OCRACES Online and In-Person Meetings and Group Activities
OCRACES has resumed outside group activities. Online OCRACES
meetings have been well-attended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will continue online monthly meetings, interspersed with
in-person meetings, perhaps quarterly. Monday night 2-meter nets
at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday morning 60-meter nets at 10:00 a.m.
will continue (except for some major holidays).
OCRACES Participates in Field Day on June 23, 2023

OCRACES Field Day on
Saturday, June 23, 2023, at Irvine Regional Park.
OCRACES participated in Field Day on Saturday, June 23, 2023, at
Irvine Regional Park east of Orange. Our three stations focused
on setting up in the field for possible future deployments
during emergencies.
Randy Benicky, N6PRL, set up a station with his Icom IC-705
transceiver, covering HF, VHF, and UHF on all modes. He also set
up vertical HF, VHF, and UHF antennas on masts and tripods. His
mobile radio is the new Yaesu FTM-500DR 2-m/70-cm FM/C4FM
transceiver.
Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, brought an elaborate portable EmComm
setup. It included portable table and chairs, portable
UHF/VHF/GMRS radios in a field case, his Icom IC-7300 HF radio
in a separate field case, portable battery, solar arrays, HF and
VHF/UHF antennas with masts and tripod, sandbags, cables, and
documentation. Scott’s focus was sending and receiving some
Winlink VHF and HF messages, which he did successfully on VHF.
Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS, had a nice portable setup with radios
mounted in a field case and mast-mounted antennas. For 6 meters
FM and SSB he had a Kenwood TS-60S all-mode transceiver. On
VHF/UHF FM he had a Kenwood TM-V71A transceiver.
City/County RACES & EmComm Drill Held on May 6, 2023

Ron Mosher, K0PGE, and Ernest
Fierheller, KG6LXT (left and center), operate 2 meters simplex,
while Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE (right), operates Winlink at
the Orange County EOC during the May 6th drill.
Beginning at 0900 hours on Saturday, May 6, 2023, County and
City RACES and EmComm units began taking check-ins on their
primary simplex frequencies, along with reports of simulated
earthquake damage, tsunamis, flooding, evacuations, and requests
for resources, as part of a countywide ACS dril.
The scenario for this drill was a strong earthquake off the
Orange County coast, generating a tsunami and significant
damage, including a countywide power outage. We warned that the
supposed tsunami could be moving at 500 mph toward the coast,
and, as it slowed, could grow in height approaching 100 feet.
Stations within 3 miles of the coast were advised to move to
high ground further inland and report wave height and flooding.
Other stations were to report earthquake damage and to forward
agency requests for resources to OCRACES net control. All
reporting stations were requested to advise net control of their
locations.
OCRACES net control was at the Orange County EOC at Loma Ridge.
Ron Mosher, K0PGE, handled the 2-meter simplex operation, backed
up by Assistant Radio Officer Ernest Fierheller, KG6LXT, at an
adjacent position. Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, operated the
Winlink position. Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK, handled
60-meter single-sideband operations. Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS,
communicated with OCHEART participants.
During the first hour of the drill on 2 meters simplex, county,
city, and EmComm net controls took check-ins from their members,
with their reports of tsunami wave height, flooding, earthquake
damage, and agency requests for resources. OCRACES members
checking in included: Randy Benicky, N6PRL, Robert Stoffel,
KD6DAQ, and Ken Tucker, WF6F. Randy provided a simulated damage
report from his mobile station. The next two hours of the drill,
from 1000 to 1200 hours, consisted of 13 city RACES and EmComm
units contacting OCRACES at Loma Ridge on 2 meters simplex with
their damage reports and resource requests, while their members
and county members continued to check in on their primary
simplex frequencies.
City RACES units checking into OCRACES on 2 meters simplex
included Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa (MESAC), Fountain Valley,
Fullerton, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Orange
(COAR), Tri-Cities, and Westminster. American Red Cross and
OCHEART also checked in. Checking in on 60 meters were OCRACES
(Randy Benicky, N6PRL), and City RACES units including Anaheim,
Costa Mesa (MESAC), Fountain Valley, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna
Woods, and Orange (COAR). Also checking in were Newport Beach
Repeater Club and Cal OES CRU and two visitors (KB6KPK and
N2VAJ).
Winlink participation included members from OCRACES and City
RACES units including Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa (MESAC),
Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Irvine (IDEC), Laguna Woods, Mission
Viejo, Orange (COAR), Tri-Cities, and Westminster. Also
participating were members from the Newport Beach Repeater Club
and American Red Cross. 75 messages were sent and received,
including one via telnet from OCRACES Member Steve Livingston,
NJ6R, while waiting for an airplane home from Baltimore,
Maryland!
Typical simulated drill messages included bridge collapses and
floods. MESAC reported tsunami tidal flow coming up the Santa
Ana River but not overflowing the river banks, but seawater was
entering the many storm drains outflows and flooding Huntington
Beach with the water pouring out of low-lying storm drains.
