ORCA DIGITAL NET

ORCA DIGITAL NET 17/oct/17 Check-in/Rotation:

Check-ins: 15
Stations:
WA7HHE Brad Cedar City,UT, T>W1EEP
W1EEP Gene Pine Valley,UT
KA7FOO Doug Reno,NV
KD7CL Craig Riverton,OR in&out
W7GBB Bob Renton,WA qru
K6ETA Steve Petaluma,CA
KR7KR Ken Ceder City,UT in&out
N7SND Larry Cedar City,UT in&out
KE6SLS Jaye Eureka,CA
K7DV Dave Idaho Falls,ID
KA7PAT Pat Riverton,OR in&out
KB6HOH Steve Novato,CA late ck/in
WY7RG Robert Buffalo,WY late ck/in
W7ZAP Mindy Brookings,OR qru
K7KY Doug Brookings,OR NCS

I thought I had sorted out a demonstration of off-net-freq Traffic handling, but no. It’s actually not complicated and anyone familiar with Traffic nets will recognize it immediately. It only seems strange from the perspective of our practice-net routines.

On a regular Amateur Traffic net, most traffic is passed off the net frequency. Numerous Ops can be off-freq passing traffic while business continues on the net. I thought Brad WA7HHE and Gene W1EEP would make contact easily, but I was wrong and they spent most of the net trying to complete the message. Doug KA7FOO was prepared to participate in the demo and went to 2200wf to assist them. We carried on with the Traffic and Comment rounds, but discovered that some Ops had followed the traffic pair off to 2200 also. Looks like my instructions were inadequate. Sorry for the confusion.

I meant for net members to remain on freq where we could continue net business and see the traffic pair up on 2200wf passing traffic. Reviewing the log, I only dispatched Brad & Gene to 2200. Remember the fundamentals of directed nets. Check out with NCS before leaving. Otherwise, NCS is burning net time looking for you. When NCS dispatches Ops to pass traffic, a relay station may be sent with them or they may return to get a relay. NCS checks everyone in & out of a directed net. This is particularly important on a digital net where housekeeping communications need more structure than phone nets.

Overall, we did well with a confusing situation. Thanks for your focus and patience. Mindy & I try to understand current band condx and the relationship btwn stations during the weekly FLAMP exercise. Changing modes often reveals who might be the best FLAMP relay for fills. Sometimes, we can’t determine anything and fall back on what’s worked well in the past.

Steve K6ETA was back tonight. He’s been quite busy supporting communications for the wildfires around Santa Rosa & Petaluma,CA. Besides the many hours of comm support, his home was also endangered and under a ‘prepare to leave quickly’ category. We know all about that one. Moving all your stuff to a safe location is stressful and exhausting. This was a terrible fire and many lost their homes and business, and some lost their lives. Hat’s off to Steve and his many Amateur colleagues for their efforts.

After net-end, Robert WY7RG contacted me from WY. He’s the county ARES/RACES EC and a MARS operator. He’s interested in starting a digital traffic training net in WY. We look forward to working with Robert in the future. And, Steve KB6HOH ck-ed in late from Novato,CA. Good to see Steve again.

Here’s the test image Gene W1EEP copied in Cedar City,UT tonight.

RX: W1EEP  UT

Again, it was a pleasure working with you tonight. Let’s do it again next Tuesday evening.

73 Doug K7KY

———- Net Log ————

WA7HHE < K7KY Ge Brad IC Gene is around too… I’ll lilst u & Gene at the top of roster Doug KA7FOO will be ur back up I don’t think we need him to help tonight… I’ll ask u & Gene to go up freq and pass traffic and return to net using VideoID btu

< K7KY

k7ky de wa7hhe RR Doug

W1EEP < K7KY GE Gene hw cpy? < K7KY

DE W1EEP Gene Phillips Pine Valley Utah K

W1EEP FB Gene I’ll list u & Brad at the top and well do your traffic demo at the beginning of the Traffic round tnx for the help… I don’t think we’ll need Doug to help tonight, but it’s good to hv back up ur on the log tu < K7KY

W7GBB < K7KY Bob u ck-ing in? < K7KY

Yes I am QRU de W7GBB k

W7GBB RR Bob BREAK GE Steve K7ETA ur on the log.. tu < K7KY

KR7KR

CEDAR CITY

monitor only

de KR7KR k

KR7KR < K7KY GE Ken tu < K7KY

K7KY K7KY de N7SND N7SND Cedar City, Utah checking in and out.

