The Black Saturday Fires Amateur Radio Emergency Response

1
The Black Saturday FiresAmateur Radio Emergency
Response

• Tony VK3JED
• April 5 2009
• With Assistance from Mark VK3XMU, WICEN Victoria

1
2
Contents

• Meteorology
• The 12 Year Drought
• January 2009 Heatwave
• Feb 7, 2009 "Black Saturday
• WICEN Victoria Activation
• Details of WICEN Victoria Activation
• The HF to VoIP Link
• System Design and Implementation for WICEN
  Activation
• Block Diagram
• Future Upgrades
• Thanks

2
3
The 12 Year Drought

• The state of Victoria has experienced an extended
  period of below average rainfall, since the mid
  1990s.  
• Melbourne's rainfall has been 20 below the long
  term average during this period.
• Prolonged dry conditions have caused forest fuels
  to dry out and become highly flammable.

3
4
January 2009 Heatwave

• January 28-30 saw some extreme heatwave 
  conditions in Southeastern Australia.
• Many notable high temperature events occurred
• Most consecutive days over 43C in Melbourne (3),
  accompanied by low humidity (5-8).
• Equaling the most consecutive overnight minimum
  temperatures over 20C (68F) - 6 (29 Jan - 3 Feb),
  set in 1908.
• 2nd (Jan 30 45.1C), and 4th (Jan 28)  highest
  temperatures recorded in Melbourne (relegated to
  3rd and 5th highest respectively after Feb 7).

4
5
"Black Saturday" - Feb 7, 2009.

• February 7 2009 had all the ingredients for a
  severe fire day.  The Fire Danger index exceeded
  200, the highest value ever recorded.  50 is
  considered "extreme"
•  Temperatures reached a record 46.4C in Melbourne
  (47.5 in the western suburbs).
• Wind speeds exceeded 100km/h as the pre-frontal
  trough passed. 
• A meteorological report on the  heatwave can be
  downloaded from http//www.bom.gov.au/climate/curr
  ent/statements/scs17c.pdf .

5
6
"Black Saturday" - Feb 7, 2009.

• Several major fires broke out across Victoria
  during the day.  At least 2 were deliberately
  lit.
• Over 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) were
  burned.
• Over 2000 houses were destroyed, 3500 buildings
  total.  Several towns were virtually wiped off
  the map.
• 173 lives were lost.
• At least one "pyrotornado" was observed at the
  height of the fires.

6
7
7
8
WICEN Victoria Activation - 1

• WICEN was activated on Feb 9, 2009.
• Initial task was to provide a radio link between
  the devastated town of Kinglake and the Alexandra
  MECC (Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre).
  Links were implemented using HF and VHF.
• Once regular communications were restored to
  Kinglake, WICEN operators were utilised to
  operate CFA and DSE radios at the Alexandra ICC
  (Incident Command Centre).  A team of 5 operators
  was used to staff the Alexandra ICC and MECC.
• A WICEN operator assisted with restoration of
  broadcast services at Flowerdale.

8
9
WICEN Victoria Activation - 2

• WICEN provided a link between Alexandra and
  Narbethong, until phone services were restored,
  using 2metres and 6 metres.  Two operators were
  used for 3 days for this role.
• A team of firefighters was deployed to McAdams
  Hill.  Due to uncertainties with coverage of the
  SMR (State Mobile Radio) and mobile phones, WICEN
  was used to provide backup communications on HF
  and UHF.
• WICEN operators were utilised at 3 more ICCs,
  towards the end of the activation.
• A WICEN operator was utilised at Wesburn Airbase
  for "flight following", until the base was closed
  after the fires.

9
10
WICEN Victoria Activation - 3

• During the activation, a regular HF WICEN net was
  held on 3.600 MHz every day at 1000 and 2130
  local time (UTC11).  This net fulfilled several
  purposes
• Kept WICEN members and the wider Amateur
  community informed.
• Deployed operators send situation reports to
  admin.
• WICEN Admin publicised shifts and called for
  volunteers.
• Amateurs tested their emergency comms
  capabilities.
• From 27 Feb, activity on the 3.600 MHz WICEN
  frequency was linked to EchoLink to allow global
  monitoring.

10
11
WICEN Victoria Activation -4

• Extensive use of non radio media were utilised by
  WICEN during the activation.  WICEN's callout
  system uses mobile phone SMS, and many
  deployments were arranged by phone.  Email was
  used to send Activation Updates to members and
  volunteers.  These updates were also posted on
  the web.
• Statistics over the 28 day activation -
• 52 operators deployed - 36 WICEN (Vic), 16 non
  WICEN (Vic). 
• 4 interstate operators deployed.
• HF Net - 53 nets, 3 NCOs, 617 total checkins.
• 80 stations checked in (VK3 - 67, VK2 - 5, VK4 -
  1, VK7 - 3)

11
12
HF to VoIP Link

• A HF to VoIP link was utilised to relay traffic
  from 3.600 MHz to EchoLink.
• The link was based on a design that was utilised
  on 2m SSB for 2 years. 
• The interface had to reject channel noise, yet
  detect speech close to the noise floor on a noisy
  SSB channel.
• The design utilises a commercially built DSP
  noise reduction unit, followed by a custom
  designed PIC based controller.
• To minimise noise pickup from the PC, a UHF link
  was utilised between the HF radio and the PC. 

12
13
HF to EchoLink Block Diagram
13
14
HF to VoIP Link - Future Upgrades

• The HF link can be easily upgraded to full
  transmit/receive capability by adding a UHF
  receiver at the HF radio end, and the appropriate
  audio and PTT lines at the EchoLink PC.  The PIC
  controller is designed for full transceive
  operation.
• The current DSP has issues under certain signal
  conditions.  If the speech detection could be
  completely implemented in software, the system
  would be more reliable.  
• Failing full digital implementation, some
  interference can be prevented from triggering the
  VOX by simply filtering off the higher audio
  frequencies before the peak detector. 
• The system needs to be moved to a quiet country
  location for best performance.

14
15
Thanks

• Australian Bureau of Meteorology - for the
  meterological information presented here.
• Mark A Dods VK3XMU - for details regarding the
  WICEN (Vic) activation.

15