OCRACES Online and In-Person Meetings and Group Activities
OCRACES has resumed outside group activities. Online OCRACES
meetings have been well-attended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will continue online monthly meetings, interspersed with
in-person meetings, perhaps quarterly. Monday night 2-meter nets
at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday morning 60-meter nets at 10:00 a.m.
will continue (except for some major holidays).
Earthquake Drill on October 19, 2023, Has 34
Check-ins
On Thursday, October 19, 2023, the Great California ShakeOut
officially occurred at 10:19 a.m. In conjunction with this
event, OCRACES conducted an earthquake drill that day from 1000
to 1100 hours, simulating a strong earthquake striking Orange
County. Net control asked for locations and observation reports
from participants in county and city RACES and EmComm units via
the 146.895 MHz repeater and via Winlink. Simulated reports were
given as “Mike-Mike” intensities, using the USGS Modified
Mercalli Earthquake Intensity Scale. The drill had 34 check-ins.
OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK, operated ShakeOut
net control from the EOC RACES Room at Loma Ridge. OCRACES
members checking in with Mike-Mike reports and observations
throughout Orange County included: Heide Aguirre, K3TOG;
Assistant Radio Officer Randy Benicky, N6PRL; Joel Bishop,
AJ6ZP; Steve Livingston, NJ6R; Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE (also
for COAR); Robert Moore, KW6B; Ryan Moore, KN6WSJ; Chi Nguyen,
KE6MVS; Robert Stoffel, KD6DAQ; and Ken Tucker, WF6F.
Members of several City RACES units checking into OCRACES net
control included Brea RACES, W6BRE. For Costa Mesa RACES
(MESAC): Ashley Fisher, KM6UJD; and Don Haddock, KN6QDV. For
Fountain Valley RACES: Ken Hemkin, KK6OEX; and Garry Jones,
N6NQN. Fullerton RACES, K6FUL. For Irvine RACES (IDEC): Pete
Bergstrom, K6PB; Avram Grossman, KN6BMO; and Steve Skwarlo,
WB6CJH. For Laguna Niguel ACS (WE6ACS): David Black, WB6VEM;
Kevin Korff, KK6KUR; Marlene Ruderman, KN6USQ; and Haney
Williams, KJ6JIA (in Anaheim). For Laguna Woods RACES: Bruce
Bonbright, NH7WG. For Mission Viejo RACES-ARES: Cher Baker,
K6CHR; Scott Holcomb, K6WHC; and Phil Lonzello, WA6LDI. For
Placentia RACES: Duke Walls, W6EIF (in Yorba Linda). For
Westminster RACES: Adam Valek, N6HVC. Other EmComm check-ins
included: Gary Standard, K6GSX, for Newport Beach Repeater Club;
Robert Gimbel, KG6WTQ, for American Red Cross; and David Gorin,
KB6BXQ, for OCHEART. Carlos Adams, KE6QEU, checked in from Naval
Weapons Station Seal Beach.
City/County RACES & EmComm Drill Held on October 7,
2023
Joel Bishop, AJ6ZP (left),
operates 2 meters simplex; Robert Moore, KW6B (center), operates
60 meters; and Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE (right) operates
Winlink during October 7, 2023, drill.
A City/County RACES & EmComm ACS Drill occurred on Saturday,
October 7, 2023, from 0900 to 1200 hours for the simplex
portion. Conducting operations from the Orange County EOC at
Loma Ridge were OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK,
with Joel Bishop, AJ6ZP, on 2 meters and Robert Moore, KW6B, on
60 meters. Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, handled the Winlink
portion of the drill.
The scenario for this drill was a series of cyberattacks that
disabled major infrastructures, including power and gas
utilities, water and wastewater facilities, telephone companies,
cable systems and internet service providers, hospital networks,
banks and other financial institutions, law-enforcement and
other government administrative systems, transportation systems,
dams, education, and postal and shipping services. In addition,
all repeaters had failed, and all communications were on simplex
frequencies.
Communications consisted of simplex communications on 2 meters
FM and HF NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) on 60 meters.