N7SND < K7KY RR Larry in&out tonight tu < K7KY

KE6SLS < K7KY GE Jaye tu < K7KY

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Taking early ck-ins < K7KY

Early ORCA Check-Ins:

WA7HHE Brad Cedar City,UT

W1EEP Gene Pine Valley,UT

W7GBB Bob Renton,WA

K6ETA Steve Petaluma,CA

KR7KR Ken Ceder City,UT in&out

N7SND Larry Cedar City,UT in&out

KE6SLS Jaye Eureka,CA

W7ZAP Mindy Brookings,OR qru

K7KY Doug Brookings,OR NCS

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Taking early ck-ins < K7KY

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Taking early ck-ins < K7KY

Early ORCA Check-Ins:

WA7HHE Brad Cedar City,UT, T> W1EEP

W1EEP Gene Pine Valley,UT

W7GBB Bob Renton,WA qru

K6ETA Steve Petaluma,CA

KR7KR Ken Ceder City,UT in&out

N7SND Larry Cedar City,UT in&out

KE6SLS Jaye Eureka,CA

W7ZAP Mindy Brookings,OR qru

K7KY Doug Brookings,OR NCS < K7KY

Hi ORCA Net.

Just finished a packet class.

Operating from the Washoe County EOC tonight.

KR7EOC

KR7EOC < K7KY I think this is actually Doug KA7FOO ?? < K7KY

This is Doug

KA7FOO

KR7EOC

KA7FOO RR Doug tu for preparing to help with the traffic demo tonight… Both Brad & Gene are here, so u can take a pass for this one.. I still will list you at the top of roster just in case… tnx for the help… BREAK any more early ck-ins? < K7KY

KY DE K7DV

K7DV < K7KY GE Dave ur on the roster tu < K7KY

ka7pat riverton in and out

KA7PAT < K7KY GE Pat tnx for the ck-in ur in&out tonight < K7KY

Early ORCA Check-Ins:

WA7HHE Brad Cedar City,UT, T> W1EEP

W1EEP Gene Pine Valley,UT

KA7FOO Doug Reno,NV

W7GBB Bob Renton,WA qru

K6ETA Steve Petaluma,CA

KR7KR Ken Ceder City,UT in&out

N7SND Larry Cedar City,UT in&out

KE6SLS Jaye Eureka,CA

K7DV Dave Idaho Falls,ID

KA7PAT Pat Riverton,OR in&out

W7ZAP Mindy Brookings,OR qru

K7KY Doug Brookings,OR NCS

10/17/2017 19:29 PDT

QST & WELCOME to the ORCA DIGITAL NET

Doug K7KY NCS, Brookings,OR, 35w, 180′ Doublet @ 80′

ORCA meets every Tuesday 1930p/0230z – 3.581+1500 – MFSK-32

Software by Dave W1HKJ: FLDIGI, FLMSG, FLAMP

ORCA is a DIRECTED net, dedicated to learning and developing

digital operating skills and practicing digital traffic handling.

ORCA connects Amateur Operators with common interest in training,

information-sharing, and mutual-aid. Practice makes perfect!

New to ORCA? See: http://orcadigitalnet.com/quick-start/

Following check-in NCS sends:

1) B/W Signal evaluation image

2) Rotation list

3) Announcements

Weekly FLAMP exercise with Mindy W7ZAP

Traffic Round: NCS calls each station in order

No practice traffic? Send ‘QRU’.

Hold keyboard dialogue for Comment Round. Questions anytime.

Comment Round: comments, reception reports, observations, questions

(keyboard or FLMSG BLANK Form as you like)

LOCK: fldigi cursor @ 1500

ENABLE: RxID, AFC

DISABLE: TxID, end-of-Tx-ID, Mode-ID

DISABLE: CWID, CW-Postamble-ID, Auto-Pre-Tone*

* Use brief (TUNE BUTTON) pre-tone when doubles are likely.

Unlike FLMSG, FLAMP does not detect FLAMP traffic when closed.

FLDIGI can be configured to ‘AUTOSTART’ FLAMP.

