Detailed Participant Instructions
FIELD_EXERCISE_2024MAY_instructions_V2
WHEN: Saturday 11 May 2024. 9 AM to 1 PM
WHERE: Participants’ choice, with VHF coverage of Washington County
Special Note: Predicted local weather will be hot. Take appropriate safety / health precautions. Use shade, wide brimmed hats, and frequent hydration (as appropriate for your health situation). Work in teams of at least two if you are not at home. Consider working from home if need be. End your outside participation early if you need to.
For a “Real World” emergency, stop play and take care of the situation. If you need to call 9-1-1, do so FIRST, then inform Net Control or Event 1 if easily possible.
Objectives:
• Practice skills and equipment to set up temporary stations
• Practice using standard ICS forms 213, 214, 309
• Practice sending traffic via voice and Winlink
• Evaluate simplex coverage
• Be able to describe your station location
SCENARIO
Participants will set up portable stations and exchange messages with each other. Other stations are welcome to participate. Participants will also test communications effectiveness using different power levels.
SCHEDULE
9:00 – 10:00 Station Setup
Participant groups set up stations.
When station is functional, notify WB6BYU on 147.400 simplex. Dale will be using tactical call of “EVENT 1”.
10:00 Net Checkin (147.400 simplex)
Net control will call those stations who have checked in.
Late stations and others may join after roll call.
Please listen for – and relay – stations that Net Control does not hear.
Stations will be asked to provide the following information:
• tactical callsign
• general location
• Winlink callsign (if applicable)
• number of participants
Break
Power Level Tests
Each station in turn will transmit using different power levels, starting with high power and reducing power in steps, then returning to high power. Other stations will record the lowest power level which they can copy each station for useful communications.
If you know the actual power levels, you can specify them, otherwise use “high”, “medium”, and “low” (or similar) and we can figure out what those are afterwards.
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Stations send traffic using voice
Each station send a message to two other stations using voice. A
You may make up your own simple messages describing your antenna, the temperature, your location, etc., but all traffic should use ICS 213 format.
You can coordinate this on 147.400, and transmit the messages on 147.500 or other simplex frequencies that are not otherwise in use. If you cannot make contact on simplex, then you can try the 147.360 or 440.350 repeaters.
Break
Stations send traffic using Winlink (if available)
Each station with Winlink capability send the following message via an RMS station to “WASHCO-EOC” (a Winlink tactical email address). The message may simply be addressed to “WASHCO-EOC.” It travels through the WLE system as
wa********@wi*****.org
. It will be picked up by KD7ISA (use his address if you have trouble).
1. A message with information about your station, including antenna type, height, and power levels.
2. A Winlink Check-In message. Use:
Standard Templates >>
Mappable GIS templates>>
Winlink Check-in.
Reference the latest copy of the newsletter.
3. If you have time, you can send messages to other participating stations as well.
Stations not having Winlink capability can use this time to exchange other messages, run experiments, etc.
4. Debriefing (Hotwash)
12:00 – 12:30 on 147.400 MHz simplex
What worked well for you?
What didn’t?
What worked OK this time, but might not in other situations?
What would you do differently next time?
Was there a “lesson learned” previously that became a successful “lesson applied” this time?
12:30 – 13:00 take down stations and go home
AFTERWARDS
Please send an email to WB6BYU with the following information:
• Names and callsigns of all participants
• location (in any reasonable form)
• station description, including antennas and power level(s)
• Copies of all forms (they don’t need to be tidy or perfect)
• Debriefing notes
• Other comments
• Photos
Resources
Organizer contact info:
Dale Hunt, WB6BYU
Email:
wb****@wa********.org
Phone or text: 971-226-9628
Printable copies of ICS forms:
ICS 213
ICS 214
ICS 309 WLE can generate this for emails sent /received.
If you need help keeping track of other stations and their Winlink callsigns, you can use form ICS 205A {editor’s note – Typically we would actually create a form 217 at the lower level and many ICS217’s would be passed upstream and aggregated into an incident wide ICS205. We will train on this later. For this exercise use either one. pgt}.
