November Calendar at a Glance

Regular Club Meeting Friday Nov 16^th

ARES SET Sat. Nov 17th

ARES Meeting Thursday, Nov 29^th

Club Net Monday’s at 7PM

ARES/RACES Net Wednesday’s at 7 PM

Club Breakfast Nov. 3^rd, Dec 1^st

November Meeting:

Our November meeting will be an opportunity to learn about the 146.840- repeater, the club’s longest running and supported machine. There will be a discussion about the coverage, the history, and associated problems with this aging machine. Following will be a proposal, discussion, and vote on a potential replacement for our 2-meter equipment to the North.

One Liberty Center

650 N Holladay Street

Portland, Oregon

(A few blocks SE of the Lloyd Center)

All hams are welcome to attend. Updates and changes will be announced on the PARC net, Monday at 7 PM on the 146.840 Repeater. All hams are encouraged to check in!

Radio Nets

Here is a Schedule of Nets for all interested.

All Nets are handled on the 146.840 repeater.

Sunday: Handi-Hams Net 7 PM

Monday: PARC Weekly Net 7PM

Wednesday: ARES/RACES Net 7PM

Thursday: Youth Net 7PM

All Hams are welcome to check in or listen to any Net

Wilsonville Troop 194 Operates in JOTA.

4 Boy Scouts make HF contacts with Alaska during JOTA ’01

Clockwise from upper left: Ben, Jered, Patrick, and Andrew

Saturday, October 20 marked the date of the 2001 annual Jamboree of the Air. An event which teams Scouts from around the globe with ham operators in their community, Jamboree of the Air is the first experience for ham radio for many young folks, and a new experience in chatting with scouts from other groups. This year, 4 Boy Scouts from Troop 194 in Wilsonville decided to give it a try. This also marked a campout weekend for part of the group on the Oregon coast, so not all could make it to where the radio was set up. The Mohr family, Joe, KC7ZZX; Jill, KC7ZZY; Patrick KC7ZZV; and David hosted 3 other Scouts from their troop into their home on Saturday, October 20. Joe and Patrick, who is also a Scout, are both holders of Technician class licenses, and wanted to participate this year and make some contacts with other Scouts. Joe made arrangements with me to show up and let them use my callsign as control operator. A lot of activity seemed to be happening on the air. We listened to a QSO between a VE7 station in Northern BC, and a station in California. This was our first experience with this event, and unlike a contest where lots of people are trying to make contacts, get their exchange, and move on, this one is a little different. Although many people are all trying for the same stations, the exchanges are informal consisting of favorite color, what computer games do you like, do you play sports, what’s your rank, etc. People are not in a contest frame of mind, and patience is the key, and part of the unwritten rules. In contests, part of the challenge is trying not to have your frequency taken away from you, and control the spot. In this event, politeness is rewarded with contacts, and stepping on a QSO means that some other scout is unable to talk. We listened for awhile, then called CQ Jamboree. A station from Gustavus, Alaska came right back to us with a reply. Chuck, (WL7CSJ) at his home in this small town located about 40 miles Northwest of Juneau was hosting 5 scouts. All were anxious to give it a try. Andrew, Ben, Jered, and Patrick were able to talk with Jeff, Seth, Dustin, Nevin and Matt from Troop 61 in Alaska. All seemed to be a little shy at first, but judging from the faces, I think all were impressed with their contacts so far away from home by radio.

My First Marathon

By Patrick Kennedy KD7HDP

I used to think a marathon was 26 miles long. Now I know its 386 yards more than that. This distinction became real to me about 11 AM on September 30th, 2001. That’s when I saw a runner go down within sight of the finish line and be helped by two other runners the last 100 yards or so. Beyond exhaustion, the poor guy didn’t know how close he was until they got within feet of the finish line.

I doubt he realized how close he was to becoming a medical emergency, also.

Marathon runners are a driven bunch. It takes that kind of drive to make it. It’s this same drive that sometimes results in runners needing help. That’s where we, the radio communicators, come in. We get their call for help to the right people, quickly.

