Author: Deb KK7DEB

Welcome to our newest members, Patty (no callsign yet but she is working on it), and Aaron K7ALF. Aaron is a new supporting member. He works for PBEM and is the new PBEM comms trailer master!

Welcome to our newest members Gordy KI7NME, Robert KG7ULH, and Micha KG7JKP! Gordy and Micha will be joining the Charlie team and Robert will be joining the Alpha team. We are thrilled to continue to expand our membership. Thanks to all our members for keeping the drive alive!

We hope everyone who participated enjoyed Field Day on June 24 and 25. The MCARES trailer was up at Kelly Butte with the Portland Amateur Radio Club for the weekend and there were many visitors despite the nearly 100 degree temperatures.

Congratulations to Robert WX5TEX! His picture won the Heil Field Day photo contest. The picture was taken at Pilot Rock in eastern Oregon. Robert won a Heil pro headset for submitting the winning entry.

This month’s ARES meeting on July 27 will be our annual go-kit show and tell. We will be out in the Portland Fire Training Center parking lot with lots of interesting kit ideas and we hope you will bring yours to share with others. Nate will be grilling up the burgers and we encourage everyone to bring a side dish to share. Pop, paper plates, and utensils will also be provided. Bring your own chair to sit and enjoy the great food.

Raffle tickets will be sold at the meeting for the items on display for $5 each. This annual fund raiser for the trailer operating fund helps with the purchase of fuel, insurance, and maintenance. We will have the drawing later in the meeting and some lucky folks will take home some great prizes. You do not need to be present to win, however.

The HF campout is July 28, 29, and 30. Robert reports that several have signed up to spend the weekend at Aquila Vista near Molalla. You are all welcome to come out for the day if camping is not your thing. The trailer will be there and antennas will be hanging in the trees for you to make some HF contacts. It is great fun and a chance to learn in a no pressure atmosphere.

Several new members have joined recently. Please welcome Eric KI7MOH, Judy KF7DBN, Dylan KF7KXT, Ken KI7EIH and Rachel KI7NMB. Also Richard KF7INQ has returned and is now an active member. We continue to grow and are expanding our abilities to serve the needs of Multnomah County and our communities.

The ARES trailer made its second appearance at Sea-Pac this month. Thanks to all of our members who joined the outreach effort. We were all certainly very busy giving trailer tours and talking with other hams. Brian’s HSMM display was also very popular. One fellow, who recently moved to Oregon from Eastern Washington, told me he wished he had moved to Multnomah County as the trailer is “really awesome.” Many other groups expressed interest because they too are working on building a mobile Communications trailer. It is so much fun to share our trailer building experience with others!

A special thanks to Multnomah County Emergency Management for funding four additional digital go-kits. The ordering is underway and once everything is gathered together we will build these new kits.

ARRL Field Day is coming on June 24 and 25. We hope everyone will stop by either Portland Amateur Radio Club at Kelly Butte in Portland or Hoodview Amateur Radio Club up on Larch Mountain. It will be a great opportunity to get on the air and make some contacts. Both of these clubs put on a great display of many different antennas and operating modes.

The City of Gresham has donated a Yaesu FT-2400 2-meter mobile radio and we have a Yaesu FT-1802 2-meter and a Panasonic ToughBook which will be raffled off at the July meeting. There may be other items in the raffle as well. If you have anything you would like to donate, contact Deb at kk7deb [at] arrl [dot] net. Raffle tickets will be on sale for $5 each at the June meeting and at the July meeting before the drawing. The proceeds will go into our trailer maintenance and operating fund.

The July 27 General meeting is our annual Go-Kit Show-And-Tell. This is a fun opportunity to see the ingenuity of our members as they bring their personal and radio go-kits and set them up. Some kits are elegantly simple while others are over the top. Bring your cool stuff, or just come get some ideas for your kit.

Welcome to our newest member Ralph AG7FE. Ralph will join the Alpha team. A big congratulations to Leslie KG7VGL and Pete KG7MRZ who were recently married! Steve W7SRH tells us his wife, Elaine, recently passed the technician test and is now KI7LAF.

What a beautiful Spring day we had for the 2017 Walk MS. Thanks to all who participated for another successful public service event. The event organizers really appreciate our eyes and ears along the course to keep everyone safe. Multnomah County ARES thanks you too for keeping your radio skills sharp.

This year Tom Mynes from ABJ Drones was able to demonstrate the benefits of streaming live video to the ARES trailer from the drone flying above the Willamette River. We hope to add some of the video and pictures to the ARES website soon. As you can imagine, this has sparked a renewed interest in having an ARES drone. Adam has his thinking cap on to figure a way to raise funds.

We did have several visitors at the communications trailer and all were very impressed with the live APRS tracking map on one large screen and live drone video on the other. Several ARES members stopped by for their first peek at the trailer.

The Antenna Build Workshop on March 25 was a booming success! We built 30 ladder-line J-pole antennas in under three hours and each participant took one home. It’s great to know that many of our members now have a workable portable 2-meter antenna to add to their go-kits. Thanks to those who offered their technical skill and expertise to make this fun event successful.

The Sea-Pac organizers have approved our request, so the trailer will be on display again this year. We are looking forward to showing the completed project this time and hopefully we can rustle up a few new members with our promotional materials. Contact Steve W7SRH (hallstr [at] hotmail [dot] com) if you would like to join the outreach team.

Robert has been in touch with the BLM folks about reserving Aquila Vista for our yearly HF Campout on July 28 and 29. Aquila Vista is available for overnight group camping. The site is located in the heart of the forest next to a large beaver pond. There is plenty of hiking and natural beauty to be seen at Aquila Vista including a small water fall. Amenities include restrooms, a group picnic shelter with multiple picnic tables and a metal fire ring. There is no running water at Aquila Vista, so ensure that you bring plenty of drinking, cooking, and sanitation water. There is no firewood at the site or firewood collection allowed; please bring your own firewood if you wish to have a fire. The campsite is nestled next to a large beaver pond so there can be mosquitoes in the summer – don’t forget bug repellent. Dust off your tent and sleeping bag and join in on the fun.

Join us in welcoming our newest members, Jim KA7AGH and Lee KF7YUO. Jim will join the Echo team and Lee the Alpha team. This brings our total membership to 76 active members.