Author: Deb KK7DEB

  • News from Around the County

    It appears that we have a record turnout for the Walk MS event on April 15. Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to support our communications efforts. It also looks like ABJ Drones, who were at our February meeting, want to join in with a demonstration of video back to the Comms trailer. Pretty exciting stuff!

    It is never a good thing when we have two events on back to back weekends but we hope you will also help out with the State Spring SET the following weekend on April 22. The exercise will focus on shelter locations throughout the County. We have 10 sites on our radar and really need a good turnout to get the job done. Adam has challenged us to “Beat Washington County” by having the most locations staffed in the whole state. This Spring SET is special to us because it was written by Multnomah County ARES leadership at the request of the Oregon Section Emergency Coordinator, and we are proud of the result. Contact your team leader if you can participate.

    The March 23 ARES meeting will feature guest speaker Alice Busch, Operations Division Chief for Multnomah County Emergency Management. We are very fortunate to have a really great working relationship with the county emergency management team. A special thanks to Chris Voss and Alice Busch for funding our website fees for the next three years!

    The Bravo and Echo team drill was March 11 and all who participated agreed it was a great success and learning experience. We will take a break from team drilling for April as we focus on Walk MS and the State SET. May will bring together the Delta and Charlie teams for their first exercise together.

  • Membership News

    Welcome to our newest member, Mark KC7DTE. Mark will join the Delta Team.

  • Charlie/Alpha Team Drill Recap

    Our first team exercise was last Saturday with the Charlie and Alpha teams. The Mike (ARES Trailer) team also participated as a field station for the Alpha team. The focus was on sending ICS 213 messages both by voice and Winlink, and image transfer via SSTV. Logging on the ICS 214 and ICS 309 was also a top priority. The primary planning was done by the Charlie team and they did a great job. The County ECC was activated by the Alpha team and Lewis and Clark was activated by the Charlie team. Both teams had one field team acting as shelter locations. In all we had 18 AROs active for the 2 hour exercise.

    The feedback from the teams was extremely positive. Team members really appreciated the opportunity to get hands-on experience. Everyone felt this was time well spent and they learned a lot. Mother Nature was even cooperative and seemed to approve by giving us mild temperatures and clear skies. Thanks Charlie and Alpha team members for spending a few hours to sharpen your skills.

    All members are strongly encouraged to participate in their team drills. The next one is March 11 with the Bravo and Echo teams.

  • Membership News

    Join me in welcoming our newest members, Kathi KA6TND, Barney KD2VB, and Dan N7CQR.

    Our membership drive for 2016 brought us 35 new ARES members! This brings our total membership to 87. Of the 87 members we have 72 which are “Active Members”. Remember that we need to see you four times per year to retain “Active status.” We would love to continue to grow and expand our capabilities so for 2017 let’s keep the drive alive!

  • News from Around the County

    Thanks to everyone who responded to the annual survey. The leadership team meeting in December reviewed and tried to address your requests and suggestions. This year’s calendar reflects many of your requests for more training and additional certification opportunities. The new monthly team drills are small scale exercises involving two teams. They are designed to give everyone more experience with our served agencies and field operations.

    On January 7 we were informed that the Multnomah County office of Emergency Management and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) were opening a joint ECC for weather issues. It seemed like a great opportunity to show our abilities with a quickly put together SSTV demonstration. Adam took our new digital go kit to PBEM and eight of our members were able to send from their homes images of the current snow fall and conditions. The pretty cool part is that the pictures were uploaded to WebEOC and displayed on the map using the GPS coordinates embedded on the photos. The Portland EM staff had their first look at this ham radio technology and seemed pretty impressed.

    Robert WX5TEX will be leading the Q&A sessions at 6:15 PM prior to our monthly meetings. Bring your questions and he will help you get the answers. New members are encouraged to attend also.

    Nate will be reviewing the changes for 2017 and he will cover logging and ICS forms with us all at the January 26 meeting. Hope to see everyone there!

  • Membership News

    Please join us in welcoming our new member, Bill K7WXW.

  • News from Around the County

    Just in case you missed it, at the October general meeting our Emergency Manager, Chris Voss, presented us with the Oregon Emergency Management Association award for innovation! Congratulations to all Multnomah County ARES members for your contributions and support of the trailer project. The plaque we received is proudly displayed inside the trailer.

    Thanks to all who participated in the Fall SET. We had 40 members check in, which was a really great response. County Emergency Management was kind enough to let us use their Everbridge system for the text notification. Adam did a great job in figuring out how to use it as it did not come with an owner’s manual. Sorry to those who received more than one text; we are still figuring out the function boxes. But next time we will know better. If you did not receive a text or voice message, please let me know so we can update our records with your correct phone number. Send an email to Deb at dprovo [at] yahoo [dot] com. Congratulations to the Bravo team for having the best percentage of member check-ins!

    John K7TY is preparing the yearly membership survey. Your input is greatly appreciated to help guide us into 2017. There will not be a general membership meeting in December, however the leadership team will meet for an all-day planning session to set the training schedule and goals for the New Year.

    Thanks to every one for a great year!

  • Membership News

    Please join us in welcoming our new members, John KH6XG and Bob K7ENA. This brings our total for the year to 30 new members. Way to go everyone for putting in so much effort to grow our membership!!!

    Get the credit you deserve! If you worked communications for the Portland Marathon, Hood to Coast, the Airshow or any public service event, please let me know and include your assignment or tactical callsign. There is a minimum amount of participation that must be met to maintain your active membership status, and for some of you, getting credit for working these events may be the deciding factor.

  • News from Around the County

    It has been a busy few months with public service events and ARES activities. Thanks to all who have participated to keep their radio operating skills sharp and provide valued service to the community.

    A special thanks to Peter KH6CTQ for his donation of equipment to Multnomah County ARES. Among the many items donated were 2 military antenna masts which will enhance the Mobile Comms field capabilities. Thanks also to John KH6XG for getting in touch with us to arrange the donation.

  • October General Membership Meeting

    We hope you will attend what promises to be a very interesting ARES general meeting on October 27. Guest speaker Scott Honaker (N7SS – Snohomish County, WA) will be making a first person report of his participation in the Oso, Washington landslide tragedy of March 22, 2014. Scott was the lead for six radio operators during the incident.

    Chris Voss and Alice Busch from Multnomah County Emergency Management will also be attending to present a special award.

    Nate Hersey, Multnomah County ARES Emergency Coordinator, will give an overview of the team reorganization and an update on the November 5 statewide ARES Simulated Emergency Test.

    The meeting will be held on Thursday, October 27, from 19:00 to 20:30 at the Portland Fire & Rescue Training Center at 4800 NE 122nd Avenue in Portland.