The Preparation

This year we had new PARC members coordinating the operators for the marathon. Pete Rodabaugh W7PR did most of the work, with yours truly assisting. Many hours were spent understanding what needed to be done, attending meetings with marathon officials and volunteers we were to interface with, contacting Amateurs to volunteer, and assigning our volunteers to the various positions. Numerous volunteers from past marathons came forward with much-needed information to help the coordination effort succeed. We had a great turnout of volunteer operators, 41 in total. This allowed us to cover every aid station and water station along the course – twenty-one mileposts in all – as well as Medical and Traffic Division liaisons, plus a bike-mobile operator and two stations at Net Control (NC). Being a part of the coordination allowed me to grasp the magnitude of the effort, and to greatly appreciate the willingness of our volunteers to give of their time and expertise to the marathon – many of whom come back year after year!

Race Day

Arriving in downtown Portland at 5:45 AM on that Sunday morning seemed a bit surreal. It was still dark out. Traffic was heavy but not hectic like rush hour. Some streets were already blocked, and most were lined with parked cars. Many people were on foot, all heading the same direction. Excitement filled the air as people conversed in hushed tones awaiting the big event. My destination was the communications trailer on Main Street between 3^rd and 4^th.

With the radios and antennas already setup the day before by Pete, and Chuck Parker KC7PDI, it was time for making final preparations. We began by getting a radio delivered to Traffic Division via our bike-mobile operator. Next was labeling and hanging the 3’ by 8’ map of the course, and helping our Net Control operators – Chuck, and Kevin Hunt WA7VTD – get situated. Along the way we also answered various questions from people walking by, who apparently assumed we knew where everything was located!

We shared the trailer with the NC operators for the “commercial net”. Those were the folks who would be directing the drivers in three vehicles to pickup participants who could not complete the course. One of our duties was to pass traffic from the mileposts to the commercial net control operator when a pick-up was needed, so I became one of the “runners” who would deliver the numerous little yellow Post-It notes to their NC, occasionally passing ETA’s back to our NC when requested.

Another one of our duties was to report the three leaders in the wheelchair, men, and women divisions. So, we placed an operator at the finish line to report lead status as the reports came in.

Underway

At 6:55 AM the wheelchair racers began. Boy, they go fast! It must have been exciting for them, as they had a crowd of probably 10,000 cheering them off. Then, promptly at 7 AM, the runners started to the hoops and hollers of their faithful supporters. The mass of runners filled all four lanes of 4^th Avenue, taking more than 10 minutes for the 8000-plus participants to run by us. By that time we already had reports coming in of the lead wheelchair racers and lead runners from our early mileposts.

For the next couple hours, the majority of the traffic was leader reports (although there were a few “infrastructure” problems we passed on to the appropriate people). It was great to be able to listen to our two seasoned NC operators handle net operations – these guys had done this before, and it showed. Then, seemingly abruptly, they stood up during a lull and announced they were going to get breakfast. I thought “Breakfast!?! Who’s going to run things!” That’s when Chuck looked at me and said something to the effect of “have a seat” while pointing to the primary station. GULP!

Me?!?

Now, listening to good operators and trying to emulate them is something I’ve always tried to do as an Amateur operator. These guys were good, but was I ready? I took to heart Chuck’s advise to stay calm, and sat down. At first things went slowly and smoothly. Our milepost operators were all very good and never grumbled if asked to stand by. As things got a little busy again, I noticed that Chuck and Kevin hadn’t returned yet. I secretly hoped things would calm down again until I could hand it back over to them. Instead, things got busier.

Kevin Hunt and Patrick Kennedy handling traffic

I have no idea how long I was there, maybe 30 minutes, maybe two hours. Time flies when you have lots to do. Eventually I realized Chuck and Kevin had returned, but they were content with chatting and watching. Later another lull occurred so I took the opportunity to get up and thank them for the chance to be net control. That was exciting!

Marathons are BIG

The winning wheelchair racer finished in just over two hours, with the lead runner less than 30 minutes behind him. At that same time many participants were still walking past the 7.5 milepost. That’s when I realized we had a nearly 20 mile long stream of people snaking their way along Portland’s streets.

