Multnomah County ARES

As we near the end of another successful year, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of the members that make Multnomah County ARES possible. Currently there are in excess of 70 active members in Multnomah County ARES. It takes us all to be a well operating unit.

This past year we have seen our operating skills and abilities grow by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the efforts of our membership, the trailer project has gone from a dream to being deployed on multiple training and operating occasions. This new tool will allow us to perform control and relay functions free from the shortcomings of our brick and mortar operating locations. In October, during the Disaster Relief Trials, we operated both a voice net and three different digital modes (video/still imagery/Winlink) from the field simultaneously. This included over six field stations and two mobile operating trailers coordinating the efforts of our radio operators. I was so impressed by your abilities during that event that I am ecstatic for the future.

Regarding our path forward, I have met with the Multnomah County Emergency Management Director, Chris Voss, and the Operations Manager, Alice Busch, and our directions are clear. We are to grow our ranks so that we can operate as many field deployable digital teams as possible. This will require a renewed recruitment and training effort. The leadership team has created the training outline for next year, and I’ll share details at the January meeting.

On the recruitment side of the house, we need to spread the word about our organization and mission. If you know anyone that would be a good fit with us, please encourage their participation. We are one small part of the massive task that is preparing Multnomah County for disaster, but I am confident in both the vision of our Emergency Management team and in our abilities as operators, and I will seek to provide the trained operators that the County Emergency Management team has asked for. Here’s to a great new year of growth and development!

First, thanks to James Bryant KD7WZI for his years of service to Oregon ARES and especially District 1.

Within recent weeks there have been lot of changes in Oregon ARES/RACES leadership. Bruce Bjerke K7BHB in Florence has been appointed to the top state position as Oregon Section Emergency Coordinator. One of his top priorities is to resurrect the District Emergency Coordinator structure within the state as most of these positions have been vacant for some time. As SEC, he has appointed me to the DEC-1 position. For the past several years, I have been in an Assistant SEC position organizing SETs.

Steve Taylor N7BEF has replaced Lynn Burrell KE7WME as Washington County EC. Lynn is now EC for the OEM Amateur Radio Unit in Salem.

I have been in ARES for many years in various positions and have been licensed for 45 years. I enjoy HF radio contesting as well. Thanks to all for your service.

Our County EM, Chris Voss, has requested that we develop mobile response teams with digital capability to serve various county communication needs. We also need to strengthen our served agency teams. This will require a focus on recruiting this year. Steve W7SRH, our PIO, and I will work together in this new recruitment effort and we will need everyone’s help.

Our vision is to have geographical teams of three to four operators that can be rapidly deployed. Let me know if you are interested in being on one of these teams. The first pilot team is the West County Mobile Team with Steve W7SRH as team leader. We hope to expand to other areas as our membership grows.

We hope to have the trailer finished in early 2016 and plan to put it to work in our recruitment effort. If you know of an emergency preparedness event that could be a recruitment opportunity, please let Steve or me know.

Welcome to our new members, Kirk KG7WXN, Bill KG7SEU, Lily KG7WYG, Leslie KG7VGL, Pete KG7MRZ, Lou KG7SUF, and Herman KG7ZBI. Please reach out and greet them at the January meeting.

It’s hard to believe that a year has already passed since we began our campaign to build an emergency communications trailer. Last October, in partnership with the Portland Amateur Radio Club, Multnomah County ARES launched a fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 to buy a cargo trailer and convert it into a mobile radio station that would be used for disaster relief, drills, education, and public outreach. Through a combination of an Indiegogo campaign, raffles, generous individuals and organizations – and a lot of gumption – we were able to purchase a 7×14-foot trailer that is quickly becoming an incredible communications and education asset.

We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who has donated both financially and with their talents to help make this project become a reality. Thanks to the craftsmanship of our members we’ve completed the flooring, walls and insulation, electrical wiring, and the cabinetry and work surfaces. And as of this writing, the AC and DC infrastructure is at 80% and getting dialed in. Lighting, ceiling, and graphics are in the near future.

We were awarded a grant from the state which will fund much of the radio equipment, including three VHF/UHF radios for voice and digital communications, an HF radio, generators, and more. In addition to this generous grant, we have also received donations from several corporations whom we would like to thank, including Repeaterbook.com, Tigertronics, Kantronics, DX Engineering, RIGOL, Home Depot, Ubiquity, Cisco, and Cradlepoint. That list is still growing every day.

Throughout its construction, the trailer has been constantly field tested through drills and public events including Walk MS, the Spring SET, and most recently, the Disaster Relief Trials. For this event, we utilized the trailer for net control and digital operations to provide race participant updates for the DRT staff. We were able to refine the trailer’s design from what we learned. Its most interesting test was an outing to a campground in the Mount Hood Wilderness to practice HF operation as well as analyze how best to operate remotely and independently from luxuries such as electricity and running water.

We’re hoping to have phase one of the trailer project complete in the first part of 2016. We also have a few “Phase 2” goals, including solar capabilities, which will be useful in making the trailer more resilient and functional, but we’ll need the continued support of the community to achieve these goals.

Please stay tuned for further updates on this project, and feel free to contact us with any questions and comments you have.

Welcome to our newest members Eric KG7GCQ and Matthew K7MWS.

Thank you to all who have filled out the Member Survey and John K7TY for putting it together. New this year all who fill it out can view all the replies. There is still time to reply if you have not had a chance yet. This information will help the leadership team plan for the future and prepare the 2016 training schedule.

It has been a very busy summer – lots of opportunities to practice your skills. Every event is a training event. MCARES members participated in the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, Field Day, Oregon International Airshow, MCARES HF Radio Campout, Race for the Cure, Portland Marathon, Quake Ex II, and we will wind it all up with the Disaster Relief Trials (DRT) this Saturday. Whew! Did any of our members work the Providence Bridge Pedal? If so, or if you worked any other communications event, please let me know at eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com

I hope you all also had some fun away from the radios this summer.

In preparation for the fall and winter stormy season, our October 22 meeting will feature SKYWARN Weather Spotter training. See you there!