OCRACES net control operated from the Orange County EOC. Most
City and County RACES and EmComm members operated portable
stations at locations that needed to be tested for local and
countywide simplex radio coverage.
The simplex drill ran from 0900 to 1200 hours. On 2 meters, the
first hour was devoted to communicating with each RACES unit’s
own members on their primary simplex frequency. Check-ins
included simulated emergencies and requests for resources. The
remaining two hours were for communications between OCRACES and
city net controls on 146.595 MHz, while city RACES and EmComm
members continued to call their net controls for urgent
resources.
From 0900 to 1000 hours, OCRACES members checking in on 2 meters
included Robert Stoffel, KD6DAQ, Ken Tucker, WF6F, Chi Nguyen,
KE6MVS, Ron Mosher, K0PGE, Randy Benicky, N6PRL, and Fran
Needham, KJ6UJS, as well as OCSD Emergency Management Division
Deputy Director Lee Kaser, KK6VIV, who was driving through the
canyons and checking coverage. At 1000 hours, RACES units from
Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa (MESAC), Tri-Cities (Dana Point, San
Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano), Fountain Valley, Mission
Viejo, and Orange, as well as the Newport Beach Repeater Club,
checked into OCRACES and gave their reports of check-ins during
the previous hour. Gordon West, WB6NOA (MESAC) reported that 50
gallons of fuel were needed at the Costa Mesa Fire Station.
The 60-meter net occurred on 5371.5 kHz upper sideband. At
first, net control used the same roll call of Orange County City
and County RACES and EmComm stations as on the Saturday morning
OCRACES ACS net. Check-ins included: Dale Tyler, W6EDT, for
Mission Viejo RACES; Gary Standard, K6GSX, and Roy Shlemon,
K6GVG, for Newport Beach Repeater Club; Gordon West, WB6NOA, for
Costa Mesa RACES (MESAC); Garry Jones, N6NQN, for Fountain
Valley RACES; Pete Bergstrom, K6PB, for Irvine RACES (IDEC);
Steve Livingston, NJ6R for OCRACES; Bruce Bonbright, NH7WG, for
Laguna Woods RACES; Bill Kreutinger, KM6SLF, for Tri-Cities
RACES; and Paul Gussow, NJ6U (Cypress), and Craig Williams,
W6CAW (Campo, San Diego County), for Cal OES Communications
Reserve Unit. Non-EmComm stations included Neil Smith, K6KWI
(Anaheim Hills), and Tony Scalpi, N2VAJ (Orange).
In the Winlink portion of the drill, messages were accepted over
a 24-hour period, from 1500 hours on Friday to 1500 hours on
Saturday. Participanting operators totaled 26. Information was
requested about the Winlink operator’s role in their city or
EmComm organization that they were participating on behalf of.
In total, 13 organizations were represented and the operators
identified a total 29 instances of membership with these
organizations.
OCRACES Participates in Field Day on June 23, 2023
OCRACES Field Day on
Saturday, June 23, 2023, at Irvine Regional Park.
OCRACES participated in Field Day on Saturday, June 23, 2023, at
Irvine Regional Park east of Orange. Our three stations focused
on setting up in the field for possible future deployments
during emergencies.
Randy Benicky, N6PRL, set up a station with his Icom IC-705
transceiver, covering HF, VHF, and UHF on all modes. He also set
up vertical HF, VHF, and UHF antennas on masts and tripods. His
mobile radio is the new Yaesu FTM-500DR 2-m/70-cm FM/C4FM
transceiver.
Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, brought an elaborate portable EmComm
setup. It included portable table and chairs, portable
UHF/VHF/GMRS radios in a field case, his Icom IC-7300 HF radio
in a separate field case, portable battery, solar arrays, HF and
VHF/UHF antennas with masts and tripod, sandbags, cables, and
documentation. Scott’s focus was sending and receiving some
Winlink VHF and HF messages, which he did successfully on VHF.
Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS, had a nice portable setup with radios
mounted in a field case and mast-mounted antennas. For 6 meters
FM and SSB he had a Kenwood TS-60S all-mode transceiver. On
VHF/UHF FM he had a Kenwood TM-V71A transceiver.