Also by that time, we had already started receiving medical emergency calls. At first, the priority calls were able to get through without delay. However, as the rate of transportation and medical requests increased it became necessary for net control to open a second net for medical traffic only. Things got pretty hectic in the communications trailer for a while because the medical net control operator had to operate two radios – one for the net and another for the simplex connection to our medical liaison. Adding to the challenge was the fact the medical liaison wasn’t always available because he was operating a second radio for ambulance dispatch and a cell phone for dispatch of doctors.

It also became apparent things weren’t quite right over on the commercial net. The commercial NC determined there was a rather large area of NE Portland the commercial net couldn’t reach by radio. However, thanks to our repeaters, our nets had complete coverage of the course. So, for a while we were reporting to the commercial net when their drivers had picked up at certain mileposts.

Going the Extra Mile

Eventually things began to wind down in the early portion of the course, and those operators were allowed to secure when their services were no longer needed. Yet many participants were walking the entire course, and medical issues continued at the last several mileposts, keeping our operators at their stations well into the afternoon.

We had several milepost operators who went out of their way to help runners in need. Luckily we were able to staff most of the aid stations with two operators. This allowed a few operators to actually leave their station to check on runners not able to reach the next aid station. Other operators ended up staying at their stations well after the aid volunteers had left, patiently waiting with stranded runners for transportation to arrive.

It All Worked As Planned

We were able to shutdown Net Control on time at 4 PM, and begin the tear down process. Yet there was one more participant who needed our help. While at the communications trailer loading Pete’s van, an older woman came up asking for a ride to a hotel a few blocks up the street. She had walked the entire course but ended with severe blisters on both feet. She patiently waited as we finished loading the van; and as I walked off towards my car I saw Pete drive up towards the hotel with a very grateful passenger.

There was satisfaction knowing that we were able to pass all traffic given us, and that the participants were well served by us. At the end of the day I think everyone who volunteered was glad to have done so, and I’m sure many of the participants were grateful for our help. Once again the Portland Marathon was well served by the Portland Amateur Radio Club, and other amateurs, who gave their time, talent, and energy to this public service.

Chuck Parker and Pete Rodabaugh handling traffic and keeping track of the progress of the Portland Marathon.

Multnomah County ARES/RACES

November 2001

Simulated Emergency Test

Modeled on the District 4 submission

Final draft 5 Nov. 01 by AEC Eric Stephenson

Purpose: This exercise is to test the readiness of Multnomah County ARES.

Exercise Date: Saturday November 17, 2001 0900-1200 PST

Goals: To determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Multnomah County ARES system and test communications abilities between Fire battalion stations, individual fire stations, the various EOC’s in our area and with OEM in Salem.

Scenario: An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hits the Oregon Coast. The epicenter is west of Netarts causing major coastal damage and serious damage throughout the region.

“TEST MESSAGE” Designation: It is required that messages carry the word TEST before the precedence. “TEST PRIORITY” on phone and “TEST P” on CW. The text of these messages should begin with the words “TEST MESSAGE”.

Objectives: Activate ARES net and inform D-1 and state OEM of activation. Link up with stations in the county and other jurisdictions to establish a net. Test all modes in all bands including a packet link to Salem. APRS is encouraged. Test simplex operation between fire stations, battalion stations, EOC and Salem OEM. Test and use emergency power sources.

General Instructions: In an event of this magnitude and proximity, it is very unlikely commercial power will be available. To simulate this, only emergency power sources will be permitted to participate. This includes mobile, portable and other stations using non-commercial power. Engine driven generators OK. This scenario will be extended to the repeaters as well. For this exercise, it will be assumed that the main club repeater will be working off its back up batteries and will only be useable till 11 AM, when its batteries ‘fail’. During the last hour, the net will have to function in a simplex mode on club simplex since it won’t be possible to actually turn the repeater off remotely. This will simulate the loss of the repeater without actually using its output frequency (which is what would take place for real in that reality). Packet needs to be exercised in this scenario in order to stress test the system to reveal any deficiencies. For this test, it is assumed the backup power on those systems is satisfactory to carry on throughout the entire exercise. It is also assumed that other area systems survive the entire exercise also. The club secondary repeater is off limits since it was ‘irrevocably damaged’ in the event. Bummer. The weather will be whatever it is that day, rain or shine.

