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Old 02-14-2008, 08:16 AM   #1
k3mp
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Default Ares/races

Just wondering how many of us are involved in the above both on the local, state and federal levels. Being a radioman in the navy trained me for this type of communications...also doing the IS100 and 700 that was needed. I enjoy working with emergency management and I have a good working relationship with my place of work and being able to get off for some of the emergency drills. Our area just started a District ARES net which includes 6 counties and it is really good, just VHF... I am getting more involved now that I am getting closer to retirement. To try and fit all this in when the kids where home was tough. But am having fun now, they are gone.
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Old 02-14-2008, 08:31 AM   #2
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Default Ares/Races

I am a member of ARES and I am also been CERT, trained.
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Old 02-14-2008, 10:21 AM   #3
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I am currently in the following;

Local ARES
State RACES (Governor's Division of Emergency Management)
County Emergency Management (Operation's Section Chief)
Regional Council of Govt. "Multi-Agency Coordination System" (MACS Coordinator)
ARRL VE
soon to be VHF repeater trustee
trained storm spotter
CoCORaHS rain reporting staion TX-UV-19
IS-100 thru IS-800 Instructor
Police Instructor
PADI rescue diver
Chief of Police at a college

only paying position is the last one
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Old 02-14-2008, 12:56 PM   #4
Andy N1ORK
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I'm a member of Manchester, CT ARES and CERT. We run excercises with the local Mountain Bike Search and Rescue (MBSAR) and the Connecticut Canine Search and rescue (CCSAR) providing communications from search units back to the EOC or field control base. By having a CERT/HAM/Emcomm team member train with the Canine teams, it allows more teams to be dispached at the same time. Each team consists of a dog handler, the search dog and a ham/emcomm comunicator trained to use GPS and Topo maps to search a predefined sector of a search area. It's great training and good excersise too!
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Is this thing on?
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Old 03-18-2008, 08:39 PM   #5
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I'm involved in the local ARES group (Jefferson County) in southeast Texas and also a state RACES member. I'm also fortunate to get time away from work to attend yearly hurricane and interoperability drills. I also check in regularly to the Texas Traffic Net 3.873 and take all the traffic for my area to help me gain confidence and proficiency on message handling. I have completed ARRL Emcomm Level I, Level II also FEMA IS-100 & 200. I've still got more courses to take but there's not one that can teach practical experience witch I lack so for now I'll have to stick with preparedness and practice.


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Old 03-18-2008, 11:59 PM   #6
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Tried it and got turned off by it. I participated in a disaster exercise ran a station setup at a hospital and no one there wanted us there, a nurse (male type) asked way us CB'ers always think they are needed Then I had to deal with the worst control operator ever, the whole experience was embarrassing. Have had to deal with Ham's who thing they are going to save the world and don't have a clue making the rest of the Hams look bad. There is constant battle between the Hams and Police, fire, Red cross and coordinators so I decided I don't want to be part of this.

I will just do my own thing and if there ever is a disaster that I can help with then I will do what I can to help. I'm sure it's not like this everywhere. When I was stationed in Charleston AFB SC the local group were so much more structured and practiced better radio operating skills then they do here, when I went to Springfield, Mass a few years ago I was blown away with how well they ran their local repeater net, nothing like the out of control nets we have here. Maybe when I move I will try it again.
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Old 03-19-2008, 04:13 AM   #7
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Sorry that you had such a bad experience where you are...I check into three nets on Monday and wednesday, Pa counties of Lehigh, Northampton and a newly formed District 2 Eastern PA, 6 county nets....they have really been run like clockwork. For a while I thought I was back in the Navy running a net...net control, sometimes me *every 6 weeks" never loses control. They seem to run quite well here. We not only have a roster for check ins, we also take traffic and mand pass msgs...
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Old 03-20-2008, 08:18 PM   #8
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I belong to Monroe County ARES, and also check in to the St. Clair County ARES net. There are limitations as to what I can do, as I am disabled, but I sure can talk on the radio if needed
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Old 03-22-2008, 07:36 PM   #9
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ARES
RACES
CERT
MRC (Medical Reserve Corps)
Texas Baptist Men Communications

I run a Winlink Telpac node for Brazoria County Texas. We have a good group here in the county. Brazoria County is on the Gulf Coast so we focus on hurricane issues but train around other potential threats as well.

