Category: Training & Certification

Our training at the general meeting this month will be Traffic Handling. We will split into basic and advanced groups with Michael AE7XP presenting the basics to include similarities and differences between NTS Radiograms and ICS 213s. He will cover sending and receiving protocols and how to format a simple NTS radiogram. I will present the advanced portion and cover more of the complexities of NTS traffic, book traffic, ARL numbered radiograms and how to deal with a complex emergency management form when the receiving station doesn’t have the blank form.

Our Drill from Home on September 12 will be based on this training. Participants will create an NTS radiogram message, then check into the command net. Net control will pair up AROs and send them to a simplex frequency to exchange their messages. The simplex frequencies will be monitored by an experienced traffic handler who can offer guidance and correction. AROs will report back to the command net when they have sent and received a message and then they will be dismissed.

I will be presenting another ARO Basics workshop on September 3 and a Traffic Handling workshop on September 17. These workshops are for new/provisional members to get them on their way to ARRO certification. They cover all the items on the ARRO task list. If anyone else needs a refresher, let me know and I will get you in if there is room.

The July meeting is one of our most popular. It’s an informal time to socialize and see everyone’s latest go kits from the humblest HT to the most robust of portable radio gear. Our trailer will be there for all to check out as well. Also I know some of our members have some great personal survival gear from tents to cookware to meals, so bring the items that are interesting and fun to share. If you missed Field Day, this is the next best thing.

Thanks to Steve W7SRH and John KG7JKN for volunteering to write feature articles for our newsletter. They will alternate months with Steve giving us a great Field Day piece this month.

The June meeting will be presented by Adam. I’ll let him tell you about it:

The training topic for June is going to be a little different. We’ll be talking about how to program the memories of your radios with a computer. We’re also going to quickly break into a programming party for those of you who would like to get your radios programmed with the latest ARES frequency template.

As you are aware, setting up the memories in your radio via your computer is so much easier and faster than manual entry, especially if you have several hundred memories to set up. Programming via computer also makes it harder to make mistakes, since the program is watching that you don’t enter crazy stupid things – like trying to set a frequency of 100,000 GHz for example.

Programming via computer also makes it more likely all the ARES members have similar setups. If there’s a strong culture of programming in the unit, leadership can just start to send out template file updates for events, drills and incidents that use different frequencies than we have in our “standard,” eliminating the need for you to spend an hour the morning of the event trying to get the frequencies set up, or showing up without the frequencies set up at all and looking around for people to program your radio for you. At the meeting, we’ll be talking about the programs you can use to program your radio, systems to organize and manage your frequency templates, factory vs RT vs Ebay cables, and similar topics.

If you bring your radio and your programming cable, there will be stations available to get your radio updated with the current template at the meeting. If you don’t have a programming cable for your radio, someone might have one that you can borrow to get your radio flashed at the meeting. But you should get a cable, if you don’t have one, as soon as you can.

If you are an old hand at programming your radio, we’d love your help for the meeting! Bring your laptop and cables and help us program radios! If you’re interested, drop kf7ljh [at] arrl [dot] net a note and we can talk that through.

Adam KF7LJH

We now have 56 ARRO certified, 15 Net Control certified, and 13 HF certified members.

All members should have received the revised training schedule. The Traffic Handling training has been rescheduled for the August meeting and the NTS Traffic Drill From Home has been moved from June 20 to September 12.

I’m excited about the Radio Camp Out August 15-16. We’ll play with our HF and 2 meter go kits, HTs, and the trailer. Robert and Adam will be training on HF and signing HF certification check sheets for those who want their HF certification. Or just come and hang out in the woods with us for the day or overnight.

By request of the SEC, Vince Van Der Hyde K7VV, we have new instructions for how to use the ICS 309 Communication Log form. I have redone our version of the 309 to conform and I think it will be much easier to log messages this way. The form will be introduced at the May general meeting. It is already posted on the website. Please purge your electronic and paper files of all old 309 forms! You’re going to like the new one much better!

Training for the May meeting is Traffic Handling, and from the last SET and the Deployment Tour last Saturday, everyone needs a refresher. Please come and hone your traffic handling skills. We will divide into two groups, one for basic message handling presented by Michael AE7XP, and one for experienced message handlers which will cover book traffic, using ARRL numbered radiograms, more extensive NTS protocols for how to send email addresses and URLs in the text of a message and other nitty gritty details.

The training topic for the April general meeting has changed. Traffic Handling is postponed until May.

There will be an ARRO Basics Workshop on May 7 and a Traffic Handling and Communication Log Workshop on May 21, both at our usual ARES meeting place. These workshops are for new members and any other members not yet ARRO certified. Contact me, eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com, if you wish to attend these workshops.

We have had a wonderful bunch of new members eager to learn and get certified. We have added seven new ARROs in the past month. We have a total of 47 ARES/RACES Radio Operators (ARROs) now, 15 Net Control and Field Operators (NCFOs), and 12 HF Operators. Pretty awesome, I’d say! Congratulations and thank you to all who have put in the time and effort to get these certifications!

There will be a Net Control workshop on April 16, an ARRO Basics workshop on May 7, and a Traffic Handling and Comm Log workshop on May 21, all at our usual ARES meeting place. Contact me eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com if you wish to attend any of these workshops.

Hoodview Amateur Radio Club is offering a Technician licensing class March 7 & 14, and a General license upgrade class on the same dates. Contact Ed Clulow at 503-257- 4822 or n7tl [at] comcast [dot] net.

March 19 will be another Third Thursday Workshop on traffic handling at 6:30 PM at Fire Station 2. This is open to anyone who needs to get checked off on traffic handling and ICS 309 Communication Log for their ARRO certification. Space permitting, others who just want more practice with ICS 213 and NTS radiogram traffic are welcome. Please register by contacting me at eliza [dot] pride [at] gmail [dot] com.

Best of Holiday Wishes to everyone!

Thanks to the 31 people who responded to our survey. We appreciate all the positive feedback and the suggestions for improvement. The anonymous responders who indicated you wanted to get more involved or to help out in various ways need to let us know who you are. We welcome your help and participation.

In response to your survey comments, we will have more hands-on workshop type training at our monthly meetings in 2015. We will also be much more visible on social media with Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. For those of you who are not into social media, you will still get all the information you need from email, the website, the newsletter, and attending monthly meetings.

Looking forward to and wishing you all a fabulous new year!

Watch your email for a survey we would like all members to fill out. We need and value your thoughts on how we can improve MCARES, as well as what training topics you want, and any other suggestions for how we can make 2015 truly awesome. Please get it back to us no later than December 13 so we can incorporate your ideas into our 2015 planning. Have a safe and warm Thanksgiving!

Wow! We now have 41 ARRO certified members! Of those, 13 are also NCFO certified and 8 are HFO certified. At least five more are very close to completion of their ARRO certification. I sincerely appreciate the effort and dedication you have all shown is getting this done!

The ARRO certificate is required of all active members and is a prerequisite for the optional NCFO (Net Control and Field Operator), HFO (High Frequency Operator) and the soon to be launched DRO (Digital Radio Operator) certifications. You can find the check sheets on the website under the Docs tab. Be sure to let me know if you are working on an optional certificate so we can be sure to assign you for drills and events to get you the experience you need.