OCRACES Meetings and Outside Group Activities Canceled
Because of the COVID-19 emergency, all OCRACES outside group activities have been canceled until further notice.
OCRACES meetings will be held online on first Mondays at 7:30
PM. Monday night 2-meter nets at 7:00 PM and Saturday morning
60-meter nets at 10:00 AM will continue. No RACES members are to enter the Loma Ridge
facility at this time, nor engage in any RACES activities
outside the home.
Websites with COVID-19 Information
The Orange County Health Care Agency website at
https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com has information that is
regularly updated regarding the status of COVID-19 in Orange
County. A good site to monitor for the latest Orange
County COVID-19 news is
https://www.ocgov.com.
For information about COVID-19 in the state of California, visit
https://covid19.ca.gov. That site emphasizes that if you
have any symptoms or are at risk, it’s especially important to
stay home and avoid in-person contact with others.
The White House, CDC, and FEMA have an informative website at
https://www.coronavirus.gov. You can also visit
https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus.
FEMA has a website at
https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus-rumor-control to help you
distinguish between rumors and facts regarding the response to
the pandemic.
Sign up for County of Orange AlertOC COVID-19 updates to your
smartphone. Text “OCCOVID19” to 888777.
Great ShakeOut Drill Held on October 15, 2020
OCRACES conducted an earthquake drill during the Great
California ShakeOut on Thursday, October 15, 2020, from 1000 to
1100 hours. The drill allowed participants to practice reporting
observed earthquake intensity using the Modified Mercalli
Earthquake Intensity Scale. Net control (OCRACES Chief Radio
Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK) asked participants to give their
“Mike-Mike” reports on the 146.895 MHz repeater and on 60 meters
channel 4, which is 5371.5 kHz USB (dial frequency).
A total of 30 County and City RACES and MOU members participated
in this ShakeOut drill on 2 meters and five on 60 meters, all
with simulated “Mike-Mike” reports. OCRACES members on 2 meters
included Randy Benicky, N6PRL (Rancho Santa Margarita), Ken
Bourne, W6HK (net control in Orange), Tony Scalpi, N2VAJ
(Orange), and Robert Stoffel, KD6DAQ (Fullerton). City RACES and
MOU stations checking in and reporting on 2 meters included
KJ6AOX (Laguna Niguel), KN6AVU (Placentia), KE6BNS (Huntington
Beach), KF6BRC (Aliso Viejo), KG6CAV (Placentia), KB6CMO
(Fullerton), KN6CVB (Laguna Woods), W6EDT (Mission Viejo), K6EEE
(Laguna Woods), K6GAT (Huntington Beach), K6HIV (Rancho Santa
Margarita), K6HMS (Huntington Beach), N6HVC (Westminster), AF6II
(Garden Grove), KB6JOE (Huntington Beach), KE6KZR (Irvine),
N6NQN (Fountain Valley), KK6OEX (Fountain Valley), KJ6PFW (Costa
Mesa), KM6RSY (Rossmoor), WA6RUZ (Mission Viejo), KE6TM (Dana
Point), KK6URR (Laguna Niguel), WB6VEM (Laguna Niguel), K6WHC
(Mission Viejo), and KG6WTQ (Anaheim). The five stations on 60
meters included W6EDT (Mission Viejo), W6HK (net control in
Orange), WB6NOA (Costa Mesa), K6PB (Irvine), and WA6DNT (Red
Cross in San Diego).
Several City RACES units ran their own earthquake drills on
October 15th, and so did Cal OES CRU, using the Cactus Radio
Network. The California Rescue Communications 7250 kHz net
commenced operations at 1030 hours, with 27 check-ins (Bay Area,
local, Arizona, and Utah) with their MM reports.
