Category: Events

  • News from Around the County

    I hope you are enjoying our somewhat mellow summer weather. No massive extreme weather so far is certainly good news. Let’s hope we can continue on this path.

    We are working on our annual fund raising raffle as we collect donations from our members. You should be seeing more about this soon.

    We have scheduled our August field exercise for the morning of Saturday the 13th . We will have each of our teams out with their team go kit practicing set up and learning the process of cross-band repeating and digipeating. Stay tuned for more information as we work on the drill plan.

    Field Day was really fun up at Larch Mt. The weather was great and we had a really good antenna up high in the trees. A few of our members made the trek up the hill and Robert Quinn, our Multnomah County Emergency Management liaison, rode his bike up from Corbett. Way to go Robert!

    The Hoodview Amateur Radio Club had several members onsite and we all enjoyed meeting new folks. Unfortunately the HF bands were not very friendly and our contacts were mostly on the western side of the US and Canada.

  • Field Day 2022 – Next Weekend!

    Hello Multnomah County ARES Members,

    This coming weekend is the ARRL Field Day, June 25 and 26!! If you’re not familiar with Field Day, it’s one of the most fun ARRL events of the year. Hams all over the world gather outdoors to participate in a fun HF/VHF contest, hang out with other hams, and perform outreach to the public. For many of us, it was the first time we ever got on the air!

    This year, Multnomah ARES will be joining the Hoodview Amateur Radio Club‘s annual Field Day celebration. They will be at Larch Mountain again this year and we’re looking forward to blasting some radio waves with them up there. If you haven’t been to Larch Mountain, it’s beautiful. The Sherrard Point trail is short but fun, and leads to a pretty amazing viewpoint.

    Here’s a google maps link to Larch Mountain with directions. We’ll be set up in the parking lot outside the Larch Mountain Trail trailhead.

    The Field Day contest starts at 11 AM, Saturday the 25th and runs through 11 AM Sunday the 26th. The MCARES trailer will be arriving on site around 9:00 AM on the 25th and will remain there through the event. If you’d like to get some great field experience and help the Hoodview team raise a few antennas, plan to arrive around 9 AM. All are welcome – and encouraged – to come operate, make some contacts, and hang out!

    We’re having a Potluck Saturday night!!! Deb will be bringing her incredible Field Day Spaghetti – a perennial favorite! Please feel free to bring a dish and enjoy some great company and a pleasant evening.

    We hope you can find the time to visit next weekend even if it’s just for a little bit during the day. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to meet up face to face (in small groups). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

    Thank you! Have a great week!

    Deb KK7DEB, Adam KF7LJH, and Carrie K7CAC

  • News from Around the County

    The April monthly meeting will be online via Zoom. We are planning for the May meeting to be in person at Portland Fire station 2 training center. After two long years it will be great to meet in person again! Stay tuned as these plans are somewhat fluid as we monitor the COVID situation.

    The safety of our members is always our highest priority. We have added new speakers to some of our meetings and we will be back on Zoom for the June meeting. We have scheduled David W7DAO, who is located in Seattle, to talk about propagation and the ionosphere. This is great subject matter prior to Field Day the following weekend.

    Spring and Summer MCARES activities are taking shape with WALK MS on May 21 and the new Mt. Hood ultra-marathon on July 8 and 9. (Members: Check your email for the sign up.) We have also scheduled our annual GPS Food Drive for June 11. Unfortunately the spring statewide ARES SET (Simulated Emergency Test) has been canceled.

    Several of our members have been asking for MCARES apparel such as t-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, and callsign name badges. We are working with our suppliers on updating prices and will be offering an online order form very soon.

  • News from Around the County

    It is certainly fantastic to see the number of COVID-19 cases dropping in Oregon. The indoor mask mandate has been lifted and we are looking into meeting in person sometime soon. We have scheduled a few speakers for our monthly meetings who live far away and only do their presentations online so we will need to take that into consideration as we proceed. Stay tuned!

    The Saturday SSTV exercise went very well and many great pictures were sent in. Thanks to everyone who participated. We had 37 members willing to spend a few hours to help with this drill. This is one of the many skills that makes ham radio so much fun as there is a lot more that we can do than just talk on the radio. If you have not yet had a chance to look into Slow Scan TV you should talk with your team leader for a demonstration and ask what equipment is needed. All of our MCARES go kits have the needed components.

    The Walk MS volunteer sign up form has a whopping 27 members signed up so far. We appreciate that you are so willing to help out with this public service event. May 21 is a ways off so we will keep you updated on the progress of this event.

    I think Spring is my favorite time of year as we see the plants and trees come back to life after a cold and gray winter. The return of the warm sunshine is especially appreciated by my 2 cats who just love to bask in the rays coming through the windows. With COVID-19 winding down it feels like Spring takes on a new meaning.

  • News from Around the County

    Thanks to everyone who participated in our No Frill New Year Drill. It was a great opportunity to try out the new Winlink mapping option. The information gathered showed both the sitrep and local weather information on the map with real time data. Pretty cool stuff. It also points out our need to know our GPS coordinates both from home and in the field. I have written my coordinates on a sticky note at my radio station and I have a new GPS app (free) on my phone. Hopefully you can do or have done something similar.

    We have news that the Multnomah County EOC that is located at the Juvenile Justice Center will be dismantled by June 1. We are hopeful that we can move the K7MCE-10 Winlink gateway to the Multnomah Building at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, at least until a new EOC is formalized. Years ago there was an HF and VHF/UHF amateur radio station there and the antennas are still on the roof so we are hopeful that they are still useable or fixable. We will keep you posted on this change as things develop.

