Earthquakes fill our news this week. On Wednesday morning early, a magnitude 6.2 quake struck central Italy, followed over the next two days by 7 aftershocks of at least 4.5 magnitude. Towns in central Italy, such as Amatrice and Accumuli were destroyed, and so far, the death toll stands at 290. Rescue efforts continue as I write.

Four teams from RNRE, which presumably is the amateur radio emergency service in Italy, have been activated, one of them a Headquarters station IQ1HR, and the others out in the field of devastation. 7060kHz is the centre of HF frequencies the Italians are using, and all amateurs are asked to keep well clear of this frequency until the stations are stood down.

Greg Mossop G0DUB reports that 10 Italian operators are involved in the area, and another 10 are available to relay at a distance. The three mobile units are using satellite communications via VoIP for improved accuracy of messages.

According to IARU Region One President Don Beattie G3BJ, the Italian Amateur Radio volunteers are “following their planned response with their government” and that any requests for information on missing persons should be made via the Red Cross or other recognized relief organizations.

The worst loss of life was in the town of Amatrice, where more than 180 people died. Tremors in the aftermath of the initial quake were felt as far away as Rome. Survivors are staying in tents or otherwise out of doors. A reported 4300 people were said to be active in rescue operations in the region. Thank you to the ARRL and the IARU for these details.

Meanwhile, quietly, Myanmar (formerly Burma) is recovering from a magnitude 7 earthquake, which struck the central area at a depth of 91km on the same Wednesday at 12h35 our time. Four million people live within 100km of the epicentre and could have been affected, but fortunately the depth of the earthquake meant the devastation at ground level wasn’t as bad, and we have not seen further reports of this quake.

Round the other side of the globe, radio operators in Louisiana and surrounding areas are being stood down as mopping up operations after last weekend’s floods continue. About 135000 people’s lives or homes were affected, and repairs and reconstruction in the area are going to take a long time. 13 people lost their lives in a natural disaster second only to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

And back on the Indian subcontinent, the recent flooding in India triggered by monsoonal rains has resulted in a death toll of 300 and forced many villagers to flee to higher ground. National Coordinator for Disaster Communication in India, Jayu Bhide VU2JAU reports that in the eastern region, Ambrish VU2JFA, Dutta VU2TTC and their team are busy in providing necessary communication in North Pargana.

The emergency communications and help being provided by hams coordinates the responding administration. Jayu VU2JAU also reports on flooding in central India with hams again helping the administration as it seeks to prevent any accidents. So far five people have been saved from deep flood waters and brought to safety. Ham deployment has been through the District Commanders with Jayu VU2JAU in frequent liaison with them.

Thank you to Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee, for this communique.

On a happier note, Johan Meyer ZS6DMX has reported on the HAMNET website of the Curves/SPCA Women’s Fun Walk on 21 August, supported by HAMNET Gauteng South. This was the second occasion HAMNET helped, on a route through a closed off residential area, patrolled by four teams of medical students for medical cover, and controlled from the well appointed Vito Bus owned by Martin ZS6TMN. Nine amateurs assisted, and the fun walk was completed within 2 hours without incident. Do go to HAMNET’s web page at www.hamnet.co.za for some pictures and further detail of this event. Funds were raised for the SPCA, and the event also promoted a healthy lifestyle among women. Well done, Curves, HAMNET GS and the SPCA.

In the wake of the earthquakes and disasters, wired.com has hosted a discussion around the request that average citizens in the neighbourhood of a disaster open their Wi-Fi networks so those that need it can get on to the web in a hurry. This is a very logical suggestion, but how to do it, without compromising your own security? This is not the first time this suggestion has been made. The disaster communications service called Disaster Tech Lab called for people to open their networks after the Boston bombing. However you don’t want a hack on your personal network or credentials. The way to avoid this is to set up a guest access point on your wireless network so people can get on the internet, but not your network shares, web traffic or connected devices. Hopefully your router has a guest network option, so you only need to define a name for the SSID.

