Currently, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office leases airtime on the 700/800 MHz RACOM network, while the Polk County Fire Department (made of rural departments that are dispatched by PCSO) resides on conventional VHF frequencies that are then patched to the RACOM network.

The “Assistance to Firefighters” FEMA grant would allow the county to purchase roughly 116 mobile radios, along with 217 handhelds. A decision on the grant is expected by late May. Polk County would have one year to formalize the purchase and that would allow the county to select a new radio system.

Without the text of the grant application, it is unclear whether Polk County Fire would directly join the RACOM network or create a new standalone interoperable system, although reports surfaced earlier this year of a request for proposals (RFP) for a new, leased countywide P25 fire radio system. Westcom and Des Moines will have the option to join the project.

Ankeny Fire was selected to file the proposal, as Polk County was not allowed to apply for the FEMA grant. If the grant is approved, Ankeny, Polk City, Elkhart, Saylor and Delaware townships, Altoona, Bondurant, Granger, Grimes, Johnston, Mitchellville, Pleasant Hill, Runnells and Windsor Heights would benefit from the grant.

Already there’s a thread over at RadioReference with a pretty decent chunk of talkgroups figured out. If you’ve been listening to the system, collaborate and share your notes with others. Talkgroups can be figured out by running Unitrunker or by just listening.

If you’re interested, Johnson County EMA will be holding an open house of the JECC on June 19th from 1 to 3 p.m. The JECC is located at 4529 Melrose Avenue in Iowa City. More information can be found on this PDF flier.

As the president of MISA, I feel compelled to write a post and denounce the actions of the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV), the Discovery Channel support teams, chase tour vans, and other personnel that were caught on tape by Steve Miller’s crew in Oklahoma yesterday.

It’s ridiculous that I’m even talking about this, really… the TIV crew and the Discovery Channel crews, and the paid tornado alley tour groups are professionals. They get paid to do it. So why aren’t they acting professional?

They were caught on tape driving a rural two-lane road, passing on the left. Not just passing on the left, but passing in no-passing zones. Not only were they passing in no-passing zones, but they were driving in the lane of oncoming traffic when they approached the crest of the hill.

This is completely unacceptable. The VORTEX2 operations manual — whether the TIV and/or the Discovery Channel officially abide by it or not — explicitly states that the safety of the research teams and other drivers is certainly more important than getting in place to intercept a tornado.

VORTEX2 will send over 40 vehicles and 100 people to the field, and we will drive about 10,000 miles each season. VORTEX2 will operate and ferry through regions experiencing severe weather including heavy rain, hail, lightning, and high winds, not to mention tornadoes. We will be sharing the roads with numerous other vehicles driven by storm chasers, media, local residents, other travelers, and emergency personnel. Traffic jams will occur, particularly during weekends, near metropolitan areas, and when storms are isolated and/or long lived. Driving ability and confidence varies greatly in sub-ideal weather conditions. Many people who are watching our target storms will be only marginally aware of their surroundings. Therefore, we must be aware of them.

…

To summarize, no tornado, no data set, no arrival time at a hotel is worth injury. Common sense behavior will go a long way towards keeping you and the rest of VORTEX2 safe. If it doesn’t feel safe, dont do it. If it doesn’t feel polite, don’t do it.

While MISA is technically a spotter group and not a chaser group, the public eye doesn’t discern the two. This incident gives both groups a terrible reputation that we are reckless adrenaline junkies.

Storm chasers or spotters are not more important than anyone else on the road. There is such a thing as being too aggressive. Emergency personnel in the area was already dealing with a tornado outbreak — if any of those vehicles passing unsafely had happened to lose control and/or collide with another vehicle, emergency responders would have one more thing to worry about.

I found this gem on YouTube while searching for other Skywarn videos late one night. While the premise and goals of the Skywarn program have remained unchanged, this video from nearly 40 years ago emphasizes how far the science of weather and personal computing has brought the activity.