    It is time to dust off and tune up your mobile and portable radio equipment as this year we hope to practice much more from the field. We have committed to providing communications for the Mt. Hood 50 marathon this summer (July 9 and 10) and we will soon be recruiting MCARES members to help. Our annual GPS food drive will also be on the list of activities. Time to get out of the house!

  • News from Around the County

    Happy New Year!

    MCARES will start 2022 with a switch to Zoom video conferencing for all of our online meetings. This will allow for team leaders to have Zoom team meetings.

    The leadership team met in December for a very productive planning session for 2022. We have added a few outside speakers and some MCARES members to present trainings at our monthly meetings. Bob W7JNM will start the year with “SSTV” followed in February by Joel N7LF with “Emergency Power.” The March meeting will feature Frank Sebastion K7KNS, the EC from Pierce County, Washington, who will talk about “Radio Communication at Special Events.” We are pretty excited about these changes. I will talk about other updates at the January 27 meeting.

    The red MCARES trailer has moved to the west side of the river! Charlie team members will transform the trailer into a cozy operating station for use during exercises or incident deployment. The county is in the process of ordering replacements for the equipment that was stolen, and this trailer will be very well stocked with VHF/UHF and HF equipment. We will continue to keep you informed as this project progresses.

    Winter Field Day is January 29 and 30. You can learn more by visiting www.WinterFielDay.com. Unfortunately our participation will be home based this year due to the recent COVID spike. I am hopeful we can add this back to our fun events next year. I hope you will join us for the “No Frill New Year Drill” this Saturday and the Thursday, January 27 Zoom membership meeting.

  • Field Day 2019

    Join Multnomah County ARES on the waterfront at Willamette Park in Portland for Field Day this year! The event will run for 24 hours, from 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 22 until 11:00 AM on Sunday, June 23.

    What is Field Day?

    Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

    From the ARRL’s Field Day web page (www.arrl.org/field-day)

    For licensed radio operators, we will have two HF stations set up for the duration of the event. We will also be running a Get On The Air (GOTA) station on Saturday until 9:00 PM so folks who don’t have an amateur radio license can give the radio a try with help from a mentor.

    Location & Directions

    Our Field Day site is at Willamette Park, 6500 SW Macadam Ave, in Portland. We will be operating from the covered “Picnic A” area near the south end of the park. The red location pin on the Google map below is directly over the picnic shelter (zooming in and turning on the aerial view will help orient you). There is also a park map available here.

    If you’re driving, find your best route to SW Macadam Ave, then head east onto SW Nebraska St, and then turn right (south) onto SW Beaver Ave / SW Idaho St. Continue past the large parking lot. Picnic A is located just northwest of the small parking lot near the end of the road. Parking fee information can be found on the Portland Parks & Recreation website.

    If you’re taking Trimet, the #35 Macadam/Greeley bus is probably the best option. Get off at SW Macadam & Nevada (stop ID 3620 if southbound or 3622 if northbound), then head east on SW Nevada St. Where the street turns right, you’ll find a footpath that will lead you into the park. At the end of the path, turn right onto the road and continue toward the parking lot. The picnic shelter should be visible on your left.


  • January VHF Contest

    The January VHF Contest starts at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 19. Even a few minutes of participation will help anyone practice phonetics, become familiar with their radio, what frequencies to use, exchanges, antennas, etc. There will be LOTS of simplex activity on 2m FM (146.520, .540, .560, and .580) and some on 70cm (446.000). Even simple antennas and an HT from the kitchen table will make some contacts – higher elevations will be even better – so have some fun with it! The exchange is Grid Square with the Portland Metro Area being in CN85.

    There will also be even MORE activity on SSB on 50.125, 144.200, and 432.100 MHZ if you are able.

  • Winter Field Day

    Multnomah ARES has decided to participate in Winter Field Day this year and would love to have you join us.

    Winter Field Day is similar to the big ARRL Field Day in June, but a little smaller and definitely much colder – a perfect opportunity to not only get some on-air operating experience, but to also try out your go-kit and see how ready you really are to operate in less than ideal conditions.

    Winter Field Day takes place on January 26 & 27, however we will only be operating on Saturday, January 26, from 09:00 until around 17:00, depending on how many people we have on site. We will be located at the picnic shelter at the top of Scouters Mountain in Happy Valley – SE Boy Scout Lodge Rd & Southeast 147th Ave, Happy Valley, OR 97086

    While this is the coldest part of the year, this will definitely be a fun event, and don’t worry, we will have tents, heaters, warm drinks, and hot chili on hand to warm you up.

    Please let us know if you plan on attending, we hope to see you there!


  • MCARES Campout Last Call

    Are you new to operating on the HF bands? Thinking about upgrading to a General class license so you can work HF? Don’t care about HF but want to hang out and get to know your fellow ARES members and have a great time? The HF Campout is approaching soon, and we still have space for a few more folks!

    Date: September 14-16
    Location: Pine Point Campground, on the shores of Timothy Lake in the Mount Hood National Forest
    Cost: $20 to cover the campground and shared supper

    Come join us for our annual HF Campout, September 14-16, in the beautiful Mount Hood National Forest. We have reserved a nice group campsite for everyone and still have room for a few more folks.

    We will bring the trailer as well as set up a couple of other HF Stations, and we encourage everyone to bring their own portable HF setups.

    Now I know what you’re thinking, “But Robert, Timothy Lake is down in a valley. HF must not work down there very well”. Have no worries! I spent Field Day camped out on Timothy Lake a couple of years ago, and we had no problems making contacts all over the United States.

    To sign up for the campout, email me at RGAnglin [at] gmail [dot] com