Thanks to everyone who filled out the annual ARES survey! Your feedback is important as we plan the training and exercises for the new year.
This year was a busy one with the new team drills and the Spring and Fall SETs. The ARES trailer was deployed with each of the teams for some great hands-on training. We hope everyone had a chance to participate in a few of these important training exercises.
The four new digital go-kits are completed and now each team has one. Training on their use will be a priority for the coming year. A special thanks to the kit building team: Brian, Matthew, John B, Kenny, Ralph, Joe, John U., Patti U., Eli, Adam, and Deb. They spent several weekends building these new additions. The project was larger than originally expected as the team also built four kits for Mercy Corps along with the ARES kits. Way to go everyone!
Marino KG7EMV has decided to step down as net manager for our weekly net beginning January 1, 2018. He has done a fantastic job keeping the net controls reminded of their duties and keeping the logs up to date. Thank you Marino for your years of service!
Leadership is looking for a new net manager. Is this something you are interested in? We would love to hear from you! Send an email to leadership [at] multnomahares [dot] org.
Multnomah County ARES has an open position for Net Manager. The Net Manager’s primary job is to make sure there is a net control operator scheduled each week for our Wednesday night net, and to bring to the net content which will be interesting and valuable for net attendees. The Net Manager is also responsible for keeping a log of net checkins and maintaining the net control script.
If you are interested in taking on these duties, or if you would like more information, please contact leadership [at] multnomahares [dot] org.
I am leading a set of workshops for members who would like to be certified in Winlink operations. I will provide an overview of the Winlink system and will go into detail on configuring Winlink Express, sending and receiving messages, and using templates. Plenty of time will be provided for hands-on practice, and operators who feel ready will have an opportunity to complete their check sheet and earn their Packet RMS Radio Operator (PRRO) certification.
There are two workshop dates currently planned, and more will be added if there is interest. Locations will vary, in an effort to make travel easier for folks in different parts of the county. Each workshop is scheduled to run for four hours, but we’ll probably finish earlier.
Upcoming Dates
December 2, 13:00 to 17:00, in St. Johns
January 13, 13:00 to 17:00, in Gresham
These workshops are open to all Multnomah County ARES members who have completed their ARRO certification, however space is limited. To sign up for either workshop, email me at KE7QPV [at] arrl [dot] net.
Tagged as:
digital modes,
Winlink
This month’s meeting will be one week early due to the Thanksgiving holiday. We will have a demonstration of making a copper j-pole antenna. This will be followed up in January with a Saturday workshop, where participants will be charged a small fee for parts and will go home with an antenna.
Please join us for our general membership meeting on Thursday, November 16 at the Portland Fire and Rescue training center at 4800 NE 122nd Ave in Portland. There will be a Q&A session and informal gathering for new members from 18:15 to 19:00. The main meeting will run from 19:00 to 21:00. Everyone is welcome!
Additional information about our monthly meetings can be found on the meeting page.
We had a great meeting tonight! There were 52 attendees, including representation from the Multnomah County Office of Emergency Management (MCEM) and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM). We had five new people with us this evening.
The meeting was started off by our EC, Nathan N9VCU, who covered general business and announcements, and then presented certificates to two members who recently completed their ARRO certification. Michael AE7XP made an announcement about the NET Net, which is held at 20:10 every Sunday night on the ARRG 147.040 MHz (100.0 Hz tone) repeater – this is MC6 in the regional frequency template.
Chris Voss and Alice Busch from MCEM addressed the membership, thanking us for our service, and presented certificates of appreciation to the volunteers who helped with the Eagle Creek fire response. Mark McKay, also from MCEM, presented certificates of appreciation to those who helped with communications in Grant County during the solar eclipse in August.
A panel of six folks – three ARES volunteers, two Multnomah County employees, and one City of Portland employee – talked about their experience in Grant County during the eclipse. They had some very interesting stories about the technical and logistical challenges they encountered, and lessons learned.