Instead of chalkboards, meteorologists now use PowerPoint, videos, pictures, and diagrams on a projection screen to teach the general public (read: not meteorology students). Spotters in the field now have laptops, netbooks, aircards, APRS/GPS, and a whole array of wireless technology to assist them in the field and communicate back to the NWS, EOC, or to other spotters.

Since then, scientists have improved the understanding and reliability of weather forecasting. While weather is a science, humans don’t have it “down to a science” quite yet. But I wonder where we’ll be 40 more years from now?

This, of course, meant that there would be new blood coming into those various leadership positions. I am pleased to announce that I was elected through a close write-in vote to serve as the next president of Mid-Iowa Skywarn, which is effective immediately. I am grateful to be elected to this position, and I do indeed have some big shoes to fill and expectations to exceed. I learned this evening that Jim and I have very similar reasons for joining Skywarn, which I will likely write about later down the road. I plan on hitting the ground running, and I have plans to act on. Tom N0VPR was also elected to the role of secretary/treasurer — Tom has been working with Skywarn and ARES for quite a while as well, and we have worked with each other as president/vice president for the local club.

The Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association is the organization that mans the amateur radio station in the Des Moines National Weather Service office, using call sign K0DMX. It takes storm reports from all corners of the NWS Des Moines’ 51-county warning area through an extensive VHF/UHF linked repeater network. We’re lucky to have a great relationship with the Des Moines meteorologist-in-charge and warning coordinator.

After the brief meeting, we moved on to our annual two-hour spotter training class presented by the NWS. It was a great presentation, I thought. It included some new pictures and videos. It was certainly a good crowd, probably more than last year. If maybe a half-dozen more people showed up, we would have run out of seats. A lot of new faces I haven’t seen around — either they are hams that don’t usually come to our “normal” club meetings or this was their first time attending a storm spotter course.

Tom set out some amateur radio information brochures and fliers, along with business cards that listed information about the DMRAA and its meetings. After the presentation, non-hams were mingling with the hams asking how to get involved in amateur radio, and most of those business cards were gone, so I’d say the training session also sparked some interest in amateur radio. It turned out pretty well.

Two years ago, that same laboratory found that digital radios fared far worse than their analog radios on the fireground. The likely problem? Ambient noise — most notably SCBA masks, SCBA alert bells, PASS communicators, water pumps, and other ambient noises associated with working fires. The ambient noise distorts the audio, because the IMBE vocoder is generally designed to capture human voice and cut the background noise out. But when you have dozens of other competing sounds that are as loud or even louder than the human voice, the vocoder can become confused and the audio is distorted.

These radios, which were designed to help firefighters, are often blamed as a contributing cause of some firefighter injuries and even deaths when mayday calls were not heard by others on the Cincinnati-area digital radio systems. Other complaints include dead spots, an inability to override ongoing radio traffic with more urgent radio traffic (getting a busy signal instead), and a one- to two-second delay for transmitting after squeezing the push-to-talk button.

Fire departments aren’t the only agencies grappling with issues. Police departments are also suffering from dead spots in coverage that cropped up only after the digital systems were deployed.

In Philadelphia, their new Motorola radio system suffered over a dozen complete radio system failures in three years, even putting the police commissioner’s safety in jeopardy once when breaking up a street disturbance.

Similar failures are being reported all across the United States, not only with Motorola P-25 systems but M/A-Com OpenSky systems as well. In some instances, departments are bailing on their multi-million dollar digital radio systems in favor of their older analog systems.

But that’s just what happened during the recent blizzard: they handled 3,725 calls for help, the Des Moines Register reports. That’s more than double the average of 766 calls a day.

While the only time I ever hear dispatchers from the Iowa State Patrol is when they’re communicating with the executive protection branch at the Iowa capitol. But I’m sure it made for some great listening on LEA and car-to-car, along the same lines of Highway Helper and the DOT snow plow crews. I’m sure they had many colorful ways of describing those unskilled drivers that didn’t heed the “travel not advised” warnings…

Those same systems will probably make for some good listening this week, as holiday travelers will be fighting rain, freezing rain, sleet, and possibly a foot or snow on top of all that. Let’s hope people have wised up this go-round.

