May's Section Emergency Coordinators Report..

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: May
Year: 2016
Total Number of ARES Members: 1760
Change since last month: 10
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 10
Number of ARES Nets active: 487
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: varies
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK N8KKW N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 142
Person Hours: 1392.75
Number of Public Service Events this month: 108
Person Hours: 2186.75
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 9
Person Hours: 49.5
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 799
Total Person Hours: 5631
Comments: Lots of significant public service this month. ARES activated briefly for a missing person in D3 area. LOTS of stuff coming this summer! ARESMAT final structure and tabletops completed. The Sarge (W8SGT at OHEOC) is being remodelled, grant approved for new rigs/amps.
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com

OES Reports for May:

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	15	0	50
Mark	KB8YMN	Franklin	7	31	0	8
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	0	0	2
David	NF8O	Medina	10	44	0	2
Tony	KC8UR	Knox	7	0	0	12
Matt	KD8TTE	Franklin	7	31	0	17
Jeff	KB8ZUN	Lorain	10	6	0	15

Hi everyone!  Thanks so much to DEC’s and EC’s who’ve completed reports for May!  It may the accounting easy.  We’re getting warmed up for a very busy summer- so these numbers show that you are putting time and energy into serving your communities! Well done, all!!

I urge you to get involved with a nearby Field Day effort! This is the ‘large scale’ emergency preparedness exercise for the entire nation- and while it’s fun for fellowship and contesting, it assures that if needed we actually ~can~ set up in a field!  So have a great time, and be safe!! I’ll be operating 40 in “Canned Ham” for the DELARA FD effort at Delaware (when I’m not partaking in our pig roast!) so if you hear K8ES, say hello!

Big changes are still underway at The Sarge!  Rooms in the remodeling process are starting to take shape—and as you might expect with a state project, change is a daily thing. Good news is that our grant was approved, so we’ll be able to add a couple Yaesu FTDX-1200’s and a couple full-power amps to the arsenal.  At the moment we’re limping along with very limited facilities- and that may present extra challenges for July (NAACP, Toledo, RNC, Red Cross).

One thing of note:  Cherish your friendships that develop in ham radio!! Take time to help others, and take time to really enjoy the many different people, with all the skills and talents they bring, as we work our way through this radio sport.

Here are the monthly numbers and they look great!

Total Drills/training: 142

Drill hours: 1392.75

Public Service events: 108

Public Service hours: 2186.75

Emergency events: 9

Emergency hours: 50

Not bad for May, just getting warmed up for the ‘active’ months!  Well done, everyone!!

Ohio ARES Monthly Activity Report for May, 2016

District 1

Lucas County is in need of quite a few volunteers for the Toledo Air Show. Contact Brenda Krukowski or myself for further information. Totals include figures for the Northwest Ohio Traffic and Training Net.
Seneca County-EC Scott Rosenburger KE8JC Report submitted by AEC Steve Tarbert KC8ZKC  We had several training sessions this month (Skywarn, Railroad Tanker safety Training, and an EOC Drill. We did assist with an EOC activation when the county\'s west side paging system went down.

Huron County-EC Clay Benner KB8DNA 2 Skywarn nets. No Damage reported.

Sandusky County-EC David Gierhart W8DAG   Provided parade communications and traffic control for the Hayes Presidential Center Centennial Celebration on May 28, including 90 members of The Ohio State University Marching Band. President Hayes was the founder of OSU. His home and the first presidential library in the country is located at Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Ohio. Held Skywarn training in Toledo on May 26.

Hancock County-EC Darl Deeds NA8W  Quiet weather month in Hancock County. We were invited to attend the Hancock County Firefighters Association monthly meeting at Blanchard Township Fire Department. They asked ARES/HEARS to be their program for the meeting. Almost 50 fire fighters were in attendance from all over Hancock County. More usually attend but a house fire nearby had four fire departments fighting it. The Hancock County EC and 9 other ARES members attended and presented the reasons to consider ARES for a communication role in emergencies. Also a video of ARES with Walter Cronkite was viewed. Great opportunity to publicize ham radio and ARES.

Erie County-EC Bob Heim K8HLH We had NWS training in Norwalk Memorial Day Parade at the Ohio Veterans Home in Perkins Township 12 members helped set up the parade FSD-157 was sent to the ARRL

Wood County-EC Eric Willman WD8LEI  No Report

Lucas County-EC Brenda Krukowski KB8IUP  We presented the Skywarn Training for the Lucas County Integrated Health Care Team on May 26. Our May ARES meeting was canceled due to the amateurs working the Memorial Day Parade on May 28 meeting date. Our next meeting will be June 25 at theTMRA Field Day Site at the Wolcott House in Maumee, OH

Ottawa County-EC James Garber KB8TTR  No Report

Wyandot County-EC Ron Wilch KE8PX  The Wyandot County Hams will be participating during Field Day later this month at Wharton Community Park. We will be having a pot luck dinner on Saturday evening and operating for the entire 24 hours as 3A OHIO. \"73\"

District 2

No comments

District 3

DISTRICT 3 SUMMARY:

Eight of nine counties reporting:  334 Members (includes all 9 counties), 91 Total Events (59 Voice Net Sessions, 7 Digital Net Sessions, 20 Meetings/ Drills/Tests/Training, 3 Public Service Events, 2 Emergency Operations), 1001 Total Man-Hours.

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY:  No Report.

CLARK COUNTY:  Four weekly net sessions and one other ARES event for a total of 5 events and 49 man-hours. 

DARKE COUNTY:  Five weekly voice net sessions, one Public Service Event and one other ARES event for a total of 7 events and 81 man-hours.

GREENE COUNTY:  Five GCARES weekly voice nets, four GCARES weekly digital nets, five GCARES weekly Mesh HSMM discussion nets, four Bellbrook support group voice nets and five Fairborn support group voice nets.  Greene County ARES/Miami Valley Mesh Alliance set up an ARES Mesh Networks across Hamvention and manned an ARES Mesh Demonstration Booth all three days of Hamvention [considered one event] for a total of 24 events and 275 man-hours.

LOGAN COUNTY:  Four weekly voice net sessions for a total of 4 events and 2 man-hours.

MIAMI COUNTY:  Nine weekly voice net sessions, one public service event and nine other ARES/RACES events include General Class License Course sessions and  Miami County ARC Open House for a total of 19 events and 114 man-hours.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY:  Five weekly voice nets, three digital nets and three other ARES events including a Hospital Exercise, a LEPC Hazmat Exercise and ARES support for Dayton Hamvention for a total of 11 events and 58 man-hours.

PREBLE COUNTY:  Four weekly net sessions, one Skywarn emergency operation and two other ARES event including a repeater upgrade project to increase coverage for upcoming GOBA event and coordination of the Emcomm Vehicles Display at Hamvention for a total of 7 events and 23 man-hours.

SHELBY COUNTY:  Five weekly net sessions, one public service event, one Skywarn emergency operation and three other ARES events including FLDIGI training and manning Shelby County ARES Comm Trailer three days of Hamvention.

