RADIO ACTIVE Newsletter of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club January 2004 Serving Las Vegas since April 1961 President's Corner By Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ Happy New Year! During the holidays with family, I happened to watch "It's A Wonderful Life". In this classic film, an angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would had been like if he never existed. (www.imdb.com) He saw how the lives of his family, friends, and other members of his community would have turned out if he had not played a part in their lives: his brother would not have been saved from drowning and would have never been a war hero; his boss at his first job at a pharmacy would have spent years in prison for a mistake made during an emotional crisis; his community would have suffered under the misused power of the wealthiest man in town without George's fair business dealings. This is not just a story of this one man and the effects he has on the many lives with which he comes in contact. It also gives us insight into how we effect those we interact with. As hams, we can positively influence others to become involved in the hobby, to learn and grow from us as 'Elmers', no matter how new we may be in the hobby. We can be a good example using good operating techniques, good manners, and appropriate language. We can be good ambassadors when talking over the airwaves to hams locally or around the world. We can participate in club activities, sharing our experience, knowledge, and skills as a speaker at one of the monthly meetings, as an officer or director helping to form the vision for our future, as a project leader for one of our public service events or fundraising efforts, or as an active member of which we need many. It is indeed 'a wonderful life', made richer by those with whom we work and play. 73! ----------------------------- Secretary's Report By Sandy Nelson, KD7WYD No meeting was held in December. Sandy will be providing a copy of the minutes of our meetings in this column starting next month. ----------------------------- Treasurer's Report By Jamie Gorr, N3TOY At the next meeting… ----------------------------- ARES / RACES Report – Dec 03 By Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ - Vern Garman K0EGA AEC Operations/Training attended an all-day planning meeting for the Moving Target 04 Exercise to be held in Laughlin on April 1st. - Members of ARES/RACES participated in SKYWARN Recognition Day on Sat Dec 6th. The LVRAC Communications Trailer was deployed to the National Weather Service office and contacts were made using 2 HF rigs, a new 80 meter dipole, Hustler vertical, VHF/UHF, APRS and IRLP. 44 NWS stations were contacted of a total of 85 contacts, including 3 on APRS. 26 states and 1 station in Canada were on our logs. Thanks to all those who participated and provided equipment and operating skills. - The Clark County Emergency Operations Center was activated for New Years Eve. The EOC and the Emergency Comm Center were manned for 7 hours by Charlie AA5QJ, Ken W7BES, Dudley KK7IF, Bill WB0KSW, Dave N0CLU, and John Moses KD7YGP, who was also the REACT dispatcher. An informal net was initiated and 21 members checked in. Others reported later that they were monitoring, but either didn't check in or missed the one call for check-ins on this very quiet evening. Thanks to all who responded to my emails requesting their status and to those who monitored the repeaters during this time. - We are still looking for a member to be the Public Information Officer for ARES/RACES, particularly someone that could be available during exercises and emergency operations to be in the Joint Information Center. Please contact Charlie AA5QJ for more information. - Please submit a new application if you have recently renewed your license, changed your call or address or any other contact information. - Upcoming events: o Las Vegas Marathon Sun Jan 25th. o 'Moving Target' Exercise April 04 ----------------------------- From the Editor By Gary Hartman, KK7LV "Congratulations Vanna" I would like to pass along a heart-felt thank you to Karen Mickett, KD7MGK, for her participation in the annual Holiday party. Her sparkling personality brought out the best in us voracious gift snatchers in the Yankee Swap. She indeed made it fun. Thank you Karen! As we begin the New Year, I look back at all that has been accomplished just this past year. This club has accomplished a tremendous amount of worthwhile projects. If you add in the accomplishments of the other clubs, SKYWARN, ARES and individual accomplishments, it proves to be staggering to the imagination. It has been a win- win for Ham radio in this community. Now as I look forward I see that we have a daunting task ahead of us. It makes little difference if we accomplish more tasks, or less tasks, in the coming year. What matters is that we put forward the same effort. That is the real challenge. That can only be accomplished by working together. I can tell you that watching Field Day last year with the number of people helping was a real joy. We were there to get a job done and we had a lot of fun doing