Of course disaster response organisations will set up hubs for their own use, but survivors will want to contact loved ones or cry for help immediately, and those hubs will not be there immediately for them. With proper precautions in place, this initiative is admirable and even sensible, and may be vital, but clearly isn’t a sustainable strategy. A longer term emergency facility is clearly the answer.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

Day One

With over 120 people reported dead in today’s earthquake Alberto provided the following bullet points of information, all times are assumed to be Italian local time.

2 main cities destroyed : Amatrice and Accumuli –

3 teams from RNRE involved from this morning  –

HQ station IQ1HR working from 4 o’clock this morning on HF –

RNRE operating the satellite earth stations some of you may have seen at Friedrichshafen as support with VoIP phones –

Incident started from 3.36 this morning – The RNRE structure was activated from 4 o’clock via WhatsApp , SMS, mail and phone. 7060 is assumed to still be in use and strong aftershocks are still hitting the region. Thanks to all of you for your work today in informing your countries of the emergency operation. When I listened from my temporary QTH in IO70eb this afternoon I could not hear any QRM (or activity). Hopefully propagation will remain good to allow our Italian friends to keep their links and not suffer too much from the rest of the world.

Day Two

Alberto has provided the following points on the number of amateurs involved this morning.

– Deaths : Now reported as 250, significant aftershocks continue to hit the region.
– Radio amateurs involved  : 10 on field +10 outside field  with ;
– 3 mobile units with satellite stations and HF national net

Italian radio amateurs are likely to remain involved for some time. Although you can see from the TV reporters that there are good communications with the area , RNRE are kept available by their government to provide communications from the disaster are back to Rome if an aftershock causes more damage to communications systems.

73,
Greg, G0DUB
IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator

Amateur Radio volunteers this week responded to help, after flooding of historic proportions struck parts of Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend in the wake of torrential rainfall. States of emergency were declared in both states, the federal government has declared Louisiana a major disaster area, and the Louisiana Emergency Operations Centre was at full activation. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, visited the stricken region on August 16. Louisiana Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) was activated, and Section Emergency Coordinator Adam Tamplain, KD5LEH, put out a call for volunteers to support communication at Red Cross shelters in the hard-hit Livingston Parish and Baton Rouge area. On August 16, the Red Cross was still requesting shelter operators. Although some residents were being allowed to return home at mid-week, about 4000 people remain in shelters.

“While we have had an increase in response from the South Eastern area, it’s still not quite enough,” Tamplain said on Tuesday. “Alabama ARES is attempting to put together a team for us. We have seen support from Southwest Mississippi as well. We had Operators at Red Cross New Orleans, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge today.” Tamplain said a dozen or so operators were staffing eight shelters; nearly 30 remained open at mid-week. He asked additional volunteers to check in at Red Cross Headquarters in Baton Rouge.

Red Cross Vice President of Disaster Services, Operations, and Logistics Brad Kieserman called the Louisiana flooding the worst natural disaster to strike the US since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Area waterways have reached record flood levels, affecting some 135,000 households and displacing thousands of residents. More than a dozen have died. Roads, including parts of Interstates 10 and 12, had to be closed, and some highways remain impassable. Most conventional telecommunication systems have remained operational. Thank you to the ARRL Newsline for this information.

Meanwhile in California, raging fires have caused the evacuation of more than 50,000 people, with huge loss of homes and property. The fire has spread fiercely in all directions, and thousands of houses have been destroyed, the fire being too strong to be contained by burning firebreaks, and flying fire aircraft dumping water on the fires. The flooding in Louisiana has overshadowed the fire problems in California in the news.

In London, an Indian-origin student has developed a novel drone platform called Exigency, that provides temporary communications immediately after the occurrence of a natural disaster, allowing victims quickly to contact family and rescue groups. This in turn allows organisations to set up evacuation camps quickly too. Basically, it is a cell-phone repeater on a drone, which can immediately be flown above a disaster area, allowing stranded or injured people the ability to have cell-phone coverage, even though ground-based systems have been disabled.

