Welcome to the Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Website
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Amateur Radio Communications Resources to be Available During Eclipse Day 
(Aug 19, 2017) - - ARRL, the American Red
Cross, and The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio
Network (SATERN)
will partner on Monday, August 21, to provide a
nationwide communication link for local and regional
American Red Cross units should a communications
failure occur during the solar eclipse.“Concern has been expressed by public safety, emergency management, and others that the large number of people — over 7.5 million nationwide — flowing into the relatively narrow path of totality may overload and disrupt the normal communication infrastructure in some local areas,” SATERN said in its August 17 newsletter. If that happens, the Red Cross will use local Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) units to provide local back-up communication. The Red Cross is interested in regional and national HF communication capability and the ability to pass traffic to its Digital Operations Coordination Center (DOCC) at its national headquarters. At ARRL’s request, SATERN will activate its net on 14.265 MHz on an extended monitoring status, from 1400 until 2200 UTC on August 21. The SATERN Net also may be used as a clearing house for voice traffic if the Red Cross requires long-range or nationwide communication capability. Read More... Locally here in Stark County we will maintain contact with the EOC office but no official activation status is expected. Canton Repository Grand Parade
Among the thousands of parade volunteers, Amateur Radio operators help
to organize this vast ensemble of parade participants. These volunteers are
members of the Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Services and multiple other
area radio clubs. For over 40 years,
amateurs have provided communications services for this event that will total
over 200 volunteer hours of service on this day alone. The parade has grown
steadily in size over the years and now is the single largest public service
event handled by amateur radio operators here in Again this year over 500,000 spectators watched the parade and behind the scenes lies a core of amateur volunteers many of which have over 20 years of experience assisting with the parade. This dedication is one reason that parade organizers have long realized the importance of effective communications that are necessary in organizing a parade of this magnitude. Also over the years, they have come to understand and appreciate the fact that it takes more than a radio to make an effective communicator. Parade General Chairman Pete Truemper realized the limited range of their commercial radio's and he was grateful to learn that our communications was solid throughout the parade route thanks to our wide area coverage ARES Repeater on 147.12 Mhz. The Canton ARC's club repeater on 146.79 Mhz was also ready to use as our backup if needed. The last several years, parade officials have used loaned commercial radio's to maintain communications with their committee members.. While this has worked for routine short range communications, parade organizers have relied on the discipline and experience of amateur operators to handle urgent communications needs and especially medical traffic that occurs throughout the nearly two and a half mile parade route. Continuing this year, in a reorganization of parade communications, our responsibilities covered four separate areas, each with it's own control point. These were Staging, Route Communications, Dispersal and Medical Support. Staging is where it all begins. Event organizers and radio operators setup and
arrange the over 130
units that make up this years parade. Beginning at about 2:00 A.M., this job is
like taking a 5,000 piece puzzle and assembling all the pieces to create the
final picture in a little over five hours. This doesn't include the setting up
of the Television Broadcast area, Route Communications then kicks in to help maintain the pace of the parade units. The pace of the parade is set by Canton Police Department motorcycle units. Each successive unit is to follow maintaining a certain spacing set by football helmets painted along the entire 2.5 mile parade route. Expected slowdowns occur during the parade in the TV area, where all units slow to perform for the crowd then speed back up to maintain proper spacing. Parade spacing and movement is a top priority for event coordinators, a role headed up another committee member who was in charge of all parade marshals positioned throughout the parade route. Shadowed by a ham liaison Mike Daughenbauch, KE8EHG, he monitors the condition of the entire route thanks to our network of radio operators. As spacing became an issue, Mike relayed instructions to all marshals to get everything back in sync. A task that would not be possible without the support of ham radio. This continued to be a daunting task and thanks to amateurs disciplined communications experience, we were effective in minimizing unit gaps throughout the parade. In addition, amateurs watched for trouble spots, assisted with broken down floats, crowd control, seating assistance, media relations, and medical support, these being only a few of the responsibilities handled by amateur radio operators. Net Control, under the direction of Ron Hendershot, KA8FTP, helps to ensure orderly parade radio traffic and maintains overall communications with all parade operations. Ron also monitored weather radar, another benefit provided by radio operators. Thirty radio operators were positioned along the entire parade route to handle this facet of parade operations. Medical Support has continued to remain one of our most important parade
