2021 Hawaii ARES® Simulated Emergency Test (SET)

Saturday, October 2nd (9:00 AM - 11:00 AM).

Note: The Big Island version of the SET is different from the State ARES version published on the Hawaii ARES website. In Hawaii County, we are using different forms, and sending our message(s) to the HC CDA Auxilliary Communications Service. (ACS)

SUMMARY:

Purpose:
The nationwide ARRL® Simulated Emergency Test occurs on the first Saturday of October every year. This year Hawaii ARES is asking stations to provide simulated damage assessment reports to simulated county emergency management agencies.

Hawaii State ARES:
This year's scenario is a 9.2-moment earthquake in the Aleutians leading to an extreme tsunami causing damages to all the counties in the State of Hawaii. Participating Amateur Radio operators should be aware of the closest extreme tsunami evacuation zone to their operating location and what damages could be expected. Information can be found by checking with your respective county emergency management or Civil Defense agencies or in the yellow pages. See the Hawaii ARES website at https://hawaiiares.net/

Hawaii County SET:
In Hawaii County, our Emergency management agency is the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. HC CDA has created the Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) to handle communications via Amateur Radio when traditional means of communication such as telephone and internet service are not working.

The ACS, headed by Doug Wilson, KH7DQ has agreed to participate in this exercise and is requesting that the following messages be sent to ACS, via whatever Amateur Radio means or mode gets the job done. (See below)

1. ACS SitRep. (Situation Report) See Sample.
   See Reference Scales: Wind, Rain, Flooding, Surf, Tide.
   (Source: https://www.hawaiicert.org/)
   
   
2. ACS RFA. (Request for Assistance) if time allows. See Sample.

DETAILS:

• All FCC licensed operators are invited to participate. Please review the ACS forms prior to participation.
• Operators are encouraged to complete the ACS form(s) prior to the exercise:
  • Consider your actual situation, location, equipment, and capabilities.
    
    
  • Complete the ACS form(s) by documenting the (imagined) conditions that you may encounter in your area under the exercise scenario given.
    
    
  • Community Emergency Response teams near the coastal areas might send an ACS SitRep reporting their GPS location and the observed wave heights, provided that they have the possibility of observing the ocean from a safe location.

For this exercise, the tsunami has already hit, and we are reporting damages. All repeaters, including Winlink gateways, will be operational. However, power, telephone, and internet capabilities are assumed to be out. Please operate using off-grid power if you have that capability.

The purpose of this COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE is to verify our ability to move the message forward to ACS, by whatever means works. This includes directly by voice to ACS, voice relays, and digital modes. (Winlink)

Options:

• Each district develops its own ICS-205 communications plan, using frequencies, modes, and/or infrastructure that they believe will work for their area. District Emergency Coordinators may also wish to ask stations to send additional messages to other served groups.
  
  
• ACS Voice (SSB Phone) Operations will be on 7.190.0 (40 Meter), and/or 3.895.0 (80 Meter)
• ACS VHF FM Operations will be on 147.2600W, Positive 0.6 MHz Offset, Tone of 103.5 on TX only. This repeater services Volcano & Puna areas only.
• ACS will be transmitting an informational message on the Hawaii/Mainland AllStar network. The local repeaters and simplex nodes will be configured in a "Hawaii County Only" linked mode for the exercise. DECs, Hubs, and other stations are encouraged to relay this message as needed in an effort to provide situational awareness to all participating stations, especially those who are not within range of an AllStar repeater or node.
  
  
• Hub Stations will be available in some locations to take messages traffic by voice and relay it to ACS via Winlink.

• For hubs and other Winlink capable stations, Winlink ACS forms should be sent to KH7DQ, with a CC: to KH6FHI via any RMS station. If you are unable to reach an RMS station directly, some stations may be able to send the form via Winlink P2P to a station that can relay the message to ACS.
  
