Türkiye Radyo Amatörleri Cemiyeti

Stand at the Ham Radio amateur radio fair , Friedrichshafen (2012)

Türkiye Radyo Amatörleri Cemiyeti (TRAC, German: Turkish Amateur Radio Association ) is the national amateur radio association of Turkey .

history

The TRAC was founded in 1962 and has been a member of the IARU since 1965 . Since Act No. 3222 from 1937, which was in force at the time, required a license for all radio operations, which was even denied to city administrations (except gas works and fire brigades), the association concentrated on the publication of an electronics magazine ("TRAC Mecmuasi") and on the implementation of electronics courses. In addition, with the support of the Association of Electrical Engineers and the Ministry of Defense, petitions were sent to the Turkish Parliament in 1965 and 1967 to amend the law to allow amateur radio access. Both petitions went through all parliamentary bodies, but were never submitted to the plenary for a vote.

Ham radio was fully approved in Turkey by a change in the law in 1983. In order to justify the mention of amateur radio in the new law, the Legislative Assembly (the parliament during the military regime) named "the outstanding merits of this radio service in disaster cases".

The period until the law was changed in 1983 was the continuation of the magazine and the training courses, accompanied by the amateur radio operations of some TRAC members and foreign NATO personnel stationed in Turkey with an amateur radio license from their home country. The QSL cards from these stations were only accepted for the DXCC amateur radio diploma if these stations were registered with the TRAC. The official start of amateur radio in Turkey took place with the change in law and the associated ordinance that followed in 1984. The first license was given to the late Unal Akbal ( amateur radio call sign TA1A). More followed from spring 1985.

Development of emergency radio activities

The explicit mention of emergency radio in the amendment to the law, which ultimately led to the release of amateur radio 46 years after the first law, was seen by the TRAC as an obligation for a commitment in this regard.

TRAC made the first push for emergency radio in 1986. The basis for this was, in addition to the Amateur Radio Ordinance with express references to emergency radio, an article of the Civil Protection Act that explicitly provided for the participation of volunteers in civil protection . For some inexplicable reason, this initiative was initially not accepted by the administration. The next opportunity came in 1990 when a TRAC member received a call-up for a civil defense exercise. This call-up was for a "militia exercise," so it had nothing to do with communication. This TRAC member made the proposal to take over communication in civil protection on a volunteer basis. The proposal was accepted immediately, and a week later TRAC took over the telecommunications of a civil defense exercise held in Istanbul .

Thus, the TRAC became the first voluntary institution in Turkey ever to work with the state on disasters. Although no formal framework for cooperation with civil defense had yet been formulated, the TRAC was invited to many nationwide exercises in the same year and was given the task of radio. In November 1990, on the occasion of a large-scale exercise in Ankara , the verbal request came to support the civil defense during the Second Gulf War, which was looming on the horizon . At the beginning of 1991 this request was granted and the civil defense was supported by the TRAC in "maintaining the alarm communication" during the first Gulf War and then a "manual for emergency communication" was handed over to the civil defense. As a result of this successful operation, the TRAC was given the status of a non-profit association by the Council of Ministers in an urgent procedure.

1991

In 1991 the Turkish Red Crescent got in contact with the earthquake region in Tbilisi ( Georgia , USSR ). The information received from the amateur radio station operated in the earthquake area with the call sign RF0FWW about the necessary relief supplies was transmitted by telex from Istanbul to the headquarters of the Turkish Crescent in Ankara and the reception of the aid convoy at the border with the Georgian side was organized. TRAC was the only communication channel because all telecommunications connections to and from Georgia, including those via Moscow , were destroyed by the earthquake.

1992

The first domestic earthquake mission took place in 1992 on the occasion of the earthquake in Erzincan (March 13, 1992, M = 6.8, 653 dead, 3850 injured). In determining the disaster area, the help of the TRAC was required because the equipment of the observatories at the time was not able to do this and all telecommunications connections in Erzincan did not work. The local association TRAC Trabzon , which had also given the first alarm message, sent members to an exposed location nearby, from which the BOS radio traffic in Erzincan could be received. At the same time, the civil defense directors of Sivas , Erzurum and Erzincan were called by telephone. Everyone except Erzincan could be reached, so the disaster site was finally identified within half an hour. A member of the TRAC Kayseri branch drove to Erzincan and 7 hours after the earthquake set up the only connection with amateur radio on shortwave . A group of five from Istanbul flew to Erzurum the next morning, only to arrive in Erzincan by land. This group took over the entire disaster communication, including with the German Red Cross and the Greek relief group, which also sent two radio amateurs to the disaster site as the vanguard. The Greek radio amateurs (callsigns SV1BDO and SV1RD), who informed the following contingent of the Greek aid group about the required material, had equipment for AMTOR with them, with which perfect contact with the amateur radio station of the headquarters of the United Nations (4U1UN) in New York was also small Performance and simple antennas became possible.