responsibilities as thousands of participants and spectators crowd the route
each year and brave a myriad of changeable weather to watch the grand parade. In
recent years, county medical squads have updated their communications equipment
to provide for better interoperability between the many emergency medical
service units called in to assist with the parade. Due to these advances,
amateurs' role in this area was decreased although operators along the route were
prepared to assist should emergencies arise. Again this year several
emergencies did occur and radio operators again were called upon to
support the As in previous years Emergency Coordinator Terry Russ - N8ATZ maintained communications
with the Parade Chairman in the Parade Dispersal continues to be an increasingly complex segment of the Grand Parade in recent years. This years responsibility for as Dispersal Communications Coordinator was Wade Huthmacher - WD8MIU. An important part of the parade, dispersal has had to handle numerous
situations and problems including reuniting participants and parents and general
disassembly of the entire parade. For the eleventh year in a row, additional
volunteers were assigned to this area. With local amateurs running in
short supply, volunteers were obtained from the The 2017 Enshrinement Grand Parade was another great success thanks to the many
volunteers including the amateur radio operators who assisted us again this
year. Parade General Chairman Pete Truemper and
Communications Coordinators Wade Huthmacher – WD8MIU and Terry Russ -
N8ATZ want to thank all the volunteers for their help and
assistance during this years parade. Their tireless efforts, although largely
unnoticed by the general public, have proven their worth time and time again
over the years. Parade Officials were very appreciative of the ham operators assistance in the parade each year, "I really don't think we could pull this thing off every year without ham radio assistance." County EC Terry Russ agreed: For over thirty years, ham radio operators have been the backbone of the parade, providing the bond that keeps it all running smoothly for the Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Committee." Volunteers for this year’s parade include the following operators: STAGING/COMMUNICATIONS Center: Terry Russ - N8ATZ and Dave Beltz - WD8AYE, and Mike Daughenbauch, KE8EHG. General Net Control - Ron Hendershot - KA8FTP. DEMARSHALLING COORDINATOR: Wade Huthmacher - WD8MIU. ROUTE COMMUNICATIONS: Steve Simon - KD8SPF, John Wagner - W8JJW, Tony Casebolt - KD8UXK, Don Wade - W8DEA, Vern Sproat - KE8VS. North Route: Perry Ballinger - W8AU, Pat Quinlon - KA8DAL, Jeff Gortney - K8JAG, Ted Faix - KB8PRK, Igor Nikishin - K8INN, Tom Gill - KC8QOD, Al Perry - KE8EHE, Lori Perry - KE8EHF, Roger Grey - W8VE, Carl Cunnert - AB8CC, Dan Anastis, N8DZM, Mike McNamara - KB8OTK, Andy Williams - KE8ELR, and Jennifier Williams - KB3GXB. DISPERSAL Team Leader: Wade Huthmacher - WD8MIU, Tom Gill - KC8QOD, Denise Gill, Leonard Johnson - N8XPI, Frank Koby - N8SGS, Brian Dazey - KD8VCI, Ted Armstrong - K8TWA, Justin Corner - N8JKC, and John Kocher - N8ZXB Congratulations to everyone on another great Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival !
HOF Community Parade
Recap
Again this year amateurs provided both logistical support communications for
parade staging as well as medical support covering the Digital packet communications were utilized to synchronize the nearly 100 parade units making up this years parade. A voice relay is normally used to relay the exact line up to Tom Gill, KC8QOD and Charlie Scherger, KB8STV who then send this down to Jason, KC8LIN inside the Television Production truck. This system allowed parade officials to make any last minute lineup changes and accurately convey this to the TV producer. Packet is used for this function and has proven to be the perfect choice as it allows van personnel to continuously monitor the status of all units in the parade. This marks the 18th year this has been used and is an important aspect of our parade assistance. This year the weather cooperated and the parade was completed with only a few minor unit breakdowns and no injuries to any of the participants. Our other parade responsibility and perhaps our most important, is medical support. Amateurs were stationed along the route to provided a common communications link to the medical command center in demarshaling area. Community Parade General Chairman Roger Manse expressed his heartfelt thanks to all the radio operators for their assistance. "Your operators are a vital part of this parade", said Roger, "your continued support year after year makes all the difference". A special thank you to the following volunteers who assisted with this years event. The TV Production and logistical support crew included packet operators Tom Gill – KC8QOD and Mike McNamara - KB8OTK, Charlie Scherger - KB8STV and Jason Stroll - KC8LIN in the TV Production Van. Net Control was handled by Terry Russ - N8ATZ. Medical Unit support included Mike Palmer – KD8ENV in staging with Tony Casebolt - KD8UXK in demarshaling. Igor Nikishin - K8INN, new volunteers Vern Sproat - KE8BYW, Al Perry - KE8EHE, Lori Perry - KE8EHF provided reports along the Market Avenue Route. Dave Beltz, WD8AYE provided weather updates to parade officials. A terrific job from a great crew, thanks again for your support of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival !
KC8QOD in the Comm Trailer Packet Station
Emergency Communications Driving an
Increase in Amateur Radio Operators 
(Apr 15, 2017) - - More Americans than ever have
been licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as
amateur radio operators, and those in the know say that
emergency communications is driving their passion to be “hams.”
“There has been a tremendous amount of interest in emergency
preparedness since 9/11 and Katrina, and this is true for the
amateur radio community as well,” said Mike Corey, the emergency
preparedness manager for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).
“Emergency communications is a gateway into amateur radio, and
many join our ranks through an interest in being better prepared
themselves and as a way to serve their community.” The public’s growing interest in amateur radio for emergency communications is a legacy of 9/11, when Americans saw their cellular telephone networks become overwhelmed by excess traffic and system outages. When regular phone service fails, amateur radio operators fill the communications gap with their independent transceivers and battery power backups. “I think we have experienced an uptick in new licenses due to the emergency capabilities of ham radio,” said Jack Ciaccia, ARRL Colorado section manager. “Interest really peaks after a large-scale event where ham radio has been utilized.” Amateur radio operators played a substantial role in restoring vital communications links in the wake of 9/11, hurricanes, tornadoes and other major disasters that have affected the United States. They assist in directing first responders to victims, providing real-time situational updates from the disaster scene to emergency management agencies, and offering victims a way to contact their families and friends when normal communications channels have failed. “Generally, amateur radio operators assist other organizations and agencies by adding communications capacity when normal means of communications are down or overloaded,” Corey said. “Amateurs work with local emergency management, first responders, hospitals, National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and VOADs [Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters] and the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Many also use amateur radio as part of their own family communications plan and use the skills they learn as amateurs to assist neighbors during emergencies and disasters.” Walt Palmer is a licensed ham radio operator, and also director of broadcast operations, engineering and programming at NewsRadio WGMD 92.7 FM in Rehoboth Beach, Del. “Through an arrangement with our local EOC, I have a 2-meter ham radio set and antenna at my desk, which can be patched into our FM transmitter during emergencies,” he said. “If regular communications fail, the EOC can put the mayor or one of their officials on the 2-meter band, and I can rebroadcast it via our FM channel to our entire coverage area.” Emergency managers have taken note the usefulness of amateur radio operators during manmade and natural disasters — and many have ongoing relationships with their local ham communities. This includes assigning amateur radio operators specific roles within each agency’s emergency response plan, and even setting space aside for hams in their EOCs. For many years, ARRL has created special Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) units to assist during times of crisis. Each ARES unit “consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment with their local ARES leadership for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes,” according to the ARRL website. ARES members are trained to work with local emergency management; to have their own food, sleeping equipment and other supplies to survive during emergency situations away from home; and to have pre-planned for their families’ well-being during the ARES team member’s absence. “In most cases, the amateur radio response to an emergency or disaster is handled by local ARES teams,” said Corey. “However, in the case of large-scale disasters such as a large hurricane or earthquake, ARRL headquarters will assist local and state ARES teams with equipment, media support, regulatory guidance and coordination with national partners.” “Most of our ARES teams around the country partner with local and state emergency management,” he added. “In most cases this relationship also allows for closer work with other local response groups such as public safety, hospitals and local VOADs.” This is certainly the case in Colorado. In 2016, the state Legislature officially designated qualified hams as members of Colorado’s new Auxiliary Emergency Communications Unit, under the authority of the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, in the Department of Public Safety. As a result of this new law, Colorado ARES teams are now part of their state’s emergency management team, with their own roles with their state’s emergency management plans and facilities. “In many EOCs, including the Colorado EOC, ARES has its own space with its own permanently installed radio gear and antenna installations,” Ciaccia said. “In Boulder, they also maintain a cache of portable equipment that can be deployed as soon as manpower is available. This way, they never have to worry about obtaining anyone's personal gear for use in an emergency.” It is worth noting that hams also aid emergency managers in less dire situations. For instance, “throughout the United States, amateurs assist the National Weather Service’s SKYWARN program in providing ground truth reports during severe weather events,” Corey said. All told, the growing number of amateur radio operators in the U.S. are self-funding, fully equipped communicators, many of whom want to support local emergency managers and first responders any way they can. “We have worked extremely hard over the years to become useful and professional with our assistance to our community OEMs and EOCs,” Ciaccia said. “The major capability that hams bring to emergency management is our varied modes and frequencies: We can usually make a communications path when others do not exist. Because of those two important and valuable commodities that are usually not available to public service entities, we are an important asset to local authorities in times of need.”