  
• Stations in remote areas may need to relay voice traffic through more than one station to reach the desired hub station. Cooperation between stations and districts is encouraged.

Additional Information:

Voice Operations: (VHF - Voice operations for East Hawaii.) 
An ARES net for the 2021 SET in East Hawaii will be opened at 9:00 AM on the Kulani Cone repeater, 146.760 MHz, 0.600 MHz negative offset, TX/RX Tone 100 Hz. WH6DVI will open the net, with WH6GEM acting as the backup NCO  and scribe.

The purpose of this net will be to refer stations to hubs in their area who can take voice traffic, coordinate P2P Winlink traffic if needed, and provide information and assistance concerning the SET. Message traffic will only be taken on this net when no other means of passing the traffic is available.

The Pepeekeo Repeater (146.880 MHz, 0.600 MHz, negative offset, TX/RX Tone of 100 Hz) will be monitored by KH6RDO, our East Hawaii DEC. Darrell, KH6RDO may take your voice relay, or direct you to a station that will take your voice traffic.

Use the repeater or mode that works best for your location. If you are outside the coverage area of these repeaters, please check with your DEC for other options. Net control may request that you QSY to another frequency to pass your message traffic. Possible commonly used VHF simplex frequencies include: 146.520, 146.400, 146.460, 146.580, 147.420, 147.480, 147.540.

Please see the ICS-205 for your district's complete communications plan.

East Hawaii ICS-205 Page 1. (VHF/UHF)

East Hawaii ICS-205 Page 2. (HF)

North Hawaii District (VHF):

The Hamakua VHF Simplex Emergency net will be active starting at 9 AM on 146.400 MHz. This will be a controlled net for voice traffic, which will be transcribed to Winlink and forwarded to ACS from the net control station.

There will be a hub available to take Simplex voice traffic in the Waikoloa area, with Norm Cohler NH7UA as NCS. This will be on 146.550 MHz.

There will be a hub available to take Simplex voice traffic in the Laupahoehoe area, with Kyra WH6FSD as NCS. This will be on 146.460 MHz.

There will be a hub available to take Simplex voice traffic in the Paauilo area, with Denning, WH6GDC as NCS. This will be on 146.400 MHz.

North Hawaii ICS-205 Page 1. (VHF/UHF)

North Hawaii ICS-205 Page 2. (HF)

South Hawaii District (VHF/UHF)

South District DEC, Paul, WH7BR will be monitoring the following frequencies:

• 146.520 MHz, Simplex.
• 146.760 MHz, Kulani Cone Repeater, Negative 0.6 MHz offset, Rx/Tx tone 100 Hz.
• 442.150 MHz, Kulani Mauka Repeater, Positive 5 MHz offset, Rx/Tx tone 100 Hz.

Paul will participate as a hub, relaying the voice traffic received via Winlink on HF.

Winlink Operations: 
Winlink capable stations in Hawaii County may send the messages through any RMS gateway via any mode. RF modes are preferred, but telnet may be used. You do not need to check into the net or go through a hub if your station is Winlink capable. However, feel free to check in to the net on Kulani Cone if you have questions or need assistance.

For more information contact:
Darrell Asuka, KH6RDO, ARES DEC - East Hawaii (Dasuka001 @gmail.com)
Paul Ducasse, WH7BR, ARES DEC - South Hawaii (Ducasse @hawaii.rr.com)
Jim Sugg, AH6AE, ARES DEC - North Hawaii (JimSugg7 @gmail.com)
Dewey Priori, NH6M, ARES DEC - West Hawaii (nh6m @hawaii.rr.com)
Tony Kitchen, WH6DVI, ARES CEC - Pahoa (tonykitchen808 @gmail.com)

Additional East Hawaii District Information: (ERCT Website)

Please visit the NH6TU.org website for additional information, including the hubs and spokes list.

Updates:

Updates and changes will be posted to this topic thread as they become available. Please pay attention to updates on the days before the exercise.