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Winlink
in Emergency Communications
Preparing
for Emergencies and Disasters
THOMAS
GOYNE is the Emergency Communications Officer for the Virginia Medical
Examiner's Office in the US. Virginia (VA) is on the US East Coast. It has a
population of more than 7 million. In terms of population it compares with
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, that has a population of
about 6.8 million. VA’s population density is about 180 persons per square
mile, more than twice the US average of 80.
The state’s surface area is 40,000 square miles (104000 square
kilometers). It has a rather awkward shape with its “pan handle” reaching
far to the west and part of its land mass being separated by the mighty
Chesapeake Bay.
In
terms of civil defense preparation VA is important. Not only does it adjoin
Washington DC, the seat of the federal government but within its territory is
has major infrastructure facilities, including major bridges, tunnels, the
world’s largest naval base, a nuclear power station, a natural gas terminal
and national security establishments (including the Pentagon). Much of the lower
areas are surrounded by tidal waters and, although rare, it can be in the path
of late-season hurricanes.
As was
learned from the 911 terrorist attacks at both the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center in New York, and as was learned in Australia during the recent bush fires
in Canberra - Australia’s national capital, communication can be the Achilles
heel of emergency and disaster relief operations. VA and other federal and state
agencies took action to prepare for any future emergency communications (ecoms)
by testing radio equipment and conducting exercises. That’s where Tom Goyne
comes in. Apart from his professional role as "ecoms" officer, he is
also a keen and active radio amateur (N4NSP). His other interests in Amateur
Radio include the East Coast Amateur Radio Service (ECARS) on 7.255 MHz., and
the Virginia Fone Net (VFN) on 3947 KHz. While working at home, he monitors
5330.5 KHz USB and/or 118.7 MHz at the Newport News/Williamsburg Airport (PHF).
For more information about Tom (he jokingly refers to himself as the Tired Old
Man) visit his
callsign page (N4NSP) on www.qrz.com/detail/N4NSP.
Tom
contributed the following report that would be of interest to Australian civil
defense authorities and, possibly also, to WICEM, the Australian radio amateur
emergency network:
QUOTE
Prior
to 9-11-01, the VA Medical Examiner's Office was already preparing for emergency
communications. Flooding, as with Hurricane "Floyd", was a
concern for the Tidewater District in Norfolk, where I work. Our office was
the first one with ecom" capabilities and the first to get HF and
Pactor III capabilities to use with Winlink.
Our
Northern District office in Fairfax (near the Pentagon) had ordered their radio
equipment the week before the 9-11-01attack. Because of the foresight, on
that Friday at 6:00 pm, that office was on the air, fully operational. As the
Emergency Communications Officer, I saw a great potential for Winlink - even if
terrorism is not involved. Two examples are (1) an air crash or (2) extended
recovery operations where there is no cellular service because of system
overload or packet coverage because of terrain or foliage attenuation. In
those cases I have to leave the emergency scene and either walk to the top of a
hill or ridge or leave the site and drive out to a main road to get a
radio signal.
In
those circumstances, Winlink performs an invaluable service by providing
communications from the incident site to our offices in Richmond, Roanoke,
Fairfax or Norfolk. Signals on 40 meters during the day work great.
Using Winlink, I can send messages to multiple email recepients in the ME
system, and of course, they can respond back to me at my Winlink address. Files
can be compressed using WinZip, and the system works really well. The only
request that I have is that they don't RE my complete message back to me as it
takes extra time on a PMBO. During our March 2003 statewide “ecom”
exercise, one of the packet BBS's we use was not working properly.
We immediately went to Winlink and completed that part of the exercise
with no problems.
Steve
(K4CJX), the Winlink System Administrator, has been very supportive, as have
those stations (such as W1ON near Boston) that I use for testing and exercises.
At Steve's suggestion, I have moved to the SCS modem to operate using Pactor III.
That was sound advise and an excellent investment for emergency communications.
If you use Winlink, Pactor III (or Pactor II) is a much better way to go than
with the painfully slow Pactor I. I watch the propagation window on 20 meters to
see when I can connect to Steve's PMBO on 14 MHz. When the technology advances
to the next level (P4?), I will look into that as well.
Conclusion: Winlink is an invaluable emergency communications
asset, and I am extremely grateful for the help and support of Steve and
others who operate PMBO's in the system. I hope this information is helpful
in the endeavors to get better Winlink coverage in Australia.
Tom
Goyne (N4NSP) Visit: http://www.qrz.com/detail/N4NSP
UNQUOTE
AussieWinlink is sure that if Australian Civil
Defense Authorities; the Australian Communications Authority; the Australian
Maritime Safety Authority; and WICEN would like to liaise with and share in the
VA’s Medical Examiner’s Office emergency communication preparations, Mr.
Goyne would be most willing to act as the intermediary.
AussieWinlink
27 August 2003
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