WICEN SA INC Newsletter 31 January 2007
Training Day and barbecue
WICEN SA Inc will host a training day and barbecue for all members and other amateurs but with a special invitation to Foundation Licencees. Partners and children are also welcome.
Where
The event will be held at Carisbrook Reserve (Map 62, UBD, C14, located on Main North Road, Salisbury Park) commencing at 1000 hours, with lunch at 1300 hours with the event concluding early afternoon.
When
The training day will be held on the 10th March 2007. Meat and bread will be provided by WICEN, other food, including, drinks, salads and desserts will be matters for those attending.
RSVP
RSVP for catering purposes will be to the Secretary (John Dawes) by 3rd March 2007 on 0417 841 425 or email to .
Program
The program will begin at 1000 hours and will consist of practical demonstrations and give those attending a chance to share their ideas and consider those of other. All radio amateurs attending, but especially Foundation licencees are invited to bring their portable equipment (HF, VHF and UHF) to demonstrate and to answer questions of those attending.
Foundation licencees are invited to bring coaxial cables; RG8 and RG213 types and either solder or crimp connectors of the UHF type (PL259), N type or BNCs for practical training in terminating coaxial cables.
A WICEN portable translator/repeater will be set up, the WICEN tent and banners will be erected. Generators and other portable power sources will be demonstrated.
Annual General Meeting – AdvanceNotice
The Annual General Meeting of WICEN SA Inc will be held on the 24th May 2007 at 7.30pm at the St John’s Centre in Unley. WICEN SA Inc was incorporated on the 5th June 1996 and 2007 thus begins the second decade of operations/activities and training. Further information will be released on the WICEN SA Inc web site in the next few weeks. But all details of the expenditure of the monies received from two Government Grants received in 2006 will be outlined to members.
State Government Grant – Office of Volunteers
WICEN SA Inc was advised in early January that its grant application to the State Government has been rewarded with $1500. These funds will be used to purchase 65 copies of the ARRL publicationThe ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook
Copies of the Handbook will be made available free of charge to members for the purposes of self-paced learning about Emergency Communications.
A Snippet from the ARRL
I thought readers might be interested in the media release included in this Newsletter from the ARRL commissioned report on emergency communications. It is interesting that the skill mentioned at the top of the list is in basic message handling.
SB QST @ ARL $ARLB006
ARLB006 ARRL Board accepts National Emergency Response Planning
Committee report
ZCZC AG06
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 6 ARLB006
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT January 26, 2007
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB006
ARLB006 ARRL Board accepts National Emergency Response Planning
Committee report
The ARRL Board of Directors accepted the Report of the National
Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC) when it met January 19
and 20 in Windsor, Connecticut. Upon dissolving the committee with
its thanks, the Board set in motion a process to identify and
implement action items in the report as soon as possible. ARRL First
Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, chaired the 13-member NERPC,
charged with developing comprehensive recommendations to improve the
League's response to regional, national and international disasters.
Among other things, panel members evaluated the responses and
actions of ARRL and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
during Hurricane Katrina as well as lessons learned.
"If 'lessons learned' are not followed by 'behaviors changed,' then
the lessons have not been learned at all," the report concludes. The
report describes disaster preparedness as "a moving target, moving
faster all the time." No recommendations, plans or systems should be
considered "the permanent answers for all circumstances and
hazards," the report asserts.
The unprecedented scope of the Katrina response placed ARRL
Headquarters into a leadership coordination role through
national-level requests for help from served agencies such as the
American Red Cross. While the level of expertise in emergency
communications and emergency management among US radio amateurs is
growing, the report noted, so is the expectation that the ARRL
provide first-rate leadership and guidance.
Among the report's wide-ranging recommendations and suggestions:
* enhance ARRL and ARES training in basic message handling.
* develop a continuing education course covering installation,
configuration, and use of Winlink 2000 for e-mail.
* formally establish a national ARES volunteer database for use
during major disasters and establish training criteria.
* institute a Major Disaster Emergency Coordinator (MDEC) function
to coordinate responses to large-scale national or regional
disasters or emergencies.
* become better acquainted with the emergency response needs of
distant ARRL sections, such as Pacific, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
and Alaska.
* improve working relationships with national-level served agencies.
* ensure ARRL staff training in the Incident Command System (ICS)
and National Incident Management System (NIMS) and, as necessary,
adapt ARRL's emergency response structure to the Unified Command
model.
In addition, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, has appointed an ad
hoc committee to study issues relating to background investigations
as they apply to ARRL Amateur Radio volunteers and to recommend a
background investigation policy.