Regional Health Services of Howard County Amateur Radio Station Proposal
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REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY
HOWARD COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE
AMATEUR RADIO STATION PROPOSAL
Summary: Reliable communications are essential for medical facilities, including Regional Health Services of Howard County, to render services to the community. Regular telecommunications means are not immune to failure in a disaster or
large scale emergency situation. Amateur radio provides an alternate means of communication in the event of a
disaster or normal telecommunications disruption. The Howard County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) would like to propose the installation of an amateur radio station at Regional Health Services of Howard County to provide an alternate means of communications in the event of a disaster or regular communications disruption. The station would be accessible to licensed amateur radio operators and would be equipped with the basic equipment necessary to carry out two-way radio communications with the Howard County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and other agencies supported by amateur radio. The installation of this basic amateur radio station will help ensure Regional Health Services of Howard County can carry out essential communications with outside emergency, disaster or welfare agencies in the event of a communications disruption.
Amateur Radio Definition
Amateur radio (also known as “ham” radio) consists of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensed
operators who communicate with other licensed operators (also called “hams”) for enjoyment and experimentation
on radio frequencies set aside especially for this purpose. The radio frequencies used by “hams” range from short-wave
frequencies which allow two-way radio communications from one state to another state (or foreign country) to
VHF/UHF frequencies which provide reliable communications in a local city, county or multi county area. Amateur
radio operators are licensed by the FCC to utilize several different modes, including FM voice, digital, satellites,
video and even Morse code.
At one time, amateur radio was associated with large, conspicuous looking antennas and rooms full of bulky radio
transmitting equipment. Today’s technology enables hams to communicate with small solid-state radios mounted in
their home, car or carried in their hand. Amateur radio is not “Citizens Band” or “CB” radio, which does not
require a FCC license and is limited to short range low power communications. Amateur radio operators are
required to become licensed by the FCC by passing a series of written tests on radio theory, operating rules, radio
frequency safety and other topics.
Amateur Radio’s role in disasters & emergencies
A key function of amateur radio is its role in providing communications in disaster and emergency situations.
Amateur radio has proven its worth in countless disaster situations across the world. In many cases, amateur radio is
the only means of communication available to outside of the disaster stricken area. Amateur radio operators have
the knowledge and equipment to quickly and efficiently establish two-way radio communications in these situations.
Emergency or disaster relief communications take priority over all other amateur radio activities, and by law must
be provided without any type of monetary compensation.
In Iowa, amateur radio operators play a key role in providing disaster communications. A few examples of
situations where Iowa hams have provided communications include:
The Floods of 1993 – in Ames, amateur radio operators provided radio communications for officials
monitoring river levels; Red Cross disaster shelters; and other relief communications. Amateur radio
operators provided communications for the Army Corps of Engineers and Polk County EOC when the
waterworks plant was flooded and routine communications channels failed.
Y2K – amateur radio operators across Iowa established stations at various county emergency operations
centers to maintain communications with the State of Iowa EOC at the STARC Armory in the event of a
communications disruption. Amateur radio operators also worked with the Blood Center of Central Iowa
to station amateurs at various hospitals throughout Iowa in the event of a need for blood if a
communications disruption occurred.
Regional Health Services of Howard County Amateur Radio Station Proposal
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Des Moines Airport Disaster Drills – amateur radio is included in the emergency plans in the event of a
major air transportation disaster, and amateur radio operators regularly participate in drills held by the Des
Moines International Airport
National Weather Service – amateur radio operators and their extensive network of linked repeaters serve
as the backbone of the NWS SKYWARN spotting network, relaying reports of severe weather directly to
the NWS office in LaCrosse allowing for prompt issuance of warnings and verification of radar indicated
tornadoes and severe storms. Local amateurs have also been involved with providing communications
during tornado disasters such as the Jordan and Belmond tornadoes.
Regional Health Services of Howard County Proposal
The Howard County Amateur Radio Club & Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) would like to establish a
VHF amateur radio station at Regional Health Services of Howard County for utilization by licensed amateur radio operators to provide an alternate means of communications in the event of a disaster or large scale emergency. The establishment of this station would provide Regional Health Services of Howard County with an additional “tool” to carry out vital communications with the Howard County Emergency Operations Center or other agencies in the event of a disruption or failure of normal communications means.