it. Does that mean the Field Day will be a success this year? No it does not. Some individuals that helped last year won't be here this year. Some have moved, jobs will take some away, and others will have other conflicts. We need a renewed commitment and effort from all the club members and clubs to meet the staffing needs of all our projects, whether it be races, Field Day or fund raisers. Make it your resolution to be an active member of the club this year. ----------------------------- Equipment Theft By Steve Goldman, N7JAZ Steve Goldman's utility trailer was stolen December 23, 2003 from Flamingo and Paradise Roads in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was last seen being towed with a style S-10, red Chevrolet single cab pickup. Please watch while driving around. If spotted, please notify the police. A description of the trailer follows: It is a rear end of a Ford pickup. The color is green on top and white on the bottom. There are side compartments on both sides with round key locks. The emblem on the left side is "ABC". There is body damage to the left front of the trailer. The rear tailgate is home made with 1 inch square tube and sheets of aluminum over them. The right rear light may not work, as there is a loose connection in the bulb area. The license plate number is 90929G. This is the trailer that you may have seen at many of the Ham functions such as Field Day, Baker to Vegas, and Corporate Challenge activities hauling my communications gear. If you see it or think you have, please call 911 and the police will take care of it. Also please call me at 363-0384. ----------------------------- Ham Classes By Steve Goldman, N7JAZ The upgrade to General license class starts February 4, 2004 at the Outdoor Adventure building classroom on Nellis Air Force Base. The class meets Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, except holidays. The classes last eight weeks and the cost is $25.00, plus the cost of the book for the class, which is approximately $20.00. It can be purchased from Amateur Electronic Supply (http://www.aesham.com) in Las Vegas, or at Radio World (http://www.radio- nv.com/) in Boulder City or direct from ARRL (http://www.arrl.org/) To sign up for the class, contact Outdoor Adventures at 652-7178 (daytime) and ask to be placed on the list, or contact Dennis Simon, (KB7UTV@arrl.net), at 643-1670. You can leave a message any time and he will get back to you. There is a Morse Code study group that meets on the 147.060 repeater at 7:00 PM on Monday and Wednesdays. There is no fee to join in. Please give your call sign to check in when the net starts. If you can't get on the air yet, please contact berniefarrar@hotmail.com to check in via e-mail. For further information on the code study group, please contact Bernie. The group is presently in session. ----------------------------- Letter to LVRAC From Lauriann Bradford, KD7UWE December 14, 2003 Dear Club Members, I want to thank the club for your contributions to my fund raising efforts. With your help I was able to raise over $780.00 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. This amount is greater than the funds I raised last year. Despite some health and mechanical challenges, I am happy to report that I was able to complete the whole ride and then some this year. Due to me staying at a hotel in Arizona, about 4 miles from the starting line, and also that Craig couldn't get me from the drop off point, I actually logged over 160 miles. I discovered the wonders of Advil and felt great. I had my ham radio on my bike and was able to chat with some of the members of the radio club as they provided communications support for the ride. My bike won the "Most Happening Bike" award and enclosed is a goofy picture of me with an extra set of antennae and one of Charlie when I gave them up to him. I got great reception, but had to give up my cool head piece because it was actually Charlie's "Most Antennas on a Vehicle" award and he wanted it back . I had a great time and am looking forward to next year. Thanks again for your sponsorship, I couldn't have done it without your help! Have a wonderful holiday season. Sincerely Lauriann Bradford ----------------------------- HELP WANTED! By Bill Cornelius, K8XC It is that time of year again. Time for the club to make a commitment to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway regarding the number of concession stands we will operate during Speed Week, 2004, as a part of our annual fund raising effort. For those who have not taken part in this fun activity, the speedway offers non-profit groups the opportunity to operate concession stands during the running of Winston Cup events, next to be held March 5 - 7, 2004. Over 125 non-profit-groups compete for the best and most profitable stands. For the past six years the LVRAC and our friends have run away with the sales honors, last year selling over $70,000 in drinks and snacks. The process is simple. The speedway provides the professionally designed grandstand concession stand, all products, a change fund, on the job training and supervision from a Concessions employee. All we must do is