Communications Aid Software

[jks19714]

I am searching for a communications logging software package suitable for SAR mission support. 

Our commo operations tend to be physically separated from the incident staff - sometimes a floor away, sometimes several blocks.  I would like to eliminate the current voice transfer of ground and air team status with a computer application which we can "stream" on a large screen (projector or large LCD monitor).  It would be really nice if the application would pop up reminders for overdue checkins and permit multi-operator ops as well.

Has anyone seen such an application within CAP?

Thanks,
john

[EmergencyManager6]

IMU

[jks19714]

Looks like I need to play with IMU a bit.  I've heard of it, but never seen it run.

I did buy some 900 MHz Wireless LAN radios (Ubiquiti LocoM9) to back-haul an IP link from our radio vehicle to the command post.  I'm also planning to setup a pair of "red phones" over the link to try to break our dependency upon ISR radios.

Thanks,
john

[Larry Mangum]

IMU = need for a full-time IT guy. Seriously, Nevada wing probably uses the program better then even Oregon Wing does (Pete Anderson, home wing) and they utilize a full time IT guy just to keep it running during their distributed exercises and missions.  I believe Oregon does the same as well.

[jks19714]

IMU = need for a full-time IT guy. Seriously, Nevada wing probably uses the program better then even Oregon Wing does (Pete Anderson, home wing) and they utilize a full time IT guy just to keep it running during their distributed exercises and missions.  I believe Oregon does the same as well.

I had heard that.  We have a couple of new IT/Commo guys in our Wing now (I am one of them), so it might be doable.  We're currently engaged in refurbishing the Wing's Mobile Command Center with a new network and new PCs.

It would be nice if there was something more simple to use as a "half-way" step.

Thanks,
john

[EmergencyManager6]

Agreed.  Every time IMU was deployed in my Wing on a large deployment without a dedicated knowledgable IT team, it failed!

If using more than a few machines on the same WLAN, we saw many many packet collisions, and IMU froze!  Definatly need to look into a more professional network setup than the average 'Linksys' home WLAN router.

[Eclipse]

Google Docs.

[EmergencyManager6]

how about running an Instant Messenger app and server on your local network.

OpenFire IM Server works great, and is free!

[Eclipse]

IM's don't generally keep good logs or have formatting capability.

With Gdocs, you could recreate the standard log format, share it to anyone who needs it, publish it and archive it for perpetuity, etc.
The docs itself, along with the ability to edit it would be available on anything with a browser including mobile devices.

The recently upgraded apps have about 95% of the full functionality and same user experience as Office or Open Office, and 99.9% of the need for the average CAP user or ICP.

[EmergencyManager6]

Assuming you have internet access.

Openfire can run in a LAN, and has extensive logging capability.  as well as preformatted messages.

If you have internet access GDocs would be the best bet.

[Spaceman3750]

Assuming you have internet access.

Openfire can run in a LAN, and has extensive logging capability.  as well as preformatted messages.

If you have internet access GDocs would be the best bet.

Why are you setting up an ICP without internet access? I used to be a hardliner on being able to do things without it but NIMS principles require ICPs to be somewhere with infrastructure support and my wing in particular is pretty adamant about having internet access to release & log sorties via WMIRS.

[jks19714]

I would greatly prefer to do this without using the Internet.  While it is necessary to have access to WMIRS, our basic minute-to-minute ops should not be dependent on it.  The recent "burp" of the Google infrastructure should serve as an object lesson.

I could install an XMPP server like OpenFire, but I don't believe that it has satisfactory loggin facilities.

Might be time for me to dust-off my copy of Visual Studio and bang out a small app...  Or maybe I should hit the DRMO in search of a pair of Model 28 Teletypes. 

john

[jeders]

CAPSTAR

TXWG has been using CAPSTAR for exactly this for a couple of years now. CAPSTAR pulls sortie data from WMIRS and tracks the sortie from initial creation through briefing and release before it goes to the Comm section. From there it tracks radio check, wheels up/down, in/out grid, RTB with a color coded grid system that can be displayed with an internet connected computer and a projector. At 30 minutes past contact the sortie turns yellow, and at 45 minutes it turns red. This lets the IC know in real time who is and is not in contact. Every time contact is made with a sortie for any reason, the comm folks upgrade the grid with the click of one button thus allowing for a dynamic reporting system so you won't have 30 people trying to report at once.

