During the Wednesday night net May 31, 2023, Andy Davis KJ7JDN reviewed a number of common prowords and clarification language standards that can be used to improve our accuracy when transmitting messages. Many of these can be found in the document ACP-125 (rev. G) Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures (PDF), an Allied manual for radio operators. For more concise versions, check out Common Prowords, and ACP-125 Excerpts. All items are downloadable PDFs, and can also be found on the Docs & Maps page.
Thia (KJ7CNH) introduced the international geolocation system and app “What3Words” on the regular weekly Wednesday night net on April 5, 2023. Visit the What 3 Words website for more information and links to the app. Wikipedia has a good explanation of the system in their article on the topic.
Three members volunteered to look into the system further and report back in a couple of weeks: Mike (KJ7HCH), Thia (KJ7CNH) and Gerry (KK7GAB).
Another Geolocation System
There are alternative systems to what3words that use numeric or alphanumeric identification strings, but one that are quite as user-friendly. The US National Grid system (link to federal government site on using USNG; a good Wikipedia article) is based on NATO’s Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) . There is an explanation of how it is being implemented in some areas in an article in Evacuation Safety magazine.
During the net on Wednesday night, March 29, 2023, Riley (W7RIL), made reference to the Net Control Station Training Manual as an excellent resource for Net Control operators. The manual can be read and downloaded from this link.
Technician License Class
Dates: April 6, 13, 20, 27; May 4, 11, 18, 23 (8 sessions)
Time: 7-9 pm Each THURSDAY night
Place: Norkenzie Christian Church, 2530 Crescent Avenue, Eugene, OR
Cost: $33 for the Book that we use. Exam fee is $15 at exam time. The FCC charges a $35 Application Fee when license is issued The Class is free.
Book: Ham Radio License Manual, 5th Edition, published by American Radio Relay League
The Book is available from Instructor, “Matt” Dillon, 439 Heywood Ave., Eugene, OR 97404, 541-689-0640, w7ard@msn.com. I recommend getting the Book early.
Available seats: 20
Registration Deadline: March 20
Registration Process: Send an e-mail that includes your phone contact to w7ard@msn.com
Registration Contact: “Matt” Dillon W7ARD (instructor)
439 Heywood Ave.
Eugene, OR 97404 (Santa Clara area)
541-689-0640 w7ard@msn.com (preferred)
PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH ANYONE WHO HAS AN INTEREST.
General License Class
Dates: April 4,11, 18, 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23 (8 sessions)
Time: 7-9 pm Each TUESDAY night
Place: Norkenzie Christian Church, 2530 Crescent Ave., Eugene, OR
Cost: $33.00, Only for the Book that we use. License exam fee is $15 at exam time. The FCC
Charges $35 for an Application Fee when the Application is processed.
Book: General Class License Manual, 9th Edition, published by American Radio Relay League
The Book is available from Instructor, “Matt” Dillon, 439 Heywood Ave., Eugene, OR 97404, 541-689-0640, w7ard@msn.com I recommend getting the Book early.
Available seats: 20
Registration Deadline: March 20, 2023
Registration Contact: “Matt” Dillon W7ARD (instructor)
436 Heywood Ave.
Eugene, OR 97404 (Santa Clara area)
541-689-0640 w7ard@msn.com (preferred)
PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH ANYONE WHO HAS AN INTEREST.
December 14, 2022 – During this evening’s net, the subject of code (CW) transmission drew a great deal of attention. Here are some of the resources that were mentioned:
- The ARRL code practice files page. This page provides a number of practice transmissions at various speeds.
- Valley Radio Club sponsors a “Slow Code Net” on Thursdays at 8:30 pm on 28.450 MHz for practicing slow Morse code. The net is managed by Scott Rosenfeld, N7JI. You will find more information on the VRC’s Local Nets page.
Gerry Brown KK7GAB, Thia Bell KJ7CNH, and Mike McCornack KJ7HCH collaborated on a brochure to introduce community members to Eugene EmComm and what we do. A PDF version of the brochure can be downloaded and printed out here. After printing it out 2-sided (use the “Short Side” option if you do duplex printing) do a standard tri-fold to create a sharable brochure.
Folding a Standard Tri-Fold Brochure
Starting with the brochure laying on a flat surface with the brochure front and back information sections facing down, make a fold from the right side of the paper, 1/3 of the way in from the right side of the sheet. Then fold in the left one-third of the sheet to meet the right edge of the brochure.