Ohio ARES Conference
(Apr 8, 2017) The Ohio ARES Conference for 2017 was held on Saturday, April 1st at Marion State Technology College with over 100 ARES members in attendance. Stark County was represented by EC Terry Russ, N8ATZ and Assistant EC's Don Wade - W8DEA and David Beltz - WD8AYE. After a short business meeting from Ohio Section EC Stan Broadway, N8BHL the remainder of the day was devoted to training including the following topics; 1) The Changing Face of Traffic, from Matt Curtin- KD8TTE, Assistant Section EC; 2.) Winlink for Ohio, presented by Bryan Hoffman - KC8EGV, Hamilton County EC; 3.) MARCS Statewide Radio System, by Dick Miller, Field Operations Manager and lastly EMA and Amateur Radio, by Sean Miller, KD8RBM, Director, Delaware County EMA. The presentations were both interesting and informative covering a lot of topics relevant to today's public service communications needs. All of the presentations were video taped thanks to Ohio Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY and we encourage you to take some time to watch them. Click on this link to replay the training. My thanks to both Don and David for attending the conference with me !
A full house for the 2017 ARES Conference
2017 Skywarn Spotter
Training
Conducting the training was Zach Sefcovic, Meteorologist from the Cleveland NWS Office. Nearly 120 people attended this years training consisting of Amateur Radio Operators, area public safety forces, hospital, school employees and the general public. This training included a new powerpoint presentation that included content from last years severe weather here in northeast Ohio. County EMA Director Tim Warstler and ARES EC Terry Russ would like to thank Zach Sefcovic for the great training presentation, Keith Obermeier, IT Director representing Jackson High School for arranging for the use of the great facility. The training was very well received by those in attendance. I would also like to thank my Assistant EC's for their help with registration for this years community service. They were David Beltz - WD8AYE, Mike Palmer - KD8ENV, Michele Gill - KC8ZEJ and Mike Lackney - KB8MIB.
Registration was busy right up to the start of the training
Another full house again this year
ARES 2016 Annual
Report
(Feb 25, 2017) - - The Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) has posted its 2016 annual
report. The
2016 ARES Annual Report
focuses on documenting the value that ARES provides
to the nation, states, and localities in
collaboration with partners at all levels. The
report features basic data drawn from Section
Emergency Coordinators’ reports, a breakdown of ARES
figures by state and FEMA region, and a challenge
for 2017. According to the report, ARES membership
in 2016 was 27,754 — up from 17,756 in 2015 — and
the Service was active in 42 states and US
territories. ARES volunteers responded to 33,136
events last year.“Sharing information about what ARES provides at all levels is critical to our work overall, as hard numbers provide better detail about our work,” ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, said. “We all need to pitch in to ensure that our contributions are counted, and here at HQ, we will be sure to do our part.” ARES volunteers will see changes in some reporting forms in 2017; all forms, starting in January 2017, have been updated and renumbered. According to the report, 76% of ARRL sections filed reports for 2016, a significant improvement over past years. The report challenges ARRL Section Emergency Coordinators to raise that number to 85% in 2017. In addition to the annual ARES report, ARRL Field Services staffers will produce their own monthly report, a link will appear in the ARES E-Letter, showing monthly data for ARES, as well as information about ARRL Headquarters emergency preparedness and Field Service activities.
