With Varying Frequency - Amateur Radio Ponderings

The recent horrid weather in the upper Midwest has brought to many people’s attention the stark reality that many Emcomm groups may be promising more than they can deliver.

Numerous county EC/RO slots are empty.

Some counties have low rosters, specially if those listed who have other primary emergency roles (EMS, Volunteer Fire, First Responders, Served Agency Leadership roles) are deleted. 

In some cases it would not be possible to get enough people off the roster to man all of the Emcomm sites even briefly if needed simultaneously.

If required for a several day period it would be only possible with heavy mutual aid support.

Or would these Emcomm groups try and draw from local amateurs their not on their Emcomm rosters or lists?

Would these not listed amateurs accept the challenge by setting aside their ongoing objections to the current direction of Emcomm they may hold, or would they hold out “for terms?”

Perhaps more realistic is blend somewhere between these two stances.

But the cold hard fact remains - the simple truth that many Emcomm Groups may have a real tough time to meet their served agency expectations, much less provide any reserve for when the emergency gets worse.

73

Steve
K9ZW

What do you do when the lights go out, the power is dead, and you could potentially be off the air?

Interestingly as many, if not most, Amateur Radio gear has a nominal 12v DC power option you can be back on the air in a few moments if you are organized.

Those who work ARES/RACES or other Emcomm, with the emphasis on having rigs (radios) set up to operate from improvised or backup power sources are step ahead of the rest of us.

For us we have a decision tree to work our way through:

First will we run a mimimized 12v DC station or do we expect to be able to put all of our station on the air if the mains go out?

This decision is as simple as will you be happy to have much of your station idled during a power outage, or do you want to be able to continue to run everything, including Amplifiers, Computers and 110/200v AC accessories.

In the most minimal “Plan B” simply having an HT and a way to recharge it may meet your station’s needs. On the other end of the scale, full backup power to run your whole station, including heat/cooling if needed to operate, lights and all accessories may require some serious generating, battery and power management gear.

In the most extreme, where the station must never go off the air, not even for a second, you may need to plan to have your station run from a 100% duty cycle power management system that always supplies the power to the station. That way when the mains fail, your station will only know it by a signal alarm, as it never directly runs on mains power.

Most of us fit somewhere in the middle, where an interruption of power will be met with a plan to replace the mains power with suitable back up to run part of our station.

By the way, the switching to alternate & temporary power is often called “Backup Power” where the idea that the equipment will never know if the power compnay goes down is “Uninterruptable Power Systems,” also known as “UPS.”

Lets assume we are going this direction with our planning.

Second we need to decide if our backup is to be short term (less than 6-8 hours) or long term

Short term needs can be easily met by either batteries or a small generator set (genset). Long term power could also use a Genset, though perhaps a better grade unit, or other energy sources. Long Term power systems often incorporate a battery bank to allow for the time periods when the generator is off-line for service/fueling/repairs, and likewise for off-line time for other primary power sources (solar cells, wind, hydro, steam and so on).

Third we need to decided what our station configuration will be like under emergency use, and make plans accordingly.

This means to plan around 110v items that will be off-line if we are planning to directly operate from batteries (like computers, most Rotor Controllers, Amps, some antenna switches, lights). If jumpers are going to be needed to bypass idled gear, make them up and have them ready to use.

Fourth we need to try it out, and periodically retry it again.

Try running your station in emergency configuration, and once you have the bugs worked out, retry it periodically. Field Day is a great time to have a go at running on batteries, solar, or genset power.

Some References:

By design I’ve only scratched the tip of the decision tree and possibilities that need to be considered in planning Backup power for your shack.

The ARRL has many resources for backup power.

There are fantastic publications out there likeHomepower Magazine which cover both backup power and UPS.

On true UPS systems there is less written that is available outside the electrical engineering profession. My father-in-law co-authored one of the few current books on the subject available from Rothstein Associates or Amazon in the USA.

Whether by Battery, Gensets, Photocells, or Combinations, it is possible to power an amateur radio station for extended periods with no commercial electricity.