Portable Simplex Drill Conducted on October 3, 2020
On Saturday, October 3, 2020, from 0900 to 1100 hours, we
conducted a successful and enjoyable portable simplex drill as
our annual first-Saturday-in-October City/County RACES & MOU ACS
Exercise. City and County RACES and MOU members set up portable
stations on their home property, since the COVID-19 pandemic
prevented us from having any RACES activities outside our home
property. We simulated that all repeaters had failed and
conducted this drill on simplex frequencies and on 60 meters.
During the first 15 minutes (beginning at 1900 hours), City
RACES units and MOUs called a roll of their members on their
primary simplex frequencies, while OCRACES net control (Chief
Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK) called the roll of its members
on the OCRACES primary simplex frequency of 146.595 MHz.
Beginning at 0915, the Chief Radio Officers or coordinators (or
a designated member) of the City RACES units and MOUs moved over
to 146.595 MHz and responded to a City/MOU roll call by OCRACES
net control, with a report of how many of their members checked
in on their primary simplex frequencies. Relay stations
(especially Gordon West, WB6NOA, in Costa Mesa and others)
assisted OCRACES net control in covering Cities in South County
on 146.595 MHz.
Beginning at 1000 hours, Ken incorporated the Portable Drill
into the normal Saturday morning 60-meter OCRACES ACS net on
5371.5 kHz USB (“channel 4” dial frequency). This net covers the
11 counties in the Cal OES Southern Region plus northern Arizona
and southern Nevada. After calling the regular Saturday roll
call of Orange County City and County RACES stations, net
control stood by for additional RACES and MOU stations in Orange
County. Relay stations such as WB6NOA in Costa Mesa and W6CAW in
Campo (near the Mexican border), and N6WIX in Ventura assisted
net control for covering various areas of Orange County. Net
control then called the normal Saturday roll of RACES/ACS
stations outside Orange County, followed by the non-EmComm
stations.
On the 2-meter OCRACES roll call from 0900-0915 hours, OCRACES
members checking in included KD6DAQ, WF6F (relayed by WB6NOA),
W6HK (net control), N6PRL (relayed by WB6NOA), N2VAJ, and AB6VC.
From 0915 to 0955 hours, City RACES and MOU units checking in
included (by designated call sign and number of their check-ins
on their primary simplex frequencies): Anaheim (KW6ACK—1), Brea
(WB6DNX—6), Costa Mesa (KM6UJD—22), Cypress (KK6REB—5), Fountain
Valley (WA6FV, relayed by WB6NOA—5), Fullerton (K6FUL—5),
Huntington Beach (W6HBR and K6GAT—19), Irvine (KE6KYH—21),
Laguna Niguel (WB6CKG—7), Laguna Woods (NH7WG—7), Los Alamitos
(KM6RSY—16), Mission Viejo (W6EDT—9), Newport Beach (KB6FW and
KM6JON—8), Orange (KG6MIG—13), Placentia (KG6CAV—6), Seal Beach
(KM6RSY—16), Westminster (N6HVC, relayed by WB6NOA—5), American
Red Cross (K6HMS and KK6YUP—5), OCHEART (KM6RSY—3), and Orange
County SKYWARN (KK6YUP—4). Two OCRACES applicants also checked
in—W6EIF and KK6HFS. Other 2-meter check-ins included WD6AJR
(visitor), K6FTL (OCHEART), KB6KPK (visitor), K6BS (visitor),
N6NQN (Fountain Valley RACES), and W6ONT (Cypress RACES).
On the 60-meter roll call from 1000 to 1100 hours, OCRACES
members checking included WF6F, W6HK (net control), N6PRL
(relayed by WB6NOA), and N2VAJ. Stations checking in from City
RACES units included Anaheim KW6ACK), Brea (AI6ZN), Costa Mesa
(WB6NOA), Cypress (W6ONT), Fountain Valley (KD6JBL), Huntington
Beach (KJ6CM and W6HBR), Irvine (K6PB), Laguna Woods (K6EEE and
NH7WG), Mission Viejo (W6EDT and N6JCN), Newport Beach (NI6E,
KB6FW, K6GSX, and KM6JON), and Orange (KG6MIG and N0VNJ). Other
RACES/EmComm check-ins included Cal OES CRU (W6GMU in Cypress
and W6CAW in Campo, near the Mexican border), Ventura County ACS
(N6WIX in Ventura), and Nye County (Nevada) EmComm (KE7KHE in
Pahrump). Non-RACES/EmComm check-ins on 60 meters included
WD6AJR and KB6KPK in Orange, WA6NFE near Escondido, K6ORJ mobile
in Fresno, and W6YLD in Santa Maria.
