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.
A look ahead: The October general meeting will have a panel of the folks who went to Grant County for the Eclipse. The November meeting will have a demonstration of making a copper j-pole antenna. This will be followed up in January with a Saturday workshop. Participants will be charged a small fee for parts and will go home with an antenna.
Women’s Ham Radio Technician Class taught by women for women – six sessions: October 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21. Contact Barbara Yasson at AC7UH [at] arrl [dot] net to sign up.
Hoodview ARC Technician Classes will be held November 4 and continue on November 11 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Mt. Hood Community College’s Fisheries building. Testing is on November 18 at 9:00 AM. Classes are free, but the book is $22 and the VE test is $15. The textbook, “Ham Radio School” by Stu Turner, is available online. To register, email Cory at ka7iug [at] frontier [dot] com.
The October 5 ARRO Basics and October 19 Traffic Handling workshops are for MCARES members only. All active members who want a refresher are welcome to attend. Please let me know at eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com if you plan to attend so I can have enough trainers present. New members must have completed the three online FEMA classes, IS-100, IS-700, and IS-200, prior to attending the workshops.
What a busy month we have had! Thanks to all who helped Multnomah County Emergency Management by volunteering their time to help support the Eagle Creek Fire response. We had members helping at the EOC in Troutdale and in Corbett for the resident reentry check in point. In all we volunteered over 250 hours. WOW! Great job everyone!
Behind the scenes we also had a team of builders working on the four new digital go-kits. They have been working on Saturdays from the end of August to present. Their mission is almost complete and each of our ARES teams will now have their own digital kit to use in the field. YAY! Thanks to all the kit builders for their hard work and volunteer time.
As if that was not enough we also had an Alpha/Echo team drill on September 9 and a couple of outreach events including the Get Ready Gresham event on September 16.
This month goes into the history book as one of our busiest times. The support of our membership has been so awesome. We are so fortunate to have such a great team so willing to help out as needed. We appreciate every one of you.
As we all catch our breath and adjust to the season change I hope many of you will be available for the Fall SET on October 15. This is a really great opportunity to hone our radio skills.
During our amateur radio activities, we may expose ourselves to certain dangers which can be avoided by following sound safety practices. At this month’s meeting our Emergency Coordinator, Nathan Hersey (N9VCU), will talk about hazards, safety, and situational awareness.
Please join us for our general membership meeting on Thursday, September 28 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 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!
The 2017 HF Campout was at the Aquila Vista campground this year, part of the Molalla River Recreation Area – a mix of impressive river vistas and comforting NW forest canopy. It was also pleasantly bear-free. Thank you Robert WX5TEX for all your work planning the trip and Deb KK7DEB for bringing pretty much everything.
More than 15 hams participated this year and we had at least seven different HF setups roll through the camp over the weekend. Wire dipoles, stick dipoles and magnetic loop antennas we’re all setup at various times as were a few Icom and Yaesu radios. But we should have called this the Elecraft-sponsored ARES HF Campout this year. The entire model line made an appearance at one point, including most of the accessories, between all the various radio kits on display. It was impressive; those radios are amazing!
The food, often the best part of the whole campout, was great again this year and there was enough space for the number of campers we had. Getting the trailer up to the site was a real challenge though. The last mile to the camp was double track at best and laughably steep in sections. We weren’t sure how it was going to go, but not only did Deb and her sturdy new truck easily pull the ARES trailer up this 4×4 only road, the trailer’s interior didn’t shake apart either. It was a rugged field test of the trailer and it was up to the task.
We’re already thinking about next year’s HF Campout which will be at Champoeg State Park. This park is accessible by any vehicle. We will be looking at a group site that has RV sites, electricity, flush toilets and showers. It will be either the last weekend in July or the first weekend in August. Dates will be confirmed this fall.