Please remember to check your email for the annual MCARES survey! This information helps leadership plan for the coming year.
Join me in welcoming our newest members, Kimberly KJ6YWS, James W7NJ, Douglas KI7IPZ, and Marshall K7MWG. Kimberly and Marshall will join the Charlie team, James joins the Bravo team, and Douglas joins the Delta team. Way to go everyone for spreading the word about MCARES!
I am very pleased to announce that John KI7LYP is going to assume the position of Training Manager effective December 1. John brings a good deal of technical know-how and training experience and he’s a really nice guy! I will continue to do the ARRO certification workshops, and have more time to devote to the Echo Team as team leader.
I would like to start out with a big thank you to everyone who participated and volunteered 140 personnel hours to the Fall Simulated Emergency Test (SET).
We successfully executed operations from three stations on Saturday, October 16. Adam KF7LJH and Deb KK7DEB led the operations from the trailer (N7MCU) at Scouter’s Mountain. Robert WX5TEX was in charge of the county station at the Donald E. Long Center (JJC). Nathan N9VCU operated from Kelly Butte. Thanks to Metro, Multnomah County, and Portland Bureau of Emergency Management/Portland Parks for providing access to these great locations for our exercise.
Thank you all for taking our safety training seriously, and to Deb and John KI7LYP for procuring the hard hats. Masts were raised at Scouter’s Mountain and Kelly Butte. The Kelly Butte mast operation was somewhat different than normal. Normally the masts we use are either the nested push-up style or aluminum style with the large tripod. At Kelly Butte we used a 40ft mast that was assembled to full length on the ground and then raised to the vertical position. We used 7 personnel to achieve this lift, and were able to do so safely. We learned a few things in the process, and I will cover those at the general membership meeting. Potentially another 1,000 feet of line and a come-along may make this a one or two person operation.
Additionally, Martians were able to make off with the arrow your fearless EC has used to loft antenna lead-lines in the past. This has led me to swear a vendetta against their entire planet. As soon as Elon Musk can provide reasonably priced accommodations, I’ll take the fight directly to them.
Voice communications on HF were extremely poor from the JJC. Kelly Butte is a very quiet operating location (low RF noise) and we were able to make some HF contacts. The bulk of Multnomah ARES’ operating successes were via Pactor. Although the HF Winlink nodes were busy, the low S/N needed for Pactor to work made a great difference at the power levels we normally run. Kelly Butte also was able to effectively pass NTS traffic through the Metro area. This included the ability to hit many VHF repeaters in neighboring counties. Word on the street is that Lynn Burrell had a grill going in Washington county, making the operators on this side of the hills salivate. Multnomah ARES normally has the grilling game on-point, so I’ll avoid letting down our field teams in the future!
Again, thanks to all the operators who made the SET such a great time. I may have had more fun than any drill in the past few years. I’ll try to hide the ICS-214 from the Kelly Butte crew from judgmental eyes, as it shows N9VCU cared way more about antennas, masts, and Pactor modems than complete paperwork, but all in all a great success!
This month’s meeting will feature a panel of folks who went to Grant County to provide communications support during the solar eclipse.
Please join us for our general membership meeting on Thursday, October 23 at the Portland Fire and Rescue training center at 4800 NE 122nd Ave in Portland. There will be a Q&A session and informal gathering for new members from 18:15 to 19:00. The main meeting will run from 19:00 to 21:00. Everyone is welcome!
Additional information about our monthly meetings can be found on the meeting page.
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!
The four new digital go-kits are completed and now each team has one. Training on their use will be a priority for the coming year. A special thanks to the kit building team: Brian, Matthew, John B, Kenny, Ralph, Joe, John U., Patti U., Eli, Adam, and Deb. They spent several weekends building these new additions. The project was larger than originally expected as the team also built four kits for Mercy Corps along with the ARES kits. Way to go everyone!