The Drill: At 09:00 November 17, 2001 an 8.9 subduction earthquake strikes west of Netarts, Oregon. The power grid for the region is disrupted necessitating emergency power. The Portland Metropolitan Area has experienced massive damage to most buildings and the transportation infrastructure is severely compromised. Numerous utility leaks and sinkholes have appeared. Mass casualties have occurred and need attention. Parts of the populace relatively uninjured are emerging and requesting guidance. NET teams have their hands full with the ever-larger stream of walking wounded and structure fires in their neighborhoods. Downtown Portland and portions of the west hills are virtually demolished, while all Portland bridges have varying degrees of damage, most only useable on foot. Telephone systems do not work and portions of the Air Traffic Control system are disrupted.

By 10:00, shelters should be established and making requests for assistance and supplies. Damage assessment is beginning. Tactical and formal traffic high.

At 11:00, the club main repeater goes off the air. All net activity then goes to club simplex.

By 12:00, send a test message to the state EOC advising them you are closing down our EOC and/or ending the drill.

12:00 drill ends and nets close. Packet messages may still be in the system and not arrive till after the drill. Document when these are actually processed and keep an accurate log of all station activity. Use the ‘test message’ designation in each message. Identify tactical communications as ‘drill’ or ‘test’ often. Send all forms (copies OK) to kk7ue for the report to be submitted to the DEC/SEC.

Frequencies are published in the information packet. The players guide will detail the frequencies available.

The callout: We need to exercise a calling tree. The problem is that a seismic event of this magnitude is basically a self-activation scenario. To simulate realism, just try to be on the air as close to 9 AM as you deem necessary without starting early. Be prepared for any weather eventuality; we may have to work outdoors at some or all locations. This will enhance the realism a bit in the event a particular building was to be damaged in a real event. Players’ exact start times will be determined the night prior to the event. Tune into the club main repeater 7:30 PM Friday November 16^th for final instructions or be at the club meeting where I will be doing VE testing. Above all, remember to have fun since individuals aren’t being tested; the system is. Let’s show them how good it can be.

Thank you & 73

Eric Stephenson KK7UE

A Visit to the Aging “684” Repeater (cont.)

A Little History:

According the repeater logbook on site, the repeater originally was tuned to 146.730 – when W7KJZ and W7ALG placed it in its new cabinet on November 26, 1981. Their log indicated 4” of snow on the ground at the time. On may 2^nd, the repeater was moved to it’s neo location on top of Larch Mountain, and placed into service with 20 Watts out. In August of 82, the repeater operating frequency was changed to it’s current 146.840 – offset and has been in continuous service to the Portland/Vancouver area since that time. A few callsigns for the repeater also were made over the years. The outside folder and license issued to PARC on 4/28/81 with longtime PARC member Ron Mayer’s name appearing (..Aloha, Ron) as the club contact was W7KYC. The license shows that the repeater was originally located at 4014 SW Canyon Rd in Portland. Looking through the log, it’s apparent that over the years, countless trips (not all have been recorded in the log) have been made to replace dead components and ailing circuitry.

The inside of the repeater. Find the hidden “dog”

Low Output Power:

On July 8^th, 2000, 8 members of the club went up to the site to replace the 4 bay antenna on the tower. The antenna was 28 years old, and still working fine when removed, but the repeater committee had decided with good cause that it was time to replace this antenna, and use it at the club’s packet site located east of Clackamas. During the trip, the transmitter power was found to be down to 7 Watts. The power amplifier in the repeater is a modified Motorolla Micor mobile radio, rated at 110-Watts output, and this clearly indicated a blown final output amp problem in the repeater. John White removed the final amplifier, and repaired it in Howard Varney’s shop. This most recent trip was accompanied by a deja-vu feeling about the repeater. John plugged in his Bird Wattmeter, and found that the power output had dropped to around 5 watts. He removed the final amplifier to repair it off site. The repeater is currently running on the exciter, a Johnson Mobile cabinet with a custom circuit board made from salvaged Tektronix 491 Spectrum Analyzer parts. The 146.840- repeater has a current output of 2½ Watts from the exciter. The power amplifier deck is beginning to be a bit of a “dog” to repair.

