If you don't change your direction, you may end up where you were headed.

PO Box 22 ● Marion, VA 24354 www.bdsarco.org

Black Diamond SAR Council

As I started writing this today, I listened to the Smyth County Sheriff’s Department look for a 12 year old that had been missing for 2 hours. “Interesting” I thought to myself and then heard them say “Put Black Diamond on standby please.” My next thought – “Cool!” A Hungry Mother State Park Ranger found the boy soon after, and all was well, but it’s nice to hear that localities still have us in mind when something happens. We have a lot of things coming up from Lost Person Behavior this weekend, Rocky Knob in a couple of weeks, and then our Backbone sessions. (Make sure you see the article below about our August Backbone.) I continue to ask you to attend as many of these trainings as you possibly can. Please do not think you are not needed or there is no space for you. Even if you end up standing in a corner and watching those with more knowledge than yourself, it should be a learning experience for you. Anytime we can learn and build on what we already know, then it is a good day. I learn something every time I’m training or teaching and it’s awesome when the light bulb goes off! I currently am not planning on having an August meeting. Our by-laws currently only call for a Fall and Spring meeting. As you read the article on Page 3, you will see what we’re going to do in place of our August meeting at Backbone. It should be a ton of fun, and a perfect time to hone some skills.

The Coordinator’s Desk INSIDE THIS ISSUE

From the Coordinator 1 Up & Coming Events 2 Rocky Knob 2011 2 August Backbone Session!! 3 From Your Training Officer 4 Getting to know your GPS Receiver 6 For those of you who still do not have their FTM Certification, the Hungry Mother GSAR will be here before you know it. We need to ensure that you are ready to attend that class. All of our members that need this certification will either be close, or already past, the 1 year requirement – so this is of utmost importance. If you have a question as to the dates of the Hungry Mother GSAR, please let me know ASAP. If you do not take FTM at this GSAR, it will be very difficult to get you into one of the others across the Commonwealth. I look forward to training with everyone, and we have some exciting months coming up!! Happy Training and Smart Responses to everyone!

May 2011 Vo lume 2, I s sue 4

This newsletter is an internal publication of Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council, Inc. for the use of its members. The views expressed here reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of BDSAR, Inc.

I still have 2 sets of the Black Diamond SAR

magnets for sale (reflective) $40 per

pair

Page 2 BDSAR May Newsletter

• April 30 – May 1 – Lost Person Behavior – Hungry Mother State Park

• May 13-15, 2011 – Rocky Knob SAREx

• Third (full) Weekend of June, July, August, September – Backbone – Subject to change

Upcoming Training Events

Rocky Knob was chosen as a Black Diamond Training Event at the August Meeting in 2009. I highly recommend this training to everyone that has never been. Those that can go, and camp, there will be some planning on Friday night, and then everyone will need to be at the Rocky Knob Ranger Station by 0800 to sign in on Saturday morning. The mission will kick off at 0900 and will run until the end of the evacuation. A bar-b-que dinner will be served after the mission and will be $10 per person. Per the flier, it is a little over $9, but if you don’t have exact change, please plan on giving them a tip! It appears that currently Mike, Mac, Greg, Chris B. and I will be camping so I will not be able to drive the rental van. If you want to camp, please let us know, and maybe we can arrange some car pooling for the weekend. I look forward to seeing a lot of you there!

Rocky Knob 2011 – Be there!!!

Lisa Laughlin – Training Officer

BDSAR May Newsletter Page 3

Plans for August BackBone Session

Currently we are making final plans for our August BackBone session, and it’s going to be awesome! Several VDEM Instructors have come up with an idea to improve the way The Virginia Dept of Emergency Management teaches litter handling. This would be to create videos which can be viewed between the two weekends of a GSAR College. It is the thought that if persons watch the videos and they are edited correctly, they should come to the Friday night of the second weekend, with a couple of questions, but ready to proceed straight into litter handling. BDSAR is in the process of making this announcement to other teams. We will be inviting as many people that want to come, from other teams, to participate in the videos. Chris Bryant is working on arrangements to have some of the Mass Communications students from Emory & Henry College to come and do the video shoot. This will be all day on Saturday, and Sunday will be anything we want to re-shoot or anything that someone may want to do (such as get on rope) before they leave for the drive home. We have already reserved the pavilion for Saturday, and may have to use the field beside the pavilion for overflow if needed. I do not yet have permission for this, but they gave us permission last time. This will turn into a cookout on Saturday and we can hang out at the Pavilion. There’s a chance that we may have some music, but that is still up in the air. Please let me know if you’re going to plan to be there in August so we can start planning for food.

