Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
February 3, 2016
Page 5
Telecom, Public Safety implement ham radio system
O
ver the past 10 years, the
Warm Springs Public Safety Branch
and emergency response manager
Dan Martinez have been working
to fund and build out the public
safety radio network on the reser-
vation.
This is critical for the protection
of the people and visitors on the
reservation, enabling two-way, inter-
operable communications for first-
responders.
The team has built new towers,
shared with the Warm Springs
Telecom, to place the necessary
equipment.
They have purchased new re-
peaters, hand-helds, and mobile
equipment, meeting the new federal
standards.
These upgrades ensure inter-op-
erable communications between the
various War m Springs depart-
ments, including police and fire, and
outside agencies.
The team secured the purchase
of new dispatch consoles and soft-
ware, and created a new inter-op-
erable microwave link with the
Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Depart-
ment.
All of these initiatives enhance
the protection and safety of the
people on the reservation.
Ham radio
An exciting new step to further
increase public safety has now been
achieved with a recent grant to pur-
chase and install new ‘ham radio’
equipment.
In times of emergency, when
normal public safety communica-
tions are not available, ham radio
systems—also referred to as ama-
teur radio—are an alternative that
may be used for this purpose.
In fact, current FCC rules—gov-
erning public safety requirements—
state that “amateur stations and op-
erators are allowed to assist and sup-
port public safety communications
in times of emergency.”
Warm Springs received a state
grant to purchase ham radio equip-
ment.
A ham radio repeater was in-
stalled on Eagle Butte last year.
Josh Richesin, manager of engi-
neering and operations for Warm
Springs Telecom, assisted in the
Rare outage in January at Telecom
Snow, icy roads, and closed
schools and administrative offices
are facts of life in the winter here
on the Warm Springs Reservation.
We have lived with these wintry
conditions forever.
Now comes one new problem
that these winter conditions can
cause here in Warm Springs.
Snowy winter weather can also
impact our new tribal telecom com-
pany, Warm Springs Telecom.
Snow came to Warm Springs on
January 5, and unfortunately it cre-
ated a large outage for the Telecom.
Snow blocked the roads, and a
downed tree brought down the tele-
phone lines, preventing access to the
towers to fix our service. Telecom
phone and internet service was lost
for about an hour and a half.
As soon as our remote monitor-
ing equipment detected a power
outage on the network, the dedi-
cated Telecom staff jumped into
action. They attempted to get to
the two sites as soon as possible—
one above the Pelton Dam, and a
second outage at Eagle Butte.
When an outage like this occurs,
a power surge trips the breakers, and
a person has to get to the site to
reset them. Unfortunately, the
heavy snow and the tree in the road
made getting to these sites difficult.
Thankfully, with the help of the
Warm Springs Construction De-
partment, these problems were re-
solved in a timely manner.
An hour and a half may seem
like a very long time. But in fact—
with Construction removing the tree
and clearing the road to the Pelton
Dam—the two tribally owned com-
panies worked together quickly to
solve this problem.
Thank you to the Construction
crew for their quick action to solve
the problem for the Telecom.
This is the first winter since the
Telecom began that such a prob-
lem has occurred: The network was
engineered to the highest standards
to prevent outages such as this.
However, nature is often more
powerful than man-made telecom
networks. And while no one can
guarantee that such situations won’t
happen again, the Telecom has since
bought a snow mobile to enable the
company to reach the remote tow-
ers in case of future problems.
The Warm Springs Telecom
apologizes for the inconvenience
this incident caused our custom-
ers.
With our new snowmobile, we
hope that this will not create simi-
lar service interruptions in the
future.
We are committed to providing
the best service to our Warm Springs
families, businesses and friends. Sin-
cerely,
The Warm Springs Telecom staff
Drama Club performing ‘Robin Hood’ at Performing Arts Center
The Madras High School Drama
Club will present Robin of the Hood:
Wanted Dead or Alive at the Per-
forming Arts Center.
There will be 7 p.m. shows on
Friday, Feb. 12, and Saturday, Feb.
