What is the function?

What will it be used for?

How will it connect to other stations?

What is the function:

A Remote Base provides a method in which locations outside the normal range of a Base Station or Repeater can be accessed. Thus providing additional communications coverage area.

What will it be used for:

Provide additional communications coverage area; also can be used to augment communications resources in emergency situations and special events.

How will it connect to other stations:

Depending on the complexity of the Remote Base (and the amount of funds available) the ideal situation would be to have a combination of RF and Internet backhaul capabilities. If Internet access is available this would be the ideal method for connectivity. Once again if funds are available use of Satellite Internet services would provide some additional remote accessibility.

When using RF backhaul capabilities there are number of methods that can prove to be beneficial. When possible consider VHF Links and for full-duplex A VHF / UHF combination. We cannot forget about the flexibility of HSMM on 2.4, 3.3, 5.8 GHz and even 902 MHz has some promising potential.

Can HF be considered a viable extension of the Remote Base Link? Depends on the mission objective. Looking back to some of the applications in the past couple of years where HF Remote Base Links have been used as a method to receive emergency traffic from distant locations out of normal range of EOC there may be some practical usage for HF.

The way the Amateur Radio licensing is set up it is rather tough to test a station in a non-emergency setting. Especially for those holding a Technician Class license. There are some that have taken the test for the General and Extra class license and passed the test yet don’t have a clue about the technology that they were tested on. It appears that some don’t really care about the technology just the fact that they can now “talk voice on HF.” In some instances voice on HF will not be the best approach for getting the necessary information from those that have it to those that need it.

Okay back to the Remote Base chatter …

So what do we need to create a Remote Base?

What do we need to create a Remote Base:

Determine the type of terrain in which the Remote Base will operate;

is it urban, rural, forested, hilly, mountains, etc.

What resources are available;

Internet; Dial-up, Broadband, HSMM, Satellite;

RF Equipment – HF, VHF, UHF, Microwave;

Power – Grid, Solar, Wind, Battery, Generator

Antenna Structure – Building, Tower, Mast;

What is the distance that needs to be covered between the Remote Base and Base / Repeater Site:

Will the distance require additional enhancements via extenders, cross-band repeaters, etc:

Once the above information is available we can start working on creating the actual Remote Base

There’s been a lot of activity in the past month in several different areas regarding communications support.

• On 23 May 2009 the *KANSAS*, *NEBRASKA* and *WYOMING* were all put to use in support of ARMAD 2009. We were able to express our appreciation to those that serve in the Military as well the First Responders. ARMAD 2009 provided another opportunity to test the networks in a real time situational event. Definitely appreciate all those that helped.

• Severe Weather 15-18 June 2009 there’s been a number of weather fronts that have moved through the Great Plains lateley. Seems that the *NEBRASKA* is getting the most utilization when it comes to severe weather nets. *KANSAS* is getting some usage as a relay point, but there are still some issues that appear to need to be addressed (the network resources are working fine though).

• There’s been some discussion about the possibility of having a Asterisk Server Party where we can build up some Asterisk RF Gateways for easy deployment to repeater sites as well as having transportable server that can be used in emergency operations. For those that may not know, Asterisk is a software package that has the capability to manage radio and telephone communications. With all the many features available Asterisk has become to be known as a Communications Tool Chest. For more information about Asterisk RF Gateways visit AsteriskRadio.net

• The Digital Exploration continues, we now have access to D-STAR via a private node configuration. It can be accessed via radio and phone. For more information please contact us via InfoQuest.

• Range Test - we need some operators in the Wichita area that can help us with some range testing of the 145.470 and 147.060 Let us know where you are able to reach the systems. Remember a kerchunk won’t work, a voice transmission is required before the system will respond.

Thanks again to those that are helping with everything.

When the power fails will your equipment still operate via generator or battery back up?

Is there enough fuel and battery capacity to last several days?

What is the plan for longer term outages?

Do you have alternate sources for obtaining fuel and batteries (that are already charged)?

What about re-charging the batteries, if you have solar and wind power resources available will they be able to recover the load and still charge the batteries?

DARN defined as “to mend by weaving thread across a gap” that is what is being done.   Those that want to see flexibility will go with the DARN approach, as a improvement while there will be others that find it to be just annoyance.    DARN definitely fits the new Digital Analog Radio Networks.

Sometimes logic can indeed be simple (send in most potentially linkable exchange).

So why is it that independent groups have such a hard time getting funding in good time and definitely during tougher times?

There are many agencies and organizations that benefit from the support resources of these independent groups. Yet there are those that will frown at the idea of not having control over the independent resources and go as far as to make sure that the funding that independent groups are eligible to receive never gets to them. As time has progressed there are those that are saying that it is getting harder to find good volunteers, rural fire departments are suffering, some services are even going as far as securing their doors and ceasing operation due to the lack of resources.

Yet there are those that are willing to help, they want to be independent in nature so the resources can be utilized by any agency that needs it without having to have the approval from a controlling agency first. There are those that have said they would be glad to help, but they can not afford to leave their work and when they can leave work, who covers their expenses for them?

We want instant access to the many support resources that are available, yet in order to have the resources available on short notice those that respond to the call need to know that expenses that they have will be covered. The challenge of maintaining equipment and the cost of transportation is definitely part of the problem. What about the cost of training and making sure the necessary equipment to provide a proper response is available? Then when the equipment is available what about the people that will operate the equipment, will they be able to handle the cost without some support financially?

The resources are present but what about the funding?

Nothing is really free …

One can opt to be static yet knowing dynamic paths will move you.

What does this mean to those that work in the area of emergency response?

Be flexible with the methods that are used, yet maintain the basic standards that allow a incident operation to be conducted safely. Standards which remain static can be used as a basis for operation integrity and also represent a road map to a successful mission.

Standard Operation Procedures provide the static portion for operational planning yet they should also be dynamic so that when new methods are presented they can be placed into the Standard Operation Procedures as soon as possible.

Every situation, every incident is different, thus the need for being dynamic in operational style. At times incidents will take place that are not amongst the normal operational situations. This indeed is one of the times that we need to be dynamic in readiness and response.

Flexibility is a key ingredient to readiness and the “all hazard” approach to emergency response and planning.

As a organization which path are you opting for: static or dynamic flexibility?

The primary purpose for HSMM and Hinternet is to augment emergency communications via long range high speed wireless data networks that can handle voice, data and video communications. HSMM can also be used in the day-to-day aspects of Amateur Radio Communications.

The Fit …

With the rapid expansion of Asterisk PBX into the relm of radio communications the added flexibility of having a wireless linking system has also expanded.

It is now possible to have a network of repeaters and link stations that never touch a standard public switched telephone network, yet at the same time this network of repeaters and link stations has all the standard features one will expect to find with any telephone system.

By integrating HSMM along with Asterisk PBX a truly transportable network can be delivered to any location where communications is needed, with voice, data and video all being available to the agencies and organizations being supported.

Learn more about High Speed Multi Media (HSMM)