—–

ORCA CHECK-INS COME NOW. Send CALLSIGN or print Video/ID on WF

First time? CALL/NAME/QTH

Monitoring stations send: ‘CALLSIGN IN&OUT’

< K7KY

B/W Signal Evaluation Image <IMAGE:G, /home/k7ky/Documents/orca/0RCAimage.png>

Sending Pic:144×140; < K7KY

… start

[WRAP:beg][WRAP:lf][WRAP:fn 0RCA.b2s]<flmsg>4.0.3

:hdr_fm:20

K7KY 20171810023241

:hdr_ed:20

K7KY 20160703235454

<blankform>

:mg:426 ORCA DIGITAL NET 17/oct/17 Check-in/Rotation:

Check-ins: 12

Stations:

WA7HHE Brad Cedar City,UT, T> W1EEP

W1EEP Gene Pine Valley,UT

KA7FOO Doug Reno,NV

W7GBB Bob Renton,WA qru

K6ETA Steve Petaluma,CA

KR7KR Ken Ceder City,UT in&out

N7SND Larry Cedar City,UT in&out

KE6SLS Jaye Eureka,CA

K7DV Dave Idaho Falls,ID

KA7PAT Pat Riverton,OR in&out

W7ZAP Mindy Brookings,OR qru

K7KY Doug Brookings,OR NCS

[WRAP:chksum CEC6][WRAP:end]

… end

^r

ORCA ANNOUNCEMENTS 17 October 2017

We haven’t seen Steve K6ETA for a couple weeks. He’s been very

busy supporting communications for the wildfires in Santa Rosa,CA.

Check out this ARRL article: http://www.arrl.org/news/ham-radio-bridging-the-gap-in-wildfire-stricken-california.

Tonight’s Optional FLAMP exercise distributes ‘ex42.txt’, an FLMSG

/FLAMP exercise using the ICS-213 form. Complete the exercise

instructions and send the file to NCS during TRAFFIC round using

FLAMP, or send your own practice traffic, or QRU.

Tonight we’ll ask two Ops to pass traffic off the net frequency,

simulating an actual emergency net or regular traffic net. Brad WA7HHE,

Gene W1EEP, & Doug KA7FOO are prepared to work this demonstration.

They all use VideoID, so we will see them return to the net w/o

interrupting ongoing operations. Passing traffic off the net frequency

is SOP for for traffic and emergency nets. Note the difference between

this procedure and ours.

Instructions for printing your callsign on the waterfall with VideoID

are on the website. See: http://orcadigitalnet.com/resources/macros/.

Your callsign in VideoID is easier to read when it’s printed large and

horizontal on either side of 1500.

Net Report posted as soon as we can…

orcadigitalnet.com/reports/

< K7KY

Next, Mindy W7ZAP will conduct the weekly FLAMP exercise in MFSK-32 and fill in FMSK-16. Remember, during the REPORT round, all we are looking for is your FLAMP REPORT if you finish the exercise this quickly, please hold it for the Traffic round TU over to

Mindy < K7KY

ORCA DIGITAL NET DE W7ZAP

<PROG 18 B619>{71D1}FLAMP 2.2.03

<FILE 29 308B>{71D1}20171016211952:ex42.txt

<ID 25 064E>{71D1}W7ZAP Brookings, OR

<SIZE 14 58B4>{71D1}415 7 64

<FILE 29 308B>{71D1}20171016211952:ex42.txt

<ID 25 064E>{71D1}W7ZAP Brookings, OR

<SIZE 14 58B4>{71D1}415 7 64

<DATA 72 9642>{71D1:1}FLMSG/FLAMP file-manipulation exercise, OPTIONAL 7

In an FLMS

<DATA 72 54D2>{71D1:2}G BLANK form, create the file ‘URCALL_ex42.213. Make To= NCS, Fm

<DATA 72 977F>{71D1:3}= URCALL, Sub.= ORCA-ex42. Copy the following questions to the M

<DATA 72 A514>{71D1:4}essage: field and add your answers.

Do u use Winlink/WINMOR at

<DATA 72 BD65>{71D1:5}your home station?

In TRAFFIC round, send the new file to NCS u

<DATA 72 08E9>{71D1:6}sing FLAMP, or send your

own practice msg or QRU. On the FLAMP

<DATA 39 BFD4>{71D1:7}TX tab, change ‘QST’ to ‘NCS’.

<CNTL 10 9ABD>{71D1:EOF}

<CNTL 10 3AB1>{71D1:EOT}

DE W7ZAP K

For the weekly FLAMP practice message we try

to fill every station. I will prompt you in order with

your CALLSIGN only. Press the FLAMP REPORT Button

or send, ‘No FLAMP’ or ‘No Copy’.