Even Field Day stations experiementing with Hydrogen Fuel Cell power have appeared! Yeah!

Keep the light on for me, will you?

73

Steve
K9ZW

(Requested Repost an article published before RSS feeds were added to the With Varying Frequency) 

The phrase third rail is a metaphor in politics to denote an idea or topic that is so “charged” and “untouchable” that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject would invariably suffer politically.

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REPRODUCTION NOTICE - This article is copyright 2007 by K9ZW.

In order to best manage discussion & comments please do not copy this article. I will prepare a version for wider publication after a period of discussion & critique. The URL to share this article is: Touching the Third Rail - Insurance Issues in EmcommYour cooperation, comments and emails are greatly appreciated!

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Amateur Radio, being a genteel hobby, has few “Third Rails,” so it was with some apprehension my agreement to look into one of the known issues, “Insurance & Emcomm,” for our local club.

The Issue was whether & when did our local ARES / RACES / SKYWARN members have insurance coverage, what was the exposure of the Radio Officers “controlling” member activity, and what was the exposure of the Club itself.

DISCLAIMER - It is extremely important that readers understand that my opinion is not an expert opinion, that actual coverages may change, and that unless you see a Certificate of Insurance naming YOU as an additional insured that your best assumption is that you have no coverage beyond your personal insurance. This is a classic “YMMV” (Your Mileage May Vary) issue where the consequences of “running naked’ (going uninsured) outweigh accepting anything less than written certification of coverage.

What Self Insurance Means

For this discussion it simply means that if you injure someone, get sued, have an accident, hurt yourself or die while participating in an Emcomm exercise that the ONLY insurance you MAY have is what coverage is allowed under your own PERSONAL policies.

Responsibility to a “Greater Social Good” vs “Responsibility to Family”

Each Emcomm responder has a number of considerations concerning Insurance Responsibility. Without Society, or the idea of a “Greater Social Good” we would live in an anarchy and it is a social tradition to help those in need.

There is a balancing “Responsibility to Family” that acknowledges an individual’s need for self preservation of themselves & their resources, as they can be seen as holding these in “trust” for the benefit of their immediate family. In simpler words “Consider the risk to yourself and your estate in light of your family’s needs.”

In many cases, specially in Drills, “Responsibility to Family” vastly outweighs an responsibility to a “Greater Social Good.” The exact balance depends on the situation and the individual.

Emcomm & Insurance - In Harmony or In Conflict?

Many Emcomm operations ignore insurance issues. This can be due to coverage they have obtained or a tacit (silent) acknowledgement that volunteers are uninsured.

Obviously Emcomm groups exist to respond to needs. Understanding and defusing issues concerning Emcomm & Insurance should be part of their preparation of volunteers.

The issues are complex, so here is what was found:

The ARES/RACES Problem

Though in many locations ARES & RACES are operationally combined, sharing the same officers, volunteers & equipment, from an insurance view they are very different:

ARES

ARES participants, whether on drill or responding to an actual emergency, are generally responsible for their own insurance issues.

RACES

RACES participants on a Government Call Out are insured through the Government Agency calling them up.
RACES participants on a drill appear to be responsible for their own insurance, unless called out by the Government Agency they serve.

SATERN and Other “Owned” Groups

In most cases a group sponsored by a major emergency response group, such as The Salvation Army’s SATERN and Other Radio Amateur Groups operating under that parent group’s auspices will not be insured under either ARES or RACES, but rather any insurance coverage would either flow down from the parent group (if offered) or possibly be accessible if the call out is in response to a Government Official Request.

Other Radio Groups (REACT, SKYWARN & Similar)

Like “Owned” groups, these groups need the volunteer to investigate whether they are covered by any group insurance. SKYWARN’s net briefings and announcements make it clear that Storm Spotters are NOT insured by SKYWARN.

