by Andy Elliott - K8LE Central Ohio ARES

 If a volunteer hospital antenna & radio tester arrives at a hospital during a drill or an actual emergency, and finds that the rooftop antenna is not functioning, what alternatives are there?

 That is the underlying question of this study, which is an effort to find working, practical alternate antennas, or other methods of communication, at each hospital location.

 Some types of emergencies such as tornados or violent storms could result in damage to rooftop antennas  Lightning has destroyed one rooftop antenna already  Shorted coax has shut down a location  Despite monthly testing, problems can occur at any time  Murphy says if anything can go wrong, it will!

 The goal is to determine the alternate antenna solutions and document them on each hospital datasheet, so that no time is lost searching for an antenna solution during an actual emergency or drill.

 All of the COARES volunteers in the Hospital Antenna & Radio Testing Program were invited to participate in this study.  All the alternate emergency backup antennas, or methods, that were found to work satisfactorily at the various hospitals, were identified by our testing volunteers.  The study could not have been completed without their participation and efforts – a hearty thanks to all who took part!

 The following alternate antennas, or means of communicating, were considered in the course of this study:  roll-up J-pole antenna  mag-mount antenna placed on a metal surface  HT on 2m or 70cm  portable mobile antenna  crossband repeat

 This was our original backup antenna, placed in each COTS Radio case ready to be taped to a window.  Initial results were very favorable.  Then problems arose! Some newer hospital windows were found to have low emissivity (low E) glass, which blocks radio signals.  We realized that a customized solution may be needed at each hospital  This was the impetus for this study

 This was trialed at three locations and found to be effective at two locations

 HTs were tried in the ER and at other locations convenient to the ER, or in lobby or hallway locations, with mixed results  Sometimes effective on VHF or UHF but not both  Sometimes effective only on certain repeaters

 A few volunteers had a portable mobile antenna which was trialed at three locations, with good results at two locations.

 This was the star performer!  When nothing else worked, crossband repeat saved the day  A UHF HT was used inside the hospital  The ham’s transceiver (equipped with crossband repeat capability) in their vehicle was linked to (typically) our repeater.  This is the method of choice when all others fail to perform

 Only seven or so hospital testing volunteers have a radio with crossband repeat  Most use a Yaesu FT-8800R, FT-8900R or Kenwood TM-V71  This capability is also very useful for some public service events when you want the convenience of an HT but need a higher power radio & better antenna to contact the repeater  If planning for a new radio, consider one with crossband repeat capability!

Summary of Results

 Hospital datasheets have been updated to describe all alternate antennas and methods that can be used at each hospital  This eliminates time wasted in a drill or emergency in an attempt to find an alternate antenna  This is an important improvement in our capability to respond to emergencies!  Thanks again to our hospital testing volunteers – you are the greatest!