13. A 2 p.m. matinee will be on
Sunday, Feb. 14.
Tickets are $7 for adults, and $4
for students. Children under 5 are
free. Look for pre-sale tickets
priced at $5 for adults and $3 for
students.
You can purchase tickets from
any Drama Club, or from Misty
Adams, high school bookkeeper.
installation.
The tribes and Warm Springs
Telecom developed a plan that calls
for the Telecom to serve as the
back-up communication site and
secondary command post for disas-
ter preparedness and communica-
tions.
“In the last few months, I have
challenged the state to recognize our
tribes as a ham radio communi-
cations hub that can provide cov-
erage within our boundaries and
beyond,” said Dan Martinez.
“With that said, we are finally re-
ceiving the grants dollars to support
our objective and improve ham
operators’ communications…
These ham operators will function
as part of our public safety public
safety network.”
Dan was asked why—with all the
improvements that the tribes have
made in recent years with its public
safety radio network—this ham ra-
dio network is important to the
tribes.
“It is imperative as a tribal na-
tion,” Mr. Martinez said, “that we
assure communication with our out-
side resources in the event our po-
lice channels or communications
should be compromised, or should
shut down due to a disaster such as
an earthquake, mudslides or flood.”
Josh Richesin has been a ham
radio operator for the past 10 years.
He has been assigned as the ham
radio contact person.
“With the rivers, canyons and
mountains on the reservation, we
are bound to have critical inci-
dents,” Josh was saying recently.
“ And if we have a disaster, the
ham radio network is a critical back-
up system. And it’s often the first
one to be back in service.”
Amateur radio service operators
must be licensed users who operate
radio communications as a hobby
or a voluntary service, running
within amateur radio frequencies
allocated by the FCC .
Anyone interested in becoming
an amateur ham radio operator is
required to pass an FCC licensing
exam to prove that the individual
possesses the operational and tech-
nical qualifications required. This
guarantees that all operators have
the skills to perform the services
that maybe required during an
emergency.
If you are interested in training
to become a licensed operator, in-
formation will be made available to
the community soon.
Heart Smart Dinner
Feb. 24 at the longhouse
The Model Diabetes Pro-
gram has set the date for the
Annual Heart Smart Dinner for
Wednesday, February 24. The
dinner will be at the Agency
Longhouse from 4 to 7 p.m.
There will be a healthy
salmon dinner. The drummers
will bless this event. We will find
something fun to do with attend-
ees, and there will be a raffle,
gifts for children, and a mini
health fair from 4 to 5.
We are inviting all staff, fam-
ily and friends to join us for this
fun event… the more the mer-
rier. My friend, for mer co-
worker and now mayor of Ma-
dras Royce Embanks Jr. will be
a guest at Heart Smart.
If you would like to set up a
table at the health fair, call Jeri
Kollen at 541-553-6289. Or
email:
jeri.kollen@ihs.gov
You can also call Loraine at
541-553-6292.
I will be asking for volun-
teers and any donations for the
raffle and gifts. I will be happy
to pick up items or you can
drop off at the Community
Health window at the Health
and Wellness Center.
If you have any questions
about Heart Smart, give me a
call at 541-553-6290.
This event is sponsored by
the Model Diabetes Program,
Health and Wellness Center,
Warm Springs Senior Center
and The Diabetes Prevention
Program.
Thank you. We look forward
to seeing your smiling faces.
K a t S p a u l d i n g , Heart
Smart Dinner coordinator.
All Jefferson County students in grades 4 through 12 are
invited to enter the Second Annual Eagle Watch Art Con-
test. The deadline is February 15 at 3 p.m. Enter artwork
that shows your love for birds of prey. Students can submit
artwork to their school, or the Cove State Park office. For
more information, call Clay Penhollow at 541-553-2001.
Clif f ’ s Repair & Auto Sales
475-6618
Free Towing
on $500 or
more invoice
2321
Ollallie
Lane
Warm
Springs
Call 541-
553-1182
24 Hour Towing
330 S.W.
Culver Hwy.
Madras
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