The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) newsletter of 20th May reports that more than 100 Southern California hams mobilized to support public safety and medical functions during an Earthquake Full Scale Exercise (FSE) and Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE) on 15th April, in San Diego County, California, the fifth-most populated county in the United States.
Hams deployed to over 40 locations to provide communications support to hospitals, law enforcement, military bases, city and county emergency operations centres (EOCs), tribal communities, and evacuation shelters for the magnitude 6.9 earthquake exercise scenario. Damage was simulated along the busy north-south Interstate 5 corridor, in downtown San Diego, and in northern Mexico, knocking out key bridges, other infrastructure, and the San Diego International Airport. The exercise was planned by the California and San Diego County Offices of Emergency Services (OES).
Amateur radio organizations participating included the San Diego Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), San Diego Sheriff’s Office Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS), American Red Cross Disaster Support Team (DST), and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) groups such as the Poway Auxiliary Communication Team (PACT).
Radio amateurs were stretched thin to cover 40 locations, from hospital trauma centers in beach cities along the populated coast to rural mountain towns in the backcountry. With simultaneous activation of several amateur radio organizations, hams with membership in more than one group had to decide which organization to support, resulting in less-than-full staffing at some locations. Consequently, hams had to step up to fill roles that were vacant due to these challenges.
In the same newsletter, I read that an ARRL Mississippi Section ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET), code-named “Operation Undead,” took place on Saturday, March 14, running for twelve hours from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The scenario was a severe disruption of commercial communications infrastructure coupled with a localized biological threat—a novel pathogen outbreak mimicking an “undead” scenario requiring specialized public health coordination for quarantine and resource allocation.
The primary mission for Mississippi ARES was to coordinate amateur radio operators supporting overflow and emergency communications for public safety, public service, and state and local government entities, focusing specifically on the public health sector. ARES members were instructed to deploy from home stations, mobile units, and portable setups, often strategically positioned at emergency operations centers (EOCs) and public health agency locations.
The purpose of the drill was to evaluate emergency preparedness strengths and weaknesses, and demonstrate ARES capabilities to served agencies and the public. After-action summaries will show operational insights and provide guidance for future preparation efforts. All participants have been requested to submit online reports post-event, including Emergency Coordinator and Net Manager reports, as well as narrative After-Action Reports (AARs). Additionally, preparations for the 2026 SET included Mikah Crochet, K5WZL, EC for Pearl River County, coordinating with Mississippi State Guard communications assets, confirming their active participation and necessitating further meetings to ensure coordination and interoperability.
Thanks to the ARES newsletter for both these reports.
At the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre monthly meeting yesterday afternoon, and on behalf of the President of the SARL, awards were handed out as announced at the AGM on 2nd May. The four recipients of the HAMNET Shield for their services to HAMNET communications in the Western Cape (Danie, ZS1OSS, Shawn ZS1LED, Ian ZS1BR and Michael ZS1MJT) were gratefully thanked for their services to HAMNET in the Peninsula. Christo ZS1CBY, David ZS1GA and Neil ZR1ABO had previously received Jack Twine awards at the AGM, for their services to HAMNET in the Winelands area, with particular reference to the establishment of a linked system of Raspberry PI APRS digipeaters, which have increased the range of visible moving vehicles and beacons to as far as Touws River on the N1. With one more digipeater still to be installed at Langeberg, the system should cover the far side of the Hottentots Holland Mountains from Worcester down to Swellendam and along the N2. These digipeaters are linked to the Peninsula APRS system over the mountains by a very high digipeater running on solar power only on the very top of du Toit’s Kloof, which was installed by helicopter before Pierre ZS1HF’s key went silent. This ZS0DZ digipeater is currently working flawlessly and I hope I haven’t cast a spell on it by saying so!
Hamvention has come and gone. Of course, the American Press is full of aspects of the exhibits, the forums, and the markets. We, unluckily, won’t get much exposure to the forums, which are usually the most valuable part of the convention. And, as far as I can see, the new products by the big manufacturers are few and far between. It looks to me like a new repeater from YAESU, a new tunable vertical telescopic HF antenna from ELECRAFT, a new antenna tuner from ICOM, and an update to the dualband FM and D-star radio also by ICOM. It may take a while for these items to appear on the market, so don’t hold your breath
Belganewsagency.eu says that The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the SMILE mission on Tuesday the 26th, in collaboration with China, to study the Sun’s influence on Earth. Belgium is making a significant contribution to the mission, the Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo) announced.
What’s with a GPS that suddenly stops working, radio communications that cut out, or blocked electricity grids? The potential source of disruption in all these scenarios is the phenomenon of the solar wind. The Sun emits charged particles that can collide with the Earth’s magnetic field, thereby disrupting technology on Earth and in space. This can, for example, put astronauts in serious danger.
The SMILE mission aims precisely to map this phenomenon better. “Thanks to the new data collected by the satellite, scientists will be able to analyze when and why so-called space weather causes problems,” stated Belspo in a press release. In this way, scientists will in the future be able to predict where disruptions will occur.
Belgium plays a role in both the satellite’s instruments and the research. The Liège Space Centre, for example, contributed to the development of SMILE’s ultraviolet instrument. The University of Liège will help examine the data from that instrument. The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy is also a co-investigator, but specifically focusing on the properties of the solar wind.
The SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) will launch on Tuesday from French Guiana, heading for an orbit around the Earth for at least three years.
This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.