Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Nov 03 2017 05:48 pm SPECIAL REPORT: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN RETIREMENT COMMUNITY PAUL/ANCHOR: Now, what happens if the amateurs happen to be older - a whole lot older - than college students? There's a very unique team of trained hams helping to safeguard their California community too - and it include retirees well into their 90s. Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, has that story. CARYN'S REPORT: The operators of amateur station AI6PV are not your typical rookies. In fact, many have waited a lifetime - a long lifetime - to get their tickets. These hams are in their 70s, 80s, and even their 90s. Their shack is hardly typical either: It's located at Plymouth Village, a continuing care retirement community on a sprawling 37 acres in Redlands, California. Keith Kasin, AI6BX, executive director of Plymouth Village, said the 3-year-old station, started with a singular mission. KEITH: We got into it a lot for the disaster preparedness. We live right on top of the San Andreas Fault, so we kicked a lot of it off, as part of our emergency communication for the disaster preparedness team. People have taken to it, and they are doing more of it on their own. I have had residents come to me and say "I am getting ready to take a trip to see children or grandchildren. Can you help me identify some repeaters along the way?" CARYN: The 32 licensed hams are part of a 64-member resident disaster response team connecting to staff administrators, as well as area hospitals, city agencies, and other organizations. Whether they live independently on the grounds, or receive nursing or assisted living care, almost every resident can have a role. KEITH: Most, yes, are in the residential area, but here's one of the best ones - and to me, this is a great success story - about how amateur radio kept someone socially connected to his friends: He had a situation, and needed to go to our skilled nursing facility, and he became a permanent resident there. He took his HT, and he would be rolling down the hallway in his wheelchair, talking to friends on the radio. His great-grandson would come in and say 'Great grandpa, what's that? Tell me about it' and he would get him engaged. This is someone who had been licensed years ago when he was a storm chaser, and relicensed when he got to our community. It is disaster preparation, it is a new social engagement. I have heard residents calling each other to set up a game of ping pong on their radios. CARYN: The hams have begun upgrading their licenses, and studying to become Volunteer Examiners. Others spend time DXing on HF. Meanwhile, other facilities including Plymouth Village's sister locations in Arizona and Washington State, are interested in replicating the model. His advice? KEITH: Find a couple of residents if you can who were hams, and would be interested in getting back into it. Look for those retired from the military who were radio officers -- and make it fun. CARYN: Amateur station AI6PV: making it fun and keeping it safe. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT. ** DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: BRACING NEAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PAUL/ANCHOR: For the final part of our report, we look to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where hams are gearing up for a drill this month to ensure safety surrounding a local nuclear power plant. We hear more from Heather Embee, KB3TZD. HEATHER'S REPORT: In Pennsylvania, the Reading Radio Club is preparing to take part in the Limerick Power Plant Exercise on Tuesday, Nov. 14th, and is looking for 18 to 24 radio operators to assist, starting at 5 p.m. The Limerick Generating Station in Limerick Township, Pennsylvania is a nuclear power plant, that can produce enough electricity for more than 1 million homes - but its presence also produces concerns about public safety in the surrounding 10-mile emergency planning zone. The amateur radio club provides communications support for these tests every two years. Since the exercise covers a number of different municipalities, the club is hoping to have two or three hams stationed at each location, as well as some assigned to the Montgomery County EOC. Hams who are participating for the first time will be paired up with an amateur who has assisted in the exercise before. Food will be provided at each location. For more details, send an email to Don, WA1ELA, at joni hyphen don at att dot net (joni-don@att.net). Joni is spelled "j o n i." For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD. ** DEATH OF A BLETCHLEY PARK 'LISTENER' PAUL/ANCHOR: A woman who used her mastery of Morse Code to help make World War II history, has died. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, tells us her story. JEREMY'S REPORT: One of the heroic Bletchley Park "listeners" of World War II, has died. Alison Robins, who taught herself both Morse Code, and German, during the war, and intercepted messages from U-boats around the coast of Britain, was instrumental in passing along those messages to Allied codebreakers at Bletchley Park. Her assignments placed her at various coastal listening stations. She was described in various newspaper reports as the last surviving secret listener of that era. Alison had been in the Women's Royal Naval Service during the early part of the war, and also worked at the Royal Naval College. Her daughter, Jill Hazell, told the Mirror newspaper, that the Royal Navy Wren, spoke very rarely about her wartime experiences, which involved monitoring communications late into the night. Her husband, Maurice, who also spoke German, was sent to that nation before the Nuremberg Trials to help with translations. Alison Robins was 97. She died on the 15th of October, in the Westbury Nursing Home in Bristol, where she was receiving care for dementia. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH. (FORCES NETWORK, THE MIRROR, DAILY MAIL) ** BREAK HERE Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the W6ZN Repeater Group in Palomar Mountain, California, on Tuesdays, at 7:30 p.m. local time. --- þ Synchronet þ The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org .