South Central Indiana Communications Support Group, Inc. The State of Amateur Radio In the State of Indiana

Transcription

1 South Central Indiana Communications Support Group, Inc. The State of Amateur Radio In the State of Indiana September 2011

2 Since the creation of South Central Indiana Communications Support Group, Inc. (SCICSG) in 2009, we have strived for the advancement of amateur radio and allied communications systems within the State of Indiana. SCICSG s purpose is to promote public awareness of amateur radio, serve the communities of Indiana, provide emergency communication for Indiana and cooperate with other organizations with similar goals and missions. This is a very broad description of what SCICSG does, but we hope that this annual report will help to provide you with more information on how we have, are and will work on these purposes. Before any decisions can be made on the projects which SCICSG should target in any particular year, data is compiled to show where the most attention is needed. It is our opinion that this type of decision is often made on personal feelings and politics, rather than statistically indicated needs. To this end, we have developed a standard report which we compile periodically to look at the current status of amateur radio within the state, our Study of Amateur Radio Operators in Indiana. This report is made available to the public via the publications section of our website. Occasionally, we may also release other reports, charts and maps which we use in determining the needs of amateur radio and our communities. The Study of Amateur Radio Operators in Indiana is a compilation of data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), U.S. Census Bureau, American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) and Indiana Repeater Council (IRC). Summarized by county and grouped by IDHS district, a few simple calculations are performed to find the percentage of amateur radio operators (hams) per capita, number of hams per square mile and number of coordinated repeaters for each county. In addition, utilizing the latest data available to us from the ARRL and IDHS, we flag each county for an active Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) group in each county. In addition, while it has not yet been published on the website, due to the limited amount of data points thus far, we are also tracking the trend in the number of amateur radio operators in each county. This will help us to track which counties are seeing an increase or decrease in ham population over time. Jennings County After our initial report in 2009, we found that one of the counties which showed the greatest need for improved amateur radio presence was Jennings County. At the time, the FCC showed a total of 23 licensed hams within Jennings County. This represents % hams per capita and hams per square mile. In addition, the county had neither an ARES team nor a RACES team and no amateur radio repeater.

3 By initiating contact with the licensed amateurs in Jennings County and organizing the initial meetings to begin developing amateur radio within the county, SCICSG was able to assist in the creation of the Jennings County Amateur Radio Club (JCARC), a Jennings County ARES team and a Jennings County RACES team. While SCICSG ran into multiple roadblocks in constructing an amateur radio repeater within Jennings County, JCARC is currently (July 2011) working with local officials and organizations to get a repeater on the air. JCARC holds monthly meetings, with average attendance of eight and a weekly simplex net with check-ins ranging from five to ten most weeks. Within the next few months, JCARC also hopes to offer amateur radio license classes to increase the number of licensed hams within the county. As JCARC and other amateur radio activity in Jennings County have become more self-sustaining, SCICSG has began looking at other areas of the state and other aspects of amateur radio to continue work. Pursuant to this, we have continued to update our periodic reports and have developed maps showing the areas of biggest need, based on hams per capita, hams per square mile and ARES and RACES status. These maps and the latest reports can be found in the appendices of this annual report. As we move forward, SCICSG hopes to help in supporting amateur radio in other counties within Indiana, but we would also like to increase the number of members within our organization in order to apply more resources to our projects. Future Projects Projects which we would like to pursue include: Construction of emergency communications (EMCOMM) vehicle(s) designed and to serve the amateur radio EMCOMM groups and their allied services, such as SATERN, MARS, REACT, CAP and others. These vehicles will be made available on request to any active ARES and/or RACES group within the state for use in disasters and during disaster drills and exercises. Development of a packet radio or similar digital message system within Indiana. Construction of portable repeaters which can be deployed to disaster areas during times of need. Work within counties in need of development of amateur radio resources such as clubs, ARES teams, RACES teams and infrastructure. Development and thorough documentation of portable amateur radio stations and procedures for EMCOMM use. If needed, we will also assist in the offering amateur radio license classes, Volunteer Examiner (VE) test sessions and educational courses for ICS/NIMS.