provide the volunteer staff to operate two stands. Exact event times have not yet been announced but it is safe to say that we will need about 30 volunteers all day on Friday and closer to 40 each day on Saturday and Sunday. Free parking is provided and for this effort, the club may expect to receive about $8,000. You need not be a ham to participate because this is not a radio event. Each year we have volunteers that are relatives of hams, neighbors, members of other service clubs, etc. The only firm requirement is that all volunteers be 18 years of age. Also there will be a training session for all to attend. I know it is very early for anyone to make an iron clad commitment for any day in March, BUT, we must make a commitment to the speedway so we must quickly get an idea of the level of club support. If you believe that you can contribute any time to this fund raising project please tell me by email at k8xc@aol.com or call anytime at 897-9626 or call Art, K7ZE at 255-1074 or by email at k7ze@arrl.net. ----------------------------- Press Release – October 18, 2003 From: Board of Directors – Amateur Radio Council of Arizona Topic: Relocation of the Ft. Tuthill Hamfest. The Amateur Radio Council of Arizona's (ARCA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce a new location for their annual summer Hamfest (formerly known as the ARCA/Ft. Tuthill Hamfest, Flagstaff, AZ). The Ft. Tuthill Hamfest became one the largest Hamfests in the Southwest and has been a popular gathering of Amateur Radio (Ham) enthusiasts for over 52 years. Citing escalating costs and an impending large renovation project at the old facility, the Board of ARCA has decided to move the Hamfest to Williams, Arizona for the July 4 th weekend, 2004. The new dates for the Hamfest will be July 2, 3, and 4, 2004, and will mark the return of a free admission event as well as substantially reducing fees for tailgaters. ARCA Spokesperson and Hamfest Chairperson, Mark Kesauer, N7KKQ said "The move to Williams will be a great experience for our attendees. They will continue to enjoy the cool mountain forests of northern Arizona with closer proximity to all the amenities they expect from an event of this size." He adds, "The warmth and hospitality shown to us by the folks in Williams made our tough decision much easier." "By partnering with the City of Williams, we're now able to make this a much more affordable event. We've basically cut the tailgating rates in half - $15 for a swap space! There will no longer be an additional fee for camping in your selling space. If you just want to dry camp and not sell, it will only cost $5 a day. Attend a Hamfest for $5 a day? Not bad, especially for those on a fixed income or for families on a tight vacation budget!" The ARCA/Williams ARRL AZ State Convention and Hamfest date change from late July to early July was due to an existing schedule conflict at the new facility. However, as a side benefit, moving it ahead in July should avoid northern Arizona's notorious "monsoon" (thunderstorm) season. Some other benefits include: • Free admission. Free parking. • Located just 32 miles west of Flagstaff on I-40 with easy access to the grounds and downtown Williams. • Many Hotels, Motels and Restaurants within walking distance. • Several full hook-up RV Campgrounds nearby. • Larger swap spaces – 88% bigger. • Commercial building for Vendors. See the latest gear from radio manufacturers. • Easy access to the Grand Canyon via St Rte 64 and the Grand Canyon Railroad. • Full, 3-day event – Thursday 2 p.m. through Sunday 2 p.m. • Greatly reduced tailgate and camping fees! • Special discounts to attendees for lodging, campgrounds and local attractions. • Grand Prize drawing, door prizes, awards, seminars, demonstrations and much more. • Enjoy the City of Williams Independence Day Celebration with a parade and fireworks display. • Unique shopping, museums, historical tours, Deer Farm, antiques and more in Williams. Amateur Radio Council of Arizona – 2003. ----------------------------- Technical Tips I received this article and many of you sent a copy to me so I figure it is important to many others as well. This was quoted from the Occupational Health and Safety magazine, Vol. 27, No. 3, pages 86-90, and has been reprinted on their web site. MARCH 2003 OHS Will Your Safety Harness Kill You? Workers and emergency response personnel must be trained to recognize the risks of suspension trauma. by Bill Weems and Phil Bishop I was surprisingly comfortable with my legs dangling relaxed beneath me, and my arms outstretched in a posture that must have resembled a crucifixion. I had no feeling of stress and mused as to why this was considered dangerous. I felt I could stay in this position for a long time. Three minutes later, maybe less, I wondered why I suddenly felt so hot. The next thing I knew, they were reviving me from unconsciousness. I had just experienced what could be deadly for your workers who use safety harnesses. Fortunately for me, my suspension trauma occurred in the safe environment of the research ward of University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital at Galveston, Texas, where