City/County RACES & EmComm Drill Held on May 6, 2023
Ron Mosher, K0PGE, and Ernest
Fierheller, KG6LXT (left and center), operate 2 meters simplex,
while Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE (right), operates Winlink at
the Orange County EOC during the May 6th drill.
Beginning at 0900 hours on Saturday, May 6, 2023, County and
City RACES and EmComm units began taking check-ins on their
primary simplex frequencies, along with reports of simulated
earthquake damage, tsunamis, flooding, evacuations, and requests
for resources, as part of a countywide ACS dril.
The scenario for this drill was a strong earthquake off the
Orange County coast, generating a tsunami and significant
damage, including a countywide power outage. We warned that the
supposed tsunami could be moving at 500 mph toward the coast,
and, as it slowed, could grow in height approaching 100 feet.
Stations within 3 miles of the coast were advised to move to
high ground further inland and report wave height and flooding.
Other stations were to report earthquake damage and to forward
agency requests for resources to OCRACES net control. All
reporting stations were requested to advise net control of their
locations.
OCRACES net control was at the Orange County EOC at Loma Ridge.
Ron Mosher, K0PGE, handled the 2-meter simplex operation, backed
up by Assistant Radio Officer Ernest Fierheller, KG6LXT, at an
adjacent position. Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, operated the
Winlink position. Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK, handled
60-meter single-sideband operations. Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS,
communicated with OCHEART participants.
During the first hour of the drill on 2 meters simplex, county,
city, and EmComm net controls took check-ins from their members,
with their reports of tsunami wave height, flooding, earthquake
damage, and agency requests for resources. OCRACES members
checking in included: Randy Benicky, N6PRL, Robert Stoffel,
KD6DAQ, and Ken Tucker, WF6F. Randy provided a simulated damage
report from his mobile station. The next two hours of the drill,
from 1000 to 1200 hours, consisted of 13 city RACES and EmComm
units contacting OCRACES at Loma Ridge on 2 meters simplex with
their damage reports and resource requests, while their members
and county members continued to check in on their primary
simplex frequencies.
City RACES units checking into OCRACES on 2 meters simplex
included Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa (MESAC), Fountain Valley,
Fullerton, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Orange
(COAR), Tri-Cities, and Westminster. American Red Cross and
OCHEART also checked in. Checking in on 60 meters were OCRACES
(Randy Benicky, N6PRL), and City RACES units including Anaheim,
Costa Mesa (MESAC), Fountain Valley, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna
Woods, and Orange (COAR). Also checking in were Newport Beach
Repeater Club and Cal OES CRU and two visitors (KB6KPK and
N2VAJ).
Winlink participation included members from OCRACES and City
RACES units including Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa (MESAC),
Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna Woods, Mission
Viejo, Orange (COAR), Tri-Cities, and Westminster. Also
participating were members from the Newport Beach Repeater Club
and American Red Cross. 75 messages were sent and received,
including one via telnet from OCRACES Member Steve Livingston,
NJ6R, while waiting for an airplane home from Baltimore,
Maryland!
Typical simulated drill messages included bridge collapses and
floods. MESAC reported tsunami tidal flow coming up the Santa
Ana River but not overflowing the river banks, but seawater was
entering the many storm drains outflows and flooding Huntington
Beach with the water pouring out of low-lying storm drains.
OCRACES Participates in Alternate EOC Drill on June 30,
2021
OCRACES played a role in the
2021 Alternate EOC Exercise on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
For realism, this exercise was kept confidential from
much of OCSD Emergency Management Division (EMD)
personnel until it was activated Wednesday morning.
