Faulkner County Amateur Radio Club W5AUU - minutes for the meeting, Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by President Frankie Parks
A roster of members was circulated. The following checked as present:
Clyde Armstrong KE5YPZ
Don Bollman KB8LNV
Perry Carlton AE5EE
George Carroll N5GC V.P
Jim Carter KB5DQM
David Doty N5XF
Lynette Dowdy KD5QMD
Kayla Dowdy KE5JYX
Philip Doyle KC5BAY
Jim Elliott W5JNE
Bill Fill KD5IC
Dora Anna Fill NI5D
Francis Taylor KA5NOM
Jim Grinder N5TSG
Stefan Johnson KE5YBN
Wayne Johnston KD4TA Sec/Treas
Brian Kessler N1WNC
Marlene Kessler KE5HQU
Glenn King N5GK
Kenneth Leo W5HXK
John Nordlund AD5FU
Frankie Parks K5FRP Pres.
Jonathan Peterson KE5YRU
? Peterson KE5YPX
David Shaw W5DSR
Charlotte Shaw K5EWVQ
Steve Tune KC5FWE
Amber Peterson Love
Larry Floman
Treasurer Report
The FCARC currently has $2,793.93 in the bank.. No outstanding bills. We have 60 paid members at this time. Wayne Johnston called a dozen members who had not paid dues -- only two said they were so busy with other responsibilities that they would not remain active. Others promised to send in dues or bring them to the meeting.
Old Business:
Toad Suck Days Special Events Station.
It should be posted in the May issue of QST. Toad Suck Days will be 1,2 & 3 May 2009. On Saturday May 2 from the FCARC will have a special event station on the air from 8:00 a.m. To 12:00 noon on 14.260 Mhz or 7.260 Mhz., Frankie Parks suggested breaking down the time into 30 minute or 1 hr segments operated from home locations. Three folks volunteered to cover the time, and another was badgered coerced or intimidated into participating.
New Business:
FCARC SOP Approval -- Glenn King.
This has been in the works for a year and will be our standard operating procedure. Motion and second to adopt the SOP. Members voted to adopt.
Call Tree for ARES activation -- Glenn King.
The tree was circulated (minus phone numbers). Anyone who is interested in being called for emergencies is welcomed to be on the tree. If an emergency arises in Conway/Faulkner County, e.g. Office of Emergency Management contacts him, then the people on the list must -- 1) be familiar with NEMS and how it related to ham radio 2) versed in net operations and how to be a net control station; 3) traffic handling and how to fill out a standard ARRL message form. Glenn plans on having several classes in handling messages and being NCS and he would like to have the classes at the 911 center. The equipment there is the same as the equipment at the hospital. If you cannot do these three, then you will not be of much help in an emergency at all.
911 Center Net Particiaption -- Glenn King.
The FCARC has also obligated itself to go the the 911 center for one Thursday evening a months to participate in the FCARC net. Only Perry Carleton (AE5EE) has done it so far, but you need to know how to get into the center, how to operate the radio,
Tower Work at Glenn Kings
Glenn plans to lay his tower down. It has rust spots that need to be wire brushed and painted. Another session would then be needed to put the antennas back on the tower. This will be for the digital operations of the FCARC -- packet and APRS, and possibly an Echo Link. The repeater committee needs to be revisited because the technical end is not all there is -- the non technical grass cutting operations and roundup application does not require much expertise.
Tower Work on the Ridge Repeater Site
Dave Doty's son will do the work, but wants a description of what is expected and the hourly wage to be paid. Other details include the base plate welding and parts-- although there is an alternative.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 All Hazards Hospital Exercise -- John Nordlund.
This is a state wide drill to meet all the federal requirements and all their funding prerequisites. They will be tasked to use all of their communications modes, including ham radio. It should start about 0900 and run throughout the day. Not much information is available, since all are participants.
Iron Mountain Triathlon -- June 6 and 7, 2009.
Updates to follow after a meeting about the event on Thursday. People who plan on helping can go to the CAUHF web site to sign up. The registration looks like you are buying a concert ticket, but there is no charge.
Report from Mena Tornado.
Perry Carleton (AE5EE) had a report of damage from the area from member David Turner (a MEMS IT guru whose mother lives in Mena). Perry overheard the Sheriff say that the 911 center for the county was located in the Court House -- it was hit. The Sheriff was audibly shook up about the event. No telephone service from Mena. Feed Unit that Perry normally worked with from Arkadelphia was dispatched to the scene but had no radio operators. The tornado was 14 blocks wide through town. (Officially 6/10 of a mile wide). David Turner's mom and her house is ok, but it was surrounded by downed trees on all sides "like matchsticks." Her house was the only house on the block that was not damaged by falling trees. David deployed with equipment and generators to help his mother. She was cooking meals for the folks on her block. Falling trees uprooted the phone cables. There were severed buried phone cables to his mom's house, but he spliced the cable and restored her phone service. Others were able to use her phone. The Baptist Church, Methodist Church, and another church were heavily damaged. The tornado hit on Thursday, and the feed unit reported on Friday. By now they had served 1500 meals a day with a total of 6,000 meals provided.
