Welcome to the Marathon County Amateur Radio Emergency Service/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (ARES/RACES) webpage.

Become/Renew your Marathon County ARES/RACES Membership

ARES is a corps of trained volunteer amateur radio operators that are organized to assist in public service and emergency communications. ARES is organized and sponsored by the American Radio Relay League.

RACES is a standby radio service provided for in Part 97.407 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations governing amateur radio in the United States.

Communication failures have been a defining part of natural disasters and even some human-generated events such as the September 11 attacks that occurred in New York City in 2001. A lack of communication between firefighters at the World Trade Center contributed directly to the deaths of 300 of those firefighters. Amateur radio provides a means of communication “when all else fails.”