OCRACES, which is an EMD AuxComm unit, was made a
component of the exercise, and the exercise was also
kept confidential to its members until the OCRACES
2-meter repeater was activated for the event. The
exercise scenario was a fail-soft of the 800-MHz radio
system, coupled with immediate and severe network
connectivity issues at 0600 hours. OCSD Dispatch and
Control One experience identical failures, rendering
them unable to communicate. |
|
Radio Officer Scott
Byington, KC6MMF, Assistant Emergency Manager Lee Kaser,
KK6VIV, and Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK (left
to right), at OCFA during the Alternate EOC Exercise. |
OCSD Systems confirmed that both the 800-MHz system and the OCSD
network connections to Loma Ridge had experienced a very complex
cyberattack and they were unable to estimate when the services
to the facility would be restored. OCIAC determined that
multiple response agencies, transportation, and large
corporations across the county were having similar issues and
that a foreign government may be at the root of the problem.
The next step in the scenario was for OCSD Executive Command to
place all sworn and essential professional staff on Tactical
Alert. The OCSD Department Operations Center (DOC) activated to
Level 2 at the Southwest Operations Division, Saddleback
Station. EMD activated OCRACES on the 2-meter repeater for
deployment to predetermined areas to assist with communications.
A decision was then made to relocate the EOC to an alternate
location. EMD staff rallied at Orange County Fire Authority
(OCFA) Headquarters in Irvine, recovered the Alternate EOC
equipment, and began setup. OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken
Bourne, W6HK, and Radio Officer Scott Byington, KC6MMF, were
assigned as AUXC to Control 7 at OCFA, to operate net control,
beginning at 0930 hours. Joe Selikov, KB6EID, was ready to
activate OCRACES members via AlertOC. He and Steve Livingston,
NJ6R, and Fran Needham, KJ6UJS, sent and received exercise
traffic in the field.
FEMA ICS and NIMS procedures were followed during the exercise.
An ICS-211A form was used at Control 7 for checking in Ken and
Scott. Messages were sent and received with the ICS-213 form.
All activities were logged on an ICS-214 form.
RACES Wants You!
Experience
the most exciting and rewarding part of amateur radio. Being a
RACES member gives you the opportunity to sharpen your
operating skills and technical knowledge while volunteering your services
in public-safety communications. Get involved in emergency communications now.
To become an OCRACES member,
you must first be a Sheriff’s Professional Services Responder
(PSR, which is a non-sworn Reserve) or a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.
PSR information may be found on
this page on the Orange County Sheriff's website. Click on
“Reserve Interest Form” in the left column. Then attend the next
PSR Orientation followed by the PSR Prescreen. You can find the
dates for those events by clicking “Reserve Testing &
Orientation Dates” on the above web page. A background check
will be conducted by the Sheriff’s Department. You must also
attend three OCRACES meetings (online or in-person), in addition
to passing the OCSD background for PSR, to become an OCRACES
member.
OCRACES members need to have
a dual-band radio to access our 2-meter and 70-centimeter
repeaters. Members are also required to pass the IS-100, -200,
-700, and -800 courses, which may be found on the FEMA website
at
https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx?lang=en.
Click the
Contact
OCRACES link for more information.
|
Events Calendar
March 2: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
March 4:
1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Joe Selikov,
KB6EID
March 4: 1930-2130 hours
OCRACES Meeting Online
(in-person meeting postponed until April 1)
March 9: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
March 11:
1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Ken Bourne, W6HK
March 13: 1830 hours Orientation for PSR
Applicants, Sheriff's Training Academy, Tustin
March 16: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net
60 meters channel 4
March 18: 1900 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Ted Lavino, KG6LZP
March
23: 0900 hours Prescreen for PSR Applicants,
Sheriff's Training Academy, Tustin
March
23: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel
4
March 25: 1900 hours OCRACES ACS
Nets 2 m/70 cm/1¼ m/6
m: Scott Byington, KC6MMF
March 30: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
April 1:
1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Steve Livingston,
NJ6R
April 1:
1930-2130 hours OCRACES Meeting OC EOC
April 6: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60
meters channel 4
April 8: 1900 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE
April 13: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60
meters channel 4
April 15: 1900 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Robert Moore, KW6B
April
20: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel
4
April 22: 1900 hours OCRACES ACS
Nets 2 m/70 cm/1¼ m/6
m: Fran Needham, KJ6UJS
April 27: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
April 19:
1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS
May 4: 0900-1200 hours City/County RACES
& EmComm ACS Drill |