We begin with …

WA7HHE

DE WA7HHE

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE WA7HHE K

W1EEP

DE W1EEP

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE W1EEP K

KA7FOO

DE KA7FOO

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE KA7FOO K

KR7EOC

W7GBB

W7GBB

DE W7GBB

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE W7GBB K

K6ETA

DE K6ETA

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE K6ETA K

KE6SLS

DE ke6sls

File : ex42.txt

<MISSING 15 E438>{71D1}CONFIRMED

DE ke6sls K

K7DV

8 1D3C>{71D1}5

DE K7DV K

K7KY

W7ZAP < K7KY sri FLDIGI choked no copy hr.. < K7KY

WA7HHE < W7ZAP Brad pls RELAY block 5 TU < W7ZAP

DE WA7HHE

FLAMP Relay

<DATA 72 BD65>{71D1:5}your home station?

In TRAFFIC round, send the new file to NCS u

<CNTL 10 9ABD>{71D1:EOF}

<CNTL 10 3AB1>{71D1:EOT}

DE WA7HHE K

K7DV

tR nooNFIRMED

DE K7DV K

K7KY < W7ZAP All stations except you copied… how odd. OK BTU K7KY < W7ZAP

W7ZAP < K7KY FB tu Mindy break stand by a moment < K7KY

All ORCA I almost forgot to get my antenna back odd my FLAMP choked.. when Brad sent blk 5 I can see it’s working after rebooot the app OK

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Late/Visitor Check-in? < K7KY

K7KY K7KY

de KD7CL KD7CL

Craig

0248Z

Riverton, Or

Long wire <25 watts>

No traffic No traffic in & out

<73>

KD7CL < K7KY RR Craig as ur in&out, I’ll add u to the roster, but not resend it as your out.. tu BREAK B4 we begin our regular Traffic round we’re going to demonstate how traffic is handled on a regular traffic or emergency net… tonight Brad WA7HHE has listed traffic for W1EEP who just happens to be aboard tonight we’ll send these Ops off freq to pass this traffic and return to net… when returning, they will print their callsigns on the waterfall with VideoID and return to net and report… here we go… Brad WA7HHE & Gene W1EEP please go up freq to 2200 and pass ur traffic when finished, please return to net or retrrn if you don’t make contact tu < K7KY

WA7HHE Traffic for W1EEP with KA7FOO most likely to relay, WA7HHE QSY

RR Brad < K7KY

KA7FOO < K7KY Doug you don’t need to go with them as I’m confident they can connect… if we weren’t sure, we would also send along an Op we thought would connect them < K7KY

Very true.

KR7EOC

All ORCA When they want to return they must use VideoID when I’m not TXing as I can’t see the wf then… < K7KY

All ORCA normally, we would not sit idle and watch the traffic, but continue with net business and dispatch other Ops to pass traffic < K7KY

All ORCA I may have misjudged how well Brad & Gene would connect tonight… < K7KY

KA7FOO < K7KY Doug lets go on with ur traffic just as we would in a regular net.. over to KA7FOO < K7KY

KA7FOO Doug u can send the traffic u prepared for the demo as practice traffic now is good… tu < K7KY

OK Maybe DougKA7FOO is having gremlins & Bob W7GBB iis QRU tonight we move along to Steve K6ETA < K7KY

NCS DE K6ETA

<PROG 18 BEC6>{3A58}FLAMP 2.2.03

<FILE 36 FEA2>{3A58}20171018025415:K6ETA-ex-42.213

<ID 29 F6AA>{3A58}K6ETA QTH: Petaluma, CA

<SIZE 14 6E84>{3A58}357 5 80

<DESC 24 E2B4>{3A58}ORCA Traffic Round

<DATA 88 5527>{3A58:1}[b64:start]AUxaTUEAAAEUXQAAAAQAHhmJhvwzDh5T3dGz4B06E10bOZBMZ0rzNdcVfWIn9e3qtmHaa

<DATA 88 DCD3>{3A58:2}q28J+diDiJZhVwpvBJpW1C3K6d3o6E/hfZz6BUxqof8B8RWjGlW4x5y09Kw6Xxjy/kMx4Wdm2ByPCUOa

<DATA 88 176C>{3A58:3}MgYTgDUE0byO9i6hJKJwXxh6RwbCK3v37RhusX8C2GfprUDISNrT+OXjQMDeA8Cp62prQ3cc+xAGXUpi

<DATA 88 2498>{3A58:4}2G6Yx8MvNvNXJmQrPJTrirY2BkOqNOaJB+Yc8lKobfW+72qp9uejdYUj1o7J2xp3wzgw36aNNOpazbsI

