Field Day in North Carolina

The last weekend of June each year is the Amateur Radio Relay League’s annual Field Day. Field Day brings amateur radio operators (HAMs) out into the field to operate for a continuous 24-hour period under conditions similar to what they would encounter if they were called upon in an emergency. Power must be from a source other than the normal electrical grid, so generators and solar are brought into play. The goal is to reach as many other radio operators on as many different frequency bands as possible, and using as many different modes as possible, such as voice, digital, and morse code. For HAMs it is a time to get outside and have fun. I would normally join my club in Orlando, but since I am in North Carolina this weekend I am helping the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club operate out of Jackson Park in Hendersonville.

We spent the morning setting up antennas, tents, and power to be ready for the official start at 2:00. It rained like crazy around 1:00 but stopped just in time to get back on the air by 2:00.

Assembling the Hex Beam antenna (Home Made).

Six meter antenna (Home Made). First contact was in Mexico!

High Frequency Vertical Antenna (Made by Hustler).

Home made loop antenna that worked remarkably well.

Two Field Day constants: food and rain.

Lakewood RV Resort, Flat Rock, NC

Barbara’s dog training classes have us back in North Carolina this week. This is the third session of seven, so we will be back up here in the Hendersonville area four more times before the end of this year. What a difference between this visit and last. We were here at the end of February for a big winter storm and very cold temperatures.

Then

This time the weather has been fantastic. Sure, there has been some rain, but that is how we keep things green, right?

Now

The Lakewood RV Resort is nearly full and we have found our neighbors to be terrific. The week is going by quickly. I have been kept busy for the last few days doing RV maintenance while Barbara and Bella have been in class.

Hurricane Expo - Orange County, FL

Today I attended the Orange County (Florida) Hurricane Expo. The county holds this preparedness event each year at the beginning of the hurricane season. The goal, of course, is to have a community knowledgeable in preparing for hurricane events as well as how to respond when the storm materializes.

Representatives of first responder organizations were there to present their capabilities. That included government safety departments such as police and fire, but also volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross, United Way, and local faith based groups.

In 2002 the White House announced the USA Freedom Corps initiative, which comprised three major federal participants: Peace Corps, Americorps/Senior Corps and Citizen Corps. I was familiar with the Peace Corps, and even Americorps and Senior Corps, but Citizen Corps was new to me. They were strongly represented at the expo, and drew a large group.  The crowd was attracted by the giveaways of course. For registering with them to receive periodic information on community preparedness a person was given their choice of a weather radio or a first aid kit. The radio was the identical to the one I had recently purchased (for over $40), so I chose the very comprehensive first aid kit. These were not cheap trinkets, but very useful items.

Local TV weatherman Tom Sorells presented hurricane info and answered questions

Nice first aid kit

So let me tell you a little bit about Citizen Corps since they were kind enough to give me this cool first aid kit. The purpose is rather broad in that they wish to use volunteer resources to strengthen homeland security. In an emergency it is typical for most people to ask, “What can I do”? The Citizen Corps, as used by Orange County, provides a means for these individuals to coordinate their efforts in advance to make their community safer and better prepared for disasters. The county provides education, training and volunteer opportunities. You may already be familiar with two such opportunities as they pertain to community security. Those are Neighborhood Watch and Citizens on Patrol (COPS). Two lesser-known community groups are Community and Business Emergency Response Teams (CERT/BERT), and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).

CERT/BERT educates participants about disaster preparedness and trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and medical operations. MRC coordinates the skills of practicing and retired physicians, nurses and other health professionals who are eager to offer their services in time of extended emergency situations.

I suggest that you contact your county emergency management office to see what opportunities are available to you. Rather than sit back helpless in an emergency you can step up and be of help to your community. I am a member of the Orange County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, which acts as a communications auxiliary to the County Emergency Operations Center. Barbara is a volunteer at the Orlando Emergency Call Center (911). In the event of an extended emergency situation she would be called in to provide assistance to the trained 911 operators so that they can concentrate on the serious and life-threatening calls.

Orange County ARES (OCARES) was well represented

Emergency communications were demonstrated by OCARES

Since a number of the people who frequent this blog are RVers and frequently use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone services such as SKYPE and Vonage, I thought I would pass on some information I picked up today. A 911 operator may not receive your correct location or phone number when using these systems. You should be prepared to give the accurate location information of the emergency. If your VoIP provider has a 911 service you must keep your location information updated as you move about the country. Your VoIP service may not work during a power outage or when the Internet fails or becomes overloaded. Have a backup notification plan in place.

This event was centered on our big summer threat, hurricanes. Other regions have their own similar risks such as tornados, flooding, severe thunderstorms, wildfires, and earthquakes. Be aware of the risks in your region, even if just passing through. Know the emergency response appropriate to the risks.