Massillon Holiday
Parade
In the early years of the parade, we provided only communications support to the Massillon JC’s organization who handled the staging of all the parade units. When they disbanded, the city struggled to find volunteers willing to take on this task. Since the MARC handled communications support, somehow we got nominated to take on this responsibility as well. A few years later, Massillon Cable began filming the parade in conjunction with the Massillon High School Communications Department and again the club was called upon to assist with this part of the parade also. Last minute omissions or changes to the parade line up are passed on to the production crew so that the announcers can follow along with the parade units. We had experience with this as well as amateurs routinely handle staging activities including TV production control relay duties at the Hall of Fame Festival Community Parade. The Holiday Parade has depended on this ever since. Over the past several years the parade has been sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association. During this time and before the club has always been there to make sure the parade is properly staged and starts on time down the parade route. We have become an integral part of the parade and I wonder if they could pull it off without us. I’m glad to report another successful public service event with very few problems thanks to our communications and parade skills. 19 Volunteers took part in this years parade and our thanks for their help. For over 48 years and counting Santa has arrived in the city in no small part thanks to the MARC. The following club members assisted with this years parade. Igor - K8INN; Steve - KD8ACF; Fred - KD8SMO; Don - W8DEA; Lori - KE8EHF; Dan - N8DZM; Ted - K8TWA; Robin - N8EBS; Vern - KE8VS; Terry - N8ATZ; Jim - WA8GXM; Anne - N8GAF; Perry - W8AU; Al - KE8EHE; Mike - KB8OTK; Tom - KC8QOD; Charlie - KB8STV; Russ - N8PII and Wade - WD8MIU.
Stark ARES Display
(Oct 30, 2016) -- Stark ARES hosted an information table at the October 23rd Massillon Hamfest. The table was staffed by ARES Net Manager Mike Lackney - KB8MIB and Assistant Net Manager Mike Palmer - KD8ENV. Our display included a PowerPoint presentation covering basic ARES & Skywarn operations, a display of several versions of Emergency Response or (Go-Boxes) and informational literature. New this year was literature provided by the Stark County EMA Office. Many visitors stopped by with questions and comments covering our ARES & Skywarn programs here in Stark County. My thanks to both Mike's for staffing the booth during the hamfest !
Mike Lackney, KB8MIB at the ARES Display
October SET Report
Stark County ARES had our exercise on Saturday, October 1st. County EC Terry Russ, N8ATZ was notified early Saturday morning by our District EC Dennis Conklin, AI8P that the drill had commenced. This years exercise was to simulate the total breakdown of the MARCS statewide radio system as well as other critical communications infrastructure. Various public safety agencies were activated as well as the Ohio Military Reserve who were positioned in various cities to maintain order. Assistant EC - EMA Operations David Beltz, WD8AYE was requested to activate our county response plan and report to the Stark County EMA office. Once there Dave established an emergency net on our 147.12 ARES Repeater. Dave also contacted EMA Director Tim Warstler that the command center had been activated. Twelve amateur radio operators checked-in during the drill. Had further operations been necessary, we would have notified our other ARES members for possible field response to other offices including various police & fire departments, area hospitals and both Red Cross and Health Departments. Results of the drill were relayed to both the District and State ARES EC's. The drill was concluded at approx 10:30 AM.
Ohio ARES Fall Conference
This years conference included a full recap of amateur participation with the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, the upcoming Ohio Simulated Emergency Test (SET), a review of the current HIPAA privacy laws and Don, W8DEA gave a FEMA presentation on Family Emergency Planning for disaster prepardness. Over 40 ARES members took part in this meeting which included a display of several Comm Vehicles and Go-Box demonstrations. All of the speakers programs were video taped by Ohio Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY and are now available for viewing on the Ohio-ARES website. Click Here to view any of the great video's.
ARES Assists With RNC
(Jul 30, 2016) - - Stark County ARES was active on standby status during the Cleveland Republican National Convention. EC Terry Russ, N8ATZ was a backup operator for the Summit Co Red Cross Operations Center during the event which was staffed around the clock during the convention. Summit Co EMA was the primary agency during the event. Stark County EMA was also prepared to provide support in case it was needed. Summit Co EC Ken Dorsey, KA8OAD expressed his appreciation for our offer of support for the event. Below are some pictures taken on the Summit Co Command Post.