<DATA 45 E9DE>{3A58:5}LU+mZ56Afy4Gk3n206UXDRBAAA=

[b64:end]

<CNTL 10 E0E9>{3A58:EOF}

<CNTL 10 40E5>{3A58:EOT}

DE K6ETA K

K6ETA < K7KY FB Steve nice work turning the exercise around so quickly BREAK KE6SLS < K7KY Jaye ur up for Traffic… < K7KY

KE6SLS < K7KY Jaye ur up 4 Traffic… < K7KY

Maybe the band has dropped KA7FOO & KE6SLS we’ll move along to Dave K7DV < K7KY

Well, we didn’t get Dave K7DV either I wonder if some Ops followed the traffic stations ?? we’ll see.. odd so many now missing.. KA7PAT is QRU and so is Mindy W7ZAP BREAK

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Late/Visitor Check-in? < K7KY

I think I’ve given these guys an impossible task tonight not what I expected for sure I thouight they wuold connect easily.. so it goes. < K7KY

OK we move on to the Comment round while our friends are still trying to pass a message.. we begin with Doug KA7FOO < K7KY

OK looks like Doug is still down W7GBB was qru, but may have comments now… over to Bob W7GBB < K7KY

K6ETA < K7KY Steve with so many Ops not answering, I’m thinking I didn’t give good enough instructions and some have followed the traffic stations off net-freq anyway, over to you for comments.. < K7KY

K7KY < K6ETA

Sonoma County Fire Debrief from K6ETA:

The Sonoma Auxiliary Communications ACS, which is made up of amateur

radio operators, has been continuously supporting evacuation shelters

in Petaluma since Monday morning.

We have a presence in the Petaluma Op Area EOC as well as the main

shelters. In the first days we were also staffing other EOCs in the

area as well as the Sonoma County Op Area EOC.

I’m part of a team of hams assisting where we can – mostly in the

logistics of shelter support.

Our efforts helped coordinate the delivery of over 500 cots, breakfasts

from the Redwood Empire Food Bank and many donation and volunteer

offers that the public have brought forward.

In our role as logistics support we helped coordinate delivery of

diabetic medical supplies for those in urgent need and delivery

of FRS radios for a shelter medical team – W1EJ also provided

training on the radios.

Some of the public donations we coordinated were overflow livestock

facilities offered by a local farm, refrigeration trucks for

perishables and pallets of fresh fruit.

The Executive Director of the Redwood Empire Food Bank, David W9FOG,

is also a ham, and we have worked directly with him over the local

repeaters to assist as much as we can in their amazing efforts.

We have also helped bridge Salvation Army traffic to and from the

logistics team.

In the early stages of the activation, situational awareness was

difficult and we helped verify which shelters were opening, what their

capacities were, and what their initial needs were. There were many

different fires, and the SCRA club (another local amateur radio

resource) was instrumental in bringing hams up to speed in the early

stages. Their members were reporting news, spotting fires and relaying

evacuation announcements over the air. So by the time ACS was involved

at the EOCs, we were already up to speed. As emergency management

personnel came on board with their primary comms intact, we swiftly

moved to a gap-filling capacity and provided secondary support.

Our colleagues at Marin RACES offered mutual aid and we worked with

them as overflow evacuees were routed South into Marin County.

My personal experience was 42 hours of volunteer time (mostly at the

Petaluma Op Area EOC, 8 hours at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds). I was

activated early Monday and worked 10 hours on, 6 hours off, including

an all-nighter on Tuesday. Our family was nearly evacuated twice, and

we had our cars packed and gassed up all week. After about Wednesday ACS

started to wind down as the Red Cross has taken over the shelter logistics.

So I’m currently on standby.

One interesting take-away from all this is that even though primary comms

were operational for the most part, ACS still was able to fill in several

crucial gaps and our efforts made a positive impact on the shelters.