Barbara and I were awakened one night to the beeping of a truck horn while staying in a small campground in northwestern Alabama. We knew that was their signal of a tornado warning, not watch, warning. That meant that a funnel was spotted in the area. We also knew that the campground had a shelter, and more importantly where it was. Many, but not all, campers did retire to the shelter. Luckily, the storm was brief and produced no damage, but those that were not in the shelter would have certainly been unnecessarily subject to harm had a tornado or serious high winds struck the campground.  Give it some thought.

Pelican's Roost, Mayport Naval Station, FL

It has been a nice two days. The doctor appointments made me get up a lot earlier than I would like, but it was only a half hour drive to the clinic. That beats the three-hour drive from home.

The final analysis is positive. There does not seem to be anything seriously wrong. The Mayo Clinic is very well organized and efficient. The tests and doctor appointments were well spaced to allow the results to flow to the proper doctors to render timely opinions. There was very little wait time from the prescribed appointment time. I was favorably impressed, and it seems that the Mayo Clinic’s very good reputation is well earned.

We had a leisurely dinner followed by a sunset walk with Bella. Bella continues to go bonkers over every new smell. You would think she has never been outside before. She wanted in the worst way to play with a cat that we came across on our walk. The cat was not having any of it and greeted Bella with an arched back and loud hiss. Bella about tossed her dinner right there as she jumped behind Barbara. She is learning.

The camera phone did not do the sunset justice.

We head home in the morning. The Pelican’s Roost campground at Mayport is a very nice, small, campground and we will try to find a way back here when doctor appointments do not take time away from enjoying the surroundings.

Jacksonville, FL

We are in Jacksonville, FL staying at the Mayport Naval Station campground for a few days. I have doctor appointments at the Mayo Clinic here and since they start so very early in the morning we thought we would bring the coach up and stay here rather than get a hotel. We have heard a lot of nice things about the campground, and I must say that it is very nice. I will not be here much during the day to try the amenities, but Barbara will.

We have a front row seat to watch the shipping traffic enter the Saint Johns River. There are several naval ships and a Coast Guard cutter based right next to us, and we have watched numerous container ships and car carriers pass by.

Apalachicola, FL

We got home Tuesday afternoon and are happy to be here, although we came home to broken sprinkler lines, two malfunctioning toilets, and a few burned out light bulbs that had been left on by the cleaning crew while we were gone. Oh well, that is behind us.

We expected a good deal of traffic on our way to Apalachicola since it was Memorial Day Weekend, but it was not too bad really. We arrived at our reserved campground at Indian Pass, FL and found it to be unacceptable. We were lucky to have been able to find a space so late on a holiday weekend. It was a great setting at the end of a small point of land. There was a small beach and a boat ramp, but the space that was available was just too unlevel and difficult to get a Class A motor home in and out of. We elected to leave, but had nowhere else to go. Our friends were already docked in Apalachicola, and we were afraid we would have no choice but to continue home to Orlando.

We had to unhook the jeep to turn around and leave, so before doing that I called and left a message at Coastline RV Resort to see if they had a cancellation. By the time we were turned around Coastline had called back to say that they had an early departure and a site was available! Yea! It was our first choice, but they were full when we tried a few days earlier.

We hurried on over to Eastpoint, FL and as we drove through Apalachicola we waved and honked (aren’t air horns assertive?) to Jim and Phyllis when we saw them on the main drag.

The people at Coastline, and the site itself, could not have been nicer. So much better than the primitive campground at Indian Pass. Once we were set up we drove back to Apalachicola to have cocktails on Jim and Phyllis’ sailboat “Sisu”. Sailing is the common bond that brought us together. We met while cruising the Bahamas.

After rather significant gin and tonics on board we found our way to the Up The Creek Raw Bar (nice, try it) for a rustic old Florida dinner experience. The next morning we met at The Owl Café for Sunday brunch, and it was fabulous. 

 Apalachicola is a great little town that has found its footing in post recession Florida. There are several very nice places to eat and several shops to while away the day.

We drove through Saint George Island State Park and spent time walking the beach. Barbara could spend countless hours walking the beach looking for shells, but we opted to head back to the campground for cocktails and dinner.

Jim and Phyllis have limited space on their 34’ Tartan, so the enjoyed having a chance to do laundry on our motor home as we worked our way through some wine. The wind was still pretty strong. It had blown the flag off the nose of the motor home twice, so I stowed it. The picnic table was in the lee, so we sat outside and grilled dinner.

SPAM on the barbee

Don’t laugh, but we had grilled SPAM as an appetizer. A few years back we stopped at the SPAM museum in Austin, MN. They served Cracked Pepper SPAM on pretzel sticks as an appetizer, and we found it to be pretty good. In honor of that trip we shared this delight with Jim and Phyllis.

We bid Jim and Phyllis adieu at the dock, and the following morning we headed home.

For those of you that plan to visit the panhandle of Florida, Highway 98 offers a good road to transit the beach areas, and you can continue on to Perry, FL and pick up Highway 27/27A to Ocala for a stress-free way to avoid much of I-10 and I-75.