4U1UN also transmitted the data received from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) of a second strong quake, initially mistakenly mistaken for an aftershock, but then identified as an independent earthquake in the neighboring district of Tunceli (March 15, 1992, M = 5.8, property damage and 20 injured). This information was immediately passed on to the police radio station stationed nearby, which arrived on the morning of the same day, which then informed Tunceli via its channels and thus started help in the first place for the destroyed villages. These data were also transmitted to the Turkish Observatory via a TRAC amateur radio station in Istanbul.

1993

In 1993, cooperation with civil protection was given an official framework with the signing of a protocol. This is the first document of its kind that has been signed between an association and civil defense in Turkey.

In 1993 help was given to the Bosnian Consulate General in Istanbul with the communication required to coordinate the shipments of aid to the crisis area.

1995

In 1995, the emergency radio communication required after the earthquake in Dinar (October 1, 1995, M = 6.1, 100 dead, 260 injured, 25,000 homeless) was carried out. Hundreds of tremors preceded the destructive main tremor. In many of these foreshocks, the TRAC was asked by civil defense to transfer the data from the Kandilli Observatory in Istanbul to Ankara because the observatory's telephone connections were blocked due to the extremely high number of incoming panic calls. The TRAC transmitted the data via shortwave through a mobile radio station sent to the observatory. The first activity after the destructive earthquake at the accident site was carried out by the nearest TRAC branch Denizli , which was then replaced by the local branch Antalya . That in turn was replaced by a strong contingent from Istanbul.

1996

In 1996 and 1997, the entire emergency radio communication for the "World Air Sports Championships for hang-gliders and paragliders", including communication with the rescue helicopters, was taken over. This strenuous and intense activity was a very educational experience.

1998

In 1998, the emergency radio communication required by the widespread flood disaster in the north of the country (provinces Bolu , Karabük , Bartin , Adapazari ) was carried out, with the only connection between the most severely hit province of Karabük and the capital being made possible by the TRAC. The local association Karabük had set up a communication staff together with the police, the gendarmerie and the forest administration, with which information could also be collected from neighboring areas by BOS radio and transmitted to Ankara via the TRAC. Karabük reached Adapazari via her relay station , from where the information was then transmitted to Ankara via shortwave. Immediately afterwards, the cooperation with Turkey's first voluntary SAR group ( AKUT Search and Rescue Association ) began.

In 1998, after the earthquake in Ceyhan ( Adana province , August 27, 1998, M = 6.2, 131 dead, 400 buildings completely destroyed), the necessary emergency radio communication was carried out. In 1998, scientists issued urgent warnings about an imminent earthquake hazard near Istanbul. As a result, plans were discussed with the TRAC local chapters in the endangered area and the respective local administrations contacted in order to induce them to establish or identify the crisis centers absolutely necessary (but not yet existing) for the coordination as quickly as possible. Among other things, an agreement was signed with the İzmit Fleet Command for the use of a museum ship for this purpose and submitted to the Navy High Command for approval. However, the approval was not given. In addition, cooperation with the crisis team at the Prime Minister's Office was requested, but without success. The most productive contact was made with the National Earthquake Research Center UDIM (which operated the only existing observatory at the time).

UDIM informed the TRAC in detail about two possible scenarios and described in detail all possible risks (unsafe access routes and safe alternatives, possible damage, expected losses). In addition, on the initiative of TRAC, a 24-hour exercise was held jointly with the Istanbul Fire Service and the newly established crisis center at the Governor of Istanbul. Furthermore, the first contact was made with the emergency medical service and the activation of the “Emergency Communication Working Group under the Governor of Istanbul” (established in 1988 but never activated since then) was initiated. The request regarding the establishment of a TRAC communication station on the premises of a university near the army's helicopter landing pad (500 m from four large hospitals) for the purpose of coordinating the transport of the wounded was also given a negative answer.

August 17, 1999

On August 17, 1999, a major earthquake caused great devastation in the Izmit district (M = 7.6, according to official figures 17,480 dead, 23,781 injured, 133,683 buildings completely destroyed, 600,000 homeless). Since this earthquake was felt in large parts of the country, but particularly strongly in Istanbul, and the power supply failed in almost the entire Asian part and Istanbul, a huge panic broke out. All phone lines went down within a minute.

