Provident Living.org  under Helps for Church Leaders.  Teach a Welfare Principle or Topic Instructional Recources for Welfare Trainers. http://www.providentliving.org/content/list/0,11664,5155-1,00.html

The next page in the handout is Lesson 14 Preparing For Emergencies from the Provident Living website.  The lesson is found at http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,5227-1-2754-1,00.html

The next page in the handout was a google map showing the approximate location of all ward buildings in the stake and a member owned 2meter repeater that covers the stake.

The next page in the handout was a complete list of amatuer radio operators in the stake by call sign, name, when they checked into the net, their phone number, their cell phone number, their church unit, town, and email address.

The next page is the 2 meter band plan for Northern California along with the PM simplex frequencies for the band plan.  The stake then chose one fo these simplex frequencies to be used as another frequency other than the one for the repeater for emergency communications.  Wards were encouraged to choose a simplex frequency for their own ward.  The band plan part of this handout is found at http://www.narcc.org/Rptr_Lists/2Mchart-20080107.pdf  You may need to see what the band plan is for your area.

[KI6DKC]

The next few pages consist of an explanation of the FRS GMRS and MURS radio systems as options for the wards.  The next page talks about CB radio.  I don't know where these pages came from but a good web source for similar info is at http://www.ultimatefrs.com/index.html

The next page is a complete contact sheet for the Stake Communication Specialist listing every conceivable way to contact him along with his normal daily locations and schedule.  Ward leadership including the ward council and ward communication specialist was asked to provide similar info.  The next two pages were blank copies of this form for photocopying.  The stake wants a copy and the ward needs a copy for the bishopric and ward communications specialist to access in an emergency.  Ward counsel members as well.

The next page was a copy of the Stake communciations plan, key contact info, communication modes, frequencies, proceedures  etc.  The last page was a blank one for the wards to use to create their ward communications plan to give to the stake and to keep in the ward emergency prep plan.

I hope this information is useful.  Due to the length and not having a scanner I was not able to post a copy of the entire thing but with the provided links and descriptions you can pretty much put one together for your own ward or stake.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Jason

[wb7sgl]

Jason,

Thank you very much for transcribing the information for everyone on the site!

-Rob

[PReagan]

http://www.popularwireless.com/gmrsbppfaq.html

website about FRS GRMS 

Good to read as wards get into communications.

Thanks for the topics and Katrina information

Paul KI6KGT
Tulare California
Ward Emer Comm

[KI6DKC]

FRS isn't a too bad an option for some communications.  My family and I use it when we go places to talk to eachother.  When I have to go on the roof to adjust the Satelite after a storm it works good for communicating with my wife.  She can tell me if it is working or not without yelling out a window or having to go up and down the ladder.  I know a guy that went back east with his family and they had multiple cars.  He said it worked great for communicating between the two vehicles, especially when they got into traffic or needed to tell one car that they needed to stop to use the facilities.

GMRS has never really appealed to me.  The license seems expensive when comparred to just getting your tech license then you can change antennas and run some more power but it is still less than a cheapo 2m mobile.  The GMRS HTs are about as much as a ham 2m HT so for me it just doesn't make much sense.  If you didn't have to have the FCC license for them or it was some paltry cost to get the license for GMRS I could see a better case for using it.

[wb7sgl]

FRS isn't a too bad an option for some communications.  My family and I use it when we go places to talk to eachother.  When I have to go on the roof to adjust the Satelite after a storm it works good for communicating with my wife.  She can tell me if it is working or not without yelling out a window or having to go up and down the ladder.  I know a guy that went back east with his family and they had multiple cars.  He said it worked great for communicating between the two vehicles, especially when they got into traffic or needed to tell one car that they needed to stop to use the facilities.

GMRS has never really appealed to me.  The license seems expensive when comparred to just getting your tech license then you can change antennas and run some more power but it is still less than a cheapo 2m mobile.  The GMRS HTs are about as much as a ham 2m HT so for me it just doesn't make much sense.  If you didn't have to have the FCC license for them or it was some paltry cost to get the license for GMRS I could see a better case for using it.

We have actually purchased the FRS/GMRS radios for the Ward (20) and will probably issue them to the block captains for emergency use despite the issues, but the GMRS license costs are a big deterrent from using the service. After you buy a decent GMRS radio, and pay the $85 for a 5 year license, you basically just bought your starter 2M HT. Another $14 for the VE exam and you've got a ten year license to go way beyond the limitations of GMRS. It just doesn't make sense to go with GMRS which a lot of Wards are recognizing. Not to mention that Amateur Radio Service ties in with local auxiliary emergency communications in times of need. We will actually be capable of participating instead of having to figure out how to be a part.

[KI6DKC]

Exactly, as I understand it GMRS isn't for business anymore unless it was grandfathered in under the old rules so I wonder if you could even get licenses for wards anyway to operate the GMRS radios.  And you are right about the costs.  Even with an entry level 5 watt 2 meter HT you can cover a lot of area with the right antenna.  And with the huge number of open 2 meter repeaters in the world you can hit one from almost anywhere and have emergency communications.  When I first started I used a 5 Watt HT and a Larsen 3/8 wave wip antenna for mounting on a car and was able to do just about anything I wanted on 2meter.  Even today with my mobile 50 radio I run 5 watts 99% of the time.

The tech exams are the way to go.  It's just hard to make the case to get licensed and a radio when times are good.  I bet those folks in the Katrina region would have given almost anything to have been ham radio operators.