Field Day 2008

Hello Everybody:

Another Field Day has been completed successfully. This was our first experience at a new location in many years. The Jackson Fairgrounds location worked out well with advantages (such as restrooms, air-conditioning and power) outweighing the disadvantages.

The decision to decamp and move inside due to threatening weather was made based on the best information we had at the time, including a call to the National Weather Service in Memphis. The information they provided indicated a threat significant enough to warrant caution. Although late, the heavy rain came and it probably was a good thing we had our equipment under roof. Better weather protection for field deployments is already under discussion.

We were honored to have the Area Wide Amateur Radio Association as our guests at Field Day 2008. They are a great bunch of guys and are welcomed at WTARS anytime. We all have a common goal of furthering and promoting the craft of Amateur Radio.

Our encampment area was very nice and we, at least, learned how to set up and “bug out” as needed. You, once again, proved yourselves worthy the name of “Ham” in your ability to adapt and overcome in unusual situations and still complete your mission of communications.

I would like to thank all who came out and help setup, participate and teardown this weekend. We had a great time, although exhausting, and great fellowship and even managed to play with radios. Although there are many WTARS members who have spent time and effort in the preparation of the Communication Trailer for Field Day, I would like to acknowledge and offer a special thanks to two men who have spent countless hours working on the Communications Trailer that we all enjoy and utilize. These two Hams, Chris Brazzell (KF4WNB) and Chris Wray (KD4MPN) deserve a big hand and a great big THANK YOU!

And again, thanks to each and all for your hard work in making Field Day 2008 a success.

G. Michael Winslow, President

WTARS

Amateur Radio Week - June 23-29, 2008

At this morning's Madison County Commission Meeting, Mayor Jimmy Harris read the following proclamation recognizing The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society for its half-century of community communications services and proclaiming the week of June 23-29, 2008 as:

Amateur Radio Week

Representing The West Tennessee Radio Society at this meeting were: Greg Flanagan - KE4FTA, Scott Pearce - KD4OZT, DJ Jablownski - KI4FZK and Mike Winslow, President, - KI4LMZ.

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society is celebrating a half-century of
promoting and enhancing the craft of amateur radio providing a bridge between people, societies and countries by creating friendships and the sharing of ideas;

and

WHEREAS, The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society has continued to provide countless
hours of community services and emergency communications, without compensation throughout these decades; and

WHEREAS, The amateur radio’s people provide services to our many Emergency Response
organizations, including the Jackson-Madison County Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross, and the Salvation Army and have demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing free radio communications for local parades, bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons, fairs and other charitable public events; and

WHEREAS, Jackson and Madison County appreciate the diligence of these “hams” who also
serve as weather spotters in the Skywarn program of the U. S. Government Weather Bureau; and

WHEREAS, Amateur Radio once again proved its undisputed relevance in the modern world
in 2003 and 2008 by providing emergency communications when other systems failed in the devastation of the tornados that struck Madison County; and

WHEREAS, The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Field Day exercise will take place on June 28-29, 2008 and is a 24-hour emergency encampment exercise and demonstration of the Radio Amateur’s skills and readiness to provide self-supporting communications even in fields without further infrastructure.

NOW, THEREFORE, WE, JIMMY HARRIS, COUNTY MAYOR OF MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, AND JERRY GIST, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM THE WEEK OF JUNE 23-29, 2008 AS

Amateur Radio Week

in Jackson-Madison County, Tennessee, and urge all citizens to take advantage of the planned programs to be offered June 28-29, 2008 at the Jackson Fairgrounds Park.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, WE HEREUNTO SET OUR HANDS AND CAUSE THE SEALS OF MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, AND THE CITY OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE, TO BE AFFIXED THIS 16^TH DAY OF JUNE, 2008.

JMMY HARRIS, MAYOR JERRY GIST, MAYOR

MADISON COUNTY, TENNESSEE CITY OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE

KF4WNB's Haunted Radio Shack

Chirs finally got his shop/shack wired and running on the grid. He and Chris Wray - KD4MPN fiddled around with a gremlin in the shack most of today, Saturday the 14th. Seems that when KD4MPN's Yaesu 857 was keyed, the air-conditioner circuit breaker would trip. Even when operating on battery power.

No matter what they tried, when KD4MPN keyed his radio . . .phfffffft!

Needles to say, that made participating in this weekend's VHF QSO Parties rather interesting.

Anyway, glad to see Chris has his Shack up and running, gremlins and all.

Sounds like a job for Ghost Busters!

First Aid for Chest Trauma

By Phillip Julian - KG4NVN

(A continuing series of emergency First Aid information)

This article discusses trauma to the chest and it begins with what we in EMS and medical circles call “Mechanism of Injury”. When looking at all the possible ways to physically insult the chest it really boils down to a few classifications for the common injuries we might see at some point. These include:

Blunt injuries : Injuries that impact the chest

Crush injuries: Objects that fall on the chest and compress the contents within the chest.

Penetrating injuries: Objects that enter the chest cavity causing lung, vessel, or heart damage. These may either be impaled, exhibit entry wounds only, or exhibit entry and exit type wounds.

Inhalation burns: Smoke or noxious substances that damage the chest membranes including the lungs, large or small airways, or vessels of the lungs and heart.

Aspiration (inhaling) of foreign bodies: Objects, water, caustic materials or any trash that can either block the airway or damage the lung tissues.

2 major forces within chest which lead to injury: compression and distraction. Compression results in destruction of vascular components (blood vessels being squeezed) , hemorrhage (blood loss due to vessel rupture), edema (accumulation of either blood or fluid) and impairment of function. Distraction injuries usually result in shearing forces which destroy integrity of chest organs within the chest such as the aorta (a major blood vessel responsible for carrying oxygen rich blood to the body) in addition to potential damage to the diaphragm and other vital oxygen carrying structures.

BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA: Motor vehicle accidents are the most common we may come across on a daily basis since we, as Amateur Radio Operators, are very mobile in and around our communities. Falls are another type we may additionally encounter.

Type of injury is important
- Where there has been massive deformity of a car or a history of a fall of 15 feet or more major intrathoracic (within the chest) injuries should always be suspected. The physical nature of chest wall allows for considerable elastic recoil, especially in young victims and therefore degree of injury within chest may need to be judged initially by deformity to car rather than appearance of patient
- Blunt injuries occur in 3 major directions: AP (Anterior-Posterior [front to back]) , lateral and transdiaphragmatic (across the diaphragm which is the major muscle of respiration).
- AP deformity results in relative backward motion of heart. This may result in disruption of aorta at level of ligamentum arteriosum just below left subclavian. As heart swings back and up it may cause so-called wishbone (pulling apart)of a proximal bronchus (major airway structure)
- Injuries to heart occur in up to 50% of patients after deceleration injuries
- Deceleration with impact to back causes relatively few intrathoracic injuries

- Lateral compression of chest during deceleration causes fractures typically of lower ribs with risk of injury to liver, spleen and kidneys which can cause major bleeding leading to severe shock and potentially death.
- When lateral compression results in flail (freely floating) rib segments, damage to thoracic cavity is usually relatively small and most frequently limited to contusion (bruise) and laceration (cutting) of lung parenchyma
- Lap belt of seat belts leads to rise in intrabdominal (great pressure within the belly) pressure in massive deceleration and this, combined with shearing and twisting of upper trunk may result in diaphragmatic rupture.

Penetrating Injuries

Result in tissue damage related to track of missile or stabbing implement and velocity. More solid structures such as the heart and major blood vessels suffer greater injury. High-velocity missiles and penetrating weapons yield the most lethal complication, hemorrhage. These are often associated with abdominal trauma.

Crush injury

1. Occurs where elastic limits of chest and its contents have been exceeded

patients usually have AP deformity.

2. Majority have flail chests with multiple fractures, pneumothorax (air within the chest cavity that is outside the lungs) or hemothorax (blood collection within the chest that is outside the normal vessels).

3. Most have pulmonary contusion (bruised lungs).

4. Injuries of heart, aorta, diaphragm, liver , kidney and spleen are common.

5. Another group of patients with crush injuries are those with "traumatic asphyxia" syndrome, where constrictive forces are applied over a wide area for as little as 2-5 minutes. Profound venous hypertension (increased pressure) associated with relative stasis (lack of blood flow) is mechanism of injury. There is widespread capillary dilation and rupture, subconjunctival hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhage (blood vessel rupture within and around the eye). Simultaneous injuries (eg intracranial hemorrhage[bleeding within the brain]) must be suspected. This may lead to altered levels of consciousness.

6. Severe crush injuries have a high mortality.

These are just a few items to ponder if you come across anyone suffering from these types of injuries. Remember the ABC’s and keep in mind that even though a victim may not be exhibiting the signs and symptoms of shock, they may quickly progress to a shock state at anytime. Plan to treat accordingly. These injuries can be catastrophic if not managed quickly and appropriately. Next we will look at some things you can do to ensure care is provided in the quickest manner to help prevent death.

Lost With GPS?

By Robert E. McLaughlin (KI4WKW)

As you all know, GPS has been around for quite some time now. We, as Amateur Radio Operators, should know and use these proficiently. But, I have not till now understood all there is to know about GPS, and I’m still to this day learning even more. The basic use of GPS is to give some one a precise location fix on where you are at any given time. But until a few weeks ago I was under the understanding that all GPS coordinates were the same. Boy was I wrong, and so far from the truth. GPS coordinates can be given in many different formats, and this was where I was lacking. The coordinates can be in several different types of formats, there are 4 major ones used:

Decimal Degrees (WGS84);

Degrees, Minutes & Seconds;

Basic GPS;

and UTM.

All GPS units use various different ones of these formats, whether it is Garmin, AVMap, Magellin, or DeLorme.

I still don’t know that I would be comfortable in saying that I know everything about GPS. But I have been doing some homework, I spoke to Jane Waldrop at TEMA West, and she told me they used the Degrees, Minutes & Seconds format. So with that in hand I figured that if it was what the State Agency used, then that would be the one we needed to use. So then I went to Chris Brazzell (Deputy Director J-MC EMA) and told him of my findings. Then he in turn agreed that if that was the one used by TEMA West, then that would be the one we needed to use as well. This way if we were ever needed to give a coordinate to the TEMA West office, we could give it to them in the format they use, so they would not have to waist time trying to get it converted. I feel that the time wasted there might hinder life saving time that was needed to save some ones life that may be in jeopardy.

So I feel that us as Storm Spotters, ARES Members, RACES Members, or even just concerned citizens, need to be aware of the various formats of GPS units and how to get them converted to best help some one that needs life saving help immediately. So I have taken that as an incentive to do some more home work, and come up with a site where the ordinary person can convert these GPS coordinates to the (what I feel needs to be) the State Standard Degrees, Minutes & Seconds. My findings are as follows, no matter what type of GPS unit you may own, you can go here to get it converted.

http://boulter.com/gps/

All you have to do is input your GPS’ format in the window and it will then convert and map out the coordinates right there before your eyes.

Thanks for the time and everyone’s help in this matter,

Robert E. McLaughlin (KI4WKW)