DISTRICT 3 ACTIVITIES:  Four District 3 ARES Weekly Net sessions for a total of 4 events and 97 man-hours.

District4

The biggest public service event of the month was the Flying Pig Marathon. There were two EMA-requested weather-related activations in Hamilton County. The large-scale MCI drill in Hamilton County was postponed by the organizers.

District 5

From Stark County EC Terry Russ, N8ATZ: Stark Co ARES completed 5 public service nets for the month of May that totaled 150 check-ins. There were no public service events this month. During July and August we will be organizing for our participation in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival which will involve nearly 50 radio operators assisting with both the Community Parade and the Grand Parade.

From Summit EC Ken Dorsey, KA8OAD: We were asked by one of our local hospitals to check on the amateur radio equipment they had on site. Two of us spent a couple of hours testing their antenna and radio including re-programming the radio (FT-8800) for the local ARES frequencies and the frequencies of the repeaters that we have MOU\\\'s with for backup. They were grateful that we were willing to spend the time to make sure they had a backup comms plan in case of another major communications breakdown and even asked about getting several of their own people licensed so that they could operate the radio.

District 6

Wayne County had 4 nets Holmes County had 4 nets Ashland County had 0 nets Richland County had 4 nets and a drill Details on drill in Richland County report

District 7

group is developing video and data capabilities, has built major nodes on 5 county owned towers, with more to come, and perfecting the three portable nodes they currently have. Excitement is running high within ARES and the area fire and law enforcement leadership as we all anticipate Mesh being a very important element to our ARES emergency response package. 

FAIRFIELD:: repeater antenna testing and repair OHDEN NCS KE8AMC OHDEN ALT STATION W8OF, KD8SSJ FD TRAINING DURING RADIO NIGHTS X 4 

FRANKLIN:: We are cooperating with the Franklin County EM&HS office, groups, agencies and clubs to assemble a communications plan for the county that will include numerous repeater systems and simplex frequencies.

KNOX: New MOU with EMA in place. Working on getting the radio room at the EMA office fully operational and incorporating digital.

LICKING: Licking County had a busy May! We had several meetings for an upcoming June event, Tour de Cure, which is a tri-county bike ride fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association that includes Delaware, Knox and Licking Counties. Licking Co. serves as the NCS for the event and is stationed in Johnstown. The event includes 30, 60 & 100 mile courses that run through all 3 counties. We are also gearing up for field day. The NARA club will be at Hornshill Park in north Newark and the COOKEN/Cres Clubs will be at Infirmary Park south of Granville. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.

District 8

Counties reporting: Athens, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Scioto, Vinton EC

Athens: Both ACARA and SCARF clubs have been activating part of the National Trail at Burr Oak Lake for National Parks on the Air using temporary stations.

Jackson: We had our annual Jackson county LEPC and ARES exercise on 5-22-16. We had a good turnout for ARES members. We will be having another county wide exercise again next year.

Lawrence: Great parade 26 amateurs it was a big parade this year.

Pike: Made presentation to PCFFA (Pike County Firefighters Association) about ARES and what we can do for them. Positive response from those attending.

Scioto: EMA Drill tested back up communications between Chemical Plant, EOC, and Hospitals. The neighboring county held a large Memorial Day Parade for which some members assisted in comms. Looking forward to Field Day next month and the end to a successful fundraiser for the group.

DEC comments: DEC participated in Red Cross Disaster Services Technology hands-on training in Akron this month, learning how to set up Red Cross radios, computers, networking, cell phones and satellite Internet access. DEC will be volunteering in Red Cross DST/amateur radio for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland during July.

District 9

COSHOCTON CO: LEPC meeting attended. KB8HEA, N8VV,KC8WX, and myself took a remote ARES tower down. Thanks . Tower may be used on Club repeater, ARES repeater. KL7RF and KC8WX continue to check into W8SGT. KL7RF checks into OSSBN and OHDEN. KC8YXY updating ARES roster and calling tree. Thanks Jamie. May 12 the county held a LEPC functional exercise in which ARES was a part . EOC and a Red Cross shelter were manned on a week day in the afternoon. Due to this plus having several members unavailable led the acting EC KL7RF to request help from DEC ,W8FHF. We thank Guernsey County ARES AECs N8JMK and KD8QYV for coming to Coshocton and helping. Sonny came too as an observer. Thanks also to Muskingum Co EC KC8SIQ and ASM ,N8IMW. For this exercise KL7RF was acting EC. I participated in a country SIM cell. MARCS and Amateur communications were involved. Unfortunately only a handful of messages were handled by ARES. A good experience none the less. Steve, AA8BN, EC..Total events 14, Total hours 67...............

GUERNSEY CO: ARES assisted with the county emergency drill on May 5th. Our duties were administrative within the EOC. We did bring up a two meter net in case the drill evolved into a communication failure. The monthly training occurred during the scheduled ARES / Skywarn net on the 31st of May. All stations were requested to change freq to a simplex freq. A roll call was conducted on the simplex freq. Then a training message was passed for all stations to copy. All stations then change freq back to the repeater. Once all stations were back on the repeater a transmit and receive station was identified. The messaged was then transmitted again and checked for accuracy. Two members were deployed to Coshocton County to assist with their EMA drill. Also provide a parking cars service for the Guernsey County Senior Citizens picnic. Richard, WD8SDH, EC..Total events 7, Total hours 144.............

MUSKINGUM CO: LEPC tabletop was held and attended. Worked directly with Red Cross and the EMA. Elizabeth, KC8SIQ, EC..Total events 5, Total hours 9...........

DEC, DIST 9: Only three counties reporting this month. Sonny, W8FHF.

District 10

District 10: After the snow, sleet, and water spouts at the Cleveland Marathon, warmer weather is finally here. Since Hamvention is over, that means Field Day is coming! Make sure to participate in Field Day with your local club! ***

Ashtabula County: May is now behind us- and hopefully most of the severe storms we have been witness to. Everyone as been milling about and getting ready for Field Day 2016. We have put together a new board of Field Day coordinators. Things should run like clockwork. Here\\\'s to a great beginning of summer!!! ***

Cuyahoga County: ARES Members participated in numerous events this month including the Cleveland Marathon which experienced rain, snow, sun, and water spouts. Plans continue for the RNC. ARES Involvement still consists of only staffing county EOC and Red Cross office. ICS-205 will be completed and distributed to adjacent counties within the next few weeks. ***

Geauga County: No comments. ***

Lake County: Public Service for Lake County History Center at their Civil War Encampment. ***

Lorain County: No Comments. ***Medina County: Medina Half Marathon was our big P.S. event

April Section Emergency Coordinator's Report..