73 de K6ETA

K6ETA < K7KY FB Steve tnx for the great report… we’ve been thinking of you all week. We know how it feels to pack and be ready to leave at moments notice…. u guys really did great.. I’ll copy ur report and can resend it following the net for the two Ops off freq right now tnx again for the report and we’re happy to know ur house is OK BREAK KE6SLS < K7KY over to Jaye KE6SLS

< K7KY

OK no Jaye KE6SLS on to Dave K7DV < K7KY

No Dave K7DV either… Hmmm! either the band is failing in odd places or some of the net misunderstood the demo and followed the 2 TX/RX stations… next for Comments is Mindy W7ZAP < K7KY

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W7ZAP 20171810032459

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W7ZAP 20171309025728

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:mg:694 35w 135ft doublet @ 110ft

W7ZAP copied the following stations:

WA7HHE 100% copy KBD (S8) 6dB

W1EEP 100% copy KBD

KA7FOO 100% copy KBD (S9+)

W7GBB 100% copy KBD, VideoID

K6ETA 100% copy KBD, videoID, FLAMP (S9 +15) 17dB

KR7KR 100% copy KBD (S8)

N7SND 100% copy KBD (S8)

KE6SLS 100% copy KBD

K7DV 100% copy KBD

KA7PAT 100% copy KBD (S8)

KD7CL 100% copy KBD (S8)

K7KY 100% copy KBD, FLMSG, image

Good to see Steve K6ETA back. Hope the fires in N. CA are fully contained soon. Very scary what happened. Odd net tonight. The traffic round didn’t go quite the way we had planned, but that’s good so we can get better at it. Great to see all on the WF tonight.

73,

Mindy W7ZAP

[WRAP:chksum E7EA][WRAP:end]

… end

any more comments or questions? < K7KY

I see they’re still working @ 2200wf. I don’t know yet what’s happened, but I thought this wouild fit right in like our traffic usually goes.. so much for planning… I’m going to close the net and free the Ops still hrere. I’l wait around for the traffic guys.. we’ll sort this out and do much better next time.. tnx for ur patience…

ORCA DIGITAL NET – Late/Visitor Check-in? < K7KY

K7KY de KB6HOH OK Doug GE from the SF North Bay. I am watching the guys up on 2200 and they have been jumping around using a couple of diff modes to pass the tfc. I did get a good copy on WA7HHE tfc and copied all 12 blocks but missed the preample. So they have gone from MFSK to Thor and what ever else. GE to you and Mindy. Band is starting to crap out here with a whole lot of

noise.

So BTU Doug K7KY de KB6HOH k

KB6HOH < K7KY RR Steve tu for info abt traffic @ 2200… I’m going to be short now as I don’t want to be TXing when they print their callsigns on the wf I ck u in tonight tu & I’l be around when this is over < K7KY

K7KY DE K7DV back

WA7HHE WA7HHE ? < K7KY

k7ky de wa7hhe, no short skip to W1EEP, KR7EOC/KA7FOO did copy msg

WA7HHE < K7KY TU Brad sri it didn’t work out as I thought sorry the band didn’t support u & Gene and looks like some of the net follwoed u 2 off freq… I couldn’t find haf the net when we did the traffic round & comments… no plan survives it’s first encounter, I guess.. Let me get the rest back aboard and I’d like to hr hw it went.. BREAK K7DV & KA7FOO RECHECKING tu

any more rechecks? < K7KY

Yes Sir

KR7EOC

OK I hv Dave K7DV back and Gene W1EEP I already had Doug KA7FOO any more wandering Ops (-: < K7KY

All ORCA Thanks to Brad & Gene for trying what turned out to be a difficult traffic pass… my misjudgrement and, IC I didn’t explain this demo very well. I was sending Brad & Gene off freq only the rest of us would normally remain on freq and continue with regular net business. sorry for confusing u… we’ll do this again more smoothly and you’ll see the logic of how traffic is passed off-freq… any questions ??? < K7KY

Comments? < K7KY

Need to operate from the REOC more often.

The ORCA

Mtnway to do an order so my bad ur doing fine here for the first time to try I have nothing here de k7dv

RK7DV < K7KY No worries, Dave this is why we practice… I’m glad u all hv the patience to practice and practice again… we’ve become very good at the processes we use every week… this is new and it will become smooth and easy as we go forward… Brad WA7HHE please take a moment for an overview of how it went out @ 2200 tu < K7KY

K7KY AND THE NET, DE WA7HHE NO SHORT SKIP B/T W1EEP AND MYSELF, KA7FOO HOWEVER WAS ABLE TO COPY MSG AND ATTEMPTED TO RELAY TO W1EEP BUT WE COULD NOT PUSH ALL THE BLOCKS THROUGH. dE WA7HHE

WA7HHE < K7KY RR tnx for the effort… next time I’ll match the stations better… problems are good for learning, but it’s good to get the basic down before throwing in a lot of curves… j Steve K7ETA gave a good report of his activities in the fires around Santa Rosa and I’ll re send them following the net for those working @ 2200 BREAK Doug KR7EOC I should have been using ur

EOC call it seems… Maybe ur signal is different from there too… BREAK any more comments before we close? < K7KY

Need to operate from the REOC more often.

