ARES/RACES
BeachNet
Emergency Plan,
Operations under unusual conditions
Serving our Communities
in times of need
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Amateur Radio is the Hobby, Emergency Communications is a Commitment.
Emergency Configuration: During times of
Emergency or Disaster,
some changes in the configuration of the links between individual repeater
stations within the
BeachNet
system may be implemented. A single, multi-county, wide-coverage network is
very useful in "normal" times, but during a communications
emergency, each jurisdiction may require its own resources to conduct
their operations.
The three Grays Harbor County repeaters,
444.700 Neilton, 145.390 Cosmopolis, and 444.050 Minot
are likely to be separated from the rest of the network. A secondary link
may then connect the 145.390 Cosmopolis and 444.050
Minot repeaters. This link provides continuity between the
east and west portions of the County, and allows both repeaters
to be monitored with a single radio at the EOC.
These two repeaters combine to
cover most of Grays Harbor County.
The 444.950 Olympia repeater may be disconnected from
BeachNet,
to operate as a stand-alone shared resource. This station provides
direct access to the Washington State Emergency Command Center at
Camp Murray from most counties of ARES District Three. Grays
Harbor County
is "first in line" to use this resource,
with Pacific County second
in line. Other Emergency Management jurisdictions
may also use this repeater on a not-to-interfere basis.
The 444.500 Nicolai and 147.020 Grays River repeaters in
Wahkiakum County may be disconnected from
BeachNet,
to operate linked together or as stand-alone repeaters,
covering that county and the
surrounding area. The 444.500 Nicolai repeater provides
critical coverage into Longview and
Vancouver, WA. The network links may be reestablished at will to
provide a connection to Pacific County, and through it to Camp
Murray.
The 224.040 KO Peak repeater normally operates as a
stand-alone resource. Its contribution to Emergency Communications
is to form a direct line between the Emergency Operating Centers
(EOC) of the Counties of Southwestern Washington and the State
Emergency Command Center (ECC) at Camp Murray, as
well as each other. Pacific County also uses this machine to
relay transmissions between their two EOCs in South Bend and
Long Beach.
The remainder of
BeachNet
covers Pacific County, and is at the disposal of the Pacific County
Emergency Management Agency to provide Emergency Communications. The
441.675 KO Peak repeater provides direct access to Camp Murray,
and the integral remote base station can connect to numerous repeaters in
Western Washington and Oregon. This is also true of the remote base
function on the 440.675 Naselle repeater as well.
The nature of the various links between the repeaters allows for
flexibility in the configuration of the network. The
442.675 and 147.340 South Bend repeaters normally operate
coupled together and linked to the rest of the system. This critical
piece of the network overlooks
the Pacific County EOC, and can be split apart into two
independent repeaters, with the link to the rest of the
system following on either (or neither) of them. Thus,
one repeater could remain part of
BeachNet
while the other may be used simultaneously as a stand-alone,
independent repeater for local operations.
The 444.400 and 145.310 North Cove repeaters
operate independently. The 2-meter repeater is normally
linked to the network, however that link can be disconnected. The
UHF repeater normally operates as a stand-alone machine, but has
a network link that can be switched on.
The 145.170 Ocean Park repeater can potentially link to any of
several other sites. One is the 444.925 Megler IRLP repeater.
Although this normally provides a 2-meter port to the UHF IRLP circuit,
the repeater
has a different emergency communication function.
IRLP operation is dependent upon the Internet. If the Internet service
locally is down, there will be no IRLP function, however the repeater
itself should still operate as a normal stand-alone system. The
Pacific County Amateur Radio Club 146.860 repeater in Ilwaco, WA,
can also link to the 444.925 Megler
IRLP re
peater. This
forms a mini-network
(145.170 Ocean Park -
146.860 Ilwaco - 444.925
Megler IRLP) that
can be
used
for
Fire/Medical Support. The
three repeaters
combined cover the entire
length of the Long Beach
Peninsula, and the Ocean
Beach, Columbia Memorial and
Seaside Providence hospitals.
Resource Ownership:
BeachNet
comprises private property with a number of owners. The owner,
or owner-designated trustee
of a repeater, or other Amateur radio station, has the final word
on who may use that station. The FCC has reaffirmed this principle
on numerous occasions.
The 444.950 Olympia repeater and associated packet
radio station is owned by Doyle Wenzel,
N7UJK, of Aberdeen, WA.
The 444.500 Nicolai repeater and associated packet station
is owned by Geoffrey Morse, K7GA, of Cathlamet, WA., except
for some pieces of equipment that are on loan from NM7R.
Portions of the 444.700 Neilton, 145.390 Cosmopolis,
and 444.050 Minot repeaters are owned by N7XAC and NM7R,
and are on indefinite loan to N7UJK, as trustee, representing
Grays Harbor County ARES/RACES/ACS. The remainder of these repeaters
is owned by N7UJK.
The 224.040 KO Peak repeater is owned
by Loren Flindt, KB7APU, of Vancouver, WA, and is on
indefinite loan to NM7R and N7XAC, as joint trustees.
The remainder of the
BeachNet
System is owned jointly by Shane Madsen, N7XAC, and Frank Wolfe, NM7R,
as equal partners.
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