A&L is now a fully authorized PMI and Petzl dealer and offers discounts on their full line of products to all Black Diamond SAR teams and members. Make sure to give Rob a call if

you need anything for your personal or team gear.

Page 4 BDSAR May Newsletter

From Your Training Officer

As we responded to the incident last Thursday, we were asked to use symbols that we had never been versed on before. Below is a simple explanation of the “X”, what it means and how you would use it. Mike and I are creating a book with information which will pretty much ensure that you get, and log, the correct information, and have items like this below…. We will let you know as we get them together and ultimately how much they’ll be.

BDSAR May Newsletter Page 5

Getting to Know the GPS Receiver

Turn the unit on by holding down the Power button (red circle with vertical line) for two seconds. After the welcome screen, the Satellite screen will appear and it will briefly read “Acquiring Satellites” at the top. If you are out in the open, it should only take a short time to acquire enough satellites to make out your location. If the unit cannot get a satellite fix, an options menu with a list of solutions will appear (picture 1). Highlight the appropriate option and press ENTER.

The large, outer circle represents the horizon; the inner circle is 45 degrees in from the horizon (picture 2). The gray and red circle on the outer circle represents your direction of travel. Which numbered satellite is most closely overhead? __________ How many satellites are being received by your GPS receiver? __________ What is the accuracy indicated by your receiver? +/-__________

Page 6 BDSAR May Newsletter

Pressing the PAGE button will allow you to cycle through the following five screens: Satellite Trip Computer Map Compass Main Menu

While on the Trip Computer screen, what does it say is your elevation? __________ Go to the Map screen. Zoom in and out using the IN and OUT buttons.

When zoomed all the way out, what is the scale of the map? __________ When zoomed all the way in, what is the scale of the map? __________

Go to the Compass screen and walk around. Notice how your speed and direction change.

What is your approximate rate of speed? __________ On the Main Menu screen (picture 8), use the rocker to highlight Sun & Moon; press ENTER.

What time was sunrise this morning? __________

Use the rocker to highlight the play button (single right-facing arrow). Press ENTER to view the movement of the sun and moon today. Highlight fast forward (double arrow) and press ENTER to view the changes in high speed. Watch how the phases of the moon change over time. On the Main Menu screen, use the rocker to highlight Hunt & Fish; press ENTER. What are the best times to hunt or fish today? ____________________

Before going out to use your GPS unit in the field, you may want to change some of the settings. The following instructions are for changing the tracks, tone, on/off road, and compass settings. Tracks When tracks are on, a location data point is recorded intermittently, creating what look like breadcrumbs marking the path you have taken. Tracks can be set to record a “breadcrumb” at intervals based on time or distance. If you are traveling slowly or have stop along the way, you may want to record based on distance rather than time, so that there are not several breadcrumbs recorded for the same spot.

� Press MENU twice to return to the Main Menu. � Highlight Tracks and press ENTER. � Highlight Setup and press ENTER. � Highlight Record Method and press ENTER. � Highlight your selection and press ENTER.

If you chose Distance or Time, you will be able to change the interval between recordings.

� Highlight the Interval box and press ENTER. � A number pad screen will appear and you can specify the time or distance interval.

By checking the box labeled Wrap When Full, the GPS unit will record over old tracks when the memory assigned to tracks becomes full. If you do not want old tracks erased, un-check this box by pressing ENTER.

Page 8 BDSAR May Newsletter

Tone Setup There are a variety of options for changing the tones produced by the GPS unit.

� Press MENU twice to get to the Main Menu. � Highlight Setup and press ENTER. � Highlight Tones and press ENTER (picture 5). � Select which tone volume you would like to change and press ENTER (picture 6). The higher the tone number, the louder the beep. � If you would like to mute all tones, highlight Mute and press ENTER to check or un-check the box (picture 7).

Compass Heading Most GPS units do not have an electronic compass, so the compass directions only work when you are moving. (Garmin units with an “S” in the name, such as the GPSmap 76CSx, do have an electronic compass.) You can change the compass settings based on true north, magnetic north, or a grid set to the degree variation you specify.

� Press MENU twice to go to the Main Menu. � Highlight Setup and press ENTER. � Highlight Heading and press ENTER . � Highlight the North Reference box and press ENTER. Select your preference and press ENTER . � If you would like to specify the degree of magnetic variation, highlight User and press ENTER. Then, highlight the Magnetic Variation box and press ENTER. A number pad screen will pop up. Enter the desired value, highlight and press ENTER.