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The new NCS / ANCS script for the Monday night weekly Training Net have been posted. To download or view a copy, click for a Microsoft Word or PDF version. |
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New Member Groups Announced
- At the November General Meeting, the new member groups were announced
replacing the old Response Team structure. The new groups will have a
person designated as Facilitator to communicate with members regularly and
be a source for member questions, inquiries and callouts. All ARES
members will be assigned to groups with assignments for exercises, drills
and incidents based on personnel and resource availability. The Net Control schedule will also change with each group having responsibility for a month's nets at a time beginning with the Alpha group in January, Bravo group in February and so on repeating every four months. Facilitators for three of the groups have been named with Jeff Cutchins, AB4HF, for the Alpha group, Karen Albritton, KI4HPP, for the Bravo group, and Sandy Jackson, KJ4DRO, for the Charlie group. A Facilitators for the Delta groups is still needed. If you are a member of this team and would like to become the Facilitator for you group, please contact John, WB4QDX, or Amy, KE4IKF to volunteer. A complete list of group assignments can be viewed on the Member Group page. |
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 2011
SET Simulates Communications After Icestorm - While the
multi-state Simulated Emergency Test scenario for 2011 focused on
communications due to a massive icestorm in the Southeast US, Gwinnett ARES
practiced communications support for the county following the icestorm.
Gwinnett Emergency Management Agency asked ARES to simulate commuications at
temporary debris collection sites back to the EOC. As a part of the county's plan for debris removal following any severer weather event, ARES members setup at designated county parks to communicate truckload and debris volume. Several modes were used to communjicate both regular reports and tactical communications including FM voice, Packet, and D-STAR. |
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 Hal
Collier, W4IGE, Appointed AEC - Training - After four years
of service as AEC - Training, Ken Dalton is stepping down as AEC - Training.
Ken has served Gwinnett ARES well in the position with many accomplishments
including conversion of training records to the online database.Hal Collier, W4IGE, has been appointed as the new AEC - Training. Hal brings his experience from training in the Digital Committee and many new ideas as the leadership team is looking at Response Team organization. Hal can be reached with any training questions or to submit confirmations of completed training to training@gwinnettares.org. |
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W4AJM Produces Weather Reporting Guide - Gwinnett
ARES member Alan Murray, W4AJM, has produced an excellent document providing
information for both inexpienced and seasoned storm spotters on proper
reporting criteria and techniques voer Skywarn and ARES weather nets.
Following recent severe storm activity over the last few weeks, Alan noted
the need for a document that explains storm spotting precedures and the
proper way to report severe weather conditions experienced. Skywarn
nets often bring out non-ARES Hams who want to help in time of need, but may
not have the training and experience that ARES members have. Alan's guide can be found on a new web page on this site called Weather Reporting accessible onthe menu on the left side. A downloadable copy of the document is also available on the Weather Reporting page. Experienced ARES members will aslo find the guide helpful as a refresher and should be a part of any Go-Kit or other documents used in the field. A special thanks to Alan for devoting the hours of work to create this very useful guide. |
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2 010
Simulated Emergency Test Highlights Digital Modes - After an
eight hour exercise, 38 Gwinnett ARES members had successfully simulated
communications from three shelters around the county and used a simulated
EOC activation to complete this year's major exercise.The SET scenario,
developed as a trip-state exercise involving the Georgia, Alabama and North
Florida ARES sections simulated Hurricane Jay coming ashore near Pensacola,
Florida, and moving into Alabama. Gwinnett Emergency Management
anticipated an influx of evacuees from the affected areas and directed ARES
to The shelters provided reports twice an hour with data that they would typically be required to report. This year, Packet was used as the primary mode to send this data back tot he EOC. The Gwinnett EOC also communicated with the East Metro Health District office locally and the GEMA SOC by HF and D-STAR. During the SET, ARES members tested sending back photos
from an airplane via D-STAR’s high speed data (DD mode) capability on 1.2
GHz. The test confirmed the capability to take pictures while airborne Gwinnett ARES members are asked to write down their observations, what went well and any suggestions for improvements to be discussed in full at the next meeting. Photos from the exercise have been uploaded to the GwinnettARES Yahoo group in the photos section. |
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FCC Rules that Amateurs May Participate in Non-Government-Sponsored Drills by Employers - In a Report and Order (R&O) released Wednesday, July 14, the FCC stated that under new guidelines, amateurs employed by non-governmental agencies, such as hospitals, may participate and operate in drills sponsored by their employer. Specifically, the FCC will now permit Amateur Radio operators "to transmit messages, under certain limited circumstances, during either government-sponsored or non-government sponsored emergency and disaster preparedness drills, regardless of whether the operators are employees of entities participating in the drill." |
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 Gwinnett
Board Of Commissioners Declare Amateur Radio Week
- Gwinnett Commission Chairman, Charles Bannister, presented the resolution
declaring Amateur Radio Week in Gwinnett County to John Davis, Gwinnett ARES
EC, and Kyle Albritton, GARS President, at the Board of Commissioners
meeting on June 15th. The resolution acknowledges the many
contributions and services of Amateur Radio to Gwinnett. Gwinnett EMA
Director, Greg Swanson, also spoke on local ARES service during the shelter
and EOC communications at the Red Cross shelter in Gwinnett during Hurricane
Gustav. |
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 Gwinnett
ARES Supports MS Bike Ride -
Twelve Gwinnett ARES members responded to the
call to support communications for the 2010 MS Bike Ride, an 84 mile bicycle
ride. The ride began on Saturday from the Georgia State campus in
downtown Atlanta and ending on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.
