Emergency Coordination

Previous articles can be found under the "Emergency Coordination" link

Files for download can be found at the bottom of this page.

The terms Amateur Radio Emergency Service and ARES are both registered trademarks of the American Radio Relay League Inc. and are used by permission.  

Questions and comments regarding the content of this web page and articles are always welcome and encouraged. 

Send an email to the address shown below.

Lew Maxwell, KB5HPT

Amateur Radio Emergency Service

DEC, District 6, WTX Section

Email: ldmax12@yahoo.com

++++++WINLINK TUESDAY++++++

This net will run each Tuesday (except 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s) for 24 hours. Check in anytime during the 24 hour period. Address messages to Lew, KB5HPT, DEC, Dist.6, WTX Section unless otherwise noted. 

If you are an ARRL Field Appointee please use your Position/Title for the messages. 

All others please use Radio Operator for your position/title. 

The stations checking into this net are encouraged to use their ARES GO-BOX with the NVIS antenna. The use of EOC and club  stations are also encouraged.

***Sending Messages***

Use VARA HF Winlink through a gateway or Telnet or VARA HF P2P. See below for VARA HF P2P information.

***VARA HF P2P***

My HF station will be listening to 7116.5 MHz center frequency, 7115.0 MHz (dial frequency). Bandwidth is 500Hz. 

***VHF/UHF***

[El Paso Locals] The VHF/UHF mode of the week will be VARA FM. Please use the KB5HPT-10 VARA FM RMS on 439.010 MHz simplex as primary target. 

***NOTE:*** 

MAKE SURE THAT THE REQUEST READ RECEIPT IS CHECKED AT THE TOP OF THE MESSAGE. DON'T FORGET TO MARK THE MESSAGE AS WINLINK MESSAGE, P2P WINLINK or RADIO-ONLY. TO GET CREDIT FOR THE NET ALL SENDERS MUST RECEIVE A MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BACK. WE ENCOURAGE THE USE OF RF  UHF/VHF/HF RATHER THAN TELNET. 

***Form for the week of May 12***

Important! If the new message update or Winlink Express program update screen pops up when opening Winlink Express update them before beginning this exercise.

***NOTE***

If you do not receive the Form of the Week from the CMS on Monday morning go to https://www.hamradioelpaso.com/emergency-coordination and look for the Winlink Tuesday posting. You will find the form of the week there.

***Note:*** When sending the message to an HF P2P station try to maintain an average level 5 (177bps) after you start SENDING the message. The P2P window is only 2 hours long. We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to send their message during this time. If the level 5 can not be maintained then consider using a local VARA FM RMS or a closer VARA HF RMS to send the message. 

***NOTE:*** While connected in P2P Mode keep your ALC setting to 3 on the ALC Scale. Adjust your DRIVE LEVEL on the VARA MODEM SOUND CARD page. You can do this while connected.

***NOTE:*** Be sure to set your Retries (VARA Modem>>Settings>>Retries) to 3 or 5. If your are going to have a successful connection in P2P mode VARA will connect on the first or second try.

***NOTE*** If you do not receive the Form of the Week from the CMS on Monday morning go to https://www.hamradioelpaso.com/emergency-coordination and look for the Winlink Tuesday posting. You will find the form of the week there.

This week we will look at the Incident Action Safety Analysis (ICS 215A) Form. The ICS 215A form is designed to aid the Safety Officers in their assigned duties. 

Your served agency has handed you the information shown below and ask you to submit an ICS-215A form for them. The ICS 215A Form is locate in the Template Manager. If you saved the information that we used for the ICS 204 from Sept 16 use some of the information from that form to help fill out this ICS-215A.

1. Click on the MESSAGE>>NEW MESSAGE>>SELECT TEMPLATE>>STANDARD TEMPLATES>>ICS USA Forms>>ICS215A Incident Safety Analysis.txt and double click the form. The form will open up in your browser.

2. Click on the Setup at the top left corner and enter Winlink Tuesday Exercise. 

3. Box 1. The Incident name is 4th of July Parade 2026. 

4. Box 2. The Incident number is 260704

5. Box 3. Date/Time Prepared.  When you click on the box the current Date and Time will pop up. Change that to read 

a. Change the Date to 20260704. 

b. Change the Time to 10:00L. 

7. Box 4. Operational Period: enter 

a. Date From: enter 2026-07-04

b. Date To: enter 2026-07-04

c. Time From: enter 07:00L

d. Time to: enter 12:00L

8. Box 5. Incident Area: 

a. enter Central City Park

b. enter Central City Park

9. Box 6. Hazards/Risks: 

a. enter Electrical Shock

b. enter Trip Hazard

10. Box 7. Mitigations: 

a. enter Be sure all equipment are properly grounded.

b. enter Be sure all exposed cables are clearly marked so people will not trip over them or walk into them. 

11. Box 8. a. Prepared by (Safety Officer): Name enter: Jane Doe 

b. Prepared by (Operations Section Chief): Name enter: Joe Tentpeg.

12. Date/Time at the bottom right of the form. Click the box and change the date and time to 2026-06-17/13:00L.

13. Note that at the bottom of the form the data can be saved by clicking on the Save ICS 215A Data button. Save the data prior to sending the form.

14. When finished click on Submit then OK and close the browser window.

15. On the Enter a new message page be sure the Send As: box is correct.

a. Peer-to-Peer Message for sending P2P mode.

b. Winlink Message for routing message via an RMS or Telnet. 

16. Be sure that the Request message receipt box IS NOT checked. 

17. In the To: box address the message to KB5HPT or send to my tactical address, TXEPCARESDEC. 

18. Click on Post to Out Box. 

19. Listen for a clear frequency and send the message.

P2P Information: ***(READ CAREFULLY)***   

On the Winlink Express page in the Open Session box select VARA HF P2P from the drop down menu. Then open the session. The morning 40 meter P2P session is from 8AM to 10AM (MDT). Lew, KB5HPT will be listening on 7116.5 MHz center frequency, 7115.0 MHz dial frequency. For the Mode use USB-D. Bandwidth= 500Hz.

In P2P mode even though you created one message and addressed it to two or more people when you post the message to the OUT BOX you will have two or more separate messages waiting to be sent.  

Feel free to distribute this to other friends/groups and encourage then to participate in our Winlink Tuesday.

Lew Maxwell, KB5HPT

Amateur Radio Emergency Service

DEC, District 6, WTX Section

Tactical Address: TXEPCARESDEC

TX. RACES: DRO-8A

++++++EPCARES Mission Statement:++++++

WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING A VIABLE ARES ORGANIZATION THAT IS PROPERLY TRAINED AND ADEQUATELY STAFFED WITH THE END GOAL OF FUNCTIONING PROFESSIONALLY IN ANY EMERGENCY THAT MAY COME OUR WAY.

Our Core Values Are: 

 Confidence             Commitment         Excellence

Respect                   Integrity