Jackson County ARES member meeting
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Jackson County ARES members:
On Saturday, 1 October Jackson County ARES and other volunteer emergency communications groups will be participating in the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Committee Simulated Emergency Test. Part of that exercise will involve a demonstration of capability and completion of tasks using digital messaging over ham radio. For this part of the exercise the Fldigi computer application is going to be used by other groups and its use by all local groups is highly encouraged.
For this exercise we need to have ARES members able use Fldigi to communicate digitally on VHF FM. In order to prepare Jackson County ARES with that capability, an introductory class in Fldigi will be offered on Tuesday, August 23 beginning at 7:00 pm. at the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District Training Center at 4715 West Highway 40 in Blue Springs, MO 64015-6666. The training is scheduled to conclude about 9:00 p.m. Please arrive no later than 6:45 p.m.
From the intersection of US 40 and Interstate 470/US 291, drive east on US 40. You will arrive at a Phillips 66 station in the median between the eastbound and westbound lane. Take the next left on SW Bowlin Road. Turn westbound on US 40 at that point. The training facility is across the road from the Phillips 66 through the yellow gate. Make a right turn at the first opportunity. The building is straight ahead.
From the intersection of Interstate 70 and Highway 7, drive south on 7. Turn right at the intersection with US 40. Drive to the Phillips 66 and follow the directions above.
You can use this huge URL to get a satellite view of the destination:
Talk-in service will be available on the Blue Springs Amateur Radio Club repeaters:
Input: 147.615 MHz. with a 151.4 Hz. tone Output: 147.015 MHz.
Input: 449.950 MHz. with a 107.2 Hz. tone Output: 444. 950 MHz.
Flldigi needs to be in the bag of tricks of Jackson County ARES members for digital communication. While there are literally hundreds of good digital programs available our reasons for use of fldigi are:
A standard used metro-wide, allowing for maximum interoperability.
The additional program FLMSG works directly with FLDIGI.
Another program that may prove useful is FLWRAP, which provides a checksum for non-ARQ digital modes.
These programs are available for free download at http://www.w1hkj.com/
There are downloads available for computers using Linux, OS X and Windows XP or later.
Recommend downloading and installing the following:
Fldigi-3.n.x (latest version — earlier versions might not fully function)
Flwrap-1.n.x (this allows sending a ‘group’ message using checksum)
Flmsg-1.n.x (this has ICS-213 built in for messages, also ARRL radiograms)
Practice at this time can be found via Northland ARES group Digital net on Sunday evenings at 8 PM on 145.750 MHz. FM simplex, vertical antenna. Mode is PSK31 and 20 watts to a good antenna should work well throughout much of the metro.
Further information regarding the Northland ARES digital ops is found http://www.kcnorthares.org/policys-procedures/digital/psk/
Even further information can obtained from http://www.pa-sitrep.com/NBEMS/index.html or http://berkscountynbems.homestead.com/
While there are many ways to
interface the soundcard to the radio, one good means is http://www.tigertronics.com/ using the SignaLink USB. It may be purchased online
or local at Associated Radio. The Internet can provide many suggestions on the
actual interface wiring to your particular radio. Several HAMs use a
‘mini-din6’ connector that can be used for either Packet or PSK type interface.