Bucks County Amateur Radio Emergency Service

Bucks County Amateur Radio Emergency Service - Digital Communications - 2014 EPA SET Report Discussion & BCARES Solutions -

ARRL EPA SET 2014 Scenario – Category 3 Hurricane Impact n n n Loss of Power in Eastern PA Loss of most public safety communications Landline, internet, and cell phone service failing

Similar Concerns General concerns of the grid’s reliability Increasing Cyber incidents and threats Weighing them together as a related incident

ARRL EPA SET 2014 - Report On the digital communications component… n n Packet node grossly underutilized Winlink® used widely in the region, few effective nodes to link in the Section. w Winlink® was not a large traffic contributor to SET n n When used in the SET, packet performed flawlessly. FLDIGI/NBEMS not interoperable with NTSD or Winlink®

ARRL EPA SET 2014 - Report On Resources…in a real incident n n Concerns to the number of available and/or proficient stations Coordination of those stations that are available and/or proficient

Bridging the “last mile” is an important concept in Emergency Communications. Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

Bridging the “last mile” is an important concept in Emergency Communications. It is the path across an area where conventional communications have been disrupted or overloaded by an incident. Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

We cannot predict the size of “the last mile”. Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

We cannot predict the size of “the last mile. ” Local Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

We cannot predict the size of “the last mile. ” Regional Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

We cannot predict the size of “the last mile. ” International Slide by - Loring Kutchins W 3 QA EPA Asst SEC, Digital ARES Digital Network Management Team

We cannot predict the duration of interruption in “the last mile. ”

Current Digital Modes D-Star® Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio Packet n n n Automatic Packet/Position Reporting System (APRS®) Outpost® Winlink® Soundcard n n Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software (NBEMS) Winmor® w VHF / HF Winlink®

Real Incident Reality You are going to be busy with your reality In reality, you are not going to have AC power to run a PC, internet, etc. all the time! n IF/WHEN you have AC…you are you going to monitor a PC and or a radio all the time? 12 V DC will be your friend…if you plan to have it available before hand…and a plan to conserve it during the incident

Current Digital Modes D-Star® Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio Packet n n n Automatic Packet/Position Reporting System (APRS®) Outpost® Winlink® Soundcard n n Narrow Band Emergency Messaging Software (NBEMS) Winmor® w VHF / HF Winlink®

Outpost® n n n A Windows-based packet messaging client, with a simple email user interface display/format Supports ARES®, RACES, and other amateur radio emergency response teams and their need to pass digital traffic Helps automate the packet message handling environment Manages all message-handling between you and your BBS or PBBS Lets you read, delete, create, reply to, or forward messages back to the BBS/PBBS n Delivery and/or read receipt of messages n NTS or ICS-213 Formatting http: //www. outpostpm. org

Equipment Basics and Requirements Station n n Transceiver (TXCVR - usually VHF/UHF) Kantronics KPC 3+ TNC or equivalent in KISS Mode w Usually a 9 -Pin to 6 -Pin Mini-DIN cable between the TNC and TXCVR n PC with Outpost® installed Outpost® PBBS n n Transceiver (TXCVR - usually VHF/UHF) Kantronics KPC 3+ TNC w 9 -Pin to 6 -Pin Mini-DIN cable between the TNC and TXCVR

Outpost® PBBS Equipment “Full Service” TNC n n n Stand alone - Autonomous Digipeater Mail Drop Remote Administration Control Bullet Proof / Robust…set it and go. 12 v and you have a off grid digital network Can run on as little as 50 m. A RX / 1. 5 A TX @ 5 watts n Leverage Height and Gain…and you have a wide area network

Features Outpost Packet Message Manager Message viewing Supports viewing, printing, deleting or saving a message to a local file Reply and Forward message formatting

Features Outpost Packet Message Manager Message creation Supports Private, Bulletin, and NTS message types Message formatting before sending Set messages to Urgent Request delivery or read receipts Different ways for originating messages NTS Message Maker

Operational Concept TXCVR TNC TNC Outpost® PBBS Messages stored and retrieved here Station #1 w/ Outpost® Station #2 w/ Outpost® http: //www. outpostpm. org

Operational Concept Winlink® Node TXCVR TNC The Internet TXCVR External Station TNC BBS for Outpost® Messaging External Station can chose which system they want to use to send/receive email from. PBBS for Outpost® direct (brown path) or Winlink® direct (green path)

Operational Concept w/ Digipeater to expand coverage area and extend resources Winlink® Gateway External Station #2 TXCVR TNC Digipeater and/or PBBS TXCVR TNC BBS for Outpost® Messaging The Internet External Station #1 External Stations can chose which system they want to use to send/receive email from. PBBS for Outpost® either direct or indirect through Digipeater (brown path) or Winlink® either direct or indirect through Digipeater (green path) or double Digipeat (blue path) through PBBS and Digipeater for External Station #1.

Outpost® Message Application Summary n n Digital messaging “Within the last mile” vs. Winlink®’s “Bridge the last mile” No infrastructure required Portable (Antenna, Radio, TNC, 12 v) Slight learning curve w Very User Friendly

APRS® Merged packet and GPS technologies Position n Telemetry n WX Information n Text messaging…before cell phone text messaging n Autonomous n

APRS® Equipment n Station Based w PC Software Win. APRS n UI-View n n Standalone w APRS Digipeater n Antenna, Radio, TNC, 12 v

APRS® Equipment n Mobile w Fully Integrated APRS Radio & GPS n Kenwood and Yaesu offer full service radio products w Radio, Byonics Tiny. Trak & GPS n Portable w Fully Integrated APRS Radio(HT) & GPS n Kenwood and Yaesu offer full service radio products

Operational Concept w/ Ad Hoc APRS® Digipeater Winlink® Gateway External Station #2 TXCVR TNC Digipeater + APRS® Digipeater TXCVR The Internet TNC PBBS for Outpost® Messaging + APRS® Digipeater TXCVR TNC External Station #1

Next Steps Set-up the Three BCARES RACES Kit Kantronics TNCs to have full Digipeater, PBBS, and Ad Hoc APRS® settings. Exercise/train with the kits…just put one of the air…so folks can exercise/train as they have time. Get 12 VDC Savvy!

Bucks County Amateur Radio Emergency Service — Digital