I was the first subject in a NASA experiment studying orthostatic intolerance in astronauts. Your workers won't be so lucky. Harness-Induced Death Wide ranges of situations require safety harnesses of various types. Workers requiring fall protection, workers entering many confined spaces, mountain climbers, deer hunters in elevated stands, and cave explorers all try to protect themselves through the use of safety harnesses, belts, and seats. What is little known however, is that these harnesses can also kill. Harnesses can become deadly whenever a worker is suspended for durations over five minutes in an upright posture, with the legs relaxed straight beneath the body. This can occur in many different situations in industry. A carpenter working alone is caught in mid-fall by his safety harness, only to die 15 minutes later from suspension trauma. An electrical worker is lowered into a shaft after testing for toxic gases. He is lowered on a cable and is positioned at the right level to repair a junction box. After five minutes he is unconscious-- but his buddies tending the line don't realize it, and 15 minutes later a dead body is hauled out. The cause of this problem is called "suspension trauma." Fall protection researchers have recognized this phenomenon for decades. Despite this, data have not been collected on the extent of the problem; most users of fall protection equipment, rescue personnel, and safety and health professionals remain unaware of the hazard. Suspension Trauma Suspension trauma death is caused by orthostatic incompetence (also called orthostatic intolerance). Orthostatic incompetence can occur any time a person is required to stand quietly for prolonged periods and may be worsened by heat and dehydration. It is most commonly encountered in military parades where soldiers must stand at attention for prolonged periods. Supervisors can prevent it by training soldiers to keep their knees slightly bent so the leg muscles are engaged in maintaining posture. What happens in orthostatic incompetence is that the legs are immobile with a worker in an upright posture. Gravity pulls blood into the lower legs, which have a very large storage capacity. Enough blood eventually accumulates so that return blood flow to the right chamber of the heart is reduced. The heart can only pump the blood available, so the heart's output begins to fall. The heart speeds up to maintain sufficient blood flow to the brain, but if the blood supply to the heart is restricted enough, beating faster is ineffective, and the body abruptly slows the heart. In most instances this solves the problem by causing the worker to faint, which typically results in slumping to the ground where the legs, the heart, and the brain are on the same level. Blood is now returned to the heart and the worker typically recovers quickly. In a harness, however, the worker can't fall into a horizontal posture, so the reduced heart rate causes the brain's blood supply to fall below the critical level. Orthostatic incompetence doesn't occur to us very often because it requires that the legs remain relaxed, straight, and below heart level. If the leg muscles are contracting in order to maintain balance and support the body, the muscles press against the leg veins. This compression, together with well-placed one-way valves, helps pump blood back to the heart. If the upper-legs are horizontal, as when we sit quietly, the vertical pumping distance is greatly reduced, so there are no problems. In suspension trauma, several unfortunate things occur that aggravate the problem. First, the worker is suspended in an upright posture with legs dangling. Second, the safety harness straps exert pressure on leg veins, compressing them and reducing blood flow back to the heart. Third, the harness keeps the worker in an upright position, regardless of loss of consciousness, which is what kills workers. Phases of Fall Protection There are four phases of fall protection: Before the fall, at fall arrest, suspension, and post-fall rescue. Each phase presents unique safety challenges. Suspension trauma can be influenced by all aspects of the fall, so they are all important. As with many aspects of safety, increasing the safety in one phase can compromise the safety of the others. Whatever training workers have received will determine how they respond to different phases. Here is a brief discussion of each aspect of fall protection. Before the fall The key issue of fall protection before the fall is compliance. If a harness is too uncomfortable, too inconvenient, or interferes too much with task completion, workers may not use the equipment or may modify it (illegally) to make it more tolerable. A second major point is the length of the attachment lanyard, or, how far can a worker fall before his fall is arrested? The longer the fall, the greater the stress on the body will be when the fall is arrested. The shorter the lanyard, the more often it will have to be repositioned when workers are mobile. A moveable safe anchor is one solution, but this situation is only occasionally available. Fall arrest The whole concept of fall protection is