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Ohio HF Emergency Preparedness Net. Tues at 7PM on 3850 kHz (+/-) Ohio Digital Emergency Net (OHDEN) Tues at 8PM. 3585 kHz and 7072 kHz USB.
Ross T. Stillisano KB8JTZ Memorial Award Winner: David Rickon NF8O, of Medina, OH
Greetings and salutations from the Northeast corner of the Buckeye State where the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit and rainy.
There were no Ohio SEC Notes for weeks 13, 14, and 15. Decided to hold off for a few weeks.
First and foremost, I have to say, my trip to Cincinnati on April 1st was outstanding! I sincerely thank everyone for making my stay enjoyable. Many thanks to OHKYIN - the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Amateur Radio Society for inviting me and showing me some of that "Southern hospitality." The trip was worth while and I am so looking forward to my next visit. One of the coolest things that came out of that trip was the idea of a Tri-State ARES Conference in 2015. More details to follow as they develop.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're roughly 4 weeks from the largest amateur radio convention on the planet! Of course, I am talking about Dayton Hamvention on May 16, 17, and 18. Don't forget the ARES Forum will be held at 10:30AM on Sunday, May 18th in Room 3. This is usually standing room only so if you're planning to attend, please come early. This year's guest speaker will be Mike Corey who is the Emergency Preparedness Manager at ARRL Headquarters.
CALLING ALL INSTRUCTORS!! I am looking for instructors to help teach the attached topics at the first ever ARES Training Camp in the Ohio Section! These topics are not etched in stone but relative to what we're hoping to accomplish at camp. If you are willing to teach any of the topics listed in the attached document or you're willing to teach a related topic, please contact me directly. I am beginning to put my staff roster together.
ARES Training Camp will be held at Camp Falling Rock in Newark, Ohio on September 12, 13, and 14. Online participant registration is expected to open sometime mid-August.
Ohio ARES Response System. This awesome tool was developed by Ohio amateur radio operators for Ohio amateur radio operators. Unveiled at the All Ohio ARES Conference last Fall, it's designed to contain a database of resources available throughout the Ohio Section. Something to keep in mind is the local/county ARES team is the first tier of defense in responding to the ravages of disaster. No community has the resources sufficient to cope with all disasters. Let's take a look at this scenario. An EF-3 tornado has ripped through your hometown. Winds of 165 miles per hour were recorded at National Weather Service. The tornado path is 8 miles long and 1.6 miles wide. Surprisingly, there is no loss of life. Your town is left with severe damage. Roofs have been torn off and locomotives in the rail yard have been overturned. You're local two-meter repeater has been wiped off the face of the Earth by Mother Nature. Luckily, you have access to a two-meter repeater in a neighboring county. However, HT and mobile coverage is marginal at best. But not all is lost. One of your Assistant Emergency Coordinators remembers something being said at a conference he attended about some kind of database where equipment can be requested. Your Emergency Coordinator, with the help of the DEC, manages to request a tower on wheels, two repeaters (one VHF and one UHF), antennas, feed line, and generators with enough fuel to last for weeks. Most of which will be on site within a matter of hours. All of this was available through the Ohio ARES Response System.
This is precisely where we're trying to get to. But we have a problem. There's hardly anything in the Ohio ARES Response System to request. As of this very moment, if you needed equipment, it would be hard to figure out what equipment is available and where from. So we need your help! Please review the attached document. Let's work together in getting the database populated. That way, when the Ohio ARES Response System is activated, there is equipment available to request.
That's all I have this week. Thank you very much for all you do for amateur radio.
73 de Matt W8DEC
ATTACHMENT..
When it hits the fan- who do we call?
We live in a pretty quiet region, but we are not immune from a major event that would easily tax all our ARES resources. 40 years ago this week, the people of Xenia had their lives turned upside down. I remember driving into town that evening in an Army truck- a parking lot full of ambulances, and a gym full of bodies. Water, transportation and communication were all gone for days.
Things are better these days- better planning from safety agencies, better warning from the NWS, and better communications backbones. So how have we improved in amateur radio? Matt told the Spring Leadership Conference that the days of “Call me if you need me” are over. We in ARES must be prepared to respond in a professional and adequate manner.
That’s where several plans within Ohio ARES are coming together! One was unveiled last fall, and I’d like to make sure you’re aware of what this ~can~ do as a resource for you! I’m writing about OARS- the Ohio ARES Response System. It was designed to make us ready with a thorough listing of resources communications vehicles, portable repeaters, towers, larger generators, communication stations, any type of physical resource you might need when you find that it’s time to ‘call in the cavalry.’ This database keeps a description, contact information, even pictures of items that your members have available from your county which could respond if requested. We have cataloged items to match FEMA guidelines (although there are no specific FEMA amateur radio typing specifications.) And, we have allowed for a variety of areas into which your owners would allow them/their equipment to travel everything from just within your own district to nationwide.
A basic component of the typical ARES member is a big heart…a heart to help our neighbors, a heart to build things like trailers and ‘go boxes’ for just that purpose. And we don’t spend our personal money, time and effort to build a resource so that it just sits without being used! Without an organized response, who’s to say the nearest and most appropriate equipment is actually called? And who’s to say that we don’t send four repeaters when only one is called for? OARS can be a critical response tool but we depend on what YOU put into the system!
I’m asking each county EC to poll your members, come up with a list of resources in your county (a great way to update your own lists as we enter the next season!) and then fill out the online form on the arrlohio.org website so we can catalog it in OARS! Instructions are on the login side of the ARES web, with this link for the form itself: http://arrl-ohio.org/SEC/ff-100.html
With OARS, with ARESMAT, and with training amateur radio can show itself ready to adequately
respond in today’s season with today’s concerns! 
