Despite our current situation, we still tallied 279 volunteer hours in March, and our active membership count is holding steady at 109!
I first became interested in Amateur Radio while in the Boy Scouts and converted an old military aircraft receiver, BC-454 I believe, to 12VDC as they were 24VDC and you needed a power supply. It received 80m only. Then high school, college, and the military intervened and although I maintained my interest in electronics in the military and as a systems engineer in computer programming, I didn’t get back to ham radio until 1987 while commuting into Los Angeles with nothing to do in traffic.
I purchased an Icom 02AT 2 meter handheld and started listening. I went to a ham swap meet and met a few people who had a rag chew net during the morning and evening commute time and they encouraged me to get my license. One of the fellows became my Elmer, Bob K3ZGA, and he got me prepared for the written and CW portions of the Technician test.
I started doing radio stuff with the folks on the BOMB Squad (Best of Mt. Baldy 147.21) in between work, family (two high schoolers, Boy Scouts) and various other activities. I picked up a Kenwood TS-440, R-7 Vertical, and j-pole on VHF/UHF. I also had an Icom 901 tri-band mobile in the car as 220 is very popular in California.
My current call sign is from a ham radio friend from Califronia whom I remained in contact with until he became a Silent Key a couple of years ago, W6JNM (Just No Money). I respected him as a ham, father, foster father and veterinarian. I hope to honor his service in the 7 area.
In 1992 we moved to Michigan and then to Florida, and for the next ten years I did very little radio. In 2002 we moved to Oregon. I set up my station and got on the air infrequently until I started doing some off-roading with a LandRover club and met a couple of people who had ham licenses. Then I got my next door neighbors’ young adults involved in getting their ham licenses to use with the off road group.
I retired someplace along there, have never succeeded in getting my wife or sons interested in ham Radio, nor the four granddaughters, and was looking to get more active. I believe someone at HRO introduced me to Deb Provo, who in turn introduced me me to Steve Hall.
Steve was putting together the West Slope team for MCARES and it was all good from there. That got me going to earn my General and then Extra, plus start getting on the HF bands again and start working my CW again. I surprised the heck out of my Elmer, Bob, who at this time is living in Florida and one of the better CW operators around.
I really enjoy kit building and all these new digital modes along with traditional HF and VHF/UHF. With all of my Elmers in MCARES – Deb, Eli, Joe, Steve, Ken, John, and all of you who have contributed to my enjoyment and growth in this avocation – I have become active and excited about all aspects of amateur radio again and look forward to paying back as much as I can to our group and new amateurs!
The March 7 “Cascadia Slips a Bit” field exercise was a great success. We had 45 members willing to brave the cold and rain to send Winlink messages from all parts of the county. The digital go kits got a good workout and the quad gateway (Frankengate) continues to prove that it is a valuable asset.
This exercise was done to hone our ability to send and receive local Winlink without the internet. The VHF to HF gateway allows us to also send Winlink messages out of the area to other parts of the country where internet still works.
Thanks to everyone who participated and a special thanks to the teams that deployed early to set up special equipment.
We received safety vests as part of the last UASI grant so if you need a vest or your current vest has seen better days let me know. I will bring one to the next meeting for you if you email me. We have a limited supply and hope to supply vests to our new members when they complete their ARRO training.
The new digital kits (photo above) are almost complete! The new design will make the kits lighter and easier to pack around. The batteries have been upgraded to two 35AH batteries for a total of 70AH for each kit. You can see the whole kit at the next ARES meeting.
Welcome to our newest members, Robert KI7KYE and John KI7YBL, both on the Delta Team. We now have 109 active members. We logged an amazing 476 volunteer hours in February – great job, everyone!
The Multnomah County ARES website was migrated to a new hosting provider this evening. No problems were encountered during the migration, and all testing of the site has been successful. If you do notice any problems, however, please send an email to webmanager [at] multnomahares [dot] org and I will investigate.
We will have a field drill involving all MCARES teams on Saturday, March 7 from 09:00 to 13:00. All MCARES members are asked to participate if possible. Your team leader should be in touch with you prior to the drill, to discuss location and any other details specific to your team’s role. Please be sure to thoroughly read the drill guide and ICS-205 before the drill, and direct any questions to your team leader.
Having experienced a few earthquakes while living in San Jose and realizing Portland, too, was located in earthquake country, Rochelle took a weekend PCC class on preparedness. The one thing she took away was that ham radio would be the only way to communicate during and after a disaster.
A simple search pulled up McARES, and so the journey began with a new volunteer organization. She has a Yaesu VX-8R handheld and a Kenwood D710 at her home station that runs a Winlink gateway.
“It’s impossible to be bored – especially on the Mike team! There is always something to learn and something fun to do with ham radio.”
In fact, Rochelle is now the new coordinator for Connected, the MCARES newsletter. She hopes you enjoy the new format!
We welcome our newest members: Steve KJ7JBC who joins the Delta Team and Teddy KJ7IJR who has joined the Bravo Team. The membership roster was trimmed in December to reflect inactivity by some members so we are starting the new year with 103 active members.
The newsletter has a new, refreshing look for 2020! The MCARES “Connected” newsletter was established in July of 2013. Since then, Vaughn Lewis AC7HO has formatted the content into newsletter format. We can’t thank Vaughn enough for all his years of service!
A new decade brings a new look for “Connected.” Rochelle AE7ZQ is taking over the job with new ideas and formatting. Thanks, Rochelle!
Grant equipment update: With the help and support of Multnomah County Emergency Management two UASI grants have been funded for eight additional digital go-kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) for all of our members.
The radio go-kits will be built with a new design that will make them lighter and even more portable and flexible. The PPE kits will be available for distribution at our January 23rd meeting. If you have completed your ARRO basic training you are eligible to receive this kit. These bags contain safety items you will need for deployment. I was going to list the items but thought a surprise would be much more fun!
Happy New Year, MCARES!
I’m so glad to be entering a new year with the state’s best radio crew. I would especially like to thank the leadership team for spending an entire Saturday in December to chart our path through the new year. As we go forward in the new year a lot of the same skills and themes from before will be returning. There are also minor tweaks to improve on the strong operating foundation we have built over the last several years.
Our main focus areas will continue to be digital field operations (Winlink from temporary locations) and building our technical and operation knowledge and skills. We have some new equipment, and a slight revision to the existing field kits. By late spring, I expect a new portable asset to be deployed (the Spartan trailer). Our exercises and drills will attempt to repeat and cement our basic skills, while allowing room for growth as well.
Later in the year we will have our campout, which I have aligned with the “Worked All Europe” DX SSB contest. I hope to include a tailgate swap meet element to the August go kit show-and-tell. Right off the bat in January there is Winter Field Day on Jan 25th and our first drill will be a pajama drill on February 1st. I hope to see everyone at the January general membership meeting for a discussion of SOP revisions and further discussion of the year ahead.
Thanks to all, and I am sincerely looking forward to it!