that workers who fall will be stopped by the tethering system. The longer the attachment lanyard, the greater the acceleration time during the fall and the greater the stress on the body at arrest. Unfortunately, the posture of the falling worker is unpredictable. Depending on the harness attachment point and the position of the worker's body at arrest, different harness attachments offer different advantages. An attachment near the shoulders means that any drag from the lanyard will serve to position the worker's body in an upright position so the forces are distributed from head to foot. The head is somewhat protected if the legs and body precede it in the fall, but this offers some disadvantages after the fall arrest is completed. Suspension Many safety professionals naturally assume that, once a fall has been arrested, the fall protection system has successfully completed its job. Unfortunately, this is not the case. A worker suspended in an upright position with the legs dangling in a harness of any type is subject to suspension trauma. Fall victims can slow the onset of suspension trauma by pushing down vigorously with the legs, by positioning their body in a horizontal or slight leg-high position, or by standing up. Harness design and fall injuries may prevent these actions, however. Rescue Rescue must come rapidly to minimize the dangers of suspension trauma. The circumstances together with the lanyard attachment point will determine the possibilities of self-rescue. In situations where self-rescue is not likely to be possible, workers must be supervised at all times. Regardless of whether a worker can self-rescue or must rely upon others, time is of the essence because a worker may lose consciousness in only a few minutes. If a worker is suspended long enough to lose consciousness, rescue personnel must be careful in handling such a person or the rescued worker may die anyway. This post-rescue death is apparently caused by the heart's inability to tolerate the abrupt increase in blood flow to the right heart after removal from the harness. Current recommended procedures are to take from 30 to 40 minutes to move the victim from kneeling to a sitting to asupine position. Interference Among Phases An arrest harness attachment on the front of the body facilitates self-rescue after a fall. However, a front attachment means the arresting lanyard may be in the way for many work tasks. An attachment point near the center of gravity (CG) makes post-fall body positioning much easier and increases the likelihood that a fallen worker will not be suspended in an upright vertical position. Yet a front near-CG attachment point can greatly increase the bending stress on the spine at the instant of arrest, raising the possibility that the arrest itself results in serious injury. The most protective harnesses for suspension can be the least comfortable. Recommendations Safety harnesses save many lives and injuries. However, continual vigilance is needed to train and supervise workers to ensure harnesses are used safely. All phases of fall protection need to be examined for each particular application. Workers and emergency response personnel must be trained to recognize the risks of suspension trauma. Before the potential fall: 1) Workers should never be permitted to work alone in a harness. 2) Rope/cable tenders must make certain the harness user is conscious at all times. 3) Time in suspension should be limited to under five minutes. Longer suspensions must have foothold straps or means for putting weight on the legs. 4) Harnesses should be selected for specific applications and must consider: compliance (convenience), potential arrest injury, and suspension trauma. 5) Tie-off lanyards should be anchored as high and tight as work permits. After a fall: 1) Workers should be trained to try to move their legs in the harness and try to push against any footholds. 2) Workers hanging in a harness should be trained to try to get their legsas high as possible and their heads as close to horizontal as possible (this is nearly impossible with many commercial harnesses in use today). 3) It the worker is suspended upright, emergency measures must be taken to remove the worker from suspension or move the fallen worker into a horizontal posture, or at least to a sitting position. 4) All personnel should be trained that suspension in an upright condition for longer than five minutes can be fatal. For harness rescues: 1) The victim should not be suspended in a vertical (upright) posture with the legs dangling straight. Victims should be kept as nearly horizontal as possible, or at least in a sitting position. 2) Rescuers should be trained that victims who are suspended vertically before rescue are in a potentially fatal situation. 3) Rescuers must be aware that post-rescue death may occur if victims are moved to a horizontal position too rapidly. Recommendations on harnesses: 1) It may be advantageous in some circumstances to locate the lanyard or tie-off attachment of the harness as near to the body's center of gravity as possible to reduce the whiplash and other trauma when a fall is arrested. This also facilitates moving legs upward and head downward while suspended. 