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: April
Year: 2016
Total Number of ARES Members: 1561
Change since last month: 28
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 10
Number of ARES Nets active: 498
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: varies
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK N8KKW N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 130
Person Hours: 1782.5
Number of Public Service Events this month: 77
Person Hours: 1168.5
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 7
Person Hours: 100
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 712
Total Person Hours: 4756.5

Comments: A lot of exercises and drills are underway, and public service season is beginning. Planning for RNC and NAACP conventions in July is in full swing. ARESMAT leadership met to continue its finalization. ARES Seminar in Dayton was turned over to the ARRL league.
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com

District 1

District 1 sponsored a severe weather seminar at the Seneca County EMA Training Center. Even with 7-12 inch snowfall the night before, there were about 25 hearty souls that attended. Lucas County is in the planning stages of manning stations at the upcoming Toledo Air Show in mid July and will need added operators from throughout the district. If not enough people volunteer we will seek help State wide.

District 2

No DEC Report,  Only Van Wert reported with no activity.

District 3

No DEC Report.

Clark: On behalf of EMA director, we checked some antenna problems on weather alert radios at Job & Family services. Greene: 8 Voice Nets, 4 Digital Nets / 9 License Course Sessions (concurrent Technician, General, Extra x 3 weeks), GCARES/MVMA Mesh Meeting, District 3 ED Meeting (EC + 3 AEC\'s), NVIS Antenna Day, Greene County ARES Meeting / one public service event.

Logan: On 4-28-2016 the Logan County EMA Communications team assisted with an LEPC exercise. We were not being evaluated in this exercise. There were 8 amateur radio operators supporting this exercise. A report:

Even though we were not being evaluated, I noticed several things that need further investigation. One of the issues noticed was that when the MARCS radios were in use, the near-field radiation caused a static like interference on some of the radios. Additionally, some of the LED controllers on the fire trucks and ambulances caused interference on some of the radios. It is unknown the total number of radios effected, but I think some in depth investigation needs to be done to identify and eliminate this interference. 

Miami: MCES ARES/RACES Net 145.23-: 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, MCES ARES/RACES Net 147.21+: 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28. Supported the NVIS event with 4 contacts with other stations in Ohio due to 10 visits from the Miami Valley Preparedness Network spend the morning at the W8FW clubhouse asking questions regarding HF use in emergency.  Montgomery: MoCo ARES held 3 voice nets, 2 digital nets and our bi-monthly membership meeting. We had a guest speaker, Capt Greg Stevens from the Montgomery County Sheriff\'s Dept. who gave a presentation on the MARCS system. We participated in 3 PSE\'s this month. 1) Support for Suicide Awareness 5K at the Dayton VA Medical Center, 2) Providing escort/security for the Dayton Great TV16 Auction, and 3) Support for the Dayton Autism Society 5K in Moraine. We had 4 Officers of MoCo ARES attend the District 3 Meeting and received DEC/EC Training from Stan Broadway, Ohio SEC, who also gave a briefing on ICS Training and EPCS.

District 4

E-ops hours were in support of the NWS office in Wilmington. It was a very busy month in Hamilton County. Meeting with local radio station about possible ARES shack location. ARES outreach at TMRC (Tri-State Medical Reserve Corps) Summit. AEC Meeting. NVIS Exercise. Flying Pig Marathon: Day 1 & 2 of 3 days. Participated in PA Digi Exercise. Planning for MCI Exercise on May 20.

District 5

Stark County - N8ATZ Stark County ARES completed 4 public service nets for the month of April that totaled 123 check-ins. There were no public service events during the month. In partnership with the County EMA office we did sponsor Skywarn Spotter Training at a local High School on Wednesday, April 6th with over 130 attending. The training was conducted by Michelle Sowers, Emergency Management Specialist and Meteorologist from the Ohio EMA Office. In attendance at this years training were Amateur Radio Operators, area public safety forces, hospital staff, school employees and the general public. We also provided an introduction to ARES during Technician Class training held by the Massillon Amateur Radio Club. Training and planning continues for the annual Pro football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival to be held this August.

Summit County - KA8OAD This month we had our first public service event, the MS Walk Akron walk. The weather was perfect and the temperature ended up being close to 80 degrees, not bad for the middle of April. This is probably why they were expecting 200 walkers and ended up with 1200 walkers.

Columbia County - KB8HTU Received Radiologica ltraining for upcoming nuclear drill with Beaver Valley power station just across the state line in Pa. Mahoning County - W8IZC Webinar on April 7th for NEC antenna modeling-emergency antenna design. 23 attended 6:30pm to 6:50 short local ARES meeting, then webinar and after event discussions ending about 9:15pm

District 6

Richland County ARES participated in Mansfield Mid winter Hamfest had a great turn out and weather this year

District 7

DELAWARE-- A busy month for Delaware ARES with 72 hours of training from the Weather Spotter to District 7 training led by the SEC. Good preparation for coming events as we have a busy summer ahead.

FAIRFIELD-- TRAINING ARES ANTENA TEST AT TWP FIRE DEPARTMENTS NVIS ANTENNA STATE WIDE EXERSISE FIELD DAY LOGING SOFTWARE TRAINING 

LICKING-- Licking County had a busy April! A few of our members helped with a CERT Communications class part #2. The class was to teach the CERT members net operations and message handling with simulated disasters among 3 teams. NVIS day was operated out of the CERT/ARES trailer at KD8DZ’s QTH north of Granville with an elevation of 1130’. The morning was not good due to the propagation, but the afternoon proved to be better for us. May is looking to be another busy month for us with tabletop exercises and full scale exercises and planning for upcoming events. 

MARION-- April 2016 April was a busy month for the Marion County ARES gang. Starting things off was the National Robotics Challenge held at the Marion County Fairgrounds. The Challenge, whose main sponsor is Honda, last three days, attracts hundreds of high school and college aged student teams from Ohio, all the states surrounding Ohio and beyond, with teams as far away as Wisconsin and New York, to name only a couple. The ARES was in charge of ticket sales and providing security for the event. Next was the statewide NVIS exercise where we fielded two teams on the East and West side of the county and manned the W8MRN anchor station at the Fairgrounds Clubhouse/EOC location. Finally, the EMA Countywide SET was conducted April 30th with the ARES directing cars and EMS vehicles at the starting site, acting as safety officers at the SET incident locations, establishing communications with the Marion General Emergency Room and tracking EMS Squads with victims being transported to the hospital. The ARES group passed with flying colors and received positive remarks from official observers including the EMA Director and staff. 

UNION-- NVIS day was a great recruiting tool

District 8

Counties reporting: Athens, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Scioto, Vinton EC comments:

Athens: Provided comm support for the Iron Furnace Trail Run at Lake Hope and the Athens Marathon. Athens Hamfest was Sunday, April 24 with a good turnout. VE session resulted in three new Technicians, one General upgrade and one Extra upgrade.

Hocking: We are having some minor issues with our 2 meter repeater on 147.345 and suspect a loose or bad connection on the county tower. We are waiting on better weather to climb the tower to check it out and make repairs.