The ORCA Logo was PERFECT!!!

Brad, you took a couple fade-outs but I still

received the message.

Had problems with receive text screen scrowling

issues.

I most likely should have not done the second

relay due to time constraints. Live and Learn!!!

Was surprised that Gene W1EEP and I did not have that

good of a path. Normally get him 100%.

I am assamed that it took so much time to do the

job.

During the relays I forgot to turn on TxID.

Another bad me!!! Because of the NCSing I do

I did not think to turn on the TxID for this

operation.

I guess the KR7EOC threw some of you for a loop

as well.

Any more train wrecks????????

As I said … Live and Learn.

Band conditions for Gene did not help.

KR7EOC

KA7FOO < K7KY Tnx for the report, Doug nice try too.. sorry u all had such a time.. I thought it wuld be a short msg and they would be right back b4 we’d pass another msg or two.. I’ll hv the next one better organized.. nice to see everyone trying to solve problems on the fly… you will all b ready for digital NCS… (-: last chance for questions or comments tonight… < K7KY

This concludes the ORCA DIGITAL NET

for: 10/17/2017 20:52 PDT

Thanks for committing your time and attention

to practicing digital traffic handling with us tonight.

We hope to work with you again next week.

‘Practice makes Perfect’

73 Doug K7KY

K6ETA < K7KY Steve do u hv time to resend ur report? < K7KY

K7KY < K6ETA

Sure, here’s the debrief of the Sonoma ACS activation for the Sonoma Fires:

The Sonoma Auxiliary Communications ACS, which is made up of amateur

radio operators, has been continuously supporting evacuation shelters

in Petaluma since Monday morning 9 Oct.

We have a presence in the Petaluma Op Area EOC as well as the main

shelters. In the first days we were also staffing other EOCs in the

area as well as the Sonoma County Op Area EOC.

I’m part of a team of hams assisting where we can – mostly in the

logistics of shelter support.

Our efforts helped coordinate the delivery of over 500 cots, breakfasts

from the Redwood Empire Food Bank and many donation and volunteer

offers that the public have brought forward.

In our role as logistics support we helped coordinate delivery of

diabetic medical supplies for those in urgent need and delivery

of FRS radios for a shelter medical team – W1EJ also provided

training on the radios.

Some of the public donations we coordinated were overflow livestock

facilities offered by a local farm, refrigeration trucks for

perishables and pallets of fresh fruit.

The Executive Director of the Redwood Empire Food Bank, David W9FOG,

is also a ham, and we have worked directly with him over the local

repeaters to assist as much as we can in their amazing efforts.

We have also helped bridge Salvation Army traffic to and from the

logistics team.

In the early stages of the activation, situational awareness was

difficult and we helped verify which shelters were opening, what their

capacities were, and what their initial needs were. There were many

different fires, and the SCRA club (another local amateur radio

resource) was instrumental in bringing hams up to speed in the early

stages. Their members were reporting news, spotting fires and relaying

evacuation announcements over the air. So by the time ACS was involved

at the EOCs, we were already up to speed. As emergency management

personnel came on board with their primary comms intact, we swiftly

moved to a gap-filling capacity and provided secondary support.

Our colleagues at Marin RACES offered mutual aid and we worked with

them as overflow evacuees were routed South into Marin County.

My personal experience was 42 hours of volunteer time (mostly at the

Petaluma Op Area EOC, 8 hours at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds). I was

activated early Monday and worked 10 hours on, 6 hours off, including

an all-nighter on Tuesday. Our family was nearly evacuated twice, and

we had our cars packed and gassed up all week. After about Wednesday ACS

started to wind down as the Red Cross has taken over the shelter logistics.

So I’m currently on standby.

One interesting take-away from all this is that even though primary comms

were operational for the most part, ACS still was able to fill in several

crucial gaps and our efforts made a positive impact on the shelters.

< K6ETA

K6ETA < K7KY Tnx again Steve we’re really proud of our colleagues @ the firefront…. u guys are obviously prepared to go and did a great job.. any questions or comments for Steve go now… < K7KY

K6ETA DE WA7HHE SUPER REPORT STEVE, QUESTION WERE YOU ABLE TO USE THE NBEMS SOFTWARE FOR ECOMM?