The beauty of amateur radio is that it’s many things to many people. Amateur radio is what you make of it, whether it’s HF, VHF/UHF, ATV, CW, PSK, Hellschreiber or even internet modes like CQ100. It’s not anyone’s place to tell you that whatever you enjoy in a hobby is incorrect. This isn’t a “that’s not amateur radio” post, I’m not going to say emcomm has no place in amateur radio. That’s like telling a stamp collector that he’s collecting the wrong kind of stamps or an artist using acrylic paint isn’t a real artist. I would, however, like to offer some points for your consideration.

I had never made up my mind about what to think about the growing emcomm section of amateur radio, until I happened to see Steve KB9MWR’s YouTube video (embedded below) via Steve K9ZW’s blog. I have struggled to find a stance on all of the issues surrounding it — I had some basic thoughts about it, but I couldn’t put it into words. Steve does an outstanding job of summarizing the words that I’ve been trying to put together:

Let’s first recognize that ARES/RACES/MARS/CAP/REACT and other acronym organizations do good work. Overall, they are trained very well and put a lot of time and effort into their hobby. I usually participate in Skywarn on my own activation, and have done a few ARES events as well.

However, you can be the most well-trained organization and your served agencies still won’t see the need for your services. What I mean is after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and other emergencies and disasters, radio system engineers have wised up and made their systems more redundant. Systems will still fail, but they have at least one more redundant system to fall back on, and if that system fails, there is usually a plan for that as well, and it likely involves something like simplex communications using their own frequencies — not amateur radio operators.

Not only does radio system redundancy make amateur emcomm obsolete, but some hams still insist that their services be used even when the served agency’s radio system works perfectly fine. When the county emergency manager spoke at our club meeting earlier this fall, he also spoke about how he handled the flood emergency last year and mentioned there were people equipped with radio walking the levees regularly to report any problems or weaknesses. He tried to make the point that radio communications are extremely important in emergency situations.

A well-intentioned ham chimed in and asked “what kind of radios were they?” When the EM responded that they were EMA-rented radios, the ham started to go down a slippery slope. “Where are all the hams involved in this? Why wasn’t ham radio used?” This continued for several minutes while I began to grind my teeth until another ham stepped in.

The other ham made the point that basically said if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. EMA had a radio system that worked for them, and it’s their call whether to use them or not. If the radio infrastructure is there, all the EMA employees have to know is how to use the push-to-talk button.

Many hams aren’t seeming to cope well with the fact that today’s modern systems are more reliable than they were in previous decades. They still insist that amateur emcomm needs to play a role in an emergency whether their served agencies need them or not. Nothing will burn bridges faster with agencies than hams trying to elbow their way into emergency operation centers and disaster areas.

Here in Iowa, we have a couple recent examples. The Cedar Rapids public safety system stayed online even as the downtown area was inundated with water during last year’s epic flood. The EF-5 tornado that tore through Parkersburg last year took lives, homes, vehicles, and power — but not cell phone systems or radio systems.

Steve also makes the point that some emcomm organizations are being taken for granted for free labor. In my county, the ARES emergency coordinator has made it clear several times in no uncertain terms that the ARES operators are allowed to only perform duties related to radio communications — not transportation, not lost and found, not first aid, not barricades, not traffic control. Only setting up radio systems and radio communication itself are allowed. This is an excellent policy that should be implemented ARES-wide to prevent agencies from exploiting the organization’s manpower outside of radio.

That also brings me to the point of hams going above and beyond their job descriptions to “help out” — which often involves getting in the way of the real professionals trying to do their job. I’ve heard horror stories of hams showing up uninvited to large-scale structure fires or vehicle accidents and end up getting in the way. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened in my area. These are usually well-intentioned hams, bless their hearts, but their desire leads them astray.