Earthquake Drill on October 20,
2022, Has 36 Check-Ins
On Thursday, October 20, 2022, from 1000 to 1100 hours, OCRACES
conducted its annual Great California ShakeOut Drill, with 36
check-ins from OCRACES, city RACES, and EmComm members on the
146.895 MHz repeater. Participants reported observations of a
simulated strong earthquake, which began in San Diego County and
progressed up through the Santa Ana Mountains and then through
the Chino Hills and Puente Hills. Observations were given as
“Mike-Mike reports, using the Modified Mercalli Earthquake
Intensity Scale. Three simulated major damage reports were also
given. OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK, was net
control.
Participating organizations and members included Costa Mesa
RACES (MESAC) (KM6UJD), Fountain Valley RACES (KK6OEX),
Fullerton RACES (KB4GOD), Huntington Beach RACES (KE6BNS and
KB6JOE), Irvine RACES (IDEC) (K6PB), Laguna Niguel ACS/OCHEART
(KK6BML, KB6BXD, WB6CKG, KK6CUR, K0PGE, KI6SHD, KK6URR, and
WB6VEM), Laguna Woods RACES (KN6CVB, K6EEE, AJ6VT, and NH7WG),
Los Alamitos/Seal Beach RACES (KM6RSY), Mission Viejo RACES-ARES
(W6EDT and K6WHC), OCHEART (KE6MVS), Orange RACES (COAR) (KJ6IA,
KF6WRM, and KK6YUP), Orange County RACES (KD6DAQ, KB6EID, WF6F,
W6HK, N6PRL, NJ6R, and N8RG) Placentia RACES (KB6FTI), Red Cross
(KG6WTQ), and Westminster RACES (N6HVC). N2VAJ in Orange also
participated.
City/County RACES & EmComm Drill Held on October 1, 2022
A City/County RACES & EmComm ACS Exercise was held on Saturday,
October 1, 2022, from 0900 to 1200 hours. It was basically a
field-deployment exercise focusing on alternative means of
communications in case of repeater failures. These alternative
means consisted of simplex communications on 2 meters FM and HF
NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) on 60 meters, Winlink,
and AREDN mesh. Some county and city RACES and EmComm members
operated portable stations at locations that needed to be tested
for local and countywide simplex radio coverage, while most
participants remained at home. W6ACS net control was at the
Orange County EOC at Loma Ridge. Steve Livingston, NJ6R,
operated 2 meters, Randy Benicky, N6PRL, operated 60 meters, and
Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE, operated Winlink.
From 0900 to 0930 hours, city RACES and EmComm units called a
roll of their members on their primary simplex frequencies,
while OCRACES W6ACS net control (operated by Steve, NJ6R) called
the roll of its members on the OCRACES primary simplex frequency
of 146.595 MHz. From 0930 to 1000 hours, net control called the
roll of the city RACES and EmComm units on 146.595 MHz simplex.
Each unit responded with the total number of participants from
their members and any visitors checking into their net.
On the 2-meter OCRACES roll call from 0900 to 0930 hours,
OCRACES members checking in included KD6DAQ, WF6F, W6HK, and
KJ6UJS. N6PRL (60 meters net control), NJ6R (2 meters net
control), and KM6RTE (Winlink) were operating in the RACES Room
at Loma Ridge.
From 0930 to 1000, City RACES and EmComm units checking in on
the OCRACES primary simplex frequency (146.595 MHz) with their
results included: Anaheim (10), Brea (6), Costa Mesa (8),
Cypress (3), Fountain Valley (5), Fullerton (4), Huntington
Beach (2), Irvine (22), Laguna Niguel (8), Laguna Woods (6 + 1
visitor), Mission Viejo (7), Orange (12 + 1 visitor),
Westminster (3), and Red Cross (1).
Beginning at 1000 hours on 60 meters, OCRACES W6ACS net control
(operated by Randy, N6PRL) ran a net on 60 meters channel 4
(5371.5 kHz dial frequency, upper sideband), using the same roll
call of county and city RACES and EmComm stations within Orange
County as on the regular weekly Saturday morning OCRACES ACS
net. Next, net control called for additional RACES and EmComm
stations in Orange County that are not on the regular Saturday
roll call. Then Randy called RACES/ACS stations outside Orange
County, and finally called non-EmComm stations on the regular
Saturday list.
OCRACES stations participating on 60 meters included WF6F and
W6HK, with N6PRL at W6ACS net control. NJ6R (2-meter net
control) and KM6RTE (Winlink) were also at Loma Ridge. City
RACES units checking in included Brea (K6UDW), Cypress (W6CYP),
Laguna Niguel (N6JCN), Laguna Woods (K6EEE and NH7WG), Mission
Viejo (W6EDT), and Orange (KG6MIG and K0VNJ). NI6E checked in
for Newport Beach Repeater Club. W6GMU checked in for Cal OES
from Cypress. ACS stations checking in from outside Orange
County included W6CAW (Cal OES in Campo, San Diego County) and
N6WIX (Ventura County ACS in Ventura). Participating non-EmComm
stations included WD6AJR (Orange), AA6RF (Riverside), N2VAJ
(Orange), and W6YLD (Santa Maria).