The main Command Post with volunteers
Hourly communications were maintained between the Summit Co Command Post and Cuyahoga County Main Operations Center
One of the operating stations at the command center
Stark County EMA
Activation
(Feb 6, 2016) - - The Stark County EMA was briefly activated last Monday evening when a train derailment occurred at the Brewster Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway station. Four railroad tanker cars derailed and one carrying butane caught fire at about 5:30 PM. By about 6:15 PM the Stark County EMA was activated uncertain as to the extent of the emergency. ARES was requested to activate the communications center to monitor the county emergency station and establish and an emergency net in case additional support was needed at area hospitals and the Red Cross Center. About 100 local residents in close proximity to the scene were evacuated and assisted by the Red Cross. County Emergency Coordinator Terry Russ, N8ATZ was contacted and also responded to the EOC with Assistant EC David Beltz, WD8AYE who staffed the Comm Center for several hours assisting with communications. Once the on scene fire and Haz-Mat crews had the situation under control at about 8:00 PM, the EMA was deactivated and our Emergency Net was closed. EMA Director Tim Warstler appreciated the quick response from the Stark County ARES who monitored communications during the emergency.
A Tanker Car Fire
ARES Volunteers Help
to Distribute Water in Ohio Community with Lead-Tainted Water ![Mahoning EMA Director Dennis O'Hara, left, and Regional Red Cross Director Karen Conklin, coordinate the distribution of bottled water in Sebring, Ohio. [Courtesy of Stan Broadway, N8BHL]](http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/Mahoning%20EMA%20Dir%20Dennis%20OHara%20and%20Regional%20Red%20Cross%20Dir%20Karen%20Conklin%20.jpg)
(Jan 28, 2016) - - Flint, Michigan, is not
the only community with water problems due to high
lead content. During the week of January 18, some
8100 water customers in Sebring, Ohio, were notified
that they, too, had problems with high lead content
in their drinking water. On January 22, both Ohio
and Mahoning County emergency management agencies
began passing out bottled water in Sebring. Mahoning
County ARES Emergency Coordinator Wes Boyd, W8IZC,
activated ARES to assist.“Response on the workday was low, but a handful of ARES volunteers were able to respond,” said Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Broadway, N8BHL. Boyd said, “EMA and Red Cross were overjoyed that radio operators came to work not needing a radio.” ARES volunteers joined others in moving and distributing pallets of bottled water, and another call went for weekend duty. ARES members from neighboring counties volunteered. All told, the volunteers moved more than 166 pallets of water in 6 days. “This is a perfect example of being ready to
serve in whatever capacity we can, in order to help
our communities. Sometimes it doesn’t involve only
operating a radio,” Broadway said.
Gary Garnet Selected
as Meteorologist-in-Charge of NWS Cleveland 
(Jan 17, 2016) - -Gary Garnet has served the
National Weather Service for over twenty six years.
Since starting his career in 1989, Gary has held
many positions including: Intern in Charleston
South Carolina, General Forecaster in Charleston,
West Virginia, Science Operations Officer in Grand
Rapids Michigan and most recently sixteen years as
the Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Cleveland,
Ohio. Gary has served periods as the Acting
Meteorologist in Charge at NWS Cleveland and briefly
at NWS Pittsburgh.Gary has earned several awards throughout his career including the U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Medal for actions during Hurricane Hugo and the NOAA Administrators Award for work with the Great Lakes Marine Program. Gary has provided support to multiple other NWS offices during significant events such as Deep Water Horizon, Super Storm Sandy and the Super Tornado Outbreak of April 2011. Gary holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences from The Ohio State University and a Masters of Computer Science from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Mr. Garnet assumed his new position on January 10, 2016. ARES Activation
(Jan 19, 2015) - - Stark County ARES was activated the evening of January 13th when a telephone outage caused by an equipment failure in a Summit County AT&T switching station caused multiple equipment failures throughout the area. Here in Stark County local emergency service phone line failure resulted in an emergency declaration and the Stark County EMA office was activated. EMA Director Tim Warstler requested ARES activation to provide communications and logistics support to his office. ARES member David Beltz was first to respond to the office at 9:00 PM only to find that our equipment had been temporarily removed as building renovation was in process. Dave contacted EC Terry Russ to respond as well. Our portable equipment kit was brought to the EOC to establish communications. Antennas had also been removed and thanks to support from local radio station WHBC and their remote truck, station engineer Dale Lamm, NX8J, we were able to setup a temporary antenna. This completed we established a net on our ARES Repeater. During net operations, we made contact with the multiple EMA offices affected by the phone outage. We were also in contact with the Ohio EMA office in Columbus. During the next four hours we helped maintain communications links with multiple offices and public safety forces as well as staff the MARCS Statewide Radio System. The Massillon ARC offered the use of their Communications Trailer in case support equipment was needed. Stark County Sheriff George Maier and EMA Director Tim Warstler were thankful for area amateurs quick response to this short communications emergency. Full phone service was restored and by approximately 1:30 AM we closed down the emergency net and operations from the EOC. Click Here to read the ARRL recap of the comm emergency.
