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,
K0RDE,
KC5PMT,
KE5UEE

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