This was the earthquake predicted by scientists the year before. Immediately afterwards, the TRAC was able to identify the epicenter in Istanbul by comparing the forecasts received from UDIM the year before and the damage reports received via police radio, inform Ankara via shortwave and activate its teams. Since, as predicted by UDIM, only a single district of Istanbul was very badly damaged, a team was sent to the Istanbul crisis center and one to the damaged district. At the same time, a TRAC member went to Izmit, the presumed epicenter . With his shortwave mobile station (TA1E / m) he reported on the way to Ankara.

Less than three hours after the earthquake, communication from Izmit with this station, which is located in front of the governor's office, was first established. At the same time, the TRAC station in the Istanbul crisis center went into operation. A short time later, information from Adapazari (another badly damaged provincial town east of Izmit) began to be transmitted by the local TRAC members via VHF to the mobile station in Izmit, which then forwarded everything necessary to Ankara via shortwave. As there was no relay station in the region, a member of the local Adapazari (TA2NW) had gone to a high location, from where he carried out the transmission by handheld radio to Izmit (later a KW station was transported to Adapazari, making it relatively tedious procedure became obsolete). Gradually, TRAC stations went into operation across the country and reinforcements were deployed in the direction of Izmit and Adapazari.

Since the fiber optic cable in the east-west direction had been destroyed by the massive earth movements, all official communication ran over the TRAC shortwave network for 36 hours.

Due to the extensive destruction of many telecommunication distributors, the complete restoration of the fixed and mobile network took 10 days and the official transmission via the TRAC had to be continued during this time.

In the meantime, reports came in from Adapazari that a bridge had collapsed on the highway, buried a coach and several cars and made the main artery, including the main intersection, impassable.

All TRAC stations on the route between Ankara (from where the civil protection rescue workers headed towards the disaster area) and Adapazari were instructed to send periodic warnings on the civil protection BOS frequency until receipt was confirmed by the civil protection convoy. In this way, an acute risk of accident was avoided and the civil defense convoy (and other aid convoys) were rerouted in good time.

36 hours after the quake, a relay station set up by TA1S was put into operation in Izmit in an exposed location by TRAC in the 2-meter band . This relay was later (in the second phase, after the end of all rescue measures), with a special permit from the regulatory authority, also used for communication between the field hospitals and tent camps.

The problem of drinking water logistics was solved by sending a TRAC member from Istanbul (TA1DX) to a bottling plant near Adapazari, who put a KW and VHF station into operation there. Thus, all crisis centers permanently manned by TRAC members (all except Yalova , which was only manned when required) could contact him and place their orders or confirm the dispatch of the required drinking water.

The arrival of reinforcements from Antalya (TA4KA) in Izmit enabled the TA1E / m mobile station to be released for tactical tasks. TA1E / m was either sent to problem areas on the basis of instructions from Ankara, or ordered to various areas for the purpose of monitoring the situation or reinforcing it. In this way, u. a. solved a problem in the city of Düzce and organized a supply of water and medicines there.

The TRAC station in Ankara (TA2KB) was moved to his adjoining room in the ministry on the instructions of the Interior Minister. In Izmir and Balikesir, TRAC set up stations at the request of the governors in their offices.

An attempt was made to coordinate the communication of the large numbers of foreigners who had arrived. Due to the sometimes chaotic circumstances and the vastness of the disaster area, this was only partially possible, so the Swiss rescue team and the medical team of the French radio officer F6FNU were both on amateur radio. Thus, a serious problem was identified for the first time.

The non-existent ground-to-air communication was identified as a further major problem, which made it impossible to coordinate the fire fighting aircraft in the event of a major fire in the nearby refinery, and thus made effective fire fighting impossible.

In Istanbul, numerous volunteers were activated who set up an IT infrastructure in the crisis center under the coordination of TRAC.

All incoming information could be stored and processed in the databases created by these volunteers. In this way, incoming inquiries about the situation of family members could also be processed or answered.

170 TRAC members and 15 volunteers were involved in this 10-day campaign. The Minister of the Interior later invited the TRAC to give the delegation a thank you badge. The TRAC has also received awards from the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry, the Governor of Istanbul and the Director General of Civil Defense.

The cooperation previously refused by the crisis team at the Prime Minister's Office has now been accepted and a protocol has been signed. The TRAC received the previously denied free access to the stations of the Turkish Radio (TRT) and could now install relay stations in exposed locations free of charge.

