We had a great time at Fort Stevens State Park, part of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. We operated under the event callsign W7A for National Parks On The Air, a year-long event celebrating the 100th birthday of our National Parks service. We were able to make many contacts as far away as South Carolina. The weather, the food, and the camaraderie made for a very fun weekend. Congratulations to Brian KE7QPV, Eli W7ELI, and Bill KG7UPR for earning their HF operator certificates. Nathan’s son, Dimitri, age 7, made his first HF contact with the USS Hornet Amateur Radio Club, NB6GC.
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.
The September 10 ARES Exercise was a great success. We had served agency and field stations scattered around the county sending digital images via SSTV to the county ECC. The two new digital go-kits were tested and worked as planned. Thanks to the 21 ARES members who participated and to Multnomah County Emergency Management staff – Chris Voss, Alice, and Chris from IT – for being on hand to see our testing of this awesome technology. They were quite impressed.
One of the digital kits will be on display at our September 22 meeting so come and take a look.
The September meeting training has been changed to “Building a Go-Kit” and Robert WX5TEX will guide you through the process and equipment needs. He will discuss the basics and show examples of the complex and simple designs that anyone can make. We strongly advise all of our members to have a radio go-kit.
Brian KE7QPV has sent the invitation to participate in the Disaster Relief Trials on October 22. Like Walk MS in the Spring, communications for this event is coordinated by MCARES and we are hoping for a large turn out from our members. This is by far the most fun event to watch as the bike riders have very interesting ways of transporting their cargo. The DRT organizers are very appreciative of our abilities to send field reports back to the finish line so they can keep their scoreboard up to date.
ARES leadership is discussing some changes to our existing team concept. We feel it is important, as we grow, to be innovative in how best to serve our members and the county. Stay tuned for more information that will be coming soon. One change that is very soon to be implemented is a rewrite of the weekly net script. Expect a much shorter, less time consuming check-in process within the next few weeks.
Hallelujah! The ARES trailer now has exterior graphics. This is the final step in the design/build process and we are all thrilled with the result.
On we go to the training segment of the trailer project. Stay tuned for the plan to unfold. We want to make sure all of our members have an opportunity to learn how to set up, operate, and take down our mobile communications unit.
Multnomah County ARES is proud to provide radio communications services for the Disaster Relief Trials Portland for the fifth year in a row. This exciting event is a mixture of bike race, disaster relief exercise, and emergency preparedness fair. The event takes place on Saturday, October 22 from approximately 08:00 to 17:00. The main event will be held at the University Place Hotel in downtown Portland, and there will be several checkpoints scattered around the city.
We would love to have your help with this event! We will need radio operators for net control and logging in the communications trailer, and reporting rider arrival times from the checkpoints. We will be pairing up less experienced operators with more seasoned volunteers, so don’t worry if you haven’t worked many (or any) events before.
If you would like to participate, please fill out and submit the volunteer registration form so that the communications organizers can best staff the available positions.
UPDATE: Volunteer registration is now closed, to allow the event communications team sufficient time to finalize position assignments and other details before the event.
Have you been wanting to build your own radio go-kit, but aren’t sure where to start? Join us at our September meeting and get some ideas! Robert WX5TEX will host a presentation on radio go-kit construction and design, and will also introduce the new Multnomah County ARES digital go-kit.
The general meeting and training will be held on Thursday, September 22, from 19:00 to 20:30 at the Portland Fire & Rescue Training Center at 4800 NE 122nd Avenue in Portland.
From 18:30 to 19:00, we will host a discussion for new members and those who want to brush up on some of the basics. Come with your questions!
We are now one month away from our annual HF Campout, to be held at Fort Stevens on the Oregon Coast this year!
The HF Campout was originally designed to help newer operators get their feet wet in HF radio operation, and to become a certified HF Operator if they desire. This year, our camping trip coincides with the National Parks On The Air event, which we will also be participating in, so all Multnomah County ARES members are welcome, whether you have never operated HF or are a seasoned veteran.
You do not need to have your General class license to join us. If you currently hold a Technician license, there will be plenty of control operators available to help get you on the air! HF operation is very different than the VHF/UHF operating we do locally, and it’s very addicting!
Our group is taking over the majority of Loop G At Fort Stevens State Park for this event, and there are quite a few spaces still available on this loop if you would like to join us. The spots are $29 per night, and you’re welcome to join us for both nights or just one.These spots will all accommodate an RV and have electrical hookups. So far, spots G-264 through G-269 have been reserved by our members if you would like to camp near us. There are about a dozen spaces remaining on this loop, so we would encourage you to reserve quickly if you are planning to join us.
This link should take you to the correct reservation page; just enter the date range (we will be camping September 23 and 24) and select “Loop G”. If you have any questions or would like to join us, please email Robert at RGAnglin [at] gmail [dot] com.
The July ARES meeting/picnic was a great success! I think we all enjoyed being outdoors at Sellwood Park. Go-kits were displayed and the ARES trailer had its christening. Thanks to Chris Voss and Alice Busch for attending and leading the toast to the completion of the trailer project. We are nearly finished with the exterior graphics design and have chosen a company to do the work. It should be completed in the next few weeks.