Field Day
The FCARC will need a new chairperson for the Field Day event. Brian Kessler will be working on weekends at the 911 center and cannot be the chairman. Perry Carleton and David Turner will be doing field day from the MEMS HQ in Little Rock.
Location. In the last few years we have operated form Laurel Park, Hendrix, and the Court House. The location affects the type of operation -- those locations enhanced public participations. A remote location like Cadron Settlement might enhance contesting operations. Propagation conditions are not conducive to contesting, so a public location like Toad Suck or Beaverfork would be better.
Test Session -- followed the regular meeting.
Main Program: New Earthquake Threats in Arkansas by Scott Ausbrooks
This is the second presentation -- the first one was about a year ago and covered Earthquake basics and the New Madrid fault. This is still important because of the devastation that an 1811 type event would cause today. But this presentation will include earthquake activity near Malvern and the Enola Faulkner County earthquake swarm.
Most quakes occur along faults with plated sliding or moving past each other. The earthquake is a release of the strain energy that has accumulated by a rupture. The focus is where the energy starts, and where it intersects the surface is called the epicenter.
The New Madrid seismic zone is a strike slip fault in Arkansas and a reverse fault in Missouri.
Unreinforced brick buildings (like downtown Conway) without rebar are the most vulnerable to earthquakes.
Remember that the magnitude earthquake scale (formerly called the Richter Scale) is logarithmic -- i.e. from a 3.0 to a 5.0 is 900 times more energy. From a 3.0 to a 7.0 is 900 x 900 times more energy!! The small quakes do not release enough energy to delay the big quakes.
Earthquakes are also measured by intensity. See the Did you feel it? Web site.
Most quake activity in Arkansas is along the New Madrid seismic zone, the Enola Swarm, and around Pocahantas. Some feel that what is happening in NE Arkansas is aftershocks from the 1811 events. Others disagree.
In 1811 and 1812 there was widespread liquification of soil, creation of lakes (e.g. Reelfoot Lake); sunken forests (oaks submerged); and uplift (cypress trees 15 ft out of water). The first quake was a 7.4. It was followed by equal and then stronger shocks over the next few months! Think about how that pattern affects rescue and reconstruction efforts. There were 9 events >7 and 18 >6.0 that were strong enough to cause damage. The earth was constantly moving for nearly a year!
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a similar strength to the New Madrid, affected a much smaller area because of the underlying geology -- broken by faults and did not transmit energy.
1895 a 6.6 quake in Charleston, MO. 1843 a 6.0 near Marked Tree, AR. In 1976 a 5.0 in Poinsette County, AR resulting in a blackout in Jonesboro. That the event gave rise to the New Madrid study and creation of the efforts to understand and deal with the New Madriz zone.
In Faulkner County, the Enola Swarm is clearly evident. See the link at : http://www.geology.ar.gov/maps_pdf/geohazards/Enola_Swarm_Map_Area.pdf The swarm is not related to the New Madrid seismic zone. It is the largest swarm area in the USA. Thousands of small quakes were involved. In 2001, a 4.4 quake hit.
Injection wells are shown to increase seismic activity. No significant injection had happened as of April 2009.
Seismic arrays are monitored by UALR. The sites radio their information to a central location, and then it is downloaded manually.
A 3.0 quake is at the threshold of being felt. The recent quake in Montichello shook in a pronounced manner -- Murphy Oil shut down their elevator and they closed their building. The location is imprecise because the closest monitors were in the New Madrid area. Each monitor costs about $15,000.00.
A recent 5.2 quake in Mt Carmel, Illinois, was felt in 22 states including Canada. A 7.0 quake would have 900 times as much energy. They had chimney and eave damage.
Wood frame houses do fairly well in a quake. The house may shift off the foundation, but should not collapse and injure the occupants. The brick veneer will fall away from the structure.
The USGS is responsible for hazard maps that affect building codes. The problem is when will it happen. USGS says 95% chance of a big quake along the San Andreas fault in the next 30 years. No telling when the New Madrid will strike.
The recent quakes at Magnet Cove near Hot Springs/Malvern made old quarry walls unstable. The location was difficult to pinpoint because of the distance from monitors. People will talk and assist in locating quakes. The governor released several thousand dollars to put in six or eight new seismic stations.
Recent work shows that there was an ancient quake east of Little Rock. Large sand blows confirm that liquifaction happened and extruded sand. These are signs of 6.0 size quakes. Ground penetrating radar goes down 3 meters to show the structure. A backhoe trench can only be so deep. In some locations in California, the dig a 3ft hole 200 ft deep in hard rock to look at the strata. That cannot be done in silt and sand. The last movement in this area was 7,000 years ago, so it is not a threat.
Reminders: Thursday night net -- and Perry Carleton AE5EE presence during storms.
Pay your waitress!
We are adjourned.