Jackson: Jackson and Vinton Counties will be doing the County annual exercise on May 22, 2016 at 1:00pm

Lawrence: good testing Scioto: Good turn out for Antenna Day the 23rd. Automatic relay from ARES Nets for Severe Weather direct to EMA who is on chat with NWS Wilmington. Works out nice.

Vinton: I just took over Vinton County as the EC along with keeping Jackson County. So far from what I can tell Vinton doesnt have a ARES group. I will be trying to put together a new group.

DEC comments: Jackson County EC Doug Tilley, KD8GSP has been appointed to also assume the duties of Vinton EC. Thanks, Doug! Tour of the Scioto Valley (TOSRV) to be held May 7-8.

District 9

COSHOCTON CO: NWS Pittsburgh presented in person an advanced SKYWARN training which was well attended. We also participated with Coshocton County Amateur Radio Association during NVIS. It was another cold year with 8 participants and three antennas. We now have echo-link on the ARES 145.23 repeater. Thanks to AB8RR-R for setting this up at his station. The club repeater 147.045 also has had echo- link through KB8HEA-r. KL7RF, KC8PUW, KC8WX have been checking into W8SGT, and some check-ins into OHDEN. 8 events for 62 hrs. Steve, AA8BN, EC.

GUERNSEY CO: The EC, AECs, and several members attended an EOC orientation training for the upcoming May county emergency exercise. The monthly ARES training was on messages forms, logs, radiograms, and briefing in preparation for the upcoming county drill. Also, three stations participated in the NVIS operations. 6 events for 44 hrs. EC Richard, WD8SDH.

MUSKINUM CO: One station worked the NVIS station on the air for the NVIS event. EC Liz Nichols, KC8SIQ.

NOBLE CO: No comments. 0 events for 0 hrs. EC Gary Oliver.

DEC-9: I had my station on the air for the NVIS operations. I worked 24 counties, mostly on 75 meters. I had three antennas for 40 meters, but saw limited use due to poor band conditions. I also gave a presentation on NVIS theory, antennas, and operations at the Cambridge Amateur Radio Assn. April club meeting. DEC Sonny W8FHF.

District 10

District 10: NVIS day was a blast. Big fun! Hope to see lots of you at Dayton!

Ashtabula County: his month has been a roller coaster to say the least. One of our most beloved and valued members of our club and AshCo ARES passed away unexpectedly. Bob, WD8PVB, my AEC and right hand man went silent key. But as a nice nod to him Mother Nature cooperated and gave us decent weather to honor him with great weather for our NVIS drill- which he started. Bands weren't great but it just made us work harder!

Cuyahoga County: Appointed Bob K8MD as AEC to lead the newly formed HF team. ARES is preparing for the Cleveland Marathon on May 15.Preparations continue for the RNC as well. NVIS day went very well including a fire command vehicle that was provided by the local FD.

Geauga County: No report submitted.

Lake County: Can you believe 7.5 inches of snow the night before the 20 mile drop run from Chardin to Fairport Harbor. Sixteen operators braved the 19 degrees and snow to monitor the progress of the 570 runners on the 20 and 10 mile course. We had 2 bicycle mobiles on the bike path. Brrr !!! Net Control was happy to be in the heated Comm Trailer for the event. No major issues were encountered. The following weekend, April 16th, was sunny and mild for the Lake County M-S Walk. This was an other smooth event with no issues. We again activated the Jame A. Garfield Home for NPOTA ( NS-39) making 189 contacts in 4 hours of operations using the LCARA call N8BC.

Lorain County: No Comments.

Medina County: No Comments.

*************************************


Official Emergency Station Reports for April..

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	10	0	10
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	0	0	1.5
Clair	W8KF	Huron	1	0	0	0
David	NF8O	Medina	10	19	0	3.25
Tony	KC8UR	Knox	7	2	0	12
Matt	KD8TTE	Franklin	7	15	0	16

Section Emergency Coordinator's report for March..

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: March
Year: 2016
Total Number of ARES Members: 1683
Change since last month: 76
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 10
Number of ARES Nets active: 537
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: varies
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK N8KKW N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 180
Person Hours: 1887
Number of Public Service Events this month: 36
Person Hours: 520
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 18
Person Hours: 154.5
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 825
Total Person Hours: 4864.8
Comments: We had several activations for wind/tornadic activity. Many stations participated in severe weather readiness activities, including siren testing and skywarn training. Counties are readying their equipment for the spring and summer public service season.
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com
Files to upload?: 

OES reports for March..

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Marshall	N8PIB	Marion	7	2	0	6
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	15	0	60
Mark	KB8YMN	Franklin	7	10	0	7
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	1.5	0	6
Clair	W8KF	Huron	1	3	0	1.9
David	NF8O	Medina	10	26	24	2
Tony	KC8UR	Knox	7	2	0	14
Matt	KD8TTE	Franklin	7	16	0	21
Jack	KB8WPZ	Mahoning	5	5	0	5
Randy	KA0AZS	Montgomery	3	1	0	4
Andrew	N8VES	Montgomery	3	0	0	5
Jeff	KB8ZUN	Lorain	10	0	0	0
Alan	N7CEU	Pickaway	7	0	3	11.5
John	K8PJ	Pickaway	7	0	0	5

Hi all!  Hope you’re gearing up for NVIS antenna day on the 23^rd!!  This promises to be a lot of fun, we’re looking forward to it. Details are on the SEC/ARES page of arrl-ohio.org.  WE NEED TO SEE YOUR COUNTY ON THE AIR!!!  This will give us numbers to show the state and others our capabilities for emergencies! 

Here are the monthly comments for March- I always enjoy reading what’s going on in your counties. There is a correlation in these reports:  there is a large number of counties who are NOT holding any training at all. Their memberships show to be very small.  The more you train, the more active you are will result in increasing interest and activity for your members…your numbers will grow.   EC’s need to be proactive in your relationships with served agencies. Check in with your EMA, your health department, Red Cross and others regularly!  Get active, re-ignite the spark. It’s important.

Excellent work to all who made the Skywarn training!  This is something we should do every season. We can directly contribute to the safety of our families and our neighbors!

Ohio ARES Reports, March 2016

District 1

Totals include Northwest Ohio Traffic and Training Net and District 1 Skywarn operations. Northwest Ohio Traffic and Training Net had 234 check-ins, passed 122 pieces of traffic in 485 minutes. Man hours include meetings attended for public service events, Skywarn spotter training set up and stuffing folders.

District 2

ARES Storm Spotter Teams participated in refresher weather spotter classes.