For the more compulsive (I count myself a member of this group), you can score the paper before folding to make the folds easier to do, and providing a cleaner finished look. With the sheet laying front section down as described above, make one vertical score 3-11/16″ from the left, and a second vertical score 7-3/8″ from the left. If you happen to have a rotary paper cutter, scoring blades are available which make this task simple and quick.
Dam Safety Risk and Flood Inundation Mapping
Presentation & Discussion
November 14, 2022
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting – https://tinyurl.com/DamSafetyMeeting
Ready NW Eugene* and River Road Community Organization (RRCO) are inviting you to join a zoom presentation and discussion with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Dam Safety Risk and Flood Inundation Mapping in the Eugene/Springfield area.
The purpose of this November 14th presentation is to inform the community, understand how to read the inundation maps, and to start an ongoing dialogue on this important topic. It is expected that this presentation is one of many discussions that we will have in the future on related topics, such as emergency alert systems or plans for rescue and evacuation in the event of a dam breach.
We invite you to attend and participate in the community conversation. You can find more details about the contents of this presentation in our Briefing Paper -> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cUO27IJv_cb4I5wLtBbtG30eNdHILss5/edit.
Feel free to send your RSVP or questions to ReadyNWEugene@gmail.com ahead of the presentation.
* Ready NW Eugene is a collaboration of the emergency preparedness teams within the River Road Community Organization, Active Bethel Community, and Santa Clara Community Organizations.
by Thia Bell, KJ7CNH
At Jerry’s Home Improvement Center’s safety day, October 8, 2022, both booths, CERT and EmComm, appeared to be fielding a steady stream of visiting families, kids and other curious responders.
The wildfire smoke seemed to hug the hills or at least was more visible there, and more people were wearing masks than I’ve seen lately, so it’s a good reminder those big particulates are still out there.
Meanwhile it is rather surprising how many people throughout Eugene, and south to Drain, felt the 4.4 quake Friday 40 mi north, or about 14 mi NE of Sweet Home. Although I was awake at 5:52 am, I did not feel a thing! Perhaps it is fortunate it did not reach the 4.5 threshold to trigger the Shake Alert warning system to send us ducking for cover. The proximity to the large Green Peter Dam and reservoir on the Santiam still seems a concern.
Coincidentally, Ready Friendly is holding a virtual tabletop evacuation discussion in a mock dam breach scenario after a simulated earthquake 10/20, the evening of the Great ShakeOut. More info and zoom link at www.friendlyareaneighbors.org.
Ready NW Eugene is following this on Nov 14 with a Dam Safety presentation by the US Army Corps of Engineers with lots of Q&A to find out more about the current status and risks of the Willamette River dams in our watershed.
Extra-large solar flares are said to be triggering M4.0s that could precede larger ones in next several days, in one theory. Or full moon in others. Of course, staying alert with batteries charged never hurts.
Following discussion on the October 5, 2022 Net, here is a modified version of Gerry Brown’s (KK7GAB) numbering scheme for the ICS-213 forms. Those filling out the forms would number them using their four letter* neighborhood code, followed by a three digit number, e.g. “NWABxxx” or “S2FAxxx”, where “xxx” is a serial number beginning with 000.
*The numbered southeast neighborhoods are identified only by the abbreviation “S” and the neighborhood number; “SE1SN” becomes “S1SN” to adhere to the four character standard.
| Region | Neighborhood | Abbrev. |
| Northwest (NW) | ||
| Active Bethel Citizens | NWAB | |
| Industrial Corridor Community Organization | NWIC | |
| River Road Community Organization | NWRR | |
| Santa Clara Community Organization | NWSC | |
| Trainsong Neighbors | NWTN | |
| Northeast (NE) | ||
| Cal Young Neighborhood Association | NECY | |
| Goodpasture Island Neighbors | NEGI | |
| Harlow Neighbors | NEHN | |
| Northeast Neighbors | NENN | |
| Southwest (SW) | ||
| Churchill Area Neighbors | SWCA | |
| Far West Neighborhood Association | SWFW | |
| West Eugene Community Organization | SWWE | |
| Southeast 1 (SE1) | ||
| Southeast Neighbors | S1SN | |
| Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association | S1SH | |
| Southeast 2 (SE2) | ||
| Downtown Neighborhood Association | S2DN | |
| Friendly Area Neighbors | S2FA | |
| Jefferson Westside Neighbors | S2JW | |
| West University Neighbors | S2WU | |
| Whiteaker Community Council | S2WC | |
| Southeast 3 (SE3) | ||
| Amazon Neighbors Association | S3AN | |
| Fairmount Neighbors | S3FN | |
| Laurel Hill Valley Citizens | S3LH | |
| South University Neighborhood Association | S3SU |