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Old 02-23-2009, 11:29 PM   #10
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Greetings,
I'm the EC for Putnam Co. Fl., Have completed ICS 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 800. Am retired and RV full time. Am able to handle issues at home by echo-link, WEBEC and HF. Have 2 great AEC's to handle day to day issues for me.
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Old 03-16-2014, 02:03 PM   #11
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Default ARES @ emergency service's

Our Police and fire support ARES and emergency communications
to the highest degree. The fire depatments in both the city and
county promote emergency service's and let us use their meeting
rooms for training an meetings. The county and city promote
their fireman to get amateur license, this in a county that is over
100 square mikes an goes from mountain tops to flood plans. The
ARES members in the city are allowed to drive the comminucations
vans, high water vehicles, man both police and fire radio's if needed
along with amateur radio's set up in county, city EOC's and all fire
station both manned an volinteer.

I am a very firm believe that ARES and RACES members alike should
handle message's to practice traffic handling. Right now in the National
Traffic system there is only general message welcoming new amateurs
to our hobby, birthday greetings or license renewals.

If you do not know how to handle message traffic, where to send it
or how to route it from a net then you become another disaster in
a disaster if it happens

73


ARRL Pacific Area Digital Coordinator (NTSD)
Official National traffic Station Relay Station (ORS)
Pacific TCC Rep for Cycle 2
NCS for the Pacific Area Net Cycle 2
NCS for the Region 7 net Cycle 2
NTS Target Station
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I am the AEC of Centralia WA
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Adviory Committee (ECAC) (now sunseted)
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Old 03-16-2014, 03:27 PM   #12
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In my dotage I no longer participate in these activities, although I did learn by doing (many decades ago) that they are worthwhile; for despite their wheel-spinning futility for the victims of disaster they give some hams a feeling of usefulness that they have never experienced before and may never experience again, lending color to drab lives. Although in most cases the feelings of uselessness are fully justified by reality, it is a blessing to ease them.

Besides, all that RF during Skywarn nets may serve to warm the airmasses and mitigate the ravages of the weather.

All the enthusiasm for damage assessment (after tornadoes, etc.) seems based upon a belief that, if the Red Cross and NOAA learn about a damaged building quickly, the roof will leak a little less. I confess that I do not understand how this works. To me it seems that learning it in ten seconds, or learning it in ten weeks, makes no difference at all -- especially for the Red Cross and NOAA, who aren't in the roof-repair business anyhow.

But, if NOAA and the Red Cross can get their jobs done free by others who even bear the expenses, they can look good at their jobs without taking the trouble of doing their jobs themselves.

Helping them with damage assessment does help them get their reports out. Although the reports don't appear until long after the houses are replaced, surely the poor mope who had to live in his car for six months will take solace in knowing that the flood of paperwork appears in ten months rather than a year.

But what do I know? I've been a ham for only a little longer than a half century.
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Old 03-16-2014, 05:35 PM   #13
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I've completed 8 FEMA courses, and qualify to operate a hospital station. I've been interested in ARES but am disenchanted with some of the upper level management. Also the local county ARES is controlled by one of the clubs in the county and does not welcome members of the other club into the fold (a long story to that). There are some excellent ARES groups in the state.
I also completed a Skywarn spotter class.

So I will wait until attitudes change, I always say nothing is forever. I may join the ARES group in one of the adjoining county's and will be available if needed.
Marv - KT4W
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Old 03-16-2014, 08:58 PM   #14
ChuckW5KAV
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Default ARES and Emergency Comm

Marv,

I joined the ARES group in the town which is in the county next to me,
they are only eight miles away and the ARES group in my county meets
and is thirty miles away. I could have joined the County ARES group
next to me but the city group by far has a number of exercise's in the
field and can do far more. In our club we have a number of the county
area's group and only a few town ARES members. In the past the
county group seem to be more of what you talked about, that has
changed for the good. There are however a few people still of a
mindset they are better than the thou in the county ARES group. They
as fading fast, the club, both ARES groups play on field day together
using the City ARES call sign and both of the county and city ARES
members have been working together to improve both groups

So have the faith, you can cross that county line or join other ARES's
groups and they will except you with open arms I'm sure

73
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Old 03-17-2014, 06:31 AM   #15
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I used to be a member back when I lived in one spot, but now I move too much to join a fixed group.. I have had SOME training, need to finish the courses.

I am one of those people who will respond... There is a long story there but not today. Today is moving day.
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Old 08-18-2014, 10:41 PM   #16
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In my area, the amateur radio club divided into two separate clubs.
The Quad County retards and rejects are on one side and the ARES / RACES group is on the other side of the county.
Rockton Mountain might as well be the Himalaya Mountains because neither group wants anything to do with the other.

The Quad County people are nothing but a bunch of CB'rs, their leader even has CB in his call sign. They are a mix of old geisers and wanna bee's and younger hams that never operated other then on the two meters repeaters or a HF net.

The ARES / RACES group is a bunch of CB'rs that has the support of the local ARRL representative. They don't actually do anything, they only started their own club to try to wrestle the control of the local repeater away from other other club.
When they were unsuccessful, they quit having meetings and doing things..