District 3

Clark: Spotter Class & Statewide Tornado Drill, both on 23 March

Green: (3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/22, 3/29) Weekly Nets; (3/6, 3/13, 3/20) Greene County License Courses (T+G+E); (3/7) Skywarn Training Class; (3/9) Beavercreek ARES Group Planning Meeting; (3/14) EC ARES Presentation for XWARN Meeting; (3/23) Ohio Statewide Tornado Drill; (3/28) Beavercreek ARES Group Planning Meeting
Miami: Received 1 additional ARES forms turned in, bring the number of members in Miami County to 19. . MCES ARES/RACES Net 145.23-: 3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/20, MCES ARES/RACES Net 147.21+: 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/31. On 3/24, held Weather Spotter Training in Piqua between Shelby and Miami County with 79 people in attendance (8 of these were ARES or RACES members). On 3/13, held a Weather Net due to server weather resulting in wind damage around the county and possible tornado touchdown in Southwest corner of the county.
Montgomery: We had a drop in membership as we are in the process of updating our roster, we dropped serval due to inactivity or no longer interested due to ICS. The EC participated in the ARRL Webinar on Mar 1, MoCo ARES had 26 members participate in annual Skywarn training provided by the NWS and Dayton Skywarn on Mar 12. We have several PSE\'s coming up in April, the first event will be Apr. 2 for a 5K walk/run.

Shelby: : 3-14-16 SkyWarn net Severe TS Warning 3-17-16 Skywarn spotter training 3-23-16 Ohio tornado Drill 3-27-16 Training and monthly meeting 3-27-16 Skywarn net Tornado warning

District 4

Hamilton County: Signed an operational MOU with local club to provide radio assets to ARES for exercises and activations. Participated in pa NBEMS DIGI testing on HF Attended MCI Exercise planning meeting Ohio Statewide Tornado Drill SkyWarn activation Meeting with EMA liaison

Clinton County: E-ops time was in support of the National Weather Service office in Wilmington.

Butler County: System Fusion buildout continues hoping to get tower work done sometime in April.

District 5

Stark Co ARES completed 5 public service nets for the month of March that totaled 153 check-ins. There were no public service events during the month but we will give a short presentation on the ARES during the Technician Class training being conducted by the Massillon Amateur Radio Club. This will include an introduction to ARES and our net activity. We are also attending monthly meetings for the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival that will be held this August. Over 40 radio operators will be needed for this annual event.

District 6

District Six Richland/Wayne County had a Public Service Event this March. Both Counties held a net for the Yearly Tornado Siren Test and got a lot of response to it. Richland County ARES is holding FEMA Course Classes have 6 Members in Class and Some are doing it from home and Turning in Certificates Richland County ARES and Intercity Amateur Radio Club are testing out a New DMR Repeater and it has takin off like a wildfire Thanks to Vasu Communication and Arlin Bradford(KD8EVR) for doing a Presentation on DMR that night 12 radios were ordered and now we are getting close to 40 in Richland County with Mostly Handhelds . I have Learned this can be a great tool for Emergency Communication. We also Started a Richland County Ohio DMR Group Page on Facebook. We are using the N8DPW 444.700 Repeater as the Test Site.

District 7

Delaware: April is here and the Delaware ARES will be involved in several events from the annual Weather Spotter Course to a Health Department exercise. We are gearing up for a season of events and activities .
Franklin: No report

Knox: With the help of my new AEC, we are training up an ARES leadership team within the county and working closer with EMA to facilitate their communications needs. Excited to see what is happening!
Licking: Licking County had a busy March! Planning for upcoming events and 2 severe weather nets. Thankfully there were no injuries or any significant damage to report, some small limbs and wires were downed throughout western Licking Co. according to reports from FD’s and PD’s. We are gearing up for NVIS Day and will operating out of the CERT/ARES trailer.
Madison: no report

Marion: Marion County Ohio FSD-212 Comments March – 2016 March was a quiet month for the Marion ARES crew with no emergency or weather incidents, but busy with other activities. EC Lynn Lovell, W8MLL and AEC Don Freeman, KD8BKT, attended the Marion County LEPC meeting, presenting a report of ARES activities to the group. March 15th was the SKYWARN program with 91 in attendance at the Marion Technical College Health and Technology Auditorium. EMA Director, Sarah McNamee, KD8UUC, updated the group at the March Training Session on the ARES participation at the countywide SET planned for April and plans for the NVIS antenna exercise were also discussed. The Marion group will be one of the anchor stations at the Fairgrounds EOC, along with having two teams in the field at different locations on each side of the county experimenting with different NVIS antennas.

Morrow: No report

Pickaway: no comment

Union: no comments

District 8

Athens: Upcoming events: Iron Furnace Trail Run at Lake Hope State Park, Saturday, April 2, 9 AM, Athens Marathon, 8 AM, ACARA Athens Hamfest, Sunday, April 24, 8 AM to noon.

Hocking: We have purchased a 12ft box trailer and have just started working on getting it ready to be our new emergency communications vehicle.

Lawrence: another great testing

Pike: Completed communications and repeater testing for Dogwood Cycle Tour event. Tested 8 J-pole antennas for remote location deployment.

Scioto: Scioto ARES had big attendance for refresher training at NWS Wilmington Spotter Class in Scioto County; Severe Weather Nets were operated for Scioto EMA and NWS; A Laptop Raffle is underway for funds to maintain repeater for Scioto ARES purchased by Scioto EMA; Red Cross and EMA will do damage assessment training at next quarterly meeting for Scioto ARES.

DEC Comments: SKYWARN spotter training is scheduled for Monday, May 2, 6-8 PM at the Athens County Red Cross office, 100 South May Avenue, Athens, OH 45701

District 9

COSHOCTON CO: No Comments.

GUERNSEY CO: During the March 1st ARES/Skywarn net all stations were requested to change to the assigned ARES county simplex frequency. This gave us the opportunity to evaluate simplex coverage and practice in using simplex communications. During the tornado siren test on March 23 a net was conducted with NCS at the EMA office to observe and support the test. A written report of the net was submitted to the EMA director. On March 22 the EC and three AECs meet with the EMA director to discussion the May county exercise and ARES's role in the exercise. The monthly ARES training was how to repair a cut coax………….

MUSKINGUM CO: No Comments

DEC: Only three counties reporting this month. Sonny W8FHF

District 10

*** District 10: Don\'t miss NVIS day on April 23! ***

Ashtabula County: Though it's back to being cold outside there is at least warmer weather in sight. Here is to hoping that we can all cure the colds, flu, and other bugs that have been plaguing us so we can get out and do something productive!! Dayton is around the corner, NVIS drill, Field Day will be here before ya know it. The best season for hams is beginning for 2016. Here's to a great one!

Cuyahoga County: Many ARES members participated in Skywarn Spotter Training this month as well as the Skywarn net run for the statewide tornado drill helping Cuyahoga County Skywarn obtain 50 checkins, the most in the entire Cleveland County Warning Area and the most for any tornado drill in recent memory. We are slowly receiving direction for the RNC from the county and have currently been formally requested to staff the county EOC for the entire week.

Geauga County: Many attended the District 10 Workshop. Majority of ARES members in Geauga County has a participation rate of at least 14%.

Lake County: Activated the Garfield Home again this month for NPOTA. We use our NVIS Antenna on 40m with excellent results. We more than doubled our QSO's. It sure is fun to work the pile up. The James A Garfield Home is a rare site.