Closer view of the transmitter shelf with a hidden “dog” behind the fans.

Short Term Repair Plan:

The short-term plan at this point is to pull components from another Micor output stage, and repair the final amp. The normal output of the repeater is around 90 Watts, components to repair the final amplifier stage will be pulled from another final amplifier that was slated for use in the club’s packet repeater until another solution can be found. The timeline to getting the repair is uncertain at this point, and we may be using the low output for awhile. The race is on at this point to see if we can get it done before the snow starts flying.

The failed Motorolla Micor output stage removed for repair.

Long Term Plan:

The long-term plan at this point is uncertain. The station log indicates a history of chronic problems ranging from the all too familiar blown output stage, to dead power supplies, failing repeater controller, and replaced pre-amps.

This repeater has been in continuous operation for the last 20 years, and stands as a testimony to the people who built it, placed it into service, and have continued to keep it repaired and in service for all that time. What has been proposed for a long-term solution is to replace this repeater with more modern, serviceable equipment. The most likely choice is a Motorolla MSR-2000 commercial repeater which we could purchase, add a purchased “no frills” controller to, and re-crystal and tune to the amateur bands. The MSR-2000 is our best choice since these are being pulled from commercial service in favor of the 800 MHz trunked services now popular with government and private organizations.

The Reasons to Replace Rather than Repair are Many:

1) Primary Club Repeater

The 146.840 repeater has been our primary club repeater for the last 20 years. It has served as a regular meeting place for members and visitors to the Portland area, a place to spread information about the club, and to coordinate club me It is used for the club net on Monday nights to check-in, get information about the next meeting, and coordinate upcoming club activities like Field Day, the Portland Marathon, the Rose Parade, and other public oriented functions.

2) ARES Operation:

This has been the primary frequency of operation for the Multnomah County ARES group, has been used during the flood of 1996, several wind and ice storms, training nets and Simulated Emergency Tests. In the event of a major earthquake, this would be choice for the primary repeater of operation. It is also in its current state, the most likely repeater to be offline after a seismic event.

3) Operating is Fun, Repairing is Entirely Different:

The idea of ordering a kit, opening a bag of shiny new parts and soldering them into a clean, well labeled board is enough to lure many of us. We labor well into the night to get that new rig on the air to see how it sounds. Operating our own equipment is also fun, and we can be proud of the work we’ve done. Compare that with driving up a mountain 40 miles away in another state to repair a piece of equipment that was already old 20 years ago. But driving there isn’t enough, you have to take it back home to repair it, dig through old assemblies trying to find the same transistors from a similar radio. When you’re done, you have the pleasure of driving 40 miles to put it back in service until the next time. This is what our club members who keep the repeaters running face every time there’s a problem.

It’s not really the fun part of the hobby for them, and the job isn’t getting any easier.

4) Reliability, Repair and Downtime:

Over the last several years, the amount of time spent repairing this repeater has taken a toll on the folks that do the work. Each hour spent repairing the transmitter, driving to the site to pull the defective component, repair it, then drive back to replace it is another hour taken away from the family, from work, or from other interests of the club member. Each day that the output power is reduced during the repair means that an operator on the outlying fringes of the repeater coverage has difficulty talking. Additional noise in the output leads to lost contacts, unclear messages, repeats, and general lack of clear operation for those of us who use 2 meters as our major part of the hobby aspect of ham radio.