Worried about loss of internet? The developer of CAPERS/CAPSTAR have already created back up servers for the system. I believe, though I'm not 100% positive, that they have also created stand alone servers that can be used at an ICP without the need for internet.

Additionally, Maj Gen Courter was recently briefed on this system at the TXWG Conference as several wings surrounding Texas have already begun the process of adopting CAPERS.

EDIT: I forgot to add this last bit. It is possible to update internet connected CAPSTAR Comm logs with email or text messaging. This is especially helpful for GTs operating in an area with poor voice communication capabilities and no high bird. a text message can get through to the system when a radio or voice cell signal will not.

[EmergencyManager6]

Were in NIMS does it require internet access?  Please site

What if your in a disaster area with no internet?  So no internet = no mission?

What if we have a catastrophic event and no internet for miles?

What if your ISP has a disruption of service?

[jeders]

Were in NIMS does it require internet access?  Please site

What if your in a disaster area with no internet?  So no internet = no mission?

What if we have a catastrophic event and no internet for miles?

What if your ISP has a disruption of service?

NIMS doesn't require internet exactly, but one of the basic guidelines for setting up an ICP is to place it in an area where you have access to stable infrastructure. This may mean that your ICP is 100 miles away from the disaster, that's why staging areas, bases, and camps are placed near the disaster area, not the ICP.

[Spaceman3750]

Here's a mock-up of something I could do. This would be the streaming screen, plus air sorties. Another interface would give access to contact logs, sortie entry, etc. This would be web-based PHP/MySQL and could be run remotely or on a machine at mission base when paired with Uniform Server or some other LAMP server.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5478916/status/status.htm

If you guys really want something like this I would consider seeing what I could do. There's just so much else out there for this that I'm concerned about duplicating functionality.

[jks19714]

Do you have a contact for CAPSTAR? I came across that system yesterday on a CAP Incident Commanders website. 

If it is hostable on a small Linux box, it might be just the ticket.  Perhaps I could "appliance it" on a small mini-ITX platform with solid state disk if it's written using PHP, PERL or the like.  Something without moving parts!

john

[Spaceman3750]

Were in NIMS does it require internet access?  Please site

What if your in a disaster area with no internet?  So no internet = no mission?

What if we have a catastrophic event and no internet for miles?

What if your ISP has a disruption of service?

Then you fall back on to paper and UHF/VHF simplex - but that's the exception, not the norm. Like I said, I used to be just like you, but I think that if you're setting up an ICP without infrastructure support you're not being as effective as you could be. In the catastrophic event you describe there's going to be large incident command centers or other EOC-type facilities set up to run the incident that are going to have these capabilities even in a catastrophe. Get into that space and you'll be fine, IMHO.

[jeders]

Maj Jack Lewis, contact info here.

[davidsinn]

So no internet = no mission?

Yep. Unless you can get into WMIRS airplanes do not fly.

[jeders]

So no internet = no mission?

Yep. Unless you can get into WMIRS airplanes do not fly.

No, you do a Form 99 paper release and then enter it into WMIRS ASAP.

[jks19714]

So no internet = no mission?

Yep. Unless you can get into WMIRS airplanes do not fly.

The Sun stops shining, birds fall out the sky, .... Newton's laws are no longer valid.   The entire emergency response goes out-of-service in the event of a DNS failure perhaps? (this has happened twice to the Winlink 2000 infrastructure recently, BTW)

[davidsinn]

So no internet = no mission?

Yep. Unless you can get into WMIRS airplanes do not fly.

No, you do a Form 99 paper release and then enter it into WMIRS ASAP.

You are correct.

[EmergencyManager6]

wow....so your saying that if we have an internet failure then all CAP operations stop?  are you kidding!
F99???  ring a bell?

UHF?   Explaine were we use UHF? 

"Like I said, I used to be just like you"  whats that mean?   You dont know who I am, and what my experience is!

"In the catastrophic event you describe there's going to be large incident command centers or other EOC-type facilities set up to run the incident that are going to have these capabilities even in a catastrophe. Get into that space and you'll be fine"

So again CAP is going to rely on others to give us what we need?  EOC's DO NOT run an incident.  EOC's support the local ICP's  Again another flaw in CAP's thinking.  You DO NOT run tactical operations out of an EOC.  Why cant CAP relize that we can not rely on others for internet, and support?