At the invitation of NATO, an international delegation was given a lecture on the role of amateur radio in disaster situations.

The TRAC station set up in the Istanbul crisis center was now kept permanently operational - which turned out to be a very wise decision a short time later.

November 12, 1999

November 12, 1999 , a strong earthquake occurred in the Düzce-Kaynasli region (approx. 150 km east of Izmit, also along the North Anatolian Fault ) (M = 7.2, 857 dead, 4948 injured, 18,784 non-habitable or usable buildings ). A day before, a moderate quake with a magnitude of 5.7 had occurred there.

Since the TRAC was still present in the Istanbul crisis center and the relay station in Izmit was in operation, and all association members in Izmit, Adapazari, Düzce and Bolu lived in safe accommodation, this time the TRAC responded within 15 minutes. A TRAC member (TA2NB) living near Düzce immediately rushed to Düzce, at the same time a TRAC member (TA2TH) went to Adapazari, the nearest town with potential assistance. Both met the respective city administration officials, established their communication and conveyed their urgent requests for help. Since the earthquake took place during a cold spell and in the evening, many fires broke out because of the overturning ovens, which created an urgent need for fire departments. The TRAC stations in Istanbul, Izmit and Adapazari alerted the fire brigades in their district, which were then put on the march immediately to Düzce. The interior minister, who arrived at the Istanbul crisis center after half an hour, received his first briefing from the TRAC station manager.

Because the TRAC members from the surrounding area had arrived there and had the situation under control, the decision was made to deal intensively with the problem of coordination from the numerous foreign rescue groups expected from the previous mission. A delegation from TRAC went to Istanbul Ataturk Airport and discussed the problem with the delegates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and OCHA who were present there .

It was decided to create a questionnaire and an information sheet for all incoming groups. The questionnaire asked about the communication equipment carried (type / make, frequency, number and programming option), number of personnel, number of radio amateurs or radio operators in the group (including name and call sign). The information sheet stated the local coordination frequencies (all in amateur radio bands) and the call signs of the TRAC members or club station on duty there. Each group was obliged to fill out the questionnaire and receive the information sheet. In order to avoid any problems with the frequency information, a frequency counter was kept ready.

All information collected was periodically transmitted to the TRAC group leaders present at the disaster site.

This action was a complete success, as all incoming groups could be coordinated in the best possible way this time. The English civil defense BCD later described this action in its report as "so far unique and a reference example for future international operations". Many groups later thanked the TRAC or the officials there through this organization.

It was found that all large and internationally active groups (e.g. the German THW ) had entrusted radio amateurs with communication and / or logistics tasks.

During this mission, communication between the military and the local civil administration was also taken over by the TRAC. A TRAC member went to the commander of the military aid contingent in Bolu and established the connection to the coordination staff in Düzce.

This time, there was also close cooperation with the volunteer interpreters who had come to join the local TRAC group.

These two major missions were very instructive and set the course for the future strategy of the TRAC. Because of the changed perception of the authorities as a result of these very successful missions. In addition, the TRAC was granted many facilities, including: a. free access to the TRT transmission masts, which made the expansion of the relay network possible. In addition, material important for the infrastructure, mostly equipment decommissioned by the authorities (surplus), has now been handed over to the TRAC for reuse. From then on, this material was to become the mainstay of building a nationwide infrastructure.

A donation from the Japanese device manufacturer ICOM of five shortwave radios was gratefully accepted and distributed to various local chapters on the basis of hazard analyzes.

Further groundbreaking events in 2000

At the world radio conference ("WRC-2000") organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Istanbul, a station (TA1ITU) was set up directly at the conference center. This station was visited by a large number of delegates. This enabled a lively exchange of ideas with many delegates.

In addition, some delegates were taken to the Istanbul Crisis Center, where they could visit the TRAC station there and hold detailed discussions with representatives of the authorities. Immediately afterwards, the TRAC was integrated into OCHA 's global PACTOR network. OCHA donated the necessary equipment, which was then put into operation by TRAC in the Istanbul crisis center.

Towards the end of the conference, in the event of an earthquake in northeastern Turkey, TA1ITU had to assist the TRAC members rushing to the disaster site. However, a solar flare brought shortwave communication to a standstill for hours. This experience made it clear that the VHF network must be expanded quickly so that the flow of information can be managed by transmitting it from one local network to another. The temporary and needs-based networking of these networks was then considered as a conceivable alternative at a later date.