5) The Hobby Aspect

Our club has a wide demographic makeup of interests. There are those of us who just like to build things, solve technical problems, and never operate. Others live for field day, and start planning for what to do next year almost before this year’s event is over. Many like to do contesting, operate special event stations, and lean toward the HF aspect of the hobby. There are members who can’t imagine why anyone would use a microphone when there’s a perfectly good code key attached to the rig. We have a large number of members who have never touched a code key, feel it was a good move when it was incorporated into the side of a microphone and re-labeled “push to talk”. As a club, we have often focused on the “General class and higher” aspects of the hobby, and left the “No-code” operators a little behind when it comes to support. Replacing the 146.840 machine puts an emphasis back on them, while at the same time raising our level of commitment to the common aspects of the hobby.

6) Keeping up with Technology:

Amateurs have a long-standing history of developing new technology, and staying current with what’s available. Our repeaters were the closest the club could afford to “state of the art” when they were placed into service. The 146.840 repeater was built from the best surplus components that were available at the time, and has been maintained with largely the same design for the last 20 years. The folks who built it had something they could be proud of, and for good reason, a lot of good work went into the machine, and it’s lasted 20 years. Now it’s our turn to put a new machine in service, for the club to use for the next 20 years.

A Motorolla MSR-2000 Commercial Repeater

The Proposal, and it’s cost:

An MSR 2000 ranges in price between $1000 to $1500 in the current market. These machines are largely pulled from service in working condition to be replaced with 800 MHz equipment. Configuring one of these for amateur use is not difficult, and their modular design allow for service and reliability. The main advantage to one of these is that they were designed as a commercial duty repeater, not as a collection of mobile components that are stacked together to provide service. Assemblies in the MSR 2000 are bolted together in a nice mechanical arrangement, and they have all the appearance of something that would stand a good chance of surviving an earthquake.

Total cost for the repeater replacement with a simple controller, cabinet, power supply, connection cable, additional fans, and misc. costs are projected to be within a $2000 budget. For the size of the club in 1981, this was not possible from the revenue generated by club dues, donations, fundraisers, and operating costs. For our club in 2001, this is within the reach of our budget. We have talked about upgrading our equipment for several years, and it’s time we put this to the club to decide whether we should spend the money to replace our main repeater. We will be discussing this and taking a vote at our next meeting. All members are encouraged to attend.

Presidents Message:

In an effort to help rebuild ties with our other ham-related groups around the Portland Metro area, I’m sending out an open invitation to join us at our meetings. If you’re new to the ham community, you’ll have a hard time finding a better group to come join.

I handed out an invitation to the Multnomah Co. ARES group to send articles for the sPARC gap. If there’s an upcoming SET, or a special guest speaker, or even an announcement of what the topic for the next ARES meeting will be about, here’s your chance to get it published to the Portland ham community. To my knowledge, no other local ham-related publication exists to spread the word like the sPARC gap.

Articles need not be about ham related activities specifically. I’d like to see people giving tips for emergency preparedness, operating from an interesting location (I’m going to write an article about mobile operation from a snowmobile sometime in January or February, depending on the conditions), QRP, and anything else that is of interest to the ham community.

I will be asking various members of our ham-related community to come and join us in the near future. I’d like to have guest speakers from the ARES group, from Portland Fire Bureau, Perhaps some other clubs, as well as some interesting topics that are more related to the hobby aspect of ham radio. I personally have too many facets of the hobby that interest me, and too little time to follow them.

I can’t be at the November meeting since my son is competing in his Cub Scout group’s Pine-Wood Derby race. I somehow got roped into being a judge, and the thought of facing 76 cub scouts that all know “I have the fastest car” is a little scary.

I’m hoping that our Vice President, Patrick (KD7HDP) and John (K7RUN) to handle the meeting. We will have some pictures of the repeater, and should have a small presentation and discussion about the repeater. Our goal is to present our plan to upgrade the repeater to a more modern machine, place our most reliable solution at the 146.840 site, and use the available parts from the old machine to service our packet repeater, and our 146.940 machine. A discussion and vote on appropriating the funds are a goal of November’s meeting. All members with interest in the repeater are encouraged to attend.

73, Ed KC7GFX