MC-ARES/RACES
MC-ARES/RACES
EVENTS AND EXERCISES
EVENTS AND EXERCISES
ARRL CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
JULY 17 - 19 2014
Two of our members attended the ARRL Centennial Celebration in Hartford, CT and were able to operate the event station, W100AW, and tour the facility. On August 5th Don Anastasia, AA6W, and Linda Bittner, K6GRL, made a presentation at our monthly ARES general meeting. We thought those of you who could not make the meeting would like to see their presentation so we have put it on her for all to see. Thanks to Don and Linda for sharing this experience with us. Click HERE to view the pdf of the presentation.
NVIS TEST ON JUNE 15, 2013
On Saturday, June 15, 2013 we conducted an NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) exercise with the net control station set up in an area of Toro Park, south of Salinas just off of Highway-68. The results were excellent and we demonstrated that we can use this HF propagation mode to cover areas not covered by repeaters. We had check-ins from as far south as San Luis Obispo, as far north as Benecia and as far west as Squall Valley (the town) as well as check-ins from Monterey, Salinas, King City, Lockwood, Hollister, Seaside, Carmel and Marina (via remote from Santa Cruz).
The antenna used was a BuddiPole dipole set up as an inverted vee with the center at about 10 feet high and the ends about 20 inches off the ground.
The exercise was conducted in a box canyon so there were no possible line-of-sight signal paths, insuring that the signals received were indeed NVIS
Click HERE to read the press release from our PIO, Rob Winningham.
Here is a video of the NVIS exercise.
You can also view the video on youtube HERE.
PRESS RELEASE, MAY 23, 2013
Our Public Information Officer, Rob Winningham, issued a press release on May 23, 2013 detailing the Monterey County ARES involvement in the Golden Guardian exercise and the Quiet Glow II exercise. See the full release below.
Click HERE to download a PDF version of the press release.
Monterey County ARES supports Golden Guardian
and Quiet Glow II
By Rob Winningham
May 23, 2013
Salinas, CA – Monterey County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) announced that it provided support for two emergency exercises during the month of May. The first was the California Emergency Management Agency (CAL EMA) sponsored Golden Guardian exercise. The second was the multi-agency Quiet Glow II exercise.
Golden Guardian was a state-planned exercise that simulated a 7.9 magnitude earthquake occurring on the San Andreas Fault affecting 10 Bay Area counties. The exercise simulated a response beginning 48-hours after the quake. During this exercise, Monterey County responded to simulated damage as well as having to absorb evacuees from the other affected Bay Area counties. Participating agencies ranged from FEMA to the Water Resources Board. Monterey County ARES provided backup communication links between the Regional EOC located at Cal State University Monterey Bay and the Office of Emergency Services Emergency Operations Center (OES EOC) located in Salinas as well as participating in the Simulation Cell.
During the period of May 22-23, Monterey County ARES provided communications support for the California National Guard-sponsored Quiet Glow II exercise. This exercise simulated the detection, location, and seizure of uncontrolled radiological materials. This exercise involved agencies such as the FBI, FEMA, California National Guard, Salinas Fire Department, Monterey County OES, Monterey County Bomb Squad, Monterey CERT, as well as other specialized national assets.
Both of these exercises offered an excellent training opportunity for Monterey County ARES members to exercise their communication skills using the Monterey County OES EOC and mobile EOC. Feedback from the exercise controllers regarding the contributions and professionalism of the Monterey County ARES members was very positive.
About Monterey County ARES
Monterey County ARES is an all-volunteer group of amateur radio operators whose mission is to provide communication services to Monterey County emergency and disaster relief organizations during times of crisis. Monterey County ARES works in conjunction with Emergency Communications Through Amateur Radio (ECTAR) which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is dependant upon grants and donations for funding.
Contact:
To learn more about Monterey County ARES, please contact
Rob Winningham
Public Information Officer
Office: (831) 261-4416
Monterey County ARES
ECTAR
Monterey County Mobile Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Rob Winningham
Monterey County ARES member working the radios