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ZL3AI > APRDIG 09.06.03 10:16l 207 Lines 10107 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1459-ZL3AI
Read: GUEST
Subj: TAPR Digest, Jun 05, 2/3
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<RZ6HXA<HA3PG<JE7YGF<LU6DTS<ON0AR<ZL2BAU<ZL3VML
Sent: 030608/1339Z @:ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC #:1978 [Chch-NZ] FBB7.00i $:1459-ZL3AI
From: ZL3AI@ZL3VML.#80.NZL.OC
To : APRDIG@WW
Subject: Re: ISS PAcket back on the air.?
From: "Edward Leicester" <kg4qmi@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 15:58:55 -0400
X-Message-Number: 11
>Just passed overhead here in NC and I did not hear anything at 1940z. Tried
>unsuccessfuly to digi. next pass here at 2113z. Will listen again. Ed.
>
>------------------------------------
>Edward Leicester
>Reg. 1 Director
>North Carolina Baptist Men
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Subject: [Fwd: A Non-Emergency -- Confessions of an APRS Klutz!]
From: Alex <kr1st@amsat.org>
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 16:03:53 -0400
X-Message-Number: 12
The text below my signature is forwarded to this SIG with permission of
the author, Bruce Prior, N7RR.
Thank you, Bruce, for this great write-up of the chain of events
following the reception of the VE7EJ-7 emergency beacon.
73,
--Alex KR1ST
Bruce Prior wrote:
Monday afternoon, 2003-06-02, I was at my home in Blaine, WA, very near the
British Columbia border, when my Kenwood amateur radio handitalkie model
TH-D7AG, tuned to the 144.39 MHz APRS (Automatic Packet/Position Reporting
System) frequency, spewed out a set of tones which I'd never heard before.
On the screen splashed "EMERGENCY !"
Klutz action #1:
I thought someone was sending an emergency message, so I pushed the MSG
button and then the menu item LIST. I found the following message:
! PDTFFS 310300z,FLOOD,OR_C055,OR_C059,OR_C065, <V20AC◄
Klutz action #2:
I couldn't make sense of the message, except that "FLOOD" didn't seem like
good news. I telephoned Jim Elston, KP2X, in the nearby town of Ferndale,
who chairs the Whatcom County RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency System)
chapter. His wife said that he's out of town. I explained that I had
received an emergency ham radio message and asked if I could reach him. She
managed to reach him by some other means. I gave her my telephone number
and Jim Elston phoned me from a mountaintop radio site in Oregon. I
started to give him the mysterious message, then he suggested I phone the
amateur radio Emergency Coordinator, Dale Kloes, N7KWD. I started to track
Dale down when the chimes and the "EMERGENCY!" message repeated.
Klutz action #3:
Then it dawned on me that maybe this was a beacon transmission, rather than
a message. So, I pushed the LIST button on my Kenwood handitalkie and
sure enough, there was a beacon from VE7EJ-7 with a aircraft icon and a
status text: "PEP-AIR ." I understood "PEP" to mean "Provincial Emergency
Program." I wrote down the Maidenhead coordinate: CN89qe. (Later I
discovered that to be near the Trans-Canada Highway, north of Langley,
British Columbia.) Soon another message followed with a different
Maidenhead coordinate. That told me that VE7EJ was actually airborne. I
decided to telephone the Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, BC.
Directory assistance gave me an 800 number. I asked if that number were
valid for dialing from the U.S. The directory assistance operator didn't
know. I asked if he could connect me directly, since I needed to report an
emergency. He wasn't able to do so. I dialed the 800 number and got an
error message.
Klutz action #4:
I dialed 9-1-1 and gave my name and address and explained that I was an
amateur radio operator and that I had received an emergency message from an
aircraft that was likely in British Columbia. I asked them to connect me
to the Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria. The 911 staff didn't have
that number, so they connected me to the Communications Centre at the
Vancouver Police Department. That centre is run by my long-time friend,
Inspector Kevin McQuiggin, VE7ZD. I didn't ask to speak with Kevin. After
explaining the situation, they gave me the regular number for the Rescue
Coordination Centre. Meanwhile, the TH-D7AG kept singing out new emergency
beacons.
Big-Time Klutz action #5:
After telling the duty staff what I knew, including a brief explanation of
APRS, and I asked if they were familiar with the Maidenhead coordinate
system. They weren't. I explained that it was one of a number of choices
available on civilian GPS receivers. After some consultation among the
Victoria staff, I was told that nobody was familiar with it. I
nevertheless persuaded the staff to write down a series of Maidenhead
coordinates, which continued to change as more emergency beacons spewed out
of my Kenwood handitalkie.
