Marathon County ARES/RACES: News

Paul Harvey, March 19, 2003

America's quiet warriors are the legion of ham radio operators, 700,000 of them, who are always at ready for backup duty in emergencies--amateur, unpaid, uncelebrated, civilian radio operators, during and after floods and fires and tornadoes. After the 9/11 attacks, hams were indispensable in reuniting friends and families. Most recently it was they who expedited the search for debris after the disaster to the space shuttle Columbia, and right now, at this moment, they are involved in homeland security to a greater degree than you would want me to make public.

November 2008 Meeting

The final Marathon Co. ARES/RACES meeting for 2008 was held on Monday evening.

The primary discussion was on the 2009 Goals which included:

Increasing Membership for 2009: Marathon Co. has a few irons in the fire that will require increasing our active membership. As I discuss the goals, I hope you'll see why we need your active participation in the year to come.

Hospital Communications: GOOD NEWS! St Claire's now have their radio equipment ready to be brought online. We'll be getting the radio programed within the next week or so, and after that, working out the details with members who will be authorized and trained to work with the hospital/s should the need arise. You can expect during SET's, at least one trained member will be based at each of Wausau's Hospitals in the future. Please consider volunteering for Hospital Communication's Training.

Northeast Regional Communications Center: At some point in 2009, we hope to need more operators willing to staff the Comm Center which will be located at the WI. State Patrol HQ in Rib Mountain. More information on this as it becomes available.

APRS: 2009 will also become a time when we will encourage more spotters to go online with APRS. One reason for this, is that the NWS in Green Bay, WI. may have APRS ability at their office by spring. APRS will be discussed at one of the early meetings next year.

The leadership of Marathon Co. ARES/RACES wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday season.

See you next year!!

State ARES/RACES Net time change

Because of extremely poor band conditions on 75 meters at its present time the WI ARES/RACES Net will move to Sundays at 8:00 a.m. beginning on Sunday, December 7.

As far as we know the frequency will stay the same at 3977.5.

Please communicate with your members. We will also announce it during the nets (if anyone can hear us)!

To summarize, starting Sunday, December 7, the WI ARES/RACES Net will be held at 8:00 a.m. on 3977.5.

See you on the Net.

William M. Niemuth, KB9ENO
President, WECOMM, Ltd.
President, EC Resources, Ltd.
ARRL/ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, Wisconsin
RACES Chief Radio Officer, Wisconsin

Annual Enrollment period has begun

In order to keep our roster up to date, all Marathon County ARES members are asked to fill out an annuall enrollment form. This form collects your name, address, credentials and capabilities. Over the past few years we've found that phone numbers and emails change; so submitting an enrollment form on a annual basis will ensure that the ARES team has your most current contact information. The enrollment form can be accessed by clicking this link.

More importantly, starting January 1, 2009 all ARES/RACES members must have the IS-100 Incident Command System and IS-700 National Incident Management System training. These trainings are required for all volunteers who wish to work with government agencies. If the ARES group is called out by local Emergency Management or even Wisconsin Emergency Management, they will insist that we have the required NIMS training. The training is provided online free of charge courtesy of the FEMA Emergency Management Institute. If you don't have the training and wish to be a member of ARES, please take the time to get it. It doesn't take long and will help you become a better radio operator.

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100A.asp

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700.asp

Any questions about the NIMS training requirements or the annual ARES enrollment may be directed to Michael Martens, KB9VBR.

Marathon County ARES/RACES Photo Gallery Online!

With the 2008 SET behind us, we have added a photogallery to showcase our efforts in Marathon County. If you have any photos from Marathon County ARES/RACES events (SKYWARN included,) send them to W9HDG - AEC Marathon County for inclusion in the site.

You can view the site and all the current photos by clicking the gallery button at the top of the site, or by clicking on this link.

Northest WI District ARES/RACES Website

Have you checked out the new Northeast WI. district ARES/RACES website yet?

If not, I encourage you to follow this link to check it out! This is your source for all the events, training and announcements that are happening in the Northeast District.

Would you like to contribute your thoughts or opinions so others in the District might benefit from your experiences?

Just fill out the registration and jump into the FORUM and become an active member to your immediate and surrounding communities! Hope to hear from you soon!