Operations Guide Version 1.7 Affiliated Club Operations Guide Amateur Radio Euless 1102 West Euless Blvd. Euless, TX 76040 442.900+ 110.9 [email protected] www.w5eul.com © 2014 Amateur Radio Euless Acknowledgements Skywarn® is a registered trademark of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Yaesu® is a registered trademark of the Vertex Standard Co., Ltd. Powerpole® is a registered trademark of Anderson Power Products Dallas County RACES Cloud Cowboy 2013 National Weather Service office of Fort Worth Fort Worth RACES DFW Area Ham Radio Interoperability Group The City of Euless Texas John Galvin, N5TIM Dan O’Connor, KE7HLR Phillip Bailey, WY3Q American Radio Relay League DISCLAIMER Amateur Radio Euless (ARE) does not warrant or make representations or endorsements as to the quality, content, accuracy, or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links and other items contained in this manual or any website links contained within. Such materials have been compiled from a variety of sources and are subject to change without notice. Certain materials contained herein may be entitled to copyright, service mark, or trademark protection under state and federal law. Such materials remain the property of their respective owners, and the unauthorized use or republication of those materials may be subject to a legal action for infringement. Except to the extent allowed by law, the use or republication of the materials contained on this website is prohibited without the written permission of ARE. Some of the links on this page and subsequent pages may lead to resources outside ARE. The presence of external links should not be construed as an endorsement of these sites or their content by ARE. ARE is not responsible for, and specifically disclaims responsibility for, the content of any such external link. ARE respects one’s privacy and will endeavor to use any requested data solely for purposes of conducting official business. However, be aware that correspondence, e-mail, and other documents submitted to ARE may have to be made available for public review and inspection, as well as photocopying by members of ARE, in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act. i | ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7 INTRODUCTION The Amateur Radio Euless Operations Guide is an orientation and reference guide for members of the Euless Amateur Radio Club. This guide includes information about club operations, club equipment, emergency operations, and other reference material. The purpose of this guide is to provide the basic information needed to be a contributing member of the club. It contains information on club meetings, activities, basic operations of the club radio equipment, and reference material aiding the club member in preparing to serve the City of Euless during emergency operations. This guide also contains detailed information on frequency plans that aid in mutual aid communications with other local and county amateur radio organizations. We encourage you to use this information to prepare yourself and your radio equipment to serve during emergency events. To download a copy of this guide, please visit the Amateur Radio Euless website at www.w5eul.com. The guide is available in the Manuals section of the site. Your comments are welcome at [email protected]. ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7 ii CONTENTS AMATEUR RADIO EULESS ................................................................................................................................ 2 Who We Are ................................................................................................................................................. 3 What We Do ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Supported Agencies ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Club Meetings ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Club Repeater ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Club Station .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Weekly Net ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Club Yahoo Group ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Radio License Testing .................................................................................................................................. 4 Training......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Affiliated Clubs ............................................................................................................................................ 5 EchoLink....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Winlink ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 ARE Club Bylaws ......................................................................................................................................... 8 ARE Club License ...................................................................................................................................... 14 ARE CLUB EQUIPMENT ................................................................................................................................... 16 Yaesu FT-7800R VHF/UHF ....................................................................................................................... 17 Yaesu FT-8800R VHF/UHF ....................................................................................................................... 20 Yaesu FT-897D HF/VHF/UHF .................................................................................................................. 23 Ameritron SDC-102 Screwdriver Antenna Controller ............................................................................... 26 MFJ-4245MV Power Supply ...................................................................................................................... 27 Portable Go-Box ......................................................................................................................................... 28 Portable Go-Box Setup Procedure .............................................................................................................. 29 EMERGENCY OPERATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 32 Preparedness ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Euless PD Emergency Operations Center................................................................................................... 33 Fort Worth RACES ..................................................................................................................................... 33 ARE Club Activation .................................................................................................................................. 35 Communications Equipment ....................................................................................................................... 35 Euless Community Emergency Response Team ........................................................................................ 35 RACES Skywarn Spotter Net ..................................................................................................................... 