Lorain County: No Comments.

Medina County: No Report Submitted 

February Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) monthly report..

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: February
Year: 2016
Total Number of ARES Members: 1751
Change since last month: 18
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 10
Number of ARES Nets active: 507
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: 10
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK KA8RLC N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 281
Person Hours: 1344.5
Number of Public Service Events this month: 41
Person Hours: 388.6
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 5
Person Hours: 40
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 834
Total Person Hours: 3594.2
Comments:
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com
Files to upload?: 

February Official Emergency Station (OES) Report..

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Marshall	N8PIB	Marion	7	0	0	10.5
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	5	0	10
Mark	KB8YMN	Franklin	7	0	0	4.5
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	0	0	1.5
Clair	W8KF	Huron	1	1	0	6.05
David	NF8O	Medina	10	56	0	4.5

January 2016 monthly report from the Section Emergency Coordinator..

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: January
Year: 2016
Total Number of ARES Members: 1797
Change since last month: 21
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 9
Number of ARES Nets active: 252
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: 10
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY WF8B AI8P KB8STK KA8RLC N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK KA8RLC N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 72
Person Hours: 1214
Number of Public Service Events this month: 42
Person Hours: 35435
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 6
Person Hours: 105
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 561
Total Person Hours: 3592.5
Comments: ARES in Mahoning and surrounding counties was activated because of a lead-tainted water problem in Sebring, OH. Members helped EMA staff move water supplies to the public. Lake County was activated for a large area power outage.
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com

*******

Hi everyone! Here is the compilation of reports from January’s monthly reports. Thanks to all who are starting  the year off right with good training!

District 1

Seneca County  No Comment

Huron County- No Skywarn Meeting or activity this month. Training meeting with presentation of operation and procedures for MARCS Radio.

Sandusky County- Sandusky County purchased a Kenwood TS-480SAT HF radio, 30 watt power supply, DX Engineering Chameleon HF antenna, BCT15X analog and BCD996P digital scanners for our ARES Communications Trailer. The County Commissioners also requested a MARCS radio so we will be getting a handheld unit in February. Our trailer also has a TV for Toledo local channels and a weather station. We can operate on commercial power, generator or battery by simply flipping a switch. We are written into the county emergency plan as the backup communications for the entire county. We have an excellent working relationship.

Hancock County- Quiet Month. No blizzards to report.

Erie County- 6 people on the 2meter Simplex day. I had 14, total of all, about 25 contacts from Erie County ARES members. Working with EMA director on when Erie County will have their SkyWarn training and where to have it.

Wood County-  No Report

Lucas County-No comment

Ottawa County-No Report

Wyandot County-The Wyandot County Hams met at the Wyandot Memorial Hospital for their monthly meeting on January 14th. We discussed the upcoming Ham Fests, bicycle tours this summer and work on the local repeater. \"73\".

District 2

Public Service Event was Boy Scout Klondike Derby held at the Defiance Co. Camp in Defiance Ohio. A base station was set up at headquarters and Amateurs were dispatched to the \"villages\" where the scouts had to perform various tasks. The Amateurs were on hand to handle radio traffic for the event. Williams and Defiance Co. held a joint 4 hour training session for FLDIGI. and participated in 2 on the air digital practice sessions

District 3

Participated in VHF/UHF ARES contest day January 9 2016 made 19 contacts for total of 156 points. We had great day at the Champaign Co. EOC I have attached the results of the contest to this report.
8 Voice Nets, 4 Digital Nets, Greene County Liaison Station active in 3 OH EOC Nets and 3 OHDENets. Installed high profile Mesh Backbone Node on roof of Miami Valley Hospital South (5.8 GHz Omni & Air Grid plus 2.4 GHz Omni). 3 or 4 additional backbone nodes within Greene and Montgomery counties planned for installation this year--including presence at Dayton Hamvention.
Number of ARES Member decrease from last month is due to having new application forms submitted to update records and as such not all pass members contacted have filled out new forms. MCES ARES/RACES Net 145.23-: 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31 MCES ARES/RACES Net 147.21+: 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28.

MoCo ARES attended a preliminary meeting with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management to discuss the upcoming GOBA event that will be happening in SW Ohio this coming June.

Preble ARES attended GOBA kick off in January. K8YR repeater will be used in part of the bicycle course. ARES members participated in using DF techniques to look for noise on HF at the EMA office.

Shelby: -1-24-2016 SCARES VEC Testing -1-24-2016 SCARES monthly meeting and training

District 4

from Hamilton County: Conducted the first ALL ARES Members meeting in a long time. Good to put names with faces. -Emergency operations for Standby/Monitoring status for Jan 22 possible snow event. Maintained contact with served agencies. -Participated in VHF/UHF contest & Winter Field Day. -Approx 40 hours of admin time for meetings, planning and membership updates. -Added HamCo ARES to Cincinnati FD page system for group callout and net reminders via email and text. -Started using Yahoo! Groups for regular communication with members and others. -Added three new members this month. growth is good!

from Brown County: I spent the weekend with the OHKYIN ARS winter field day. I hauled and supplied equipment to sustain a 24 hour operation.

District 5

Stark Co ARES completed 4 public service nets for the month of January that totaled 143 check ins. We have heard from the county EMA office that as promised, new office furnishings were purchased and installed in the Communications Room that houses both the county MARC\\\'s Radio System and will house our ARES Radio Equipment. Several pieces of donated VHF/UHF equipment will soon be installed along with a computer for admin use and to support digital communications. In addition, Stark ARES remained on stand-by status to provide support communications if needed to Mahoning County ARES during the Sebring, Ohio water lead contamination crisis over the last week.

District 6

No comments submitted

District 7

Trying to hit the ground running. Received pass-on from KA8RLC. Attended meetings in Union and Delaware Counties. Made contact with EC\'s in District 7. Heard back from all except Madison, Fairfield, and Fayette. Work continues on COARES conversion to FCARES, and getting repeaters back on the air. Have stayed in contact with KD8TTE and N8PVC throughout. KA8ZNY and W8KHW have also been critical in lending assistance.

Delaware: The Delaware ARES group was treated to an in-depth presentation on the development of a Mesh Net and use of portable nodes. We now have approval to place 8 permanent Mesh nodes on county owned towers and equipment for 5. Weather will determine when the nodes are placed along with the availability of a certified tower climber.

Franklin: We're continuing to resolve the issue with our repeaters and expect them to be back on the air by mid-February. We are presently operating on the CCRA repeater by agreement.

Knox: No comment

Licking: : Licking County had a quiet January! Had a couple of meetings to review this year’s up coming events. Looks to be a busy year so far.