And at the Tokyo HamFair of 2016, Icom has provided excitement with 4 new products, some of them very appropriate to emergency communications ops. The most obvious is the new ID-51E PLUS 2 D-Star handheld, with lots of digital facilities for data transfer from an event or disaster scene. But the two highlights are the new IC-7610 base station, an upgrade to the IC-7600, and the IC-R8600, a very wide-band receiver, in the mould of the 7300, but with receive range from 100kHz to 3 GHz, and reception of all digital modes, to replace the aging R8500. Few details of the 7610 have been released, but it appears to have 2 antenna outputs on the back, all the options of the 7300 on the front panel, and what looks like a USB socket on the front, perhaps for a USB keyboard. You can Google IC-7610 to see a video of the fair on YouTube. A Yahoo group has already sprung up to post news of the 7610 to the eager enthusiasts. I hope it is the Software Defined Radio with the extra features that 7300 users have been wishing for.

Hamnet Western Cape’s bulletin this past week at 19h30 on Wednesday the 17th had its range of reception extended, by a crossband repeat on to 434.600 MHz, from whence it was picked up by the linked repeater system in the Western Cape and re-transmitted on 145.675 from the Jonaskop site, on 145.650 from Riversdale, from 434.800 at Dana Bay, and finally 145.700 in George. The relay also went North West via UHF links to the Piketberg repeater on 145.625. Two VHF repeaters, namely the 145.600 on Hanskop and the 145.650 on du Toit’s Kloof were unlinked, to leave important voice channels over the Hottentot’s Holland mountains and in the direction of Worcester open. HF communications have become so bad lately that our outlying areas have no reception on 40 or 80 metres, as in the past. If you live in outlying areas of the Western Cape, and previously listened to our bulletin on HF, consider looking on your nearest repeater for a relay.

Wintery weather around the country isn’t over yet, although a low-pressure trough, extending from mid-Namibia diagonally down to the Eastern Cape was visible on Wednesday’s weather satellite’s pictures, suggesting Spring conditions. Twenty millimetres of rain is to fall over 100% of the Western Cape today, brought by a very impressive cold front, which may have lots of cold air behind it to chill the Western half of the country, and make the closing down of the Lighthouse stations soggy affairs. In contrast, KwaZulu Natal has had early Spring rain this weekend, spoiling the cricket a bit yesterday, so dangerous driving conditions are still being experienced on the roads. Please exercise caution, drive with your headlights on all the time, and remain radioactive for the sake of your fellow countrymen.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

Keith Lowes ZS5WFD did in fact send us a report of last Sunday’s Kloof Conservancy Three Falls Trail Run. 303 entrants ran the full race, and another 76 did the fun walk. The weather was good for the race, and all went well, apart from a female runner who broke her ankle in the splash at the river crossing. Brad ZS5Z assessed the situation, notified the JOC, who then mobilised Rescuetech and ER24 to extract the runner, stabilise her injury and convey her to hospital. Another call for a runner possibly in difficulty was cancelled after her husband came to her rescue. The Joint Operations centre was stood down at 12h15, and Keith expresses his thanks to all from HAMNET KZN for their help.

If you thought HAMNET’s influence extended only as far as South Africa’s borders, think again. Grant Southey ZS1GS, HAMNET WC Regional Director is on holiday in England, and was sitting in a park enjoying a cup of coffee with his wife Elizabeth ZS1XS, when a child at a nearby table started choking on a sweet. As the little girl starting going blue, her mother tried to dislodge the sweet unsuccessfully. Grant quickly sized up the situation, went across to their table, and, after two attempts at the Heimlich Manoeuvre, succeeded in dislodging the sweet from her throat. Daughter and Mother quickly recovered their composure, and soon left the park.

In typical philosophical manner, Grant pondered on the fact that first aid takes no holidays, and that we all ought to be competent to give basic help if needed. The Heimlich Manoeuvre is a simple life-saving procedure, and it behoves us all to understand how to do it, because a life is so easily lost, and so easily saved if this technique is adequately employed. Well done, Grant, and somewhere, there will be a mother who will one day tell the story of an unknown South African who saved her daughter’s life!

