German Emergency Communications - Amateur Radio Supporting German's Civil Protection
All things happened in the past at Notfunk Deutschland …
Published on December 5th, 2011
This year's Dortmunder Amateurfunktreffen (Ham Radio Convention in Dortmund) is history now. We had been pleased to meet so many interested amateur radio enthusiasts on December 3rd. We had taken the opportunity to talk with many of them about emergency communications in Germany. All amateur radio enthusiasts from abroad interested in emergency communications are very welcome to visit us again at DAT next year!
Published on November 14th, 2011
At this year's GlobalSET Notfunk Deutschland took part with two stations. We have tried to summarize our observations and conclusions for you.
| Call | QTH | Locator | Operators | Working Conditions | Power Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DK0JUH | Vollrather Höhe, near Cologne | JO31IB | DL8KE, DO6BY, DO1ERS |
3,5 und 7MHz: NVIS antenna, 14-28MHz: mobile whip antenna, 100Watt |
AC-Netz |
| DK0NOT | Heidelberg | JN49IJ | DL5DG, operations only 1000 - 1145 UTC |
3,5-21MHz: vertical dipole antenna, 50W |
AC-Netz |
On 3MHz and 7MHz we did not notice any GlobalSET traffic. In the Emergency Center of Activity (CoA) on 14MHz we have spotted heavy duty but on 18MHz and 21MHz only a few GlobalSET stations. From Germany and the countries around we had not heard any GlobalSET signals.
A reason might be the antenna setup of DK0JUH and the QRM of S9 at DK0NOT on 3MHz. Obviously there were no other stations than DK0JUH using a NVIS antenna. On the bands above 10MHz all stations located close to us disappeared in the skip zone.
The control station GB4NRC announced their operations on the bands upon 10MHz before the beginning of GlobalSET. Additionally we noticed that GB4NRC had worked on 14MHz most of the time especially during the operations of DK0NOT. We assume that most of the GlobalSET stations had tried to send their messages to GB4NRC directly. This would explain our band's observations. Nevertheless, GB4NRC had managed the pile-up professionally.
When we called "CQ GlobalSET" in the Emergency CoA of the bands or about 5 to 15kHz aside we had been worked by other GlobalSET station very quickly. We assume that some GlobalSET stations had been waiting for GB4NRC to begin its operations.
We could find out that the procedure to submit a header, the addressee and a message text had reduced errors due to QRM and QSB. Most of the message texts consisted of weather reports or fun like "we need coffee". The usage of a message form is recommended.
During the short operation of DK0NOT we transmitted seven messages. We also forwarded two messages from a 9H and EA directly to GB4NRC on 14MHz and 18MHz.
We assume that emergency stations in disaster areas will work with less power (1-20W) and with workaround antennas having less gain like the configuration of DK0JUH. Regarding our GlobalSET's observations we also assume that these stations will not be able to work an international headquarter station directly. Other stations will be needed to receive and forward their messages to the headquarter station.
We also think that NVIS antennas are not the proper antennas to establish emergency communications all over Europe. During the next GobalSET we will try to find out how far you can work with a NVIS antenna depending on HF power and daytime.
We had changed the message procedure a little bit. After transmitting the message header or a set of five words we asked "QSL?". We also did a spacing of a second between two words in a message text and during spelling out a name. This had reduced our time of transmission because the receiving partner had not to ask for several repetitions.
We would like remind that it is not the GlobalSET station's duty to submit messages to the region's control station exclusively. We would like to suggest to exchange messages with any workable GlobalSET stations to build up a network. This may enforce the operations of stations working under emergency conditions.
Additionally we would like to suggest to run a GlobalSET in 2012 in the evening to practise emergency communications under other propagation conditions.
Published on September 1st, 2011
The German-Dutch Days of Radio Amateurs (DNAT) had taken place in Bad Bentheim like 43 years before.
From 25th until 28th August, 2011 many amateur radio enthusiasts mainly from the Netherlands and Germany took the opportunity to meet old and new friends. The programme was rather comprehensive. A celebrated award show, mobile contests (with bicycles, too!), lectures and talks, sales event, information desks and a farewell party had been a good reason to travel to Bad Bentheim. Nevertheless, Bad Bentheim is also a very beautiful place to go setted in a nice scenery.
Notfunk Deutschland had shown presence at our own information desk. Viktor-Michael "Mickle" Kühnen, DG1FDV had ran a presentation showing the aspects of emergency communications in Germany. In a second presentation he pointed out the dangers of severe weather phenomenas and what you can do to protect yourself.
This convention had been fun for us. We met a lot of kind and interested people to talk about emergency communications. We would like to say thank you especially to the members of DARES we had met for the exchange of ideas.
See you again at DNAT in 2012!
Published on September 12th, 2011
During 24th until 26th June, 2011 amateur Radio enthusiasts from all over the world visited Europe's biggest amateur radio event. This was a great opportunity for Notfunk Deutschland to contribute an information desk presenting some of our equipment. Our representatives took the chance to give an insight into Notfunk Deutschland to many radio amateurs and technics enthusiasts.
It also had been a great pleasure to meet and to talk with representatives of emergency communication services from abroad. We would like to say thank you for the inspiring talks with you.
There is no doubt that Notfunk Deutschland will take part again in 2012. Please book 22nd to 24th June, 2012 into your calendar. We hope to meet you in Friedrichshafen!