On Sunday, the route reversed departing Athens for Atlanta.
This was the first event to utilize D-STAR for
its only communications providing voice and data communications on a linked
repeater network to the Net Control station in Monroe. The IC-2820
radios used were furnished by Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
These were radios purchased under the recent D-STAR grant to build out a statewide repeater network and will be distributed in the near future to EMA
offices around the state. The radios furnished voice and position data
for the ten Support and Gear (SAG) vans located throughout the course.
Their position was displayed on a map
Participating from Gwinnett were KF4PWI, KJ4DRW, KA4KKF, KG4IUM, KI4KXO, KB6RRX, WA4YIH, WB4QDX, WB4WTN, N8EKA, W4DWJ and KI4SBT. The event organizers were pleased with the communications provided by the Amateur Radio community of over 40 total volunteers. |
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 Joint
SAR Exercise With GA Appalachian Trail Club -
Nineteen Gwinnett ARES members participated in
a joint search and rescue
training exercise
with the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. The group assembled at
Little Mulberry Park in northeast Gwinnett County on Saturday morning,
November 22nd for a briefing and assignments. The exercise was
organized by Eddie Foust, WD4JEM, who is a member of both organizations. The ARES Mobile Communications Facility trailer was onsite and served as Net Control. All communications was handled on simplex to simulate remote search conditions with no repeaters. ARES members were assigned to search teams as communicators. The exercise used the ICS structure for organization to give both groups experience in this structure.
The exercise provided many lessons learned including the challenges of
simplex communications over the large area of the Park. Field teams
within range of remote teams and Net Control served as relays, but slowed
communications and search area coverage. GATC members participating in
the exercise did not have any previous experience working with communicators
as a part of teams. |
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UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL INFO - All ARES members now have access to the Online Member Database to view and keep their personal information up-to-date. Information such as address, contact numbers, email addresses and license info may be updated by each member. If you have not received your logon information and password, contact Tom Hughes, KD4OEZ. If you have not registered your contact numbers such as cell phones and PDAs to receive Gwinnett ARES notifications, contact Scott Hartlage, KF4PWI. Notifications with the Emergency Notification System offers the fastest and most reliable notifications for callouts, weather nets or other important information. |
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Deployable Status - If you have not completed the required FEMA online courses IS-100 and IS-700, remember that you must complete these two courses along with either the Gwinnett County Basic Skills Test or ARRL EC-001 to receive the Gwinnett ARES ID. The ID card indicates DEPLOYABLE status and is recognized by Gwinnett County first responders. Contact Hal Collier, W4IGE, AEC for Training for more information or to email training confirmations or test answers at training@gwinnettares.org. |
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| Past Presentations Available - Copies of past presentations are now available for viewing and download on the Training page of the website. | ||||||||||||||
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establish communications at three high schools simulating the shelter
locations.
and send them back near real time to a website for storage and viewing.
The plane, piloted by Paul Branson, KA4YZR, was flown from Lawrenceville,
Georgia to the east side of Athens, Georgia about 50 miles away.
Photos were taken along the way by Scott Hartlage, KF4PWI, sent back through
the WD4STR D-STAR repeater and viewed in the Gwinnett EOC and at the GEMA
State Operations Center.
projected
on the wall at Net Control for event officials to monitor and direct
resources along the course.