Madison: No comment

Marion: January was a quiet month for the Marion ARES crew with no emergency or weather incidents. EC Lynn Lovell, W8MLL and AEC Don Freeman, KD8BKT, attended the Marion County LEPC meeting, presenting a report of ARES activities to the group and discussed how the ARES could participate in the county wide SET planned for April. Plans were also firmed up with Cleveland Weather for this year’s SKYWARN program to be held March 15th at the Marion Technical College Health and Technology Auditorium. Doug Ford, KB8FMC, conducted a training workshop on Linux, with emphasis on installing and using the Fldigi software. The January ARES Training Session was held at the Marion County Administration Building with Sheriff Tim Bailey conducting a tour of the new 911 Call Center which is nearing completion at that location. The ARES will have a permanent facility located on site, with VHF, UHF and digital equipment to provide backup communication and weather related information from around the county if needed. The ARES, W8MRN, 440mhz repeater, is almost operational and should be up and running by early February.

Morrow:  NO report

Pickaway: no comment

Union: No comment

District 8

Counties reporting: Athens, Hocking, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto

Athens: new Techs and two General upgrades were earned at the Nelsonville Hamfest VE Session on January 17 ACARA has three students taking part in Tech license classes. Class VE session will be held on March 14, 7 PM at Athens Red Cross.

Lawrence: We will be having testing on Feb15 two hours before our month meeting. Pike: Dedicated simplex antenna allocated to ARES group from SVARC. HF & VHF digital mode testing is underway with favorable results. Testing will continue for individual & local net proficiency.

Ross: We had our second Ross ARES meeting this month. Fourteen individuals attended. We found a permanent location for our meetings. Ross meetings will be held with Pike meetings. Odd-numbered months will be in Ross county, even in Pike. Started digital work with Pike EC. Participated in the ARES VHF contest. Found some good spots for a mobile relay.

Scioto: We will be updating the Scioto County ARES Facebook and Scioto County ARES Web Pages that was created by EMA for ARES soon. DEC comments: Several counties took part in the VHF simplex contest. The DEC operated mobile/portable from Burr Oak Lake State Park in Morgan County and Peach Ridge in Athens County. The Athens County EOC was activated by W8KVK. A couple of counties are experimenting with digital communications and are starting some regular testing nets.

District 9

COSHOCTON CO: LEPC meeting attended. State simplex event was a great. Had 18 Coshocton ARES participate, for around 32 hour\'s total. KL7RF and KC8PUW continue to check into OHDEN, and W8SGT hf nets. RF is a regular on OSSBN. When needed they and others are the OTS for the county. Our weekly ARES nets have some training exercise after taking check ins. One wk we used only simplex. Thanks to KC8YXY for keeping roster, etc. and for sending out ARES email to group. Info passed to me from KL7RF that OHDEN wanted msg 213 passed to SGT lead me to ask EMA Dir. to write msg to be passed to state EMA, W8SGT. The loop was completed with thanks to KC8PUW, OTS. who delivered EMA msg via OHDEN net and received reply, which was delivered to Coshocton EMA. We have another 213 ready , if needed for the OHDEN exercise. We are also ready to assist with other counties. Other news has been  the android FLDIGI application. Several of us have used this with success. Tablet/cell works well. Currently 9 ARES are involved in digital. Steve AA8BN , EC

GUERNSEY CO: This month's training was a final radio programming session to ensure all appropriate frequencies are programmed into all ARES member's radios. The EC attended both the county emergency planning committee and the county long term recovery meeting at the EMA office. AEC Bruce, N8JMK attended the long term recovery meeting and AEC Mark, KC8SBB attended the emergency planning meeting. Richard WD8SDH, EC

MUSKINGUM CO: MCARES will be operating from Blue Rock State Park this year for field day.

NOBLE CO: No Comments

DISTRICT 9: Bob N8CUX the EC of Jefferson County has Submitted his resignation. We are looking for a replacement. Only four county's submitted reports this month. Sonny, W8FHF, DEC-9.

District 10: Winter has arrived, although it's a little late this year. Stay warm! And stay tuned for some big upcoming events!

Ashtabula County: January proved to be an interesting month. The weather was akin to a roller coaster and unfortunately it decided to really show its strength when it came time for our monthly meeting. So, needless to say, our meeting was cancelled. Here's to hoping this coming month treats us a bit better!

Cuyahoga County: Cuyahoga ARES participated in an amateur radio booth at the Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show. We assisted other amateur operators from around NE Ohio with demonstrating amateur radio and educating the public. Participated in two airport table top drills and held meetings with City of Cleveland staff. Many members are completing new FEMA course requirements and utilizing our new online certificate submission system on our website that was created with the assistance of Geauga County ARES AEC KD8TWG.

Geauga County: No comments.

Lake County: Lake Co. had a major power outage in January effecting the center of the County. Lake ARES had a net on the air within 15 min. It lasted approx. 1hr 15min. LCARA/ARES has obtained a Permit to operate from the James A. Garfield Home in Mentor for the National Parks Centennial Year. We should be on the air once per month as N8BC. Look for the dates on the Web.

Lorain County: No Comments.

Medina County: No comments.

***************************

OES Reports

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Marshall	N8PIB	Marion	7	2	0	15
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	20	5	30
Mark	KB8YMN	Franklin	7	0	0	10
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	0	0	1.5
Clair	W8KF	Huron	1	0	0	8.48
David	Rickon	Medina	10	46.75	0	3.25
Tony	KC8UR	Knox	7	0	0	4

December report from the Section Emergency Coordinator

ARRL Ohio Section - FSD-96
Month: December
Year: 2015
Total Number of ARES Members: 1670
Change since last month: 9
Number of DEC's / EC's reporting this month: 10
Number of ARES Nets active: varies
Number of Nets active with NTS Liaisons: 10
Call-signs of DEC's / EC's reporting: WD8PNZ W8UY KC8WHK WF8B AI8P KB8STK KA8RLC N8SUZ W8FHF N8AUC
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 159
Person Hours: 1285.25
Number of Public Service Events this month: 31
Person Hours: 461.4
Number of Emergency Operations this month: 4
Person Hours: 56
Total number of ARES/RACES Events this month: 459
Total Person Hours: 3707.15
Comments: Good training this month all around. Many ARES units are getting more integrated into county CERT operations- a great marriage.
Submitted by and call-sign: Stan Broadway N8BHL
Email: broadways@standi.com

OES Reports

Name	Call	County	District	PS Hours	EM Hours	Hours Net Participation
Marshall	N8PIB	Marion	7	0	0	8.5
Scott	N8SY	Richland	6	30	10	40
Mark	KB8YMN	Franklin	7	0	0	10
Bob	W8RWR	Franklin	7	0	0	1.5
Alan	N7CEU	Franklin	7
John	K8PJ	Pickaway	7
Matt	KD8TTE	Franklin	7
Clair	W8KF	Huron	1	0	0	5.38
David	Rickon	Medina	10	25	0	1.5

*************************************************************************

Hello all! Thank you so much for your time and energy during 2015!  The December totals are in, and that gives us some firm numbers. We average 1,700 members across the Ohio Section. Those members contributed over 55,500 hours in training, exercising, conducting nets and performing public service. Of those hours, over 2,000 was directly involved in providing emergency communications!  This positions ARES as a viable emergency resource in Ohio!

