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Overview |
The South Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Red Cross has a direct agreement with the SOARESSS club to help provide assistance in time of need.
In several events, SOARESSS has been the communication life line for the Red
Cross. This close involvment goes back several years now.
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Our History With The Red Cross |
Well, back in September 2003, then SOARES member Chad Knapp K5UTC, was
installing internet service for the Red Cross. He knew, as did most of us,
that the Red Cross had an Emergency Communications room but virtually no
hardware. They were doing all their communicating via cell phone.
Chad talked to J.D. Jordan, WG5B, Mike Key,
N5KEY, Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW
and Neil Mayo, KC5AMX about what we thought we could
do to help them. After some discussion, we decided to pitch them the idea of
applying for a grant in their name from one of the local foundations to overhaul
the Emergency Communications system.
We met on October 4, 2003 with the Chapter Manager Pat Whitener, Red Cross
Board Members J.D Spohn, John Beene and Board Chairman Bob Libby. We told them
what we had in mind and they and they welcomed our efforts with open arms.
After that meeting, extensive research was done on equipment and abilities we
felt needed to be available in the upgraded Communication Center. A final
equipment list was drawn up and agreed upon. The list was pretty much a shoot
for the moon type list, figuring that if we didn't get the total amount of the
requested funds, we could still build a system that would work well.
The grant application was submitted to the Southern Oklahoma Memorial
Foundation on December 1, 2003 and a variety of questions answered over the
next couple of months. On February 4, 2004, we were notified the Memorial
Foundation had granted the Red Cross the full funding of almost $30,000 for the
Emergency Communications Center upgrade.
Bids were taken and orders sent. The first of the equipment started rolling in
the door on March 11, 2004. This really seemed like a late Christmas. While
awaiting the arrival of the equipment, the room was cleaned out and readied for
the new hardware.
In the mean time, the base for the tower was being worked on by Kevin Atnip.
His employer, Fenix Constructors, agreed to provide everything we needed for
the tower base except the concrete. And on one sunny spring day, Kevin Atnip
KD5WUP, Kevin O'Dell N0IRW, Matt
Jones W5FLW, Bob Libby (Chapter Chairman and a
GREAT back-hoe operator) started work on the base. The tower base consisted of
a steel re-bar cage in a hole 5' square and 7' deep with 3 - 24" long 1" steel
bolts set in the concrete. There are approximately 7+ yards of concrete in
the hole. The work on the shack itself proceeded slowly but surely with the
help of everyone.
The tower arrived in late April. After getting the tower off the truck a large
contingent stood around and decided that this thing might just have been worth
the almost $7000 it cost. COOL! was an understatement. On May 9, 2004 we had a
tower raising party. In attendance were JD Jordan WG5B,
Kevin O'Dell N0IRW, Kevin Atnip KD5WUP, Charles Goodson KC5UEG, Claude Williams
KD5PHQ, Neil Mayo KD5AMX, Matt
Jones W5FLW, Geoffrey Jones W5DWG,
Steve Girard N5WFL, Vance Smith KE5BAL
and Jerry Dunn KD5YPF (I hope I didn't miss anyone).
Everything went very well. We even worked out a couple of sticky problems
pertaining to how to work on the beam on the tower. The tower was raised late
that afternoon and bolted in place. The control panel was connected and power
applied and up she went. We all stood back and marveled at the sight. After
doing a little figuring, we determined the raised height to the top of the upper
most dual band antenna was about 72 or 73 feet. It is, in the words of Darth
Vader, "Impressive".
The final connections were made between the shack and the antenna system and
the power supplies turned on. One of the new Yaesu FT-920's came to life on 20
meters and we went searching for a contact. We found two gentlemen having a
casual QSO, one in Tampa, FL and the other in Ann Arbor, MI. We turned the
beam to the northeast between the two stations and gave our call, W5BLW, at a
break in the exchange. We were acknowledged and after telling the stations we
were testing out our brand new Emergency Communications station, the Florida
station gave us a +40 signal report and the Michigan station gave us a +30
report. Needless to say, we were jumping with joy. Over the next couple of
weeks we finalized the station and installed radios in one of the two Red Cross
vans.
Then on June 10, 2004 we had the Dedication/Open House for the Charles Dibrell
Communications Center. In attendance were the Ardmore Chamber Ambassadors,
Senator Johnnie Crutchfield, most of the Red Cross board, Coy Day
N5OK West Gulf Division Director, John Thomason
WB5SYT Oklahoma Section Manager and Shirley Dibrell, Charles'
wife. Presentations were made to Shirley, Fenix Constructors, the Southern
Oklahoma Memorial Foundation and the center again dedicated to Charles' memory.
Red Cross Board Chairman Bob Libby, told the assembled group that when our group
started this project, they (Red Cross) weren't too sure we could pull it off.
After seeing what we accomplished, he said who knew at the beginning we were
such professionals. Shirley cut the ribbon to the center to cap the event.
During this entire process, we worked closely with the Red Cross and the board.
They allowed us to start holding our license classes and meetings in their
classroom. And we enjoy the ability to utilize this new state of the art
facility as our club station. We have had Red Cross training in CPR, First
Aid, Disaster Assessment, and Shelter Management.
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Members Interested In This Area |
KC5UNL,
N0IRW,
KE5BAL,
KE5CUD,
KD5WUP,
KD5YPF,
AD5SR,
KC5UEG,
KC5PMT,
KE5UEE,
K7ISS,
KE5WXL,
KE5VUL
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