Our first public outreach was August 4 at the National Night Out sponsored by the Rosewood Initiative at 161st and SE Stark. We had the opportunity to speak with many people about Amateur Radio and really promote the hobby and emergency communications. The trailer tours were very popular and most people were really amazed at the technology and capabilities.
As people learn about what we do there is a lot of appreciation that I want to pass along to you. Thank you for being ready to provide emergency communications to help provide services to all the citizens of Multnomah County. It is very much appreciated by many, many folks.
If you are interested in joining the outreach team contact Steve W7SRH at hallstr [at] hotmail [dot] com.
We have news from the State ARES leadership that Bruce Bjerke K7BHB has stepped down and Lisa Clarke KE7NIY has stepped up to the SEC (Section Emergency Coordinator) position. As the SEC-AEC for training, Lisa brings a lot of experience with her. Congratulations to Lisa!
The ARRL has announced it is looking into a new entry level license class which has the potential of bringing many more into the ham radio world. This is an exciting prospect as we continue to grow and expand our capabilities within Multnomah County.
The Fall season is starting to look busy. Save the date for the county wide MCARES exercise on September 10 and the Disaster Relief Trials on October 22. Other events include the HF Campout on September 23 and 24, The Portland Marathon on October 9, and the Swaptoberfest (in Rickreall) Emergency Vehicle show on October 15. These events help to keep our skills sharp and provide great training.
Join the fun. All members and families are welcome at Fort Stevens for our 2nd Annual HF camp out. This year we will be operating as a National Parks on The Air (NPOTA) station to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of our National Parks service. This will be a great event to learn more about HF operations and have some fun and fellowship with other members. Robert WX5TEX is taking reservations for those who would like to get their HF certification; give him a shout at robert6594j [at] gmail [dot] com.
We have reserved several campsites so if you plan to attend let Robert know so we can make sure there is room for all.
I was born in 1967 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and grew up amid the cornfields south of that bustling metropolis. I gradually came to feel that the farming life was not the best fit for me, so after high school I headed to Purdue University and obtained a degree in computer science. Upon graduating I moved to Beaverton for a software development job at Sequent Computer Systems (I remember it fondly) and have been living in the northwest ever since.
I’m currently on hiatus from software development, and I’m happy to have lots of flexibility in my daily schedule. It was maybe in late 2014 that I went to a Science Pub talk by Dr. Chris Goldfinger of OSU, who spoke about his research on the geological dating of past earthquakes by examining core samples taken from the ocean floor off the northwest coast – during earthquakes there are distinctive sediment layers that form after material from inland landslides washes out to sea. The talk wasn’t about earthquake preparedness, but it reminded me of the idea that I should invest some of my copious spare time in preparedness. Since I’m a rather geeky guy, it didn’t seem to be too much of a stretch to get a ham radio license and join ARES.
When I took the Technician exam in early 2015, the VEs told me that the General license would also be helpful for emergency communications, so I soon upgraded to General and joined MCARES. I felt like I still had a lot to learn about radio, and studying for the Extra exam seemed like a way to learn some more things, so that’s how I ended up with the Amateur Extra license class despite not being much of a radio person. I’m currently assigned to the PBEM team, which I think is quite a deluxe assignment in terms of the amenities that PBEM will offer after a disaster — electricity, running water, sewage holding tank, etc. I’ve also recently volunteered to host the monthly digital modes training net, during which we’ve been sending each other photos via SSTV. That’s a lot of fun because people send interesting photos, and we may add additional digital modes in the future depending on their predicted usefulness for emergency communications.
When I’m not sending pictures over the air via SSTV I like to run, do some woodworking, and I play the piano badly. I expect to do software development again at some point.
It’s going to be hard to top the BBQ last month. It was very well attended and everyone seemed to have a great time. There were some great go-kits on display and the christening ceremony was a spectacle.
We’re going to try to keep the momentum going this month with a discussion and live build demonstration of a Slim Jim portable antenna. Click this link to download a description and building instructions for this roll up antenna. It’s a simple and inexpensive option to dramatically increase the efficiency of your handheld radio.
We all know that without repeaters, handheld radios are not very effective. Sometimes even with the help of a repeater, a 5-watt HT with a stock antenna can have problems being heard. Using an external antenna strung from a tree or on a makeshift mast will vastly improve both your receiving and transmitting effectiveness.
Come watch and see how easy it is to make!
The general meeting and training will be held on Thursday, August 25 from 19:00 to 20:30 at the Portland Fire & Rescue Training Center at 4800 NE 122nd Avenue in Portland.
From 18:30 to 19:00, we will host a discussion for new members and those who want to brush up on some of the basics. This Thursday we’ll discuss radios – what brand to buy, types of radios, decision criteria, simple to complex, etc. Bring your radio if you have a specific question. Robert Anglin WX5TEX, Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) will be our guest. Come with your questions!