[Larry Mangum]

Who says we do? Alabama wing has 3 hotspot cards, as part of mission deployment kits. This allows us to deploy just about anywhere a cell phone works and have internet capability.

[EmergencyManager6]

Thats all and good.  But what if you dont have cell service?

[Spaceman3750]

wow....so your saying that if we have an internet failure then all CAP operations stop?  are you kidding!
F99???  ring a bell?

UHF?   Explaine were we use UHF? 

"Like I said, I used to be just like you"  whats that mean?   You dont know who I am, and what my experience is!

"In the catastrophic event you describe there's going to be large incident command centers or other EOC-type facilities set up to run the incident that are going to have these capabilities even in a catastrophe. Get into that space and you'll be fine"

So again CAP is going to rely on others to give us what we need?  EOC's DO NOT run an incident.  EOC's support the local ICP's  Again another flaw in CAP's thinking.  You DO NOT run tactical operations out of an EOC.  Why cant CAP relize that we can not rely on others for internet, and support?

Calm down . When I said I was "like you" I meant in terms of everything we do being able to run without internet access for days or weeks. Of course I have no idea who you are or your background. If your screen name has any bearing on your full-time job or role in our organization you probably have way more experience on this subject than I do, and I respect that. Consider this an "outsider's perspective".

And as for UHF - ISRs are UHF if I recall. That's what I was referring to but I should have been more specific.

Finally, let me give you a practical example. Here in Illinois the New Madrid fault line is of major concern to us. Projections are that everywhere north of Springfield should be mostly OK and everywhere south is problematic if there is a major quake. Our wing headquarters is in Chicago. If I were the guy in charge (and I wouldn't be, this is a "looking up" sort of perspective) of a New Madrid incident, I would use our wing's two RDP HF kits to run a mission base out of wing headquarters where infrastructure will be mostly intact (with a hardline, internet, etc) and have a staging area somewhere south with the other RDP. We also have plenty of places to the south where we could also set up an ICP if need be but still where we will have infrastructure.

The advent of RDPs and HF-ALE make it fairly easy for us to run an ICP almost anywhere within HF range and have staging areas in the "hot zones". In a total doomsday scenario, if we really have to, we fall back onto good old paper and go do our jobs.

I don't even remember where we started with this. Choose a technology and use it. If it requires internet, great. If it doesn't, that's great too. I like all of the suggestions here - technology can make our incidents much easier to run and safer, and the use of IT to manage incidents should be the norm. My point is that if you're putting ICPs at ground zero of a cataclysm you're not doing it right.

[EmergencyManager6]

yes ISR is UHF, but pretty limited.

Im glad to see that you have at least a backup plan in place.  ALE is cool and all but i woundlt rely 100% on it.
The FEDS have a ALE system im place , and in 'blue sky' it is spotty at best.

We need to be forward thinking and have a plan in place if we do lose connectivity.

Satellite internet?

[jks19714]

One thing that I am working on to reduce our reliance on the Internet is installing a small network-attached storage box (2 500GB disks, mirrored) in the Wing's Mobile Command Center to store topo maps, sectionals, forms, etc. 

We'll probably end-up running IMU3 in virtual server mode on an on-board server (little mini-ITX box).  The network is a Netgear business-class gigabit Ethernet switch with a Kyocera KR2 firewall/router for a USB-tethered cellphone (Internet) and a Ubiquiti Bullet2HP wireless access point.

It would be really nice if National would authorize the use of soundcard-based digital modes like WINMOR to enable us to send/receive formal message traffic without resorting to relatively error-prone voice transfer...

john

[EmergencyManager6]

One thing that I am working on to reduce our reliance on the Internet is installing a small network-attached storage box (2 500GB disks, mirrored) in the Wing's Mobile Command Center to store topo maps, sectionals, forms, etc. 

We'll probably end-up running IMU3 in virtual server mode on an on-board server (little mini-ITX box).  The network is a Netgear business-class gigabit Ethernet switch with a Kyocera KR2 firewall/router for a USB-tethered cellphone (Internet) and a Ubiquiti Bullet2HP wireless access point.

It would be really nice if National would authorize the use of soundcard-based digital modes like WINMOR to enable us to send/receive formal message traffic without resorting to relatively error-prone voice transfer...

john

Sounds like you got a good plan.

"Better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission."  In a disaster if you got to use data on HF just do it.