South Africa has at least three Ionosondes, vertically directed transmitters and receivers for assessing the ionosphere, and predicting propagation patterns for the benefit of all agencies transmitting radio signals, including radio amateurs. The biggest Ionosonde in the world has recently been recommissioned in Alaska, at its High Altitude Auroral Research Programme, or HAARP, facility. Originally managed by the US Air Force, it has now been acquired by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and its Geophysical Institute is preparing it for a new sponsored research campaign to begin next year.

Some instruments at the site will need repairing or replacement, the optical instruments will be returned to the site, and exotic equipment such as riometers, a UHF radar, and a flux-gate magnetometer will be brought up to speed again. An increase in amateur radio’s involvement is also planned, and other science instruments are on the drawing board for the future. One or more ham stations may be installed at the site.

The University describes HAARP as “the world’s most capable high-power, high-frequency transmitter for study of the ionosphere.” Built in three phases, starting in the early 1990’s and continuing until 2007, at a cost of some $300 million, HAARP over the years has inspired a wide range of conspiracy theories that became grist for late-night radio talk shows. Some have claimed that HAARP’s transmitters and 30-acre antenna farm — capable of generating up to 5 GW Effective Radiated Power — have been used to control the weather, while others have argued that HAARP has caused earthquakes!

Ignoring these idiocies, HAARP is aimed at studying the properties and behaviour of the ionosphere. Operation of the research facility was transferred from the US Air Force to the University of Alaska Fairbanks last August, allowing HAARP to continue exploring ionospheric phenomena via a land-use cooperative research and development agreement. — Thanks to the ARRL Letter, Chris Fallen, KL3WX, Steve Floyd, W4YHD, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks for these notes.

Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, has posted a reflection on our Facebook page this week, that Winter will soon be over, and that berg winds in the Eastern half of the country will bring the risks of veld fires to those areas. He pleads with us all not inconsiderately to flick those cigarette butts out of the car window, because of the potential danger to the country-side. We all join him in hoping that early Spring rains will bring relief to the many drought-stricken and devastated areas of our country.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

As promised, we start with the report from Dave Higgs ZS2DH, on the VW rally held around the Bay West Mall on 15th and 16th July. This is an old favourite event in the Eastern Cape, and HAMNET Eastern Cape’s Deputy Director, Tony Allen ZR2TX is to be congratulated on the degree of planning he put into it. The Lady’s Slipper and Longmore repeaters were used on VHF, and the JOC inside the Bay West Mall used a UHF link to a cross-band relay in a vehicle outside the Mall to link to the repeaters.

Twelve stages, lasting from a few km, to 43 km in the Longmore forest took place, and all the mobile officials in the race, from Clerk of the Course to the PA van were manned by amateurs, as well as the start and finish of every stage, and even some mid points along the way. All in all, 30 operators assisted, some of them doubling up their duties at more than one spot. Some of the operators were brand new hams, having just written their exams and earned their licences.

Tony ZR2TX, supported by Patsy ZS2PTY, managed the Joint Operations Centre, and handled the ordinary traffic as well as emergencies, with aplomb. The race organisers thanked HAMNET EC and PEARS for their support over the last 34 years. Special mention was made of Bill Hodges, ZS2ABZ who has been involved with all but last year’s event, when he was ill. Well done, Bill, and congratulations to all the other operators too.

ZS2DH has also brought to our attention, the Trans Baviaans Mountain Bike race, which has grown to become a two weekend event, over the weekends of the 13-14th August and the 20-21st August. HAMNET and PEARS members provide communications via a digipeater network through the length of the kloof, with a Venue Operations Centre near Patensie, and a VHF/UHF repeater network for voice traffic. The Longmore repeater will again be involved, and matrixed with several temporary voice repeaters for awkward spots in the 230km race.

ZS2-land enjoys this wilderness event, with operators camping over at their various spots, and emergency traffic, times of arrival and departure of teams, withdrawals and general logistical communications receiving radio preference. APRS will be used to track the Medics and other mobile assets in real time at the Ops Centre. Good luck to all the Eastern Cape operators for these two weekends.

