Fall 2023 Amateur Radio Emergency Service Simulated Emergency Test
Eastern Pennsylvania ARES and Pennsylvania American Red Cross
On October 7th, 2023, Pennsylvania amateur radio operators participated in an exercise to test their
ability to communicate with Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Pennsylvania Red Cross
Regions.
ARES conducts Simulated Emergency Tests (SET) twice per year. These exercises provide ARES
organizations opportunities to train for eventual real-world activations and deployments where they will
provide emergency communication (EMCOMM) support to communities in need.
The Fall 2023 SET had two elements: 1) The American Red Cross “ARC” element, a general call from
Red Cross to Pennsylvania hams to simulate a check-in message from a Red Cross shelter and 2) The
“ARES” element. Eastern Pennsylvania ARES Emergency Coordinators (ECs) were asked to alert their
units and provide a listing of resources available to deploy.
This exercise simulated a severe Internet outage. Radio operators utilized Winlink combined with VARA HF to send email with attached ICS-213 forms via HF Radio. The day began with Andrew, W3AND and others discussing how to install and configure Winlink w/VARA HF. W3AND also provided a presentation on how the Winlink infrastructure worked. With this software, one can email other HF stations without Internet using only your PC connected to your HF Radio. If parts of the Internet were functional, it is then possible to communicate to regular email addresses as well as HF recipients.
At Noon, SMRA EMCOMM members relocated to either their home shacks or to our Field Day site at the Emergency Services Training Area (ESTA) and sent digital messages related to the exercise.
The full report is located at https://kc3smw.net/octset2023