Big-Time Klutz action #6:
Completely oblivious of the fact that I only had to push the OK button a
few times to get all of the beacon packet information from VE7EJ, including
Lat/Long, I decided to enter the Maidenhead coordinates into my GPS
receiver and then change the coordinate setting to Lat/Long. I said I'd do
the conversions and phone them back.
Klutz action #7:
Using the laborious method of translating the coordinates, I discovered
that the aircraft was actually south of the 49th parallel, and therefore
over the State of Washington. So, I phoned the Victoria Rescue
Coordination Centre with this new information. They suggested that I get
in touch with the Coast Guard Command Center in Seattle, and they gave me
the telephone number.
Klutz action #8:
I phoned the Coast Guard in Seattle, explaining about the situation and the
APRS system, and I asked if THEY understood the Maidenhead coordinate
system. Meanwhile, new emergency beacons continued to arrive.
Brilliant Action #9:
It occurred to me that I could hook up the TH-D7AG to my Garmin Vista GPS
receiver, set the communication parameters on both units to NMEA, and then
incoming beacons would be transformed into waypoints on my Vista, which I
could then view on its built-in map system. That would allow me to read
the coordinates in Lat/Long directly from my GPS.
Brilliant Action #10:
I suggested to the Seattle Coast Guard that they try to reach Bob Bruninga
(WB4APR, the inventor of APRS) at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
In short order, they had Bob on the line and I asked them to patch me into
him. They said they could if I hung up. I did so, and they phoned me back
so I could share in the conversation with WB4APR. Bob took control of the
situation, reminding me that I could access the altitude, course and speed
screen on my TH-D7AG. Finally, I was able to give them useful information.
We discovered that the aircraft was back in Canadian airspace, so the
Seattle Coast Guard Command Center got in touch with the Rescue
Coordination Centre in Victoria. We now had a 4-way conference call
linking Victoria, Seattle, Annapolis and Blaine. The Victoria Centre
suggested that it might be one of their aircraft which was involved in a
search for a missing aircraft. Meanwhile, after some fumbling caused by my
forgetting to tell him that the callsign was being sent in the expanded
tactical form: VE7EJ-7, Bob found the aircraft on the internet FINDU
facility. He then directed the Victoria Rescue people to go to that
internet site, as well as to QRZ.com, so they could get the name and
address information about VE7EJ. After awhile, the Victoria Centre
confirmed that the aircraft was, indeed, involved in a search for a missing
aircraft. The pilot was instructed to stop sending beacons in emergency
mode. Some hours later, I continued to receive beacons from VE7EJ-7, but
by then the Position Comment had changed from "Emergency!" to "Special." I
don't know whether the downed aircraft has been located. I know for sure
that a simple parameter-setting error by VE7EJ translated into a useful
lesson for him, for the Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, for the
Coast Guard Command Centre in Seattle, and for me. I understand that a
briefing about APRS is being planned by Seattle radio amateurs for the
Coast Guard Seattle staff. Perhaps something similar will take place for
the Victoria Rescue Coordination Centre staff.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsequently, Fred Carey VE7EJ sent me a most informative e-mail, which
helped clarify the situation. I spoke with him on the telephone this
evening (2003-06-04) and he told me that the missing aircraft hasn't yet
been located. It had just finished dropping some skydivers over a private
airstrip when it disappeared. Air search operations continue. His e-mail
is reproduced here with his permission:
(VE7EJ):
Major Klutz action dominos through-out amateur community!
Not to worry Bruce... it all started when this pinhead decided to use the
new and fancy TH7D (we wouldn't have had that problem if we had kept using
our old and reliable KPC3Plus!)
We had 3 search aircraft beaconing every 30 sec., (VE7JSC-7, and VE7CVN-7)
so we thought that it was displaying that we were an emergency service so
we wouldn't be questioned on causing congestion.
I guess we never thought of the APRS as an Emergency beacon transmitter...
that opens up a whole new functionality we never even thought of! This APRS
stuff just keeps getting better and better!
We spend a lot of time flying in very rough mountainous terrain, and this
is a great way to keep tabs on all of the aircraft.. especially when we
have low level searches in remote valleys... we can send up a high bird
with a relay wide digipeater, and we can monitor everyone.. and we have the
collision avoidance as we use Garmin Vistas, and Legends as (and if we can
afford it...) the new 196, which plots each other on the screen so we don't
bump into each other. (Gets really messy)
Anyway, the search is continuing, and we will be careful with that
"emergency" button. I will be airborne sometime tomorrow.. so keep and eye
out for me and cover for any stupid mistakes!
Many thanks for your concern, and sorry for any misunderstanding.
You did the right thing, and we all learned a lot!
The system works!
Fred G. Carey AScT (VE7EJ)
Area Air Deputy - CYPK
Civil Air Search and Rescue Association
---------------------------------------
73, Bruce Prior N7RR
Blaine, WA
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