Iroquois County Amateur Radio 147.030+ and 444.625+ - Meetings 2nd Thursday at the Red Cross Office in Watseka, IL

For continued updates visit http://www.WGFARadio.com and http://www.IQESDA.com

Justin

IQ ESDA Coordinator and WGFA News Director Carl Gerdovich reports that the Cissna Park Fire Department and Village officials are assisting some residents in Cissna Park this evening who are evacuating their homes near the Route 49 bridge to the American legion home. No word on how many residents may be affected. Sandbags and sump pumps may be available for residents. Earlier in the day the waters had receded and IDOT officials had . Out of nowhere Pigeon Creek overflowed leading to some of the reported evacuations. Since then sandbags have been requested and are being delivered to the fire station in Cissna Park. Any Cissna Park residents in need of assistance should contact the Cissna Park Fire Department. Cissna Park apparently has things under control at the local level and have not contacted ESDA officials for additional assistance.

The Glenn Raymond School Science Club was recently awarded an equipment grant to help establish an Amateur Radio station at the school. 8th grade science teacher and science club sponsor, Troy Simpson, spearheaded the endeavor as a means to bring another avenue of technology to the students at GRS. Mr. Simpson earned his amateur radio license after the Iroquois County Amateur Radio Club did a HAM radio demonstration for the school’s science club’s 30th Anniversary. He saw this as unique opportunity for GRS students and potentially the start of a lifetime activity.

The equipment grant is sponsored by the Amateur Radio Relay League and provides grants to schools to that incorporate amatuer radio and radio technology in their schools. Glenn Raymond School was one of only 6 schools in the nation to receive the grant for 2008. They received a Kenwood TS-480SAT radio with power supply, two antennas to transmit on a variety of frequencies, and an auto-tuner to help match frequency transmissions. The science club has already received their call sign as fittingly appropriate W9GRS.

The GRS Science Club is incorporating amatuer radio as a means to provide hands-on application of radio technology. Students will learn about how radio waves travel, how radio is used in weather spotting and emergency communications, and participate in contacting other amateur radio stations around the world. Students will also have the opportunity to earn their Amateur License.

The Science Club has also been working closely with the Iroquois County Amateur Radio Club in establishing the station. ICARC club members kicked things off with a demonstration of HAM radio 2 years ago at one of the Science Club meetings and recently held their annual Field Day at Glenn Raymond School.

“I believe this is a great addition to our science club and will give yet another unique opportunity for Glenn Raymond students. They will be introduced not only to the science of HAM radio, but the civic service that amateur radio contributes to.” - Mr. Simpson

The Flash Flood Watch for portions of central Illinois…east central Illinois and southeast Illinois has been cancelled. A Flash Flood Watch continues until 600 am Monday morning for Sangamon County due to water releases from Lake Springfield.

On Sunday afternoon officials from the Illinois DOT, Iroquois County ESDA, the Watseka Police Department, Watseka Public Works and the American Red Cross met in Watseka at City Hall to discuss the mitigation plans for the localized flooding affecting the area. Discussion centered around excess water that has caused a sewer system overload in Watseka. Officials expressed that the system was slowly catching up and it looked as if thing were getting better and the system was catching up. Dan Smith from the Region 7 IEMA was also a part of the discussion.

According to the National Weather Service, the rain waters we have received should not affect us. Carl Gerdovich, Iroquois County ESDA Director and News Director for WGFA Radio said “The rain has let up and the water from Benton and Newton counties should not affect us. The Iroquois River is expected to crest well below the flood stage sometime on Wednesday. We are experiencing localized flash flooding in Watseka and Iroquois County. The Watseka city sewer system was overwhelmed but is catching up and several roads in Iroquois County and in the immediate Watseka areas are closed.” City and County officials have re-routed traffic in many areas. Joel Moore from the Iroquois County Highway Department reports a 1/2 dozen areas with water over the roads and signs are up warning motorists to bypass some areas and to be aware of standing water on roadways. As of Sunday at 4pm, the Route 1 viaduct near Milford was closed and Route 49 near Cissna Park at 1000 N Road was closed.

Volunteers are in town to assist with the unmet needs of those affected by the January and February floods.

Teams from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee Disaster Response Prgram will be at the First United Methodist Church in Watseka Weds, Thurs and Fri from 1-5 and 7-9, on Saturday from 9-5 and if needed Monday and Tuesday.