36 iii | ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7 CONTENTS APPENDEX ............................................................................................................................................................ 44 Frequency Plans .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Club Net Script ........................................................................................................................................... 50 Phonetic Alphabet ....................................................................................................................................... 52 H.A.N.D ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 Net Do’s and Don’ts ................................................................................................................................... 53 Basic Communications Go-Kit ................................................................................................................... 54 Anderson Power Poles ................................................................................................................................ 55 Resource Typing ......................................................................................................................................... 56 Common Items for all Communications Resource Functions (CRF) .................................................. 56 Communications Resource Function S - (Shadow | VHF/UHF) .......................................................... 56 Communications Resource Function B - (Base | VHF/UHF) .............................................................. 56 Communications Resource Function M - (Mobile | VHF/UHF) .......................................................... 57 Communications Resource Function H - (Long-Range Communications | HF) .................................. 57 Communications Resource Function DA - (Data - APRS Operations | VHF/UHF) ............................ 57 Communications Resource Function DT - (Data – Resource Tracking| VHF/UHF) ........................... 57 Communications Resource Function DM - (Tactical Data Messaging | VHF/UHF) ........................... 57 Communications Resource Function DH - (Long-Range Data Messaging | HF) ................................ 58 Communications Resource Function DN - (Data Networking | UHF) ................................................ 58 Communications Resource Function AV - (Amateur TV | UHF) ........................................................ 58 CRF Assignment Durations ........................................................................................................................ 58 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................................................... 60 MAPS .................................................................................................................................................................... 64 City of Euless .............................................................................................................................................. 65 Tarrant County Mapsco .............................................................................................................................. 66 Dallas County Mapsco ................................................................................................................................ 67 North Texas Counties SKYWARN Frequencies ........................................................................................ 68 Euless Warning Sirens ................................................................................................................................ 69 BAND PLAN .......................................................................................................................................................... 70 REVISIONS .......................................................................................................................................................... 71 NOTES ................................................................................................................................................................... 72 ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7 iv 1 | ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7 AMATEUR RADIO EULESS AMATEUR RADIO EULESS Who We Are Amateur Radio Euless is an association of members who have a common interest in the avocation of Amateur Radio. Our members have diverse interests. You will find among our ranks those who enjoy building their own radios and those who enjoy contacting other amateurs around the world, those who perform community service, and those who simply enjoy the chance to meet new people over the air. Amateur Radio is a worldwide service that can be an enriching, educational, lifelong activity. The club is affiliated with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). What We Do Our club holds monthly meetings on the second Wednesday of each month in the Euless Police Department’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) These meetings are an opportunity for us to learn about the latest developments in Amateur Radio, plan and organize club events, and to share information. We have an informative presentation at each meeting on a wide variety of topics related to Amateur Radio communications. Amateur Radio is a licensed radio service. To earn a license requires passing examinations regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The club is not just for people who are already licensed. The members and officers of Amateur Radio Euless are excited to share our enjoyable and interesting avocation with anyone who is curious about Amateur Radio and communications. We are also interested in helping people earn their own Amateur Radio license. The relationship of the ARE Radio club to the EOC is a volunteer effort. The EOC operates during emergencies where one agency (fire or police, for example) is not able to handle the disaster alone, and it is a place where city planners and heads of police, fire, and other agencies get together in one location to deal with it. Amateur Radio Operators from the club have a location in the EOC to handle emergency communications should the standard systems go down, and to provide backup communication services when needed. The R.A.C.E.S. members of the club also provide trained communications personnel (amateur radio operators) to assist the National Weather Service, and other similar community agencies, in providing communications support for sporting events and a variety of public service events. During disaster events ARE and RACES radio operators assist local, county, and state public service organizations by providing vital additional emergency communications capacity. Supported Agencies City of Euless Office of Emergency Management Euless Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Northeast Tarrant and Denton County Child Abduction Response Team (NETDC-CART) National Weather Service Fort Worth R.A.C.E.S North Texas Amateur Radio Emergency Service - NTXARES 3 | ARE Operations Guide Version 1.7