Sean C. Morgan
When everything goes pear shaped and sideways, the power is out, gas lines broken, telephones down, cell towers out of service, roads blocked, bridges fallen or there are any other number of infrastructure failures, radio signals will still work.
That’s why a group of local ham radio operators participated in a statewide drill Saturday, April 22, responding to simulated emergencies. Their means of communication is among the most durable, capable of surviving and functioning when the rest of civilization’s infrastructure does not.
“We’re simulating major flooding,” said local ham operator Ken Saunders.
“And high winds,” said Edie Wilcox, another.
“We don’t have to simulate the wind,” Saunders noted, as periodic gusts of wind blasted across their station in front of the Sweet Home Police Department.
Every year, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service conduct two simulated emergency tests, one in an April and another in October or November. Simulations have covered tsunamis, earthquakes, windstorms and floods.
Sweet Home amateur radio operators joined in for the first time Saturday during a scenario called GMO Pineapple. The name “Pineapple Express” describes a meteorological phenomenon associated with heavy precipitation in the Pacific and along the West Coast and has been the root cause of flooding, mudslides and power outages in dozens of incidents over the years, including more than $750 million of damage in San Francisco during floods in January.
Saturday’s program simulated the third day of unusually intense precipitation driven by multiple atmospheric rivers, causing flooding and mudslides statewide. Many roads and highways were closed. Thousands of residents were displaced from their homes, and large parts of the region were without power for 24 hours.
Multiple regional shelters were set up by the Red Cross and county emergency management teams, which requested ARES units support county emergency operations centers (EOC) and local shelters.
Cell service was heavily impacted and so unreliable it was essentially unavailable.
Saunders likened the situation to trying to use a cell phone in Sweet Home during the Jamboree in recent years.
Cable and DSL-based commercial Internet service was unavailable.
Saunders and Wilcox manned the Sweet Home station. Specifically, they spent the morning in contact with other ham radio operators in Sweet Home, with Wilcox driving to various shelters in the community to learn what resources are needed. Through the station at SHPD, they were able communicate with the station at the county EOC, which coordinated with emergency managers to respond with resources, such as medical supplies.
Mid-Valley communities participating in the exercise included ham radio groups in Sweet Home, Sodaville, Lacomb, Lebanon, Lyons, Millersburg, Oakville, Scio, Albany Brownsville, Crabtree, Scio and Corvallis.
“Sweet Home is on its own,” Saunders said. “We’re going to make sure Sweet Home is taken care of with the ham radio.”
Under a canopy, their table contained two laptops and several radio units. An antenna stood just outside the canopy. The equipment was connected to a vehicle battery. The laptops connected to an emergency computer network, which has the ability to connect to the Internet.
The entire setup uses about 1 amp, Saunders said, which means it could remain up and running for 40 to 50 hours without recharging.
The Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District, which has emergency generator power available, has a complete setup, Wilcox said. The Sweet Home group is working on setting up a station at the Sweet Home Police Department, which will be Sweet Home’s EOC when disaster strikes.
Sweet Home’s six-month-old ham radio group has five members, and they’re looking for more – a lot more.
They have set a goal of 50 members, Saunders said, but they would like to see a hundred or more.
Each ham radio operator is a link to each neighborhood, Wilcox said. Hams can communicate the situation in each neighborhood. Ideally, each Neighborhood Watch group would have a radio available to it.
Operators are needed at each shelter, which includes the Fire Hall, churches, schools and the Public Library.
Local ham radio operators will be present at upcoming public events, and they will encourage people, especially children, to stop and ask questions at the stations set up in public.
On June 18, the group plans a Kids Day, setting up in Sankey Park or a grocery store parking lot, Wilcox said. Children can bring their cell phones and use the ham radio signal instead of their cell provider to use their phones.
On June 24-25, local ham August Johnson will host a field day for amateur radio operators at his Marks Ridge home, Wilcox said. Ham radio operators will come together and communicate with people across the United States – and the world for those who may be participating overseas.
A station also will be set up at the Health Fair, scheduled on Aug. 17.
Anyone interested in getting involved in amateur radio may contact Saunders, Wilcox or Johnson. Wilcox may be reached at (541) 401-0188.
Licensing for ham radio costs $15 after passing a 30-question test. A license for a higher-frequency radio, which is useful locally, is available for $65 and does not require a test. Sweet Home radio operators are willing to offer classes when they have at least five or six people interested.
Low-end radios cost $25 to $30, Saunders said, and those are sufficient for local operators to communicate with the local EOC.
The radios are durable and can take a beating, he said. In testing, they’ve been frozen, dropped and burned and still work.
Outside of emergency preparedness, ham radio is a fun hobby for many, local operators said.
“Ham isn’t an old man sitting in a dark room talking to people across the world,” said Saunders, who grew up around amateur radio. “I want to get into digital TV, running my own TV station. I’m really interested in the digital side.”
“Once you see the radios, you get hooked,” Wilcox said.
Saunders would like to have monthly events and training for Sweet Home radio operators. The more training they receive, the more rote their activities, the easier it is to do the job under stress.
“When disaster comes, emotions run high,” Wilcox said. “We need people confident enough they can assist responders.”