It has been a busy few months with public service events and ARES activities. Thanks to all who have participated to keep their radio operating skills sharp and provide valued service to the community.
A special thanks to Peter KH6CTQ for his donation of equipment to Multnomah County ARES. Among the many items donated were 2 military antenna masts which will enhance the Mobile Comms field capabilities. Thanks also to John KH6XG for getting in touch with us to arrange the donation.
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.
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.
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.
Please join me in welcoming our newest members, Sean K2CRW, Phyllis W6STZ, Mark KI7FJA, Emily N7EMH, and Ernie KI7EFT.
Our recruiting efforts are paying off. We have gained 28 new members since January. Thanks to everyone spreading the word.
July ARES Meeting Location Change: the Thursday, July 28 meeting will be at Sellwood Park picnic area I (India). Our annual Go-Kit Show and Tell will include a BBQ. Nate will be grilling burgers and Deb will serve chili dogs. YUM! Water and soda will also be provided. Bring a side dish or dessert to share.
The ARES trailer will be on display for those who have not yet seen our awesome new Mobile Communications Unit. Adam will be telling you about all of its amazing features.
Bring your family and/or friends who are interested in ham radio to feast and see all the innovative go-kits that our members have put together. If you don’t have a go-kit yet you will be inspired to build one!
The annual HF Campout date is set. Mark your calendar for September 23 and 24 and join us at Fort Stevens for our Second Annual HF campout. 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. If you plan to attend, let Robert know so we can make sure there is room for all. Last year’s spaghetti and meatball dinner was a real hit so there could be an encore performance if Marino KG7EMV will bring his favorite Italian pasta.
Congratulations to John Core KX7YK, who is the new ARRL Oregon Section Manager. He replaces retiring Everett Curry W6ABM.
Sadly, we received word that Race for the Cure will no longer be using amateur radio for their communications. I personally will miss this yearly event. I have worked this event every year since I first got my Technician license in 2005.
Again this year MCARES joined the Portland Amateur Radio Club (PARC) on Kelly Butte for ARRL Field Day. Field Day is an annual amateur radio event, encouraging emergency communications operations and contesting among amateur radio operators. It is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year.
It’s also about outreach and education, letting new hams experience HF contesting, and demonstrating ham radio to the public. But mostly, it’s a fun chance to camp out and play with radios for 24 hours.
Since the new McARES trailer was going to participate again, Deb KK7DEB and John KF7ZWX did some tree pruning near its traditional parking spot early in the week. Then Pete W7PR spearheaded cleaning the operating area and hanging the dipole antenna support ropes in the trees on Friday. As always, Pete’s use of the pneumatic tennis ball launcher system was a big attraction.
Antenna hanging started early Saturday morning. Pete is so experienced with hanging these antennas over the years, his team made short work of it. The station in the trailer used the venerable, 25+ year old extended Zepp 192-foot twinlead-fed dipole again this year, which is cut a little longer than a half wave dipole on 75m to increase its directionality. Lee’s CW station used his 20m ZL Special, which is a pair of phased folded dipoles made of 450ohm twinlead set up with directional gain pointing east. In the evenings it’s reconfigured with radials as a top loaded vertical to operate on 80m and 40m. Pete also hoisted an Alpha Delta DC-CC, which is a commercial 10-80m 82-foot dipole, up about 75 feet.
Deb arrived early with the trailer and had it set up in no time. Its propane fueled generator powered everything in the camp, except the radios, for 24 hours without a hitch – including battery recharging duty.
The trailer also furnished area WiFi for all the logging stations used by the radio operators. PARC has been using the Field Day edition of a contesting software package called Amateur Contest Log for years, and it has excellent multi-operator network capabilities. Unfortunately, the trailer’s WiFi couldn’t reach even one station, so Brian KE7QPV configured one of his mesh nodes as a repeater. You could get a signal in Salem with his outdoor, high-gain antenna.
Brian also brought his amazing HSMM Mesh display and did a bunch of experimenting over the evening with all his different hardware configurations. Deb brought the new MCARES solar generator display which was very popular and a big draw with the visitors. Nathan N9VCU grilled up a storm during the day and the evening potluck was delicious!
With three stations operating over 24 hours, over 300 contacts were made covering 45 states by 21 operators. See the adjacent screenshot of the cool worked-states map.
Over 70 visitors came by and signed the log, a jump from last year. Amazingly, Adam KF7LJH wasn’t told mysterious secrets by a coyote in his tent this year (the story gets exaggerated with each telling).
If you couldn’t make it this year, definitely put it on your calendar for next year – it’s the most fun you’ll have with ham radio short of a DX expedition!
Please join me in welcoming our newest members, Robert K7AAD, Eric KI6MU, and Jiro KG7YVJ. Welcome back to Richard KF7INQ.
The newly formed North County Field Relay Team is starting up with Ian K6IBX, Pavel KG7LXB, and Nick KG7ZEA. Nate N9VCU is the team leader and we are excited to expand our mobile capabilities to another section of the county.
The County ARES ID card process has hit a bit of a snag as the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office is now requiring a copy of your picture ID to be included with the background check form. We will be taking pictures at the June 23 meeting so please bring your picture ID (driver’s license). You can also email that picture to me at dprovo [at] yahoo [dot] com. I can hear some of you grumbling about this, however it is not something we have any control over. Believe me, I have tried.
The Sheriff’s office has also made a few changes to the background form and we need to make sure your form is the newest version as they will no longer accept the previous form. We will have the newest form available at the June meeting as well.
Cascadia Rising is now behind us and a big thanks to all who participated to make this a successful ARES/County/City exercise. Winlink again proved to be an efficient way to move messages to the State OEM and around the county. In all we had 24 of our members active during the three-day exercise and over 90 messages moved from here to there and back again.
Sea-Pac was June 4 and 5. Several of our members were there to show and tell the mostly completed Mobile Communications Unit (MCU). There was a lot of interest from area hams on the build and design and it is a wonder that Adam KF7LJH still has a voice left as he was a busy fellow giving tours. Brian KE7QPV had a display of a working HSMM Mesh node that also was very popular. Brian will be bringing his display and making an HSMM presentation at our June 23 ARES meeting. Steve W7SRH was also there promoting MCARES and is hopeful that we may add a few new members.
Field Day is coming! Mark your calendar for June 25 and 26. Multnomah County ARES has been invited to partner with the Portland Amateur Radio Club for field operations at Kelly Butte Park located at SE 103rd Avenue in Portland – turn south from Division and follow the road up the hill to the end. The ARES MCU will be operating there too. You can also join our east county friends at Hoodview Amateur Radio Club at their field operations up at Larch Mountain; follow Historic Columbia Hwy to Larch Mt. Road. Field Day is a great opportunity to meet and visit with other hams, see multi-mode field operations, and get on the air!