Cooperative Insurance Issues (Red Cross/ARES)

Some Red Cross Chapters have offered to enlist ARES members as Red Cross volunteers to gain access to the Red Cross insurance for volunteers. This does bring up issues outside of insurance, such as who is ultimately in control of these “dual hat” volunteers? (Many would say that as the Red Cross is insuring them, they are assets of the Red Cross first).

Other issues would be if an ARES group is responding to a wider emergency, would Red Cross be able to reallocate ARES team members by virtue of their also being Red Cross volunteers? And if those volunteers would refuse Red Cross control, claiming to be ARES members, would their Red Cross insurance coverage stop when the Red Cross control stops?

It is also worth noting the Red Cross coverage for Volunteers is secondary to personal insurances, and almost trivial in dollar amout of coverage.

Radio Officer Issues:

If you are a radio officer, dispatcher, or someone who assigns volunteers their Emcomm duties, your insurance issues are more complex. You need to consider your “exposure through leadership.”

What if a volunteer is hit by lightening, will their family’s attorneys blame you & will you potentially have to defend yourself, or even make good a judgement? What if a volunteer has a wreck causing property damage, injuries & loss of life - will you be brought into the suit(s) due to your leadership?

What if you get tired and simply make a mistake, injuring someone or causing a loss? Are you covered?

What if one of the above happens and it is only a drill - only practice - are you covered then?

For those in the positions of leadership these issues are, and should be, a real concern. Some organizations are very clear, everyone is covered, leaders are covered when volunteers are not, or that there is no insurance coverage. Whether coverage is “all the time,” actual emergency only, or nonexistent should be made clear as well.

Radio Club Issues

The issues for a club are even more complex, as the club may be a sponsoring organization for several Emcomm groups and have several scenarios where members may be operating during the same emergency under different insurance coverage!

It is also usual for a club to have attachable assets, numerous members not involved in the club’s Emcomm efforts, and some level of share equipment, resources, training & structure.

Many clubs do have some level of coverage through club insurance, but I was unable to obtain an actual policy to read, so it is unclear whether programs like the ARRL’s club insurance provide significant protection for the non-Emcomm portions of a club in the face of a claim.

My Findings

Were presented to the local club as a series of “White Papers.” They echoed my notes above, that:

• ARES volunteers are almost never covered by any radio group insurance
• RACES volunteers are covered by Government Insurance if called out by the Emergency Government, but are otherwise apparently not covered by insurance.
• Red Cross/ARES dual membership might provide some limited coverage through the Red Cross, but at the expense of significant question as to which leadership volunteers could respond to while maintaining insurance coverage.
• Fully Owned Groups tended to have some coverage for Volunteers.
• Other Groups tended to have no coverage for Volunteers.
• Leaders usually had no additional coverage addressing their leadership risks, if any coverage at all is in place.
• The Club itself might have some liability coverage through its ARRL policy, but that coverage was not explored.

My Decision

In the process of preparing the research for this it was obvious the consideration of these issues were very stressful for all involved. Though accredited for Emcomm and Emcomm instruction I have distanced myself from Emcomm operations, as I could not bind insurance to plug the gaps in personal coverage, and what I could purchase was more expensive than what I was willing to pay.

Though I would respond to RACES in actual official Government call out, that is the limit of my present involvement.

While regularly taking Red Cross training, the limited coverage for through the Red Cross for volunteers, the time commitment to train for another group, and questions of survivability of the Red Cross coverage if deployment issues arose lead, makes the “dual membership” option unsuited for me.

Our club is aware that volunteers appear to have coverage only when officially called out under RACES, or when members who have chosen to become “dual hat” members Red Cross & ARES are called out working for the Red Cross. We have the best possible situation where our local Red Cross director is a licensed radio amateur, an active club member & a club officer.

I’ve purposely avoided the added complexities of issues like Subrogation (where an insurer may cover a loss, but then looks to the parties it thinks are responsible for the loss to recover its costs), uninsurable risks, and other complex issues.

In the end YOUR decision is personal and dependent on local situations.

73

Steve
K9ZW

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REPRODUCTION NOTICE - This article is copyright 2007 by K9ZW.