The local county EC does not live in the county, he is employed as a state police dispatcher, and was the 911 dispatcher when he was appointed to his position.. I don't know how legal it is for someone to operate dual mode when they have a pecuniary interest. Being paid by the state and being a volunteer for amateur radio. And, when he has to go to work, his shift would end and someone else would have to pick it up or shut down the station.. No one has access here to the local EOC...

The local club down in town is down to its last 6 members, and the President said he is tired of carrying the coffee pot to the meetings and having to stop and buy the doughnuts. They get a President and then they work them to death until they quit and then they elect someone else from the buddy club.

The biggest problem with the club is that the older members also belongs to the QC club and they don't operate. They don't teach the newer members how to operate and the club does not have a working HF radio or their own repeater.

The hills are so steep and the valleys so deep that you cannot talk simplex from the emergency shelters back to the EOC with a handheld radio - which is all that some of the group has.

There is a 50 mile marathon race this weekend and out of 3 clubs they managed to get 2 volunteers to run the check points, they still need 12 more people to have a full boat and 6 people if they could get them to work two check points each..
This is sad when you consider the one volunteer is the county EC and the other would be the assistant EC.

I have completed most of my FEMA training and I sent a copy of each certificate to my EC, and got no reply..
I relayed the information from their last SET - Situational Emergency Test back to the State EOC and Regional Director and didn't even get a thank you.
I also cooperated with the other local group in the next county - Indiana when they did their SET, and got a much better response.

At least the Indiana group has been trying to do NBEMS on their local repeater on Monday nights..
The only problem is that they need to be doing this on the HF and on simplex modes.. You have to believe that the repeater is not going to work when there is an emergency..
Their repeater barely works when the sky is blue and the weather is calm.
The 910 repeater looks directly at the middle of the tallest smoke stack at the Homer City Power plant, the third tallest smoke stack in North America...

The only problem is that its antenna only has a western and southern exposure, it doesn't talk North or South very well - too many mountains.

What is a man to do? Well we do a series of digital nets on 80 and 40 meters on Sunday Mornings. KB3FXI - Dave runs the net when he is home and others picks it up when he is not.

Me being the only digital operator in the 8 county area { Jefferson, Blair, Clearfield, Elk, Center, Forrest, Clarion and Armstrong ) is an asset to any group. I can pretty much hear anything that goes on for 40 miles in all directions simplex and 65 miles on the repeaters..

With 4 radios, each with their own separate antenna's in the shack, I can send and listen at the same time to 2 meters, 70 cm, all of HF and everything that the programmable scanner can receive from 120 Mhz to 900 MHz... The scanner is on a commercial discone antenna that has been tuned to 2 meters / 70 cm with less than 1.6:1 on 2 meters and almost flat 1:1 on 70 cm, so it can also be used in a pinch as a transmit antenna if I need it, it is fed with very low loss coax.

A GOTA box sits in the shack, coils of coax in the shed, dozens of antenna's in the box and rafters, several power supplies, a battery bank, a 5000 watt Honda generator, 40' of Rohn 25G tower on the trailer W / a tilt plate.
I can deploy in about 3 hours to any location.

Fat chance they would ever call me!
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Old 08-18-2014, 10:48 PM   #17
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https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/paNBEMS/info

http://www.pa-sitrep.com/NBEMS/

http://wpaares.org/
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Old 08-19-2014, 04:49 AM   #18
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I used to be involved with ARES and RACEs in a couple different counties in Michigan... And yes, the control oeprator made a BIG difference.... One of them was the most professional NCS I have ever dealt with.. Most were good. One was..... Not (Let's just leave it at that). Thankfully I only dealt with him one time.

Now that I live in a NO-Motor home (Well it used to be a motor home) I'm only about 1,000 miles from my fixed address so involvement is limited, and ... The TS-2000 is acting up as well..... Suddenly even though SWR is good, Well that is for another thread.
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Old 08-26-2014, 02:46 PM   #19
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SWR - Standing Wave Ratio - does not tell us if the antenna is resonant or not, it just tells us what the feed line is doing...

Start at the antenna end, hook up a true 50 ohm dummy load, turn your transmit power down to 5 watts and key the transmitter in CW mode. Adjust the meter so it reads zero...

Read what the SWR reads on your meter at the transmitter side of the coax in several different band positions while it is connected to the dummy load at the antenna end.
If it jumps around, then you probably have a feed line problem.

Did you check the power output of the transmitter into a true 50 ohm dummy load the same way?

I once had a bad jumper going to the SWR meter / coax switch, that caused me a lot of problems.
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