April 24th Ohio NVIS Day Anouncement

Submitted by CountyEC on Fri, 04/02/2021 - 19:22

We will be meeting at Keckley Park for Ohio NVIS Day.
Setup will start around 9am so we can be on the air at 10am.
Items to bring:

  • Folding Chair
  • Lunch/Drinks/Snacks
  • NVIS Antenna to test
  • HF equipment to use (There will be an HF station setup)
  • Dress for the weather

Established in 1970 Keckley Rural Life Center is located on the west side of Bear Swamp Road and honors the parents of Ina B. Keckley.  Bequeathed to Liberty Township, which now owns and manages the park, the park boasts a new playground area, recently renovated shelter house, two fishing lakes, hiking trails, amphitheater, wetlands, and a 15 acre prairie restoration project.  The park is ideal for family gatherings, meetings, birding, or just relaxing.
 

 

It’s coming!  Ohio NVIS Day 2021 will be held April 24, Saturday, from 10AM until 4PM EDT. 

The purpose of NVIS day is to construct and try various antenna ideas, all working as NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) antennas.  These antennas are low to the ground and provide coverage generally within a 400 mile radius- extremely important for regional HF communications in an emergency. 

This year, we take a big step forward and build upon the concept to answer the question, “How would we actually use these antennas?”  

For 2021, we have added a couple operating scenarios that will make your day more fun and be a learning event for actual disaster communications.  We propose a commercial power blackout, with the need to communicate within your ARES district and to ‘The Sarge” at the Ohio EOC in Columbus.  Here’s the deal:

  1. The event runs from 10 AM until 4 PM local time. 
  2. Stations will construct and test NVIS antennas. 
  3. Transmit power is limited to 100 watts.
  4. Power for the station will be any form of “off-grid” supply: typically generator, battery or solar or whatever form you might have in an emergency setup.
  5. Stations may test antenna coverage as in the past by contacting as many different locations as possible. 
  6. Stations will originate a message to their ARES District net and to W8SGT reporting their location. 
    1. This message may take any form:  ARRL message form or any other can be used, doesn’t matter. If you’re going to use the traffic system, ARRL message form is recommended.  
    2. The message should contain the call sign, operating location (include county) and number of operators.  Any other brief antenna information is optional but appreciated!
    3. Contact with the District net may take place on VHF or HF (Repeaters OK). 
  7. Operating frequencies are proposed to be in the 80 and 40 meter bands. Voice is preferred for testing. Digital messages may be passed to OHDEN or Buckeye Net as available. 
    1. Optimum frequencies centered around but not limited to:  3.902  and  7.240
    2. Digital OHDEN frequency: 3585  (typical is Olivia 8/500) 
    3. If additional exercise is desired, try 60 meters, Channel 5493.5 for voice and digital

 

You can create your own log (Excel preferred) or use the attached format.  Be sure to include a photo of your group or your antenna!  Submit your results to contest@k8es.org 

 

Have fun!  Take a lunch break!  I hope to hear you!! 

Tags
Ohio NVIS Day

ARES Meetings Canceled

Submitted by CountyEC on Sat, 03/14/2020 - 22:22

Due to the recent events happening around the state related to the Corona Virus  Future ARES meetings are canceled. We will keep everyone updated about the status

Please wash your hands often and stay healthy. 

 

Union County Amateur Radio Emergency Service

Welcome to the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group in Union County.We work with the Union County EMA ( Emergency Management Agency ) and their RACES group. The RACES group meets regularly on Wed evenings around 6:30ish at the Marvin C. Gilbert EMA Operations Building - EMA Station 720.

The ARES group meets monthly on the 3rd Monday of the month at 7pm at the Marvin C. Gilbert EMA Operations Building - EMA Station 720. Most ARES and RACES volunteers are part of both groups. 

Marvin C. Gilbert EMA Operations Building - EMA Station 720
20900 Northwest Parkway.
Marysville, OH 43040

Google Maps Link:
https://goo.gl/maps/9hT7PZfubpR2

Information about ARES
http://arrl-ohio.org/SEC/reference-training_materials.html

FEMA Traning courses:
https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/icsresource/trainingmaterials.htm

If you are interested in becoming part of the Union County ARES group stop by on a 3rd Monday evening meeting, fill out the online form on the Ohio Section Website,  or contact the ARES Union County EC, Ed Liddle at ed.liddle (at) gmail.com 

Weekly ARES NETS

  • Mondays at 9pm on the N8IG repeater  - 145.350  Tone:127.3Hz
  • Digital Simplex Net - Immediately follows the repeater net 145.60
  • Nets do not meet on the 3rd Monday of the month.
  • Net preambles are at the bottom of this page

The first training topic we covered is the ARES Field Resource Manual. A PDF of the ARES field manual can be downloaded from the ARRL site Here

The ARES Manual PDF can be downloaded from the ARRL site Here

 

Here are some links with additional information about ARES and RACES.
ARES vs RACES FAQ - http://www.arrl.org/ares-races-faq
Basic RACES information - http://www.usraces.org/
ARRL ARES Information - http://www.arrl.org/ares
ARES training information- http://arrl-ohio.org/SEC/training.html

