Radio Amateurs of Canada Amateur Radio Emergency Service

278 Pages·2015·2.87 MB·English

R a d i o A m a t e u r s o f C a n a d a
Amateur Radio
Emergency Service

Operations Training
Manual
Document RAC-ARES-OPS
Release 2:01
Sept 2015
Copyright © 2008 Radio Amateurs of Canada Inc. All Rights
Reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. All
trademarks, service marks and logos are acknowledged with a
trademark (TM) or registered trademark symbol at their first
appearance in the document.
This training material has been prepared by volunteers on a not-
for-profit basis in order to serve the public good. To the greatest
degree practical, externally sourced information has been attrib-
uted and authorization sought for use, where required. Proprietary
information and copyrighted material has not been intentionally
included.
Any and all use of the RAC AMATEUR EMERGENCY SERVICE
AND DESIGN trade-mark requires licence or permission from Radio
Amateurs of Canada Incorporated.
Contact:
Chief Field Services Officer, Radio Amateurs of Canada Inc.,
Suite 217, 720 Belfast Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 0Z5.
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) and the authors of this document
authorize the re-use and republication of content taken from this
document only if ALL the following conditions are met:
1. Information is formally attributed to this document, as a RAC
publication, or to the original copyright holder if applicable.
2. Information is used solely on a not-for-profit basis.
3. RAC is notified of the re-use in writing to the Chief Field
Services Officer at: CFSO, Radio Amateurs of Canada, Suite
217, 720 Belfast Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 0Z5.
Contributors to this manual included the National Training
Resource Group: Bob Boyd VE3SV, Bob Cooke VE3BDB, David
Drinnan VE9FK, Don Mackinnon VE4DJ, Eric Jacksch VA3DSP,
Forbes Purcell VE6FMP, Glenn Killam VE3GNA, Ian Snow VA3QT,
John P. Cunningham W1AI, Jeff Dovyak VE4MBQ, Lance Peterson
VA3LP, Monte L. Simpson K2MLS, Pierre Mainville VA3PM, and
Tim Smith VE3HCB. Please see “Acknowledgements” on page 1-2.
This manual was created using Adobe FrameMakerTM.
Letter from Vice President Field Services Bob Cooke VE3BDB
2008-10-01
The task of creating a new manual to facilitate training for the
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is daunting to say
the least.
Times change, as do the needs associated with ARES and
the methods used to meet ARES goals.
However, I believe this document has risen to the challenge of
providing information and training support for use in the field
by ARES, and by those Radio Amateur groups that have chosen
not to be part of the ARES organization.
This manual affords the opportunity to operate in a consistent
manner that will facilitate common Emcomm methods from
Section to Section and between ARES in Canada and the USA.
It is the result of extensive deliberation by RAC’s National
Training Resource Group (NTRG), members of which are
named on a subsequent page herein.
One of those members, David Drinnan, VE9FK, who is RAC’s
appointed National Training Coordinator (NTC), edited this
manual and oversaw its creation.
A graduate of Carleton University, Dave possesses degrees in
Physics and Psychology and is a professional technical writer
with a broad background in training and human performance
factors. He has been a licenced Radio Amateur for some 30
years. We are very fortunate to have him leading the new
training initiative for ARES and the related National Traffic
System (NTS).
Dave’s involvement in emergency communications began with
his participation in the Emergency Measures Radio Group
(EMRG) in Ottawa in the 1980s. He has also served as the
ARES Emergency Coordinator in Saint John, New Brunswick.
I extend sincere thanks to Dave and indeed to all who played a
part in bringing this project to fruition. Many years of
pertinent experience are represented among those volunteers.
To satisfy the access capabilities and operational needs of all, this
publication is being made available for download, at no charge, on
the Radio Amateurs of Canada website at www.rac.ca, and in hard
copy from RAC headquarters for a nominal fee.
Every ARES member is encouraged to embrace the new manual,
to use it in training and operations, and to provide constructive
feedback for improvement.
There can be no doubt that, with the roll out of this document,
ARES and other Emcomm operators have a vital and broadly
focused standard guide to add to their existing resources.
73,
Bob Cooke VE3BDB
Vice President Field Services
Radio Amateurs of Canada Inc.
www.rac.ca/fieldorg/
September 2015 Issue 2.01
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1: Using this training manual 1-1
Section 2: About ARES 2-1
What is ARES 2-1
The history of ARES 2-2
The value of amateur communications 2-2
The ARES organization 2-3
Your participation 2-5

