Idaho ARES - ICS-205 Communications Planning Worksheet

Idaho ARES - ICS-205 Communications Planning Worksheet - Exercises

Served agencies and organizations manage incidents and events using the Incident Command System (ICS). The Incident Command System provides a comprehensive set of forms to support incident management (see DHS, FEMA, IOEM & ARES Resources) Within ICS, communications management is performed by the Communications Unit Leader. Within ARES, the Emergency Coordinator serves as the Communications Unit Leader. A list of available frequencies / channels is maintained within a single ICS-217A Communications Resource Availability Worksheet form. Communications planning then occurs in an ICS-205 Communications Planning Worksheet, which draws assigned frequencies / channels from the ICS-217A form. The base set of forms is provided by the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. It is not unusual for an agency or organization to make modifications of the forms to better fit their needs. Idaho ARES has modified these forms to better support Idaho ARES activities, with modifications primarily eliminating features of the forms that are not applicble to Amateur Radio (i.e. the removal of memory zones and radio trunking related fields).

Within the Incident Command System, all activities, including training and exercises, are incidents. Idaho ARES has provided some structure to incident naming that provides a consistent description format that has the incident name indicate the type and location of the incident. Location information aligns with the structure of the Idaho ARES organization, and from top-down, includes statewide, district and county locales. Incident types include general planning, exercises, training, incidents & events, and NET activities.

The ICS-205 publication facility is available to support all Idaho ARES activiites. Emergency Coordinators, at all levels, have the ability to insert communications resources into a master ICS-217A Communications Resource Availability Worksheet, and then create an ICS-205 Communications Planning Worksheet, resulting in immediate publication of the ICS-205 on the appropriate pages found under the Activities menu.

Idaho ARES membes should use the ICS-205 Communications Planning Worksheets as their primary resource for participation and support of Idaho ARES activities. Idaho ARES membes should avoid self-deploying to any incident, and should always contact their Emergency Coordinator and indicate their availability to be deployed at the discretion of the Emergency Coordinator.

CH CONFIGURATION REFERENCE
VALUE	DESCRIPTION
FM	Frequency Modulation
USB	Upper Side Band (Used on 60m, 20-10m, and for HF digital Modes).
LSB	Lower Side Band (Used on 160 through 40m, excluding 60m).

CH CONFIGURATION REFERENCE

VALUE

DESCRIPTION

Frequency Modulation

USB

Upper Side Band (Used on 60m, 20-10m, and for HF digital Modes).

LSB

Lower Side Band (Used on 160 through 40m, excluding 60m).

USERS REFERENCE
VALUE	DESCRIPTION
TECH OR HIGHER	Frequency requires a Control Operator holding a Technician Class License or higher.
GEN OR HIGHER	Frequency requires a Control Operator holding a General Class License or higher.
ALL LICENSE CLASSES	Frequency requires a Control Operator holding any Class License.

USERS REFERENCE

VALUE

DESCRIPTION

TECH OR HIGHER

Frequency requires a Control Operator holding a Technician Class License or higher.

GEN OR HIGHER

Frequency requires a Control Operator holding a General Class License or higher.

ALL LICENSE CLASSES

Frequency requires a Control Operator holding any Class License.

RX & TX TONE / ACCESS REFERENCE
The ACCESS field may require one or more of the following:
VALUE	DESCRIPTION
CSQ	Carrier Squelch
PL	Private Line tone. Include tone after PL designation.
CTCSS	CTCSS tone. Include tone after CTCSS designation.
DPL	Digital Private Line. Include code after DPL designation.
DCS	Digital Coded Squelch (DCS). Include code after DCS designation.
CC	Color Code (Applies to DMR). Include number (0...15) after CC designation (e.g. CC1).
TS	Time-Slot (Applies to DMR). Include number (1 or 2) after TS designation (e.g. TS1).
TG	Talk-Group (Applies to DMR or NXDN). Include number after TG designation (e.g. TG31160).
RAN	Radio Access Number (NXDN). Include number after RAN designation (e.g. RAN1).
NAC	Network Access Code (P25). Include code (0...4095) after NAC designation (e.g. NAC0).

RX & TX TONE / ACCESS REFERENCE

The ACCESS field may require one or more of the following:

VALUE

DESCRIPTION

CSQ

Carrier Squelch

Private Line tone. Include tone after PL designation.

CTCSS

CTCSS tone. Include tone after CTCSS designation.

DPL

Digital Private Line. Include code after DPL designation.

DCS

Digital Coded Squelch (DCS). Include code after DCS designation.

Color Code (Applies to DMR). Include number (0...15) after CC designation (e.g. CC1).

Time-Slot (Applies to DMR). Include number (1 or 2) after TS designation (e.g. TS1).

Talk-Group (Applies to DMR or NXDN). Include number after TG designation (e.g. TG31160).

RAN

Radio Access Number (NXDN). Include number after RAN designation (e.g. RAN1).

NAC

Network Access Code (P25). Include code (0...4095) after NAC designation (e.g. NAC0).

MODE REFERENCE
VALUE	DESCRIPTION
A	Analog (i.e. FM, USB, LSB)
D	Digital (hiphenate and append modes as shown below)
M	Mixed Mode (combined analog and digital)
D-ALE	Automatic Link Establishment
DV	Digital Voice
D-C4FM	Yaesu Fusion.
D-D*	Icom D-Star.
D-NXDN	Next Generation Digital Narrowband.
D-P25	P25 Interoperable standard for Public Safety.
D-DMR	Digital Mobile Radio (including MotoTrbo).
D-PSK	PSK modems [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM] with no Forward Error Correction (FEC).
D-MT63	MT-63 modems (usually long interleave) 5, 10 or 20 baud modem with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-WL2K	WinLink 2000, including use of WINMOR modem
D-OLIVIA	Olvia modems with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-PSKR	PSKR modems with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-MFSK	MFSK modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-THOR	THOR modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-THROB	THROB modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).
D-CONTESTIA	CONTESTIA modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

MODE REFERENCE

VALUE

DESCRIPTION

Analog (i.e. FM, USB, LSB)

Digital (hiphenate and append modes as shown below)

Mixed Mode (combined analog and digital)

D-ALE

Automatic Link Establishment

Digital Voice

D-C4FM

Yaesu Fusion.

D-D*

Icom D-Star.

D-NXDN

Next Generation Digital Narrowband.

D-P25

P25 Interoperable standard for Public Safety.

D-DMR

Digital Mobile Radio (including MotoTrbo).

D-PSK

PSK modems [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM] with no Forward Error Correction (FEC).

D-MT63

MT-63 modems (usually long interleave) 5, 10 or 20 baud modem with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-WL2K

WinLink 2000, including use of WINMOR modem

D-OLIVIA

Olvia modems with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-PSKR

PSKR modems with FEC. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-MFSK

MFSK modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-THOR

THOR modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-THROB

THROB modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

D-CONTESTIA

CONTESTIA modems with FEC [NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EMCOM]. Center on 1500 Hz. Use RSID (i.e. TxID and RxID).

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