The installation of this station has several potential benefits for REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY, including:
The ability to maintain communications with agencies in a disaster situation. During a disaster, the public safety frequencies used by local public safety agencies can become overloaded with radio traffic.
Public safety radio system failures have been known to occur in other parts of the country during disasters.
Accessibility to amateur radio frequencies, using conventional VHF/UHF radio frequencies, can help
provide a reliable means of passing radio traffic into and out of disaster areas.
Landline and cellular telephones are often knocked out or overloaded in disaster areas. Amateur radio
would enable messages to be relayed between the hospital and disaster area or other designated agencies
when telephones are rendered useless.
The Howard County EOC in Cresco has installed an amateur radio station for use by hams in the event of a
disaster or emergency. The installation of an amateur radio station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY would provide a direct radio
link to emergency management and the EOC if activated in a disaster or emergency situation.
Most regional health care systems involved in disaster planning require alternate means of communications
than telephones. Amateur radio would help REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY fulfill this requirement.
VHF Radio Technology
The proposed amateur radio station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY will utilize FM voice communications in the VHF “Two-Meter”
band, which utilizes radio frequencies from 144 to 148 MHz. Amateur radio operators are required by the FCC to
use “the minimum amount of power necessary to carry out communications” which ranges from 1/8 of a watt up to
1,500 watts. The amateur radio station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY would be equipped with a radio that could transmit with up to 50
watts of power, which is enough power to communicate simplex within a several mile radius of the hospital.
To increase the coverage of two-meter signals, a series of repeaters have been established throughout Northeast Iowa.
Repeaters take the radio signal of a station, such as the proposed station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY, and rebroadcast them over a
wide area covering a county or several counties, enabling communications over a larger area. The
proposed station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY would allow the hospital to communicate with amateur radio stations in Howard, Winneshiek, Chickasaw, Fillmore, and surrounding counties.
REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY Amateur Radio Station Proposal
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Station Requirements
In order to establish a VHF amateur radio station at REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY, the following would be required:
1. Radio equipment capable of transmitting on amateur radio frequencies, consisting of a two-way VHF
mobile radio, power supply, coaxial cable, and antenna. The radio and power supply will be provided by
Howard County ARES. REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY would be required to purchase the coaxial cable, antenna
and lightning arrestor.
2. A place to locate the station. The station would consist of a two-way radio and power supply, requiring a
small shelf, desk or table to locate the equipment. The area would need to accommodate an operating
position by a licensed amateur radio operator to originate, receive, relay and log communications. The
operating position should be in an area accessible to key hospital officials, such as the emergency room or
adjacent office. Access to the in-house telephone system and a directory would be beneficial.
3. Installation of an omni directional vertical VHF band antenna on the roof of the hospital by hospital
facilities maintenance.
4. Installation of coaxial cable from the radio operating position to the antenna on the roof by hospital
facilities maintenance.
5. Accessibility to the amateur radio station by licensed amateur radio operators when requested by hospital
officials, and for regular station testing (minimum monthly testing).
Equipment requirements and costs
The following pieces of equipment and associated cost would need to be purchased and installed by REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY:
Hustler G6 270R Dual Band Vertical Antenna. Cost: $159.99
Belden RG-213 Coax Cable. Approximately 200 ft (depending on distance from radio to antenna on roof).
Cost: $0.43/foot – 200 foot = $86.00
Polyphasor IS-50UX-CI Lightning arrestor. Cost: $55.00
(4) PL-259 coax connectors. Cost: $2.00/each
A suitable location to mount the antenna would also be necessary, such as on an existing tripod or tower. If
unavailable, a tripod to mount the antenna on the roof would also need to be purchased. A means to ground the
antenna and lightning arrestor would also be beneficial.
The following pieces of equipment would be purchased by Howard County Emergency Management and installed at
the REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES OF HOWARD COUNTY station:
VHF dual band radio. Cost: $300.00
Power Supply. Cost: $20.00
.
Station Operation
Howard County ARES would work with hospital administration and staff to install the station and develop a plan to
activate the station in an emergency or disaster situation. Trained and licensed amateur radio operators would
volunteer their service to operate the station when requested by the hospital.
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