WA7HHE < K6ETA

We were only passing traffic to/from fairly local clients and our VHF repeaters were up to the task. So no HF needed.

For digital comms, we were not asked to pass any digital traffic or we might have used Winlink.

Great Report Steve.

RR TU DE WA7HHE

K6ETA < W7ZAP Good to see you and ur family are safe Steve. Appreciate the report too. Been keeping up with the news. So very sad. We were wondering if you used winmor… saw ur gateway was down. That’s it for me. 73 Mindy < W7ZAP

W7ZAP < K6ETA

Thanks Mindy, I thought quite a few times about you two and what you went through a month or so ago. I certainly understand better the long hours and fatigue! Emotional fatigue after all the heartbreaking stories is the worst – but the resilliency and response of outpouring care and support offset that quite a bit. Folks are pretty tough around here! =)

btu Mindy W7ZAP de K6ETA k

K6ETA < K7KY We’ve definitely been thinking of you this last week, Steve very sorry to see so much loss and grief… I don’t hv ur email and the phone nunber I hve doesn’t work anymore… pse send me an email to: ncs@ferrycreek.com with ur num and I’ll hv ur mail too tu good evening and tnx for working with is tonight… 73 Doug K7KY sk tn

W7ZAP < K6ETA

k6eta@comcast.net 415 407-6719

< K6ETA

K6ETA < K7KY Tnx Steve I don’ tlike to ask folks to print it here, but the system knows all anyway.. cul 73 < K7KY

K7KY < K6ETA

No worries, I even put it up on QRZ… not worried.

tnx fer QSO Doug, 73

10/18/2017 04:09Z K7KY de K6ETA sk

Good evening K7KY I’m from wyoming and discovered your net and would like to get more information. We are starting some NBEMS training and what you were doing looked great.

Last stn callsign didn’t print agn pse. < K7KY

Good evening K7KY I’m from wyoming and discovered your net and would like to get more information. We are starting some NBEMS training and what you were doing looked great.

de WY7RG k

WY7RG < K7KY GE in WY tnx for the call.. I’d be happy to work with you developing a digital training net pse say ur name & qth < K7KY

K7KY < WY7RG you faded on part, but name is RObert and qth is Buffalo Wy <WY7RG

GE Robert… I’ll add u to the roster as a late ck-in tonight… u can ck out our website for some basic info about our mission and how we operate… it’s a good idea to monitor ORCA a few weeks b4 u ck in active the traffic learning and practice routines are basic Amateur traffic handling and we move along fairly swiftly see the website: http://orcadigitalnet.com u can write me @: ncs@orcadi

gitalnet.com btu < K7KY

Ok Doug, thanks for the QSO and the info on things. I’m the county ARES/RACES EC and also MARS so it has been great to chat this evening. I have a training net early in the morning so will say 73. but will check the website and send you and email with contact info.

< WY7RG

WY7RG < K7KY FB Robert… with ur email address I’ll add u to the email list that tells when the net report is posted to the website… reading the past net reports and logs will give u a good idea how the net runs.. we’ll be happy to have Ops in WY we have some in UT & ID now.. OK tnx for the call & I look forward to working with u 73 for now.. Doug K7KY sk

73 WY7RG sk

at this moment.

Totally surprised that I could not relay the message

to Gene.

Just handled some packet messages.,

Been a long day.

Headed for home.

Doug KA7FOO @ KR7EOC

KR7EOC

KA7FOO < K7KY RR Doug hw far to home from EOC? < K7KY

Just over the hill.

But it is a 4 mile drive.

KR7EOC

OK not so bad… hope there’s still warm food available to you when u arrive… thanks for working on the traffic demo idea tonight… I get it better sorted for the next go btu < K7KY

I can walk here if we have a 8.1 quake.

Home is only 1 mile away.

The band conditions are rare tonight.

No one would have guest!!!!

KR7EOC

KA7FOO < K7KY I’m guessing u read the mail with Robert WY7RG in WY.. We’re gaining more ORCA Ops already involved in EMCOMM that’s a good thing… everyone benefits from working with those who already know what they’re doing good to have all these experts aboard.. btu < K7KY

Yah. Cool! Get him involve!

Good report from Steve. Will be pass along to the NV ARES members.

See you next week.

KR7EOC

KR7EOC < K7KY FB Doug zip along home & get a warm meal… cu next week… 73 Doug K7KY sk