Appendix A suggested Task evaluation added by KD7ISA
Appendix B Notes from Dale’s previous post
Appendix A
Tasks to evaluate
Evaluate each task as:
P = performed with no difficulty
S = performed with some difficulty
M = performed with major difficulty
U = unable to perform
• set up temporary VHF/UHF station
• check in by voice
• Be able to describe your station location
• Evaluate simplex coverage in terms of at least two stations heard and power level used
• Turn in a ICS-309 report of voice traffic (written)
• Turn in a ICS-213 form, 214 report (written)
If you have WLE:
• WLE: send a Winlink msg to any participating station
• WLE: send a Check in message via Winlink Express
• WLE send a msg containing your GPS location Your message will contain “specified” or “GPS” in header. You may use the Mappable GIS Winlink Check-in form in lieu of item above
• Turn in a ICS-309 report (PDF, CSV) generated by WLE
Appendix B
Notes from Dale’s previous post:
PREPARATION
1. Choose who you want to operate with.
Participants will self-select into operating groups. You can operate with your friends, join another group, or operate on your own. Station Managers may use the opportunity to activate their stations. Optimum number of operators per station is probably around 2 to 4, depending on experience level, but there are no hard limits, as long as everyone gets to participate to some extent. Don’t have any experience? Join an experienced team and learn! We will maintain a list of operators looking for stations to join, and stations looking for additional operators, to help coordinate this process.
2. Choose a location
Each group will choose a location to set up a station for this exercise. If you can’t think of some place, I will have some suggestions. Portable / temporary locations are encouraged, but not mandatory. Parked vehicles, stations in the back yard, or existing fixed stations can still accomplish some of the goals for this exercise. You are welcome to choose a local park to minimize driving time, enjoy the comforts of your patio, activate a Summits On The Air mountaintop, or whatever strikes your fancy and desired level of adventure. Ham radio is supposed to be fun! And it looks like good weather to be outdoors – though possibly a bit warm in the afternoon (current forecast is 83 degrees). If it gets too hot we may try to shorten the exercise or start a bit earlier.
3. Plan your station
The ideal station would have VHF FM voice and (optionally) Winlink capabilities. if your group doesn’t have all the required equipment or skills, we will have some spare equipment to loan out, and we can see about finding an extra operator with needed skills. An external antenna is recommended, as most communications will be on simplex rather than through a repeater.
Suggested station equipment checklist
• VHF radio(s) (voice)
• external antenna / mast / coax
• headphones
• batteries / power sources
• Winlink station (radio, computer, antenna, etc.)
• table and chairs (if needed)
• ICS forms / scratch paper / clipboard / pens
• sun shade (if no trees handy)
• drinks / snacks
4. Choose a tactical callsign for your station
Each group will choose a suitable tactical callsign for their station (subject to change if there is a duplication). Those stations with Winlink also need to specify a callsign to use for receiving messages. Tactical callsigns may indicate your location, a local street name or landmark, be whimsical, or whatever. They should be reasonably short and easy to understand.
5. Notification
Stations planning to participate should notify me beforehand by email (
WB****@wa********.org
) or phone (971-226-9628), so I can send them additional information or last minute changes. If you are not sure if you will participate, let me know that you are tentative, so I can still keep you informed in case you do participate at the last moment. I will be available during the event as tactical callsign “EVENT 1” in case of any issues, such as equipment failure or needing to leave the exercise early. I will also be available by phone or text at (971) 226-9628.
ACTIVITIES
We will have roll call nets on VHF throughout the exercise, and stations will exchange messages via voice and digital modes. Participants may make up their own messages, but please don’t invent a situation that would cause panic to anyone listening. We are mostly concerned with the process and accuracy of the messages, rather than the horrible scenarios they might describe. A couple of messages may include specified content.
Any message listed as being from someone other than one of your operators should be handled as formal traffic on an ICS 213 form. In the process, please maintain the standard ICS log forms 214 and 309. Also, please maintain a record of what stations you can hear, and how well: this will help when it comes to routing traffic. If the net is on a repeater that you can’t hit from your location, try checking in using simplex on the repeater output frequency to see if another station can hear you and relay.
Some stations may be asked to take a turn as net control.