Cooperation agreements have been signed with the Prime Minister's Office, the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), the Turkey Office of the International Association of Red Cross and Red Crescent Organizations (IFRC), various local fire departments and emergency medical organizations.

The agreements with the TRC and IFRC were preceded by intensive cooperation with an IFRC delegation, which aimed to rebuild telecommunications at the TRC. It was helpful that the project manager was a Japanese radio amateur (Tomoo, JE9IKG).

2002

In 2002 another major ITU conference was held in Istanbul ("WTDC-02"). TRAC put a station directly at the conference center into operation. However, this time, after consultation with the IARU delegation, the focus was on the creation of a CD containing a detailed analysis of the previous emergency radio activities including the translations of the agreements with authorities. This CD was distributed by the IARU delegation to all participating delegations (over 100) and received very positively.

This action also caused the Turkish Minister of Transport and the Director of the National Regulatory Authority to spontaneously visit the TRAC station and thank them for their contribution.

It can also be assumed that this action has had a very positive influence on the perception of both the Ministry of Transport and the regulatory authority towards the TRAC and amateur radio and was very helpful in later discussions about the new version of the regulation.

During the conference, IARU delegates, along with other delegations, were taken to local chapters in the epicentres of the 1999 earthquake.

2003

At the end of 2003, a TRAC member was sent with the Turkish aid contingent for the earthquake in Bam (Iran) , who organized and carried out both communication within the area of operation and, for a time, communication between Bam and Turkey. After the earthquake in Pakistan next year, two TRAC members were sent with the Turkish aid contingent to carry out the same activities.

2004

In 2004, the Kocaeli local association set up an emergency radio vehicle. This was the first example of its kind in the civil sector and was later to serve as a template for some official vehicles.

The realization of this project was only possible due to special local circumstances. On the one hand, the excellent use of the TRAC in both earthquakes in 1999 in this district, which was worst hit by the earthquake on August 17, 1999, was well known. This then led to a great willingness to support the TRAC in local industry and trade.

A flatbed truck provided by a large car factory in the district at a very symbolic price (not usable as a basis for an emergency radio vehicle) was overhauled free of charge in a car workshop and then sold.

The proceeds were used to buy a used box van, revised and rebuilt at the same car company at cost price with support from local dealers, with interior design students from the local university taking on the design as part of a term paper. The interior work was then done in the university's workshop. The radios were donated by TRAC members. Later, a motorcycle factory donated a small enduro motorcycle, which was then taken to the scene by the emergency radio vehicle if necessary.

NATO CPEMEX '04

The vehicle was first used during an international NATO disaster exercise in Bulgaria (NATO CPEMEX '04) in which a Turkish team participated. The vehicle was responsible for communication with the Turkish team. Because the Turkish team was the only participant to have a communication vehicle and all the relay stations and other local communication infrastructure previously proposed by the Bulgarian side did not work as expected, only the Turkish team was able to master all exercises with flying colors and achieved the highest number of points. Many other teams asked for support from the TRAC vehicle, which of course was also given where possible.

In 2004, the first were APRS - Digipeater installed. They then also helped with the observation of the TRAC vehicle during the NATO exercise in Bulgaria.

In 2004, at the invitation of the IARU, a lecture on emergency radio in Turkey was presented at a seminar in Algiers .

2005

In 2005, the first GAREC conference in Tampere ( Finland ) was attended and a thesis paper was presented.

In 2005, the Sakarya branch set up an emergency radio vehicle. The base vehicle was provided and revised by the local municipality. The local industry donated the necessary radios. The municipality also covered the operating and maintenance costs.

Both vehicles proved themselves in numerous exercises and a few later emergencies. Another vehicle was built in 2009 by the Izmir local association with the support of the local health directorate on the basis of a decommissioned ambulance.

In 2003, 2004 and 2005 the TRAC stations at the crisis center of the governor of Istanbul and the crisis center of the city administration were activated after heavy snowstorms. TRAC helped the authorities to recruit staff and at times as an alternative source of information on the situation in various districts.

In 2005 an agreement was signed with the Kandilli Observatory and the National Earthquake Research Center. That was the starting shot for the APRS project with the primary goal of distributing the observation data of earthquakes (with the strength M = 3 and larger) via the TRAC-APRS station (YM2UDM) connected directly to the observation computer, completely independently of the Internet and telephone .

This system has proven itself several times when the website of the observatory crashed due to the extreme number of hits after earthquakes and the TRAC-APRS network thus served as the only source of distribution. It was decided to send tsunami warnings via the same system in the future (after the necessary infrastructures in the observatory went into operation).