Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Aug 03 2018 09:51 am Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2127 for Friday, August 3, 2018 Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2127, with a release date of Friday, August 3, 2018, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a QST. Hams step up as California wildfires burn. Dave Kalter Youth DXers in Curacao release their log's final tally -- and South Africa prepares for Youngsters on the Air. All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2127 comes your way right now. ** BILLBOARD CART ** HAMS STEP UP AS WILDFIRES SWEEP CALIFORNIA PAUL: We begin this week with a report from California, where officials were tallying up the damage from one of California's most devastating wildfires. By August 1st, the Carr Fire consumed Shasta County, taking with it more than 1,000 homes and at least eight lives at the last count. As shelters opened, and the Red Cross sought out communications help, hams with the Shasta Tahama Amateur Radio Emergency Services, assisted by hams from Sacramento ARES stepped in. One of them was Gary Sanda, KI6OMU, the finance manager of Shasta Tahama ARES. As Gary's family was being evacuated to stay with friends, he deployed to help with what was being called the Carr Fire, the largest of the 17 blazes to have hit the state. GARY: Initially, it was a callup of local people from the Shasta Tahama ARES or STARES, and as the fire grew from one shelter to two shelters to maybe five or six now -- and one of the places people were sheltering was a casino 40 miles away -- we have been getting assistance from Sacramento ARES. So we have been covering most everything. We certainly could have used more people, but we have all been scrambling to try and cover everything we can. PAUL/ANCHOR: By the first of August, the Carr fire was declared 30 percent contained, but people - including Gary's own family - were still displaced. The hams were busy providing communications between shelter managers and the Red Cross as needed, since cell phone service remained largely intact, although spotty in some areas. GARY: The bulk of our communications is WINLINK, because we are too far north to have any real VHF voice or UHF voice. So we are using WINLINK packet. PAUL/ANCHOR: As Newsline went to production, the fire had swept over more than 112,000 acres, and the hams were continuing to work their shifts, sometimes for days. Gary said that any hams wanting to provide assistance can get details by visiting the state's Communications Reserve Unit website at acscalifornia dot org (acscalifornia.org) (CNN, SHASTA TAHAMA ARES) ** VOIP HURRICANE NET GETS NEW ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS PAUL/ANCHOR: In other areas of ham radio disaster response, the VoIP Hurricane Net has someone new to help guide it, as we hear from Bobby Best, WX4ALA. BOBBY: The VoIP Hurricane Net has a new assistant director of operations. Debby Gray, WX9VOR, has been a part of the operation since 2016, when she joined the VoIP Hurricane Net as a net control operator. Not long after coming on board, her skills were put to the test during the historic Atlantic hurricane season in 2017, when she worked numerous extended net control shifts, and also managed to recruit additional net controls - newcomers and veterans - during hurricanes Irma and Maria. Debby fills the vacancy left after Jim Sellars, N0UAM, became a Silent Key in May. She will be working with Dennis Dura, K2DCD. The announcement of her appointment was made by Rob, KD1CY, the VoIP Hurricane Net's director of operations. He noted that Debby's background makes her ideally suited for the job. She has had more than two decades experience as an IT consultant, educator, and mission critical support specialist, work that got her involved in disaster planning. She is also emergency coordinator for the ARES group of Kane County, Illinois, and a volunteer sergeant for the Naperville Illinois EMA Communications and Weather units. Debby also works as one of the senior members of the WX9LOT Ham Team, supporting NWS Chicago and the NWS Chicago SKYWARN program. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bobby Best, WX4ALA. (ROB KD1CY) --- SBBSecho 3.05-Win32 * Origin: RadioWxNet: The Thunderbolt BBS wx1der.dyndns.org (801:1/2) þ Synchronet þ Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com .