For the coming year, we have some goals to even better position ARES! 

1.      ALL ARES MEMBERS will need to complete FEMA 100, 200, 700, 800 by the end of July, 2016. Without those certificates, you will still be welcomed to participate in public service events, but only those with certification will be eligible to perform during actual emergencies in EOC’s and on scenes.

2.      In efforts to step up training, two programs will launch:  first a “Train the EC” program for EC’s, AEC’s, DEC’s and ADEC’s which will come to a district near you! This daylong course will help direct the ARES leadership team to provide a better environment for our members.

·        Second, a district-wide open training day for all members. This will be interesting and challenging- and will promote ARES members to perform as even more valuable volunteers!

3.      Our NVIS antenna day will again test our ability to communicate

4.      The April Spring Conference (Date and place TBA) will bring even more good information- we hope to follow our process of improving two meter and 440 communications with antenna examples and other information. We will give you information on a wide variety of topics to take back to your group!

For all EC’s and DEC’s YOUR MONTHLY NUMBERS MATTER!!!  Please remember to file your reports so we can accurately account for ARES involvement in the Ohio Section!

Here is a summary of comments from our December reports!  Again, thank you so much for everything you do!

December 2015 Monthly report

District 1

Northwest Ohio Traffic and Training Net had for the Month of December, 330 check ins, handled 277 pieces of traffic in 912 minutes in 31 sessions. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

District 2

Williams: Participated in the NWOR hospital communications drill. Williams County ARES and Defiance County will begin a joint FLDIGI training project in January and February. We have been testing out JT65 messaging between Williams and Defiance Counties- Very successful!

District 3

All nine District 3 counties reporting. December reportedly very quiet in all counties. Total of 347 ARES members; 39 Voice and 9 Digital County weekly nets and 5 District weekly nets for 209 MH's. Total of 3 Tests/Drills/Training sessions for 114 MH\'s; 1 Public Service Event Greene County supported annual 5K Beavercreek Resolution Run New Years Eve) for 110 Hours; 2 Emergency Operations (Miami & Shelby counties-Skywarn Net-Tornado Warning) for 32 MH\'s. Preble and Shelby counties held Christmas parties/dinner/good fellowship.

District 4

Clinton County: E-ops hours were a SkyWARN(!) activation. Butler County: Comments: BCAREC continues to assist the Butler County SO 911 Center in their monthly weather siren testing. The System Fusion build out also continues.

Hamilton County: Meetings Month: AECs Meeting Health Dept. Admin Meeting - Working with ARES again. Anderson Twp. Meeting - Prospective served agency -Group on StandBy Status for poss WX events. Notified served agencies of our availability. Storms & river flooding (missed us!) -Created a Yahoo! Group for information sharing -Started prep for VHF Simplex Contest. from the DEC:

We have a candidate for the Adams County EC position -- hopefully, next month, you\'ll hear from him directly. Also, the National Weather Service annual Advanced Spotter Training rotates between Districts 3, 4, and 7...it is District 4\'s turn this year and SkyWARN team is working out the details. Ramping up for public service event season, and GOBA is coming to our district this year -- so, as always, much to do supporting marathons, charity tours, triathlons, and more!

District 5

Stark County ARES completed 5 public service nets that totaled 190 check-ins. There were no public service events during the month. Members were again requested to complete an updated ARES registration form to maintain current contact information and to update any additional training completed. There was some discussion of 2016 meetings to provide some formal training.

4 Public Service events were supported by Mahoning ARES in December. These included Youngstown Christmas Parade and Tree lighting on Dec 4th, communications for 2 Red Cross events and Youngstown New Year’s Eve celebration-events on Dec 31st

District 6

No comments

District 7

The Delaware ARES meeting featured Delaware County Deputy Sheriff Tim Schambs, the department liaison to the Fusion Center, who detailed the terrorism threat with a local view and what we as Hams and ARES members must be aware of and do if a threat is perceived. This was one of the most interesting training sessions of the year and peaked our attention to the level of concern we must all have.

Licking County had a quite December! Hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday Season. Work on the CERT / ARES trailer continues and is almost completed. A local ham operator donated a 40’ tower to the Licking Co. Red Cross and we will be working get it erected and their donated radio equipment installed soon. 2016 looks to be a busy year!

District 8

Counties reporting: Athens, Hocking, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto EC comments:

Athens: Nelsonville SCARF Hamfest on Sunday, January 17, 8 AM to noon. VE session at 10 AM Pike: Conducted second simplex test session, results were significantly better than first test session. Dedicated simplex antenna will be installed at test location in near future. DEC comments: Athens County ARA will be starting Tech license classes on Monday, January 11, 7 PM at Red Cross of Southeastern Ohio in Athens.

District 9

COSHOCTON CO: Continued check ins into OSSBN, OHDEN, Ohio Voice Nets by our ARES. Also using local ARES net to practice passing traffic on radiograms, and coming 213 forms. AA8BN, EC.....Only two counties reporting this month. Sonny DEC-9.

District 10

District 10: Best wishes to all for a safe, happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

*** Ashtabula County: 2015 was good... but 2016 will be even better! Happy New Year!!!

*** Cuyahoga County: New EC KC8NZJ appointed, new AEC KB8TGT appointed 11 members removed for inactivity, 6 new members added. Participated in ESF review with county Scheduled meetings with served agencies to meet new EC and review 2016 plans. ARES notified of EOC activation due to protests in downtown Cleveland

*** Geauga County: Not much to report for December. Been working on getting some other events in the County. If you would like to help with the Ohio Winter Rally on February 6 put on but the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) please send email to info@geaugacountyares.org.

*** Lake County: On December 19th, three LCARA / ARES, members assisted in a workshop at the Lake County E.O.C. The subject of the workshop was in Emergency Management: Amateur Radio Resources, GO 251. The workshop was conducted by Pete Greene (N8WGE) for N.E. Ohio Public Service Managers and employees. LCARA / ARES members assisting were Ed Kopcak (KB8BKE), Larry Caskey (K8LPC), and Mike Goffos (WB8ZGH). Larry (K8LPC) demonstrated the operations of the E.O.C. Amateur radio room. He took the opportunity to pass 10 pieces of radio traffic to the NTS over the HF rig at the E.O.C. This was a good test exercise of the equipment. Ed (KB8BKE) and Mike (WB8ZGH) conducted a tour of the ARES radio communication trailer housed in the E.O.C. garage. The group was very interested in its operations, judging by the many questions that we answered.

*** Lorain County: No Comments.

***Medina County: 6 1/2 hour CERT drill under EMA direction. Voice and digital forms sent from field, trailer and command bus to the EOC. Forms were completed by CERT teams in the field doing structure evaluations and ARES did the digital and voice communications. CERT teams had poor radios and had to rely on ARES communicators.. 

****************************************************************************

eof..