There’s a up-and-coming mindset that amateur radio’s sole purpose is emergency communications. According to §97.1(a), yes emcomm is one of the purposes of the amateur radio spectrum, but let’s not forget about (b), (c), (d), and (e), which promote the hobbyist aspect of amateur radio through advancement of radio innovation, community education, and the advancement of international goodwill. It troubles me when an emcomm radio operator carries a “holier-than-thou” attitude over other hams just because he or she has “special Homeland Security training,” whether it’s in the incident command structure or otherwise. Again, I’ve been fortunate enough that I haven’t seen this in my area, but in other regions it runs rampant.

Even without the ARRL establishing ARES, amateur radio operators have — and always will — help out in emergency situations when needed. We don’t need several formal organizations for this.

The ARES command structure established by the ARRL is ridiculously elaborate enough to be the shadow government for the United States. Have you seen it? It’s obscenely bureucratic, once you see it you’ll know the cause for most ARES screw-ups. Not to mention the politics that take place among ARES leadership.

Most of the positions within ARES command requires membership with the ARRL. What’s the reason for that? So that the ARRL can make more money. Not only is that a terrible reason, but it also keeps radio operators that are otherwise qualified out of contributing to ARES because they choose to not give their money to a greedy organization for one reason or another. I wonder how many outstandingly talented operators this keeps out of the ARES leadership roles that could have helped the organization run more efficiently and improved the organization overall?

Inefficiency. The basic plan for an ARES event if the governmental radio systems fail, then hams will either use their own pre-existing infrastructure or improvise and build a new temporary system for the event. Then, due to FCC regulations, the ARES operator will partner up with someone in a served agency. The person that the ARES operator is partnered with will have to give the message to his ARES partner, then the ARES operator will say the message over the radio, where the ARES operator on the other end will receive the message and pass it on to their served agency. See where governmental agencies would rather spend money to reinforce their infrastructure and use their own systems? In one of my other jobs where we use radios on a regular basis to administer athletic events, I could not imagine having hams do this instead of just using our own radios, even if it is free labor. It would be absolutely agonizing.

In a true emergency, I’d be willing to bet a large number of the same hams that continuously do ARES drills won’t be able to help in a true, unnanounced emergency for several reasons — medical problems, family, work — after all, it is a true emergency. A large number of hams could be displaced. Their equipment could be destroyed.

The only trait that separates amateur radio operators from everyone else are their technical abilities — the ability to troubleshoot, improvise, build/rebuild systems, and the knowledge of all the different bands and modes available to complete the task. Yet those skills are diminishing with the new emcomm generation. I have admittedly been guilty of being an “appliance operator” at times, for several various reasons that will probably be covered in another post. But once we lose these traits, we have no more of an ability than any other human being that knows how to squeeze a push-to-talk button.

It’s another stigma to all of amateur radio that comes along with the new emcomm generation. It’s not just a stigma, but a phenomenon, too. Most people think it’s a taboo subject. I’m talking about the new hams that are infatuated with putting blinky lights and official-looking stickers on their cars more than they’re interested in learning about the technical aspect of amateur radio. If you are a visitor of Hamsexy, then you probably know what I’m talking about. If not, head over to a thread on Firehouse for an official definition from real professionals. These people are a danger to the public, but luckily, I haven’t observed this kind of behavior in my area whatsoever.

Since KB9WMR’s video has been passed around the internet, there’s been a lot more chatter about the “big tent” theory. As I said in my opening few paragraphs, amateur radio is what you make of it. I accept anyone’s passion for whatever their niche is in amateur radio. I will never interfere with what they enjoy doing with their ham license. It’s not my business to do so unless they are interfering with any of the rights I am granted with my license. We’re all working together, doing different things under the same tent.

Along the same lines, K9ZW has proposed the “freecom” theory. Apparently, I have been doing freecom since I took my test. Freecom emphasizes self-preparedness as opposed to a crowd-sourced ARES-oriented system. The ARRL states that emcomm is one of the biggest reasons new hams get their tickets. I didn’t get my license for emcomm, aside from participating in Skywarn.