Union County ARES/RACES information:

Central Ohio Trauma System (COTS) radio frequencies - 2 meter and 70cm Frequencies, Simplex and repeaters from the Ohio Repeater Council for central ohio and surrounding counties that hospital radios are programmed with. This list was last updated on 4/30/2015 by K8JWL

AndFLDigi is FlDigi and FLMsg for android. It can be found here:  https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/AndFlmsg/

Online Comm Academy 2021 is set for April 10 – 11

Submitted by CountyEC on Fri, 04/02/2021 - 21:52

From ARRL http://www.arrl.org/news/online-comm-academy-2021-is-set-for-april-10-11
03/31/2021

The 2021 Comm Academy April 10 – 11 is 2 days of training, talks, and information on emergency communications and amateur radio. This year's theme is Disasters Here, There, and Everywhere — Are We Ready?

Registration is free and required to gain access to the complete schedule and academy materials. The Academy is entirely virtual and hosted online. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Comm Academy is attended and supported by organizations including the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®); Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES); Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS); EOC Support Teams; Civil Air Patrol; Coast Guard Auxiliary; REACT, and CERT, among others.

All interested in emergency and amateur radio communications are welcome to network and share experiences. The event focuses on education for communications leaders, volunteers, and professionals.

80m ARES net Update from Stan

Submitted by CountyEC on Fri, 03/12/2021 - 17:47

Hey everyone! The time’s changing this weekend, and that means we at least have a valid chance to actually hear each other again!! So please let it be known that we’re starting back up with our 80 meter ARES HF net this Tuesday evening. Our startup time will be 1900 - - 7 PM straight up. And our normal frequency is 3.902 +/- QRM. We hope to hear you!

-Stan

Red Cross Amateur Radio EmComm Drills and Training Information

Submitted by CountyEC on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 02:04

A nationwide EmComm Radio Drill is set for May 8, and we are having monthly Winlink trainings between now and then.

Last Fall's Drill attracted over 1,500 hams in 47 states to practice passing Red Cross traffic and it was written up in QST this month (copy attached).

 To be informed, pls join our groups.io for updates and announcements.  We've just opened a website, too.  

Parks On The Air Group ( POTA )

Submitted by CountyEC on Mon, 02/08/2021 - 16:00

George, KE8NIY is getting a POTA group together to activate Ohio Parks on a monthly basis for Parks on The Air https://parksontheair.com/ . Park activations may take place in an afternoon or may be a weekend camping trip. The goal is to give everyone that is interested in learning and practicing operating portable one weekend a month to do just that. A weekend camping POTA activation would provide the opportunity to test out a 2 or 3 day deployment bag/kit. Park activations would be an opportunity to try out different antennas, and over all improve portable operating skills and equipment/antenna setup. 
If you are interested in joining George, KE8NIY for Parks on the Air please send an e-mail to pota@ares.unioncountyohio.us  

Upcoming Projects

Submitted by CountyEC on Mon, 11/16/2020 - 08:30
160m Support pole

Poles going up for a 160m loop antenna.

The covid infection rate has been increasing a lot. This effects when we will be able to do face to face activities.
Please let me know if you are interested in helping out with some upcoming projects at EMA Station 720 when we are able to do so.
The projects at Station 720 are as follows:

  • Communications Vehicle work - The EMA has an old ambulance that we can setup and use as a communications vehicle. It will need to have radios mounted inside it, along with figuring out what we want to put in it and how we want to organize things. It will include both EMA radio equipment and amateur radio equipment
  • 160m Loop antenna - Two out of 3 poles have been put up to support a 160m loop antenna. After the third pole is in place, work on the loop antenna can start. This will be a group effort between the Union County Amateur Radio Club and our ARES group.  
  • Internet - Station 720 is getting a fiber internet connection. Details are being worked out to see about using it for the DMR repeater and also to add an allstar link/echolink node directly to the 145.350 repeater controller. After the internet connection is setup we will need to re-organize the radio room at Station 720. This will also be a group effort between the Union County Amateur Radio Club, EMA, and our ARES group.
  • HF Beam antenna on tower - the HF beam antenna on top of the tower will need to be looked at and adjusted or repaired. This will take some coordination with the EMA, and possibly a tower climber/crew and lift.

If you are interested in helping with any of these projects, let Ed, KE8ANU know via e-mail

News Letter

Submitted by CountyEC on Fri, 10/30/2020 - 16:29

I have created a news letter for our ARES group using mail chimp. It will read the RSS feed from the website. Mailchimp will then generate an e-mail with new content that is put on the front page of the website and email it out to everyone for the news letter. This will make it easier to keep everyone updated about ARES related events on the website as well as e-mail.  I have added everyone I have been e-mailing about ARES related information to mailchimp. If you are not getting the news letter from Mailchimp, check your spam folder. 
I have added a signup form for the news letter on the website for anyone that would like to subscribe to the Union County ARES news letter. 

73,

Ed, KE8ANU  

Subscribe to