SET 2008

ARRL Alabama SET

2009 Alabama ARES Simulated Emergency Test

Photo Courtesy Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Used with Permission.

"Operation Highball"

Date: October 3rd, 2009

Time: 10am

This year's SET exercise, "Operation Highball" will focus on a railroad incident response.

Nearly every Alabama County has a active railroad running through it. This yeas SET, the brain child of Ed Manley, W4AGA, Alabama ARES member, will increase our knowledge of railroad hazards, safety and response.

SET is going to be very different than past years, leading up to "Operation Highball" there will be a lot of training about railroad operations, HAZMAT, and emergency response. A special video devoted to railroad emergency response was shown at the Birmingham Hamfest forum, and distributed to Alabama EC's so they can conduct training in their county. Club training programs are also planned, along with weekly training on railroad communications and operations specifically designed for weekly ARES net training. Certificates are available after taking the training test.

The second training goal is to push out small, bite sized training modules that EC's can use for their weekly FM ARES Nets. The hope is that by the time the drill comes around in September, we'll all be a lot more knowledgeable about railroad operations and better prepared to respond.

The Whistle Stop Training MP3 Series are short, five minute long modules that will brief amateurs on railroad operations, communications, and emergency response. The MP3 audio files are very similar to the Amateur Radio News Bulletins that are played on many 2 Meter repeaters around the state. Each file is intended to be aired starting this week (August 31st) during local 2 Meter VHF ARES training nets. They are short (less then four minutes) and should fit easily into any net schedule.

In some cases, repeater controllers can be programmed to play them automatically. Otherwise, they can be aired in a number of ways:

1.) A simple soundcard interface connected to a 2 Meter radio will give great results. Test the file prior to the net with another station to be sure that you've got the volume set at the proper level.

2.) Simply holding your 2 Meter microphone near your computer speaker while playing the file will also give good results. Again, it's recommended that you test the volume settings prior to the net with another station.

3.) Lastly, the scripts for each week are available on the Alabama ARES web site, and an EC or Net Control Station can opt to read them without using the MP3 files at all. This also allows the EC to customize the training for their area, and may be more desirable.

So make plans now to begin your training program for SET 2009, and the most successful exercise ever. All Aboard, Operation Highball!

More information about the SET contact: Les Rayburn, N1LF