In order to best manage discussion & comments please do not copy this article. I will prepare a version for wider publication after a period of discussion & critique. The URL to share this article is: Touching the Third Rail - Insurance Issues in EmcommYour cooperation, comments and emails are greatly appreciated!

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DISCLAIMER - It is extremely important that readers understand that my opinion is not an expert opinion, that actual coverages may change, and that unless you see a Certificate of Insurance naming YOU as an additional insured that your best assumption is that you have no coverage beyond your personal insurance. This is a classic “YMMV” (Your Mileage May Vary) issue where the consequences of “running naked’ (going uninsured) outweigh accepting anything less than written certification of coverage.

We all share the goal of having a safe society - one where we can agree to disagree in personal safety.

Unfortunately this is never a 100% share view of how things should be - whether it was the political activists stereotyped with the cannon-ball round bombs with burning open fuses of the 1920’s, or the Anarchistic-pseudo-Socialists of state sponsored cold war terrorism of the 1970’s or the present religiously charged terror threat, there has often been a small segment of society who has mistakenly put political/social agenda ahead of respect for fellow humanity.

Out of this self-righteousness they justify violence against anyone not closely sharing their views & goals.

It is these threats we all share a responsibility to watch for, and act against.

In a copyright article in the UK press is a story of how a signal intercepted by ATC (Air Traffic Controllers) has lead to the neutralizing of a serious threat against the Eiffel Tower:

Terror plot to blow up Eiffel Tower uncovered
By IAN SPARKS

Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=507760&in_page_id=1811
©2008 Associated New Media

The radio angle is that a change captured signal has served the French Nation and saved innocent lives.

A few years ago a now SK amateur spoke to me of helping take bearings on a series of mystery signals in cooperation with investigators. I couldn’t hear the signal here, but did give it a try. In that case what it was about was never quite made clear - whether it was an illegal taxi service, or a terror operation? I never knew and now with my friend having passed on, with him what whatever he knew of the details.

From my point it was a privilege to be able to help, even if my station was not of great use and the purpose somewhat obscured.

Perhaps someday my station can be as useful as these French ATC radiomen. Well done.

73

Steve
K9ZW

The dropping of ARRL CCE Emcomm training as an ARES/RACES requirement seems to have brought to mind the same question in several of this blogs readers - Should ARES & RACES be Separate?

ARES is an ARRL group - http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/pubservice.html, is not mentioned in Part 97 and is under the control of its own infrastructure.

RACES is a FEMA organization - http://www.races.net/, and is specifically provided for in Part 97. It is under the control of FEMA or its designated local/county/state or regional supporting groups.

You can find links at http://www.Emergency-Radio.org/ which is an ARRL sponsored general website on Emcomm.

Recognizing the inherent conflict between ARES & RACES the ARRL Public Service Manual recommends close cooperation and where possible wearing both an ARES and a RACES hat.

Those words predate the present FEMA lead professionalization-of-the-amateur demands and the apparent set aside of ARRL training & standards in favor of FEMA’s demands.

These changes are not in the spirit of a compatible dual-hatted operation and appear to polarize the Emcomm volunteer into either becoming an unpaid FEMA directed communications person through the RACES side or remaining a Volunteer Radio Amateur willing to help in Emergency through the ARES side.

Further complicating the leadership, prerequisite and operating procedures conflicts & confusion has been the encouragement for ARES/RACES members to become volunteer members of Served Agencies (like the American Red Cross) for various reasons.

Once signing on to with the served agency who really controls the volunteer - the ARRL ARES, the FEMA RACES or the Served Agency’s command structure?

Arriving emails suggest that the average Radio Amateur should consider themselves a Radio Amateur first and not sell-out to the interests of Served Agencies or FEMA. If they are interested in those areas they should perhaps put those areas first in their operating priorities and affiliations.

Not a single email arrive as of this writing to support the dual-hat/multi-hat scenario.

Perhaps it is time to peel apart the forced overlay of ARES & RACES and give the Radio Amateur their choice of which to join?

73

Steve
K9ZW