Changes Coming to