A total of 51 Winlink messages were sent and received, with
messages sent from 25 unique callsigns. The majority of
operators (48.0%, 12 operators) used telnet communications mode.
The next most used communications mode was packet on VHF band
(44.0%, 11 operators). Information was requested about the
Winlink operator’s role in their city or MOU organization that
they were participating on behalf of. In total, 15 organizations
were represented and the operators identified a total 26
instances of membership with these organizations.
OCRACES Participates in Alternate EOC Drill on June 30,
2021
OCRACES played a role in the
2021 Alternate EOC Exercise on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
For realism, this exercise was kept confidential from
much of OCSD Emergency Management Division (EMD)
personnel until it was activated Wednesday morning.
OCRACES, which is an EMD AuxComm unit, was made a
component of the exercise, and the exercise was also
kept confidential to its members until the OCRACES
2-meter repeater was activated for the event. The
exercise scenario was a fail-soft of the 800-MHz radio
system, coupled with immediate and severe network
connectivity issues at 0600 hours. OCSD Dispatch and
Control One experience identical failures, rendering
them unable to communicate. |
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Radio Officer Scott
Byington, KC6MMF, Assistant Emergency Manager Lee Kaser,
KK6VIV, and Chief Radio Officer Ken Bourne, W6HK (left
to right), at OCFA during the Alternate EOC Exercise. |
OCSD Systems confirmed that both the 800-MHz system and the OCSD
network connections to Loma Ridge had experienced a very complex
cyberattack and they were unable to estimate when the services
to the facility would be restored. OCIAC determined that
multiple response agencies, transportation, and large
corporations across the county were having similar issues and
that a foreign government may be at the root of the problem.
The next step in the scenario was for OCSD Executive Command to
place all sworn and essential professional staff on Tactical
Alert. The OCSD Department Operations Center (DOC) activated to
Level 2 at the Southwest Operations Division, Saddleback
Station. EMD activated OCRACES on the 2-meter repeater for
deployment to predetermined areas to assist with communications.
A decision was then made to relocate the EOC to an alternate
location. EMD staff rallied at Orange County Fire Authority
(OCFA) Headquarters in Irvine, recovered the Alternate EOC
equipment, and began setup. OCRACES Chief Radio Officer Ken
Bourne, W6HK, and Radio Officer Scott Byington, KC6MMF, were
assigned as AUXC to Control 7 at OCFA, to operate net control,
beginning at 0930 hours. Joe Selikov, KB6EID, was ready to
activate OCRACES members via AlertOC. He and Steve Livingston,
NJ6R, and Fran Needham, KJ6UJS, sent and received exercise
traffic in the field.
FEMA ICS and NIMS procedures were followed during the exercise.
An ICS-211A form was used at Control 7 for checking in Ken and
Scott. Messages were sent and received with the ICS-213 form.
All activities were logged on an ICS-214 form.
RACES Wants You!
Experience
the most exciting and rewarding part of amateur radio. Being a
RACES member gives you the opportunity to sharpen your
operating skills and technical knowledge while volunteering your services
in public-safety communications. Get involved in emergency communications now.
To become an OCRACES member,
you must first be a Sheriff’s Professional Services Responder
(PSR, which is a non-sworn Reserve) or a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.
PSR information may be found on
this page on the Orange County Sheriff's website. Click on
“Reserve Interest Form” in the left column. Then attend the next
PSR Orientation followed by the PSR Prescreen. You can find the
dates for those events by clicking “Reserve Testing &
Orientation Dates” on the above web page. A background check
will be conducted by the Sheriff’s Department. You must also
attend three OCRACES meetings (online or in-person), in addition
to passing the OCSD background for PSR, to become an OCRACES
member.
OCRACES members need to have
a dual-band radio to access our 2-meter and 70-centimeter
repeaters. Members are also required to pass the IS-100, -200,
-700, and -800 courses, which may be found on the FEMA website
at
https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx?lang=en.
Click the
Contact
OCRACES link for more information.
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Events Calendar
December 9: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net
60 meters channel 4
December 11: 1930 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Scott MacGillivray, KM6RTE
December 16: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net
60 meters channel 4
December 18: 1930 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Robert Moore, KW6B
December 23: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters
channel 4
December 25: Christmas Day
(no nets)
December 30: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
January 1: New Year's Day
(no meeting, no net)
January 6: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
January 8:
1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Ron Mosher, K0PGE
January 8: 1930 hours OCRACES Meeting
OC EOC
January 13: 1000 hours OCRACES
ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
January 15: 1900
hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Fran Needham, KJ6UJS
January 20: 1000 hours OCRACES ACS Net
60 meters channel 4
January 22: 1900 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 2 m/70 cm/1¼ m/6
m: Chi Nguyen, KE6MVS
January 27: 1000 hours
OCRACES ACS Net 60 meters channel 4
January
29: 1900 hours OCRACES ACS Net 2 m: Joe Selikov,
KB6EID
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