For information call the Watseka Area Chamber Of Commerce Flood Referral Center at (815) 432-2416.

To listen to the interview on WGFA Radio just CLICK HERE!

Here is a link to the interview with Troy Simpson and Sam Ripple - W9QKF regarding the ARRL field day event that was held last weekend in Watseka.  This interview was first broadcast on WGFA on 06/26/2008.

http://icarc.com/wp-content/uploads/062608hamradiofieldday.mp3

We had several guests visit us at the first ever Iroquois County Amateur Radio Club Field Day event at the Glenn Raymond School in Watseka, IL.  Several came out to view the Ham and Amateur Radio operators and equipment that we use.  We made several contacts including a US Navy Ship in the Ocean.

 View Photos of Our Event By Clicking Here… and Enjoy the Following Videos…

Read the rest of this entry »

Public Demonstration of Emergency Communications June 28th in Watseka

This activity gives Amateur Radio operators the opportunity to practice
communication skills under primitive conditions with generators, battery
powered equipment and portable antennas.   Field Day is a competition as well
as a ‘trial run’ for emergency communication skills used during disaster
situations such as severe weather.   The lessons learned in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated factually that even the best state-of-the-art
communications systems were no match in a severe storm. Amateur Radio
remained viable to save lives and provide the vital communications so
desperately needed.   The Iroquois County Amateur Radio Club is a regular
participant and major player in the Multi-County SKYWARN severe weather
spotting activities. During a time of severe weather threats, they dispatch
volunteer spotters into the field to report back to the National Weather Service
 via Amateur Radio of weather conditions in their immediate
area, providing the National Weather Service with additional ‘eyes in the
field’. The Crescent City VHF (2-Meter) repeater, manned by Iroquois
SKYWARN control operators and ICARC members, provides coverage for all of
Iroquois County and to our local ESDA coordinator.

Thousands of Ham Radio operators will be showing off their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies world-wide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio – often called “Ham radio” - was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer “hams” traveled south to save lives and property and during the recent flooding in East Central Illinois and West Central Indiana ham radio operators worked directly with local authorities to pass along critical communications. When trouble is brewing in our Illiana skies, ham radio people are often the first to provide critical information and communications to the local ESDA office and work in conjunction with local radio. On the weekend of June 28-29, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.

This annual event, called “Field Day” is the climax of the week long “Amateur Radio Week” sponsored by the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, “When all else fails…”is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 34,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year’s event.

“We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather’s radio anymore,” said Allen Pitts of the ARRL. “The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded.”

In the Watseka area, the Iroquois County Amateur Radio Club will be demonstrating Ham and Amateur Radio communications at the Watseka Glenn Raymond School on SATURDAY FROM 1-6 (or anytime you see a ham operator outside at the school). They invite the public to come and see ham radio’s capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.

There are 650,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for the DHS Citizens’ Corps, Salvation Army, FEMA and hundreds of state and local agencies, all for free.

To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air!

Kankakee County ARES is sponsoring Tech license classes at the Kankakee County EOC, off Rte 45 near I-57.  Classes will be Thursday evenings beginning Jan 10, 2008, for five weeks.  A testing session will be held during the fifth class (Feb 7) and all who pass will have earned their Technician class licenses.

For more info, see http://www.kares.net/training08.pdf or call 815-915-4333.

Also, there will be an upcoming testing session at 7:00PM, Jan 23, 2008, at the Red Cross office at 214 E Walnut Street in Watseka.

73, CarlK9CS

Hello to All Radio Guys and Gals
 
Please remember the meeting at Red Cross office this Thursday night.  I will be at Monical’s Pizza at 6:00pm if you would like to join with other members please be there.
 
If you would like to wear your ESDA shirt for the pictures please do so.  The program is on Phil’s trip to Aruba and the DX that went on a few years ago.
 
If you have not done so take a look at the new and improved ICARC web site.  Justin has put in a lot of work and has a lot of info about our club.  If there is anything you want to add email Justin with the info.
 
If you would like to run for office and be a club leader–this would be your chance as the election of officers for the next year is going to be held.
 
We plan to passout the first draft of the proposed new club constitution and by-laws for the first look and then vote on them at the Dec meeting.  Working toward the tax exempt status.
 
The officers have proposed a new dues plan that may save some money for some members.
 
Hope to have you all check in on the net tonight.   73

Sam Ripple W9QKF KAE7607