Category: Opinion

2025 Tsunami Exercise Experience

In my last post, I encouraged participation in a very realistic EmComm drill hosted by our friends at LAXNortheast. I participated in this event and thought it would be a good idea to share my experience.

This Tsunami scenario is very real for me. I live in Southern Orange County, CA. My city of San Clemente is the closest municipal area to the no longer operating San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). At this site are a large number of underground “casks” that store spent, but active, nuclear material. This is a very dangerous situation considering the plant is in a Tsunami zone AND along the San Andreas fault line.

During the exercise, I set up a portable EmComm station at a campsite in the San Onofre State Park, less than 1/4 mile from SONGS.  I simulated that I was coordinating with the state park rangers to provide EmComm services as needed.

In this scenario, the focus was on Winlink. There were seven (7) tasks that each participant was asked to perform:
1) Maintain a ICS-214 activity log for all activities performed.
2) Send a Winlink ‘Did-you-feel-it’ (DYFI) report to the USGS.
3) Send a Winlink Check-In form.
4) Send a Welfare Bulletin message.
5) Send an ICS-213 General message.
6) Send a Winlink Check-Out form.
7) Send the completed ICS-214 form.

At face value, this looks like a straighforward series of steps that should be completed fairly quickly. What I found, however, was this is not as easy as it appears, especially if you are in the field.

I set a goal to complete the seven steps in less than 30 minutes. In reality, it took me more than 90 minutes to complete.

Continue reading “2025 Tsunami Exercise Experience”

Ham Radio EmComm in Transition

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”*
John F. Kennedy

I loathe the idea of telling other Ham operators what or how to think. Despite this, there is a current phenomenon ‘flying‘ into the Ham universe, that is about to change everything. And we need to talk about it. Particularly, those of us that focus on EmComm.

That thing is called Starlink.

I do not need to explain what Starlink is. Everyone knows about it. It is here – and it is now affordable for EmComm field use. And it is something special.

If you are a half-empty type, you are probably thinking, Starlink is going to make Ham radio go the way of the buggy whip. Obsolete and no longer needed.

If you are like me, you are thinking, Starlink is the greatest thing to ever happen to the emergency communications ether. And it does not mean the end of Ham radio. It means we are now able to do what we do – much better.

I purchased a Starlink Mini last fall for around $700 USD. Not quite affordable to many, but the price will come down over time. It costs $50 a month for 50GB of Internet data. Data overage costs $1/GB. You can suspend/resume your service anytime you want. When your account is dormant, there are no other fees.

My device will be used for EmComm, special events, and training. It will be dormant most of the time.

Setup was a breeze. A phone App walks you through the process. I pointed my device at the sky, made a few positional adjustments recommended by the App, and was online. The first thing I did was a SpeedTest. Throughput was just under 150Mb/s. Wow.

The advantages to us EmCommer’s is glaringly obvious. 150Mbs+ Internet access most anywhere in North America. And it runs on 12V dc. The device is nothing other than a WiFi access point with the default gateway to the Internet being a satellite.

              “Starlink requires we change the way we think about Ham radio                                                     operations during EmComm events.”

Many of the traditional Ham EmComm tools, processes, procedures, and training are no longer necessary. For example, is there really a need to send Emails via Winlink at 1200 Baud when there is a Starlink in your Go kit?

As painful as it is, this also forces us to re-evaluate investment in wireless mesh networks like AREDEN.  Heck, my interest in mesh networking got me into Ham radio in the first place.

Starlink will take some time to change the way we operate. But it is happening fast, and to me, it is an amazing technology that will make us better at what we do.

If you think Starlink is the final death strike to Ham radio, please reread the quote at the top of this blog entry.

“Change rarely requires Either / Or choices. It is a friend of And.”

Let’s embrace the futuristic tools that allow us to serve the public better as EmComm professionals. Traditional Ham radio is not going away anytime soon. We must adapt and re-evaluate how Ham radio fits in this new era of satellite technology.

73,
N1SPW