When my job as a photojournalist took me to the devastation in Parkersburg after the EF-5 tornado ripped the town in half, my entire viewpoint of self-preparedness and disaster situations changed drastically. I’ve wanted to get my ham ticket since I was a kid, but when I drove into Parkersburg just at sundown when there were still livestock in the trees, it changed everything and it pushed my desire to get a ham ticket. I would encourage you to read more about freecom on K9ZW’s blog.

Should we have emergency communications in amateur radio? Yes. Should we be educated about preparedness? Yes. Do we need to keep maintaining an inefficient, overly-political, antiquated, bureaucratic emcomm-specific radio organization? No. Amateur radio operators have always been willing to help in times of true emergency, and that won’t change if ARRL didn’t have its grubby little hands all over it. ARES-type emcomm as we know it could use some restructuring and attitude changes. When all else truly does fail, agencies will still want us, whether we’re trained in ICS or not, and whether we’re ARES or not.

YE WQKX415
JOHNSON COUNTY, IA JECC (Rebanding not required)
[APPLICANT IS A JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER FOR A COUNTY AND ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES WITHIN ITS BORDERS. RADIO STATION WILL BE USED FOR ESSENTIAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS.]
Control Point 1 – 4810 MELROSE AVE., IOWA CITY IA 319-356-6046
Control Point 2 – 808 UNIVERSITY CAPITOL CENTRE, 200 S. CAPITOL ST., IOWA CITY IA 319-335-5022
(link)
10/15/2009 License Issued
1 – 4529 MELROSE AVE., IOWA CITY (JOHNSON) IA (map)
854.2375 FB2 100p 490e 9K80D7W
858.9875 FB2 100p 490e 9K80D7W
859.9875 FB2 100p 490e 9K80D7W
856.7125 FB2 100p 490e 9K80D7W
854.4375 FB2 100p 490e 9K80D7W
2 – 221 N. CLINTON ST., IOWA CITY (JOHNSON) IA (map)
854.2375 FB2 79p 525e 9K80D7W
858.9875 FB2 79p 525e 9K80D7W
859.9875 FB2 79p 525e 9K80D7W
856.7125 FB2 79p 525e 9K80D7W
854.4375 FB2 79p 525e 9K80D7W
3 – .45 MI EAST OF HWY. 965, 0.12 MI. NORTH OF COUNTY ROAD PASSING OAKDALE CAMPUS, CORALVILLE (JOHNSON) IA (map)
854.2375 FB2 100p 263e 9K80D7W
858.9875 FB2 100p 263e 9K80D7W
859.9875 FB2 100p 263e 9K80D7W
856.7125 FB2 100p 263e 9K80D7W
854.4375 FB2 100p 263e 9K80D7W
4 – 4748 420TH ST. SE, IOWA CITY (JOHNSON) IA (map)
854.2375 FB2 50p 288e 9K80D7W
858.9875 FB2 50p 288e 9K80D7W
859.9875 FB2 50p 288e 9K80D7W
856.7125 FB2 50p 288e 9K80D7W
854.4375 FB2 50p 288e 9K80D7W
5 – (JOHNSON) IA Countywide
809.2375 MO 35p 35e 9K80D7W
811.7125 MO 35p 35e 9K80D7W
813.9875 MO 35p 35e 9K80D7W
814.9875 MO 35p 35e 9K80D7W
809.4375 MO 35p 50e 9K80D7W
6 – IA Land Mobile Control Station Meeting 20 Rule
809.2375 FX1 35p 50e 9K80D7W
811.7125 FX1 35p 50e 9K80D7W
813.9875 FX1 35p 50e 9K80D7W
814.9875 FX1 35p 50e 9K80D7W
809.4375 FX1 35p 50e 9K80D7W

– From Weekly Iowa grants, retrieved October 18, 2009.