Total participants during the first hour in the City and MOU
primary simplex and County simplex nets was 196. During the
second hour, the total participants on 60 meters was 31.
RACES Runs Portable Drill on May 2, 2020
A City/County RACES & MOU Portable Drill was held on Saturday,
May 2, 2020. Because RACES activities outside home property were
prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most participants
operated portable stations from their backyards, using battery
power and portable antennas. OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken
Bourne, W6HK, was net control, operating from his home station
in Orange. The drill simulated that the OCRACES repeaters were
down, and had two segments, the first hour on 2 meters simplex
and the second hour on 60 meters upper sideband, "channel 4."
Ken began the Portable Drill on 2 meters simplex at 0900 hours
by calling for check-ins from cities in alphabetical order, then
from MOUs, and finally from OCRACES members. Relay stations were
assigned, to enable handheld and other low-power stations to
check in. Participating units (members) on 2 meters included
OCRACES (9), Brea RACES (3), Costa Mesa RACES (8), Cypress RACES
(1), Fountain Valley RACES (2), Huntington Beach RACES (3),
Irvine RACES (7), Laguna Niguel ACS (6), Laguna Woods RACES (3),
Los Alamitos RACES (1), Mission Viejo RACES (8), Newport Beach
RACES (3), Orange RACES (3), Placentia RACES (1), Westminster
RACES (1), American Red Cross (2), and OCHEART (9).
Beginning at 1000 hours, Ken incorporated the Portable Drill
into the normal Saturday morning 60-meter OCRACES ACS net.
Portable stations typically used Hamstick dipoles and end-fed
wires, and ran on battery power. Participating units (members)
on 60 meters included OCRACES (5), Brea RACES (1), Costa Mesa
RACES (1), Cypress RACES (1), Irvine RACES (1), Laguna Woods
RACES (1), Mission Viejo RACES (1), Newport Beach RACES (5),
Orange RACES (2), Cal OES CRU (2), OCHEART (2), Ventura County
ACS (1) Nye County NV EmComm (1), and non-EmComm stations (4).
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.
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Events Calendar
February 27: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net
60 m channel 4
March 1: 1900 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Fran Needham, KJ6UJS
March 1: 1930 hours OCRACES Online Meeting
March 6: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 m
channel 4
March 8: 1900 hours OCRACES
ACS Net 2 m: Joe Selikov, KB6EID
March 11:
1830 hours PSR Orientation Sheriff's Academy,
Tustin
March 13:
1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 m channel 4
March 15: 1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m:
Robert Stoffel, KD6DAQ
March 20: 0900 hours
PSR Pre-Screen Sheriff's Academy, Tustin
March 20: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 m channel 4
March 22: 1900
hours 2 m/70 cm/1¼ m/6 m: Ken Tucker, WF6F
March 27: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 m
channel 4
March 29: 1900 hours Tom
Tracey, KC6FIC
April 3: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 m channel 4
April 5: 1900
hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Jack Barth, AB6VC
April 5: 1930 hours OCRACES Online
Meeting
April 10: 1000 hours OCRACES
ACS Net 60 m channel 4
April 12: OCRACES ACS
Net 2 m: Randy Benicky, N6PRL
April
17: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 m channel 4
April 19: 1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net
2 m: Ken Bourne, W6HK
April 24: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 m channel 4
April 26: 1900
hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m/70 cm/1¼ m/6 m: Scott
Byington, KC6MMF
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