Section 3: ARES in context 3-1
What is a communications emergency? 3-1
The nature of disaster communications 3-1
Served agencies - our clients and partners 3-4
Other amateur radio emergency communications organizations 3-4
Emerging technologies 3-5
What to do today 3-7
Section 4: Understanding emergency operations 4-1
Assistance phases 4-1
ARES involvement 4-2
Emergency operations 4-2
Telecommunications 4-3
Role of amateur radio 4-3
Your participation as more than a radio operator 4-4
Operations Training Manual RAC-ARES-OPS
September 2015 Issue 2.01
Section 5: ARES services 5-1
Emergency communications stations 5-1
Shadowing 5-1
Mobile communications service 5-1
Data messaging 5-1
Rapid community assessment 5-2
Backup communications 5-2
Interoperable communications (inter-agency bridging) 5-2
Wide-area communications relays 5-2

Section 6: ARES roles 6-1
ARES operators and stations 6-1
Communications officers (DCO, PCO) 6-2
Emergency coordinators for ARES 6-2
Communications supervisors 6-2
Station managers 6-3
Runners 6-3
Message clerks 6-3
Repeater managers 6-4
Technical support primes 6-4
Section 7: Emergency preparedness 7-1

Need for preparation 7-1
In your car 7-1
At home 7-2
At work 7-3
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September 2015 Issue 2.01
Equipment 7-3
Section 8: Activations and mobilizations 8-1
Callouts 8-1
Activation and mobilization 8-1
Frequencies for ARES operations 8-5
Section 9: Working within the Incident Command System 9-1
About ICS 9-1
Radio communications within ICS 9-6
Section 10: Emergency operations 10-1

Types of nets 10-1
Types of traffic 10-2
Best practices for voice communications 10-3
Tactical voice procedures 10-5
Formal message handling 10-8
ARES internal tasking (orders) and information messages 10-12
Cross-band repeating 10-15
Working with and replacing other operators 10-16

Section 11: On-duty etiquette 11-1
When you deploy 11-1
On air 11-2
At an EOC 11-3
While shadowing 11-3
While deployed 11-4
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September 2015 Issue 2.01
Around the media 11-5
Section 12: Participating in a net 12-1
Types of net 12-1
Duties of a net controller 12-3
What you need 12-3
Net control best practices 12-4
Opening a net 12-5
Managing check-ins 12-6
National Traffic System nets 12-6
Net control of a support net 12-12
Net control of CW traffic nets 12-12

Section 13: On-air authentication 13-1
Procedure 13.1: Request authentication from another station 13-2
Procedure 13.2: Respond to a request for authentication from another station 13-3
Procedure 13.3: Responding to an authentication failure 13-3
Procedure 13.4: Monitoring a challenge-response between other stations 13-4
Procedure 13.5: Ordering a change to a new code table 13-4
Procedure 13.6: Changing to a new code table 13-5
Procedure 13.7: Resolving authentication failures 13-5

Section 14: Equipment selection and configuration 14-1
Labelling and recovering equipment 14-1
Setting up shared stations 14-2
Emergency packs and kits 14-2
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September 2015 Issue 2.01
General preparedness gear 14-11
Handheld equipment 14-12
Primary radios 14-13
Backup radios 14-13
Power 14-13
Headsets 14-17
Equipment cases and carry bags 14-18
Tactical and identification vests 14-18
Computers 14-18
Software 14-19
Computer accessories 14-19
Specialized radio equipment 14-20
Vehicles 14-21
VHF radio configuration 14-23

Section 15: Station configuration 15-1
Selecting a location 15-1
Station setup and configuration 15-1
Configuring a home station for effective ARES use 15-5

Section 16: Frequently asked questions 16-1
What can I do to make myself more effective as an ARES operator? 16-1

Section 17: Digital communications 17-1
Introduction 17-1
HF digital communications 17-1
VHF/UHF digital communications 17-2
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September 2015 Issue 2.01
National traffic system digital (NTSD) 17-2
Winlink 2000 17-3
Long-range WL2K communications 17-7
Developing an ECOM network 17-7
Message formats 17-8

Section 18: After your deployment is over 18-1
Turn over logs 18-1
Debriefings 18-1
Dealing with post-incident stress 18-4

Volume 2 - Support component
Section 19: Station management 19-1
Station planning 19-1
Periodic station maintenance and validation 19-2

Section 20: Managing communications operations 20-1
Duties of a communications supervisor 20-1
Best practices for communications supervisors 20-1
During ARES activation phase 20-2
Ongoing management of communications operations 20-2

Section 21: Scheduling and selecting net controllers 21-1
Selecting net controllers 21-1
Operations Training Manual RAC-ARES-OPS