4 Appendix

5 State of Ham Radio in Indiana Top 10 Counties Hams Per Capita Bottom 10 Counties Hams Per Capita Count Name Hams Per Capita RACES ARES County Name Hams Per Capita RACES ARES Hancock IN 0.486% Martin IN 0.444% Huntington IN 0.439% Ripley IN 0.422% Lawrence IN 0.418% Crawford IN 0.400% Steuben IN 0.397% Howard IN 0.397% Whitley IN 0.388% Starke IN 0.386% Lagrange IN 0.083% Jennings IN 0.083% Newton IN 0.089% Carroll IN 0.089% Lake IN 0.117% Franklin IN 0.126% Switzerland IN 0.143% Brown IN 0.147% Daviess IN 0.148% Perry IN 0.148% Top 10 Counties Hams Per Sq Mi County Name Hams Per Sq Mi RACES ARES Marion IN Vanderburgh IN St. Joseph IN Allen IN Howard IN Lake IN Hamilton IN Johnson IN Monroe IN Floyd IN Bottom 10 Counties Hams Per Sq Mi County Name Hams Per Sq Mi RACES ARES Newton IN Warren IN Carroll IN Benton IN Switzerland IN Jennings IN Parke IN Pulaski IN Brown IN Franklin IN Copyright 2011 South Central Indiana Communications Support Group, Inc. Data Source: Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Census Bureau, August 31, 2011

6 Indiana Ham Radio Statistics By County IDHS District County Name Licensed Hams Hams Per Capita Hams Per Sq Mi 1 Jasper IN % La Porte IN % Lake IN % Newton IN % Porter IN % Elkhart IN % Fulton IN % Kosciusko IN % Marshall IN % Pulaski IN % St. Joseph IN % Starke IN % Adams IN % Allen IN % De Kalb IN % Huntington IN % Lagrange IN % Miami IN % Noble IN % Steuben IN % Wabash IN % Wells IN % Whitley IN % Benton IN % Carroll IN % Cass IN % Clinton IN % Fountain IN % Montgomery IN % Tippecanoe IN % Warren IN % White IN % Boone IN % Hamilton IN % Hancock IN % Hendricks IN % Johnson IN % Marion IN % Morgan IN % Shelby IN % Blackford IN % Delaware IN % Fayette IN % Grant IN % Henry IN % Howard IN % Data Sources: Federal Communications Commission, US Census Bureau and US Geological Survey Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Page 1 of 2

7 IDHS District County Name Licensed Hams Hams Per Capita Hams Per Sq Mi 6 Jay IN % Madison IN % Randolph IN % Rush IN % Tipton IN % Union IN % Wayne IN % Clay IN % Greene IN % Owen IN % Parke IN % Putnam IN % Sullivan IN % Vermillion IN % Vigo IN % Bartholomew IN % Brown IN % Jackson IN % Lawrence IN % Monroe IN % Orange IN % Washington IN % Clark IN % Dearborn IN % Decatur IN % Floyd IN % Franklin IN % Harrison IN % Jefferson IN % Jennings IN % Ohio IN % Ripley IN % Scott IN % Switzerland IN % Crawford IN % Daviess IN % Dubois IN % Gibson IN % Knox IN % Martin IN % Perry IN % Pike IN % Posey IN % Spencer IN % Vanderburgh IN % Warrick IN % Data Sources: Federal Communications Commission, US Census Bureau and US Geological Survey Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Page 2 of 2

8 Licensed Amateur Radio Operators Miles 0 Sources: Federal Communications Commission Military Facilities Licensed Ham Created By Brian D. Smith, WW9A - SCICSG - August 31, 2011

9 ARES and RACES Teams in Indiana Gibson Lake Newton Benton Warren Vermillion Vigo Sullivan Knox Fountain Porter Jasper Parke Pike Vanderburgh Warrick Posey Clay Daviess White Tippecanoe Greene LaPorte Montgomery Putnam Owen Dubois Spencer Martin Starke Pulaski Perry Carroll Clinton Boone Hendricks Cass Morgan Monroe Lawrence Orange Crawford St. Joseph Marshall Fulton Miami Marion Brown Howard Tipton Hamilton Johnson Jackson Washington Harrison Elkhart Kosciusko Wabash Shelby Clark Grant Madison Hancock Bartholomew Floyd Scott Noble Whitley Jennings LaGrange Huntington Delaware Henry Rush Decatur Jefferson Wells Blackford Ripley Miles Steuben DeKalb Allen Fayette Adams Jay Randolph Wayne Franklin Union Dearborn Ohio Switzerland Sources: American Radio Relay League and Indiana DHS No ARES or RACES ARES, No RACES RACES, No ARES ARES and RACES Created By Brian D. Smith, WW9A - SCICSG - August 31, 2011

10 # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Amateur Radio Population in Indiana Miles Created By Brian D. Smith, WW9A - SCICSG - August 31, 2011 Sources: Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Census Bureau HamsPerSqMi Hams Per Capita % - 0.1% % - 0.2% % - 0.3% % - 1%