2) Front (stomach or chest) rather than rear (back) harness lanyard attachment points will aid uninjured workers in self-rescue. This is crucial if workers are not closely supervised. 3) Any time a worker must spend time hanging in a harness, a harness with a seat rather than straps alone should be used to help position the upper legs horizontally. 4) A gradual arrest device should be employed to lessen deceleration injuries. 5) Workers should get supervised (because this is dangerous) experience at hanging in the harness they will be using. [OHS endbug] Bill Weems (bweems@ccs.ua.edu) and Phil Bishop are at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Dr. Weems is an industrial hygienist. He directs Safe State, the OSHA consultation agency for small business in Alabama. Dr. Bishop is an ergonomist. He teaches and conducts research in the physiology of human performance. Reference Seddon, Paul. Harness Suspension: review and evaluation of existing information. Health and Safety Executive. Research Report 451/2002. 104 pp. All personnel should be trained that suspension in an upright condition for longer than five minutes can be fatal. Depending on the harness attachment point and the position of the worker's body at arrest, different harness attachments offer different advantages. Fall victims can slow the onset of suspension trauma by pushing down vigorously with the legs, by positioning their body in a horizontal or slight leg-high position, or by standing up. ----------------------------- Coming Events January Meeting Tuesday the 13th of January. Nevada Power building east of Jones on Sahara, 7:00 PM. January Raffle There will be a Radio Shack HTX-420 Dual Band Handheld radio as the grand prize. Other general items will also be raffled. Las Vegas Marathon January 25th from Jean to Sunset Park. See Howard Mark for details and assignments. NASCAR March 5, 6 and 7. Your support is needed. Contact Art Sheldon, 255-1074 or Bill Cornelius, 897-9626. NAB April 19, 20, 21, and 22. Help needed to staff booth. Contact Bill Cornelius, 897-9626. Baker to Vegas Race April 24 and 25 is the annual Baker to Vegas 120 mile Race. Silver State Classic Race May 15, 2004 ----------------------------- FCC announces new Universal Licensing System interface The FCC on December 14 will unveil a new on-line filing interface for its Universal Licensing System (ULS), on the web at, http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls, which includes the Amateur Service. To implement the changes, the ULS on-line filing system will be down from 12 AM EST Saturday, December 13, until 10 AM EST Sunday, December 14. Among other features, the ULS's new look will include easier-to-read on-screen forms that guide users through filing and simplify such routine tasks as applying for license renewal, address change or vanity call sign. The FCC says the introduction of its new system, called "ULS License Manager," concludes phase one of an ongoing ULS overhaul by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. ULS License Manager will be compatible with most major Web browsers and computer platforms and no longer will require downloading Java and Java Script files. An FCC staffer involved with implementing ULS License Manager notes that all features may not be in place when the system debuts. The ULS will require all filers to log into the system using an FCC Registration Number (FRN) and Commission Registration System (CORES) password. Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) no longer will be accepted for log-in purposes, the FCC said. Once the new system is up and running, all licenses and applications in the ULS database will be converted to the new ULS License Manager filing environment. There's also a new paper version of FCC Form 605, dated December 2003. One change is that Form 605 no longer requests a date of birth and will only accept an FRN and CORES password. There are no Amateur Service-related changes to any Form 605 schedules. The FCC says Amateur Service applicants may continue to use the March 2001 (or later) edition of Form 605, although it encourages use of the newest version. The new FCC Form 605 now is available via the FCC Web site at, http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form605/605.html. To assist with any ULS issues after the changeover, the Technical Support Hotline staff will be available Sunday, December 14, from 10 AM until 6 PM EST. Normal hours are weekdays (except holidays) from 8 AM until 6 PM Eastern Time. Technical Support is available via the FCC Web site at, http://esupport.fcc.gov, or telephone 877-480-3201 (TTY 202-414-1255). ULS licensing support and forms information is available weekdays (except holidays) from 8 AM until 5:30 PM Eastern Time via e-mail at ulshelp@fcc.gov, or telephone 888- CALLFCC (225-5322), Option 2 (users also may call 717-338-2888). --------------------------------------------------------------------- We still need you to vote for the Bylaws at www.lvrac.org. We need a volunteer to be Public Affairs Officer for the LVRAC. Call Charlie AA5QJ today!