Keith Lowes ZS5WFD, from KwaZulu Natal, tells me HAMNET KZN will be providing the communications for the Kloof Conservancy Three Falls Trail Run, taking place today the 7th August, starting at the Forest View Primary School, through the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, and ending at the school again, a distance of 18.6km. This is the fifth time the race is being run, and started at 06h30 this morning. There is a challenging river crossing, the river being swollen by the recent rains in KZN. Communications will be on the 145.625 Highway Amateur Radio Club repeater, with additional links via the Ezemvelo Wildlife repeater system to the Joint Operations Centre. Hopefully I’ll have a report-back for you in a future bulletin. Thanks Keith!

International news comes via Greg Mossop G0DUB, from IARU Region One, regarding Tropical Storm Earl, currently heading across Central America affecting the countries of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. IARU Region 2 has requested that attention is drawn to the following frequencies used by nets in North and Central America to track and deal with the consequences of these severe weather events. Radio Amateurs in Region 2 play their part in gathering and distributing information for the weather and emergency services as they do every year.

Radio Amateurs in Region 1 are reminded it is possible to cause unintentional QRM to these nets so please listen carefully if operating near these frequencies which have been activated due to Tropical Storm Earl:

Mexico: 7.060 & 3.690 MHz

Guatemala: 7.075 MHz

Belize: 7.177MHz

USA Hurricane Watch Net: 14.325 MHz

Greg has also notified us of further frequencies used in the Caribbean and surrounding areas during the Atlantic hurricane season in previous years, and asks us to think twice before calling inconsiderately on these frequencies. The list is quite long, so please go to the HAMNET website, at www.hamnet.co.za to see the complete list on the homepage. Thank you.

Then, for HAMNET Western Cape members, invited to a lecture at the Mountain Club of South Africa’s clubhouse, 97 Hatfield St, Cape Town, on Hyperthermia, and the management of the overheated athlete or rescue victim, please note that the date of the talk has been moved forward from the 10th August to Wednesday the 17th August at 19h00 local time. The talk will be given by Ross Hofmeyr.

Finally, HAMNET South Africa would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the new Council of the SARL on their election in the last two weeks, and wish them well, as they handle the nitty-gritty of running the affairs of the radio amateur community. HAMNET assures them of our total support, of course, and we will not hesitate to provide the emergency communications wherever we are needed.

HAMNET would also like to thank the outgoing Council for their years of service to the hobby. We hope to hear you all on the bands for a change, instead of beavering away at the administration all the time!

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

The text below has been published to www.iaru-r1.org following a number of announcements/emails from IARU Region 2 today.

73,

Greg, G0DUB

IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator

“Tropical Storm EARL is currently heading across Central America affecting the countries of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. IARU Region 2 has requested that attention is drawn to the following frequencies used by nets in North and Central America to track and deal with the consequences of these severe weather events. Radio Amateurs in Region 2 play their part in gathering and distributing information for the weather and emergency services as they do every year.

Radio Amateurs in Region 1 are reminded it is possible to cause unintentional QRM to these nets so please listen carefully if operating near these frequencies which have alerted due to Tropical Storm EARL:

Mexico: 7.060 & 3.690 MHz

Guatemala: 7.075 MHz

Belize: 7.177MHz

USA Hurricane Watch Net: 14.325 MHz

For the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season, Radio Amateurs are reminded of the following frequencies which have been notified from previous seasons:

Caribbean Emergency & Weather Nets: 7.162 & 3.815 MHz

Eastern Caribbean Narrow Band Emergency System Net: 7.036 MHz USB(Olivia & MT63) Caribbean Emergency: 14.185 MHz

Republica Dominicana: 7.065 & 3.780 MHz

Cuba: 7.045, 7.080, 7.110, and 3.740 MHz

Central America: 7.090 & 3.750 MHz

Nicaragua: 7.098 MHz

Panama: 7.085 MHz

USA:

Maritime Mobile Service Net: 14.300 MHz

Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN): 14.265 MHz

Other local emergency communications groups may also activate if a hurricane approaches their area and those frequencies would be announced at the time.”