County EC Terry, N8ATZ operates using our Go-Box from the
radio room. "Go-Box" Version 2.0
(UPDATED Feb 16, 2016) (Dec 27, 2014) - - While I was very satisfied with my latest Equipment or Go-Box based on the Gator 8U Rack Mount Case, it did have several limitations. On my latest design, I tried to correct these limitations and come up with a more useful Field Box. The full report including several pictures is posted on the Projects Page. Have a look at it and let me know what you think. Finally I have been able to collect a lot of Go Box pictures from my travels to several ARES Conferences over the last several years. These pictures are now posted on the photo page. Have a look if you are looking to build your version of a equipment Go-Box. ARRL ARES E-Letter Posted
Buildout of Nationwide
First Responder Broadband Network Could Drive ARES Changes
(June 1, 2017) - - The First
Responder Network Authority (FirstNet)
— a nationwide wireless broadband network for first
responders — could change the complexion of how the
Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) functions
to support communication for responders during
disasters and emergencies. As an independent
authority within the US Department of Commerce’s
National Telecommunication and Information
Administration (NTIA),
FirstNet’s mission is to build out, deploy, and
operate an interoperable nationwide broadband
network dedicated to first responders. Ralph Haller,
N4RH, the chairman of the National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council (NPSTC),
told ARRL that the advent of FirstNet “will likely
be as significant as when public safety first began
using radio.”“The nationwide network will be hardened, so that it will be more likely that many of today’s public safety systems remain operational in emergencies,” Haller said, pointing out that Amateur Radio should not expect to have access to FirstNet. He cautioned, “The endurance of Amateur Radio systems in disasters has been a big selling point in the past for incorporating amateur operators in emergency plans, but perhaps not so much in the future.” Read More..
ARES - SKYWARN Car Magnets and lots of other items available
at www.hamcrazy.com
Our thanks to Mercy Medical Center for their commitment to the Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and for their support of Stark County Winlink. Total Visitors To Our Site
This site is best viewed at 800 x 600 resolution using Internet Explorer The Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES®, Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the ARES logo are registered trademarks of the American Radio Relay League, Incorporated and are used by permission.
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Click above for official ARES Logo merchandise from the ARRL.
The Official Stark County ARES Name Badge Supplier. Click on the logo for details.
The Stark County ARES is a proud supporter of the Annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival providing communications support for over 25 years ! ***********
Stark County EMA is now on Facebook. They will use the new social media site to provide ongoing public information about disaster related issues in the county. Please Like and share with your friends ! Look for them by going to "starkcountyema" on facebook. **************
Looking for a ready made "Go-Kit" ? Checkout Quicksilver Radio for several ready to go VHF Go-Kits. Click on the pix below to see the current specials. Have a look at our Projects Page for a review of their latest product.
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| last reviewed/updated on 08/19/17 |
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ARES Info |
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(Aug
19, 2017) ...
The Canton Repository Grand Parade starts long before the seats along 
(Mar 24, 2017) - - Stark County Skywarn and the County EMA office hosted
our annual Severe Storm Spotter Training this year at Jackson High School on
Wednesday, April 22th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
(Nov 20, 2016) - -
The Massillon Amateur Radio Club just finished assisting with the 62nd
Annual Massillon Holiday Parade sponsored by Massillon Main Street and the
Downtown Massillon Association. This continues to remain the oldest public
service event that is handled by the club and our responsibilities have grown
over recent years to include many aspects of parade operation. The parade was
rebroadcast over Massillon Cable TV and I hope some of you had a chance to view
it. The club trailer looked great on the route with our new decorations and
special thanks to Jim Farriss - WA8GXM for pulling the trailer in the parade.
Monitor the
147.12 Mhz Repeater for Severe Weather information here in Stark County !
The ARRL recently reviewed a new website that
does a great job of describing the Anderson Powerpole connectors. The site
describes the connectors in detail and provides tips on assembling and using
them on your equipment.
(Mar 26, 2006) -- The ARRL has
introduced a new Emergency Communications Catalog containing a host of items
using the "When All Else Fails" theme. The items are a great
reminder that Amateur Radio provides immediate, high-quality communications that
work every time, when all else fails.
