County of Orange RACES

County of Orange RACES, an auxiliary communications unit of the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD), is administered by OCSD's Communications & Technology Division. Members are registered as Disaster Service Workers with OCSD's Emergency Management Bureau. They are trained to provide voice, video, and data communications during emergencies, using their own equipment on County VHF and UHF repeaters and simplex frequencies. When activated, OCRACES provides emergency communications support, handles messages between incidents and the EOC, or between public-safety agencies and critical locations, and reports conditions from the field to the EOC or Command Post.

Winlink Survey

Initial procurement of Winlink equipment for County and City RACES units will begin in July. It will provide e-mail capability to our served agencies, MOU members, and RACES/ACS members, without relying totally on the Internet. The equipment will also provide a ham-radio-based TCP/IP connection from the County EOC to remote sites. Furthermore, this project will also establish a packet-based bulletin board, probably using Outpost. Each City RACES unit will need to make sure that an outbound network port is open where the Winlink station is set up. Skilled people will be needed for installation, assembly of hardware and cables, installation of software and initializing system desktop computers, and to initialize the provided server. City RACES leadership will need to designate lead persons as contact points during implementation and operation of the system, and backup support persons. A specific ham radio call sign, name, and address must be provided by each City RACES unit. This is needed to register the TCP/IP addresses that are specific to the TCP/IP over radio portion of this project. Each City RACES Chief Radio Officer (or his designee) is asked to click on the following link: WINLINK PARTNER SURVEY.xls. Please complete the form, which will provide the information mentioned above, and submit to OCRACES Radio Officer Scott Byington, KC6MMF.

Next OCRACES Meeting: February 1st

The next OCRACES meeting is on Monday, February 1, 2010, at 7:30 PM, at OCSD/Communications, 840 N. Eckhoff Street, Suite 104, in Orange. Our featured speaker is Mark Hergesheimer, KD6WLY, who will describe his N6OCS 900-MHz repeater, and will provide fascinating information on how repeaters are constructed and how they work. He will display various system modules at the meeting, including antenna, duplexer, controller, etc. Mark will also provide helpful information on how to get on 900 MHz by modifying Motorola and other commercial radios, since amateur-grade equipment is not manufactured for this band. All interested radio amateurs are invited to attend this meeting.

County, Cities, and MOUs Hold Annual Drill

Left to right in the Orange County EOC RACES Room during the City/County RACES & MOU exercise are Ernest Fierheller, KG6LXT, Scott Byington, KC6MMF, HDSCS member Ken Simpson, W6KOS, Harvey Packard, KM6BV, and Jim Carter, WB6HAG

County of Orange RACES, along with most Cities in Orange County with a RACES program, the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS), the communicators in the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Orange County SKYWARN participated in the annual City/County RACES/ACS & MOU Drill on Saturday, October 3, 2009. The scenario for this drill was "civil unrest." Voice messages were sent and received on 2 meters and 70 centimeters, and SSTV and ATV operations were on 70 centimeters. We are now planning to hold this drill at least twice a year, and Saturday, April 3, 2009, is the tentative date of our next exercise.

OCRACES Participates in SONGS Exercises

County of Orange RACES Radio Officer Harvey Packard, KM6BV, participated in the SONGS (San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) Dress rehearsal Plume Exercise at the Orange County EOC on August 19, 2009 (Dress Rehearsal Plume Exercise), and in the SONGS FEMA Graded Exercise on September 23rd.

OCRACES Activates for Severe Fire WX Patrol

Tom Tracey, KC6FIC (left), and Martin La Rocque, N6NTH, at Martin's vehicle during severe fire weather patrol on September 23, 2009

On Monday, September 21, 2009, Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief/Deputy Fire Marshal Pat Antrim informed OCSD Emergency Communications Manager Marten Miller, KF6ZLQ, that OCFA had received notification that the National Weather Service had issued a Red Flag Warning effective from 0900 September 22nd through 2100 September 24th. The area affected by this warning included the Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest as well as the Santa Ana Mountain canyons (Santiago, Silverado, Modjeska, and Trabuco). OCFA also recommended patrolling the Ortega Highway during this period. OCRACES activated and patrolled these areas.

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are expected. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and hot weather will create explosive fire growth potential. High winds did not occuring during our patrols, but the other conditions did exist.

On Wednesday, September 30th, another Red Flag Warning was declared, and OCRACES conducted a Severe Fire Weather Patrol the next morning.

OCRACES Supports Baker to Vegas 2009

Chuck Dolan, KG6UJC (left), and RACES Lt. Ralph Sbragia, W6CSP, install DC cables in follow van for Baker to Vegas

OCRACES members, under the leadership of Radio Officer. Ralph Sbragia, W6CSP, supported the 25th Annual Baker to Las Vegas Challenge Cup Relay, March 14-15, 2009. Helping Ralph with pre-race follow-van installations were Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK, Chuck Dolan, KG6UJC, Randy Benicky, N6PRL, and Steve Sobodos, KN6UX. Radio Officer Scott Byington, KC6MMF, prepared radios, TNCs, antennas, etc., for the Pahrump Command Post, which was manned by Assistant Radio Officer Jack Barth, AB6VC, Chuck Dolan, KG6UJC, and Martin La Rocque, N6NTH. This year we supported eight teams with APRS, including the four Orange County Sheriff's teams (up from three in previous years), two Orange County DA teams, the California Department of Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit, and the Arizona AG Team. Our Pahrump Command Post was also there to provide communications support via the linked UHF repeaters we monitor.

RACES Activates for Fires

County of Orange RACES activated on Saturday, November 15, 2008, in response to the Freeway Complex Fire, and provided EOC communicators and assistance to the Orange County Fire Authority at the Incident Command Post or with Red Flag patrols. City RACES units activated in support of their own communities or responded to mutual-aid requests from OCRACES and nearby cities. OCRACES was deactivated at 12 noon on Monday, November 17th..

RACES Wants You!

Experience the most exciting and rewarding part of amateur radio. Being a RACES member gives you the opportunity to sharpen your operating skills and technical knowledge while volunteering your services in public-safety communications. Get involved in emergency communications now. Click the Contact OCRACES link for more information.

Events Calendar

Jan. 30: 9:30 AM
Palm Springs Hamfest

Jan. 30: 10:00 AM
Southwest ACS Meeting at Palm Springs Hamfest

Feb. 1: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Jack Barth, AB6VC
Pager: Ken Bourne, W6HK

Feb. 1: 7:00 PM
OCRACES Meeting
840 N. Eckhoff St., Suite 104, Orange

Feb. 8: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Randy Benicky, N6PRL
Pager: Scott Byington, KC6MMF

Feb. 15: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Bill Borg, KG6PEX
Pager: Jim Carter, WB6HAG

Feb. 22: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Ken Bourne, W6HK
Pager: Chuck Dolan, KG6UJC

Feb. 22: 8:15 PM
Southwest ACS Frequency/Radio Test at EOC RACES Room

Mar. 1: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Scott Byington, KC6MMF
Pager: Ernest Fierheller, KG6LXT

Mar. 1: 7:30 PM
OCRACES Meeting
840 N. Eckhoff St., Suite 104, Orange

Mar. 8: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Jim Carter, WB6HAG
Pager: Harvey Packard, KM6BV

Mar. 15: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Chuck Dolan, KG6UJC
Pager: Ralph Sbragia, W6CSP

Mar. 22: 7:00 PM
OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Ernest Fierheller, KG6LXT
Pager: Jack Barth, AB6VC

Apr. 17-18
Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay

Apr. 30-May 1
EMCOMMWEST, Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV

May 19: 7-9 PM
Golden Guardian Communications Exercise

Jun. 26-27
Field Day

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Webmaster: Ken Bourne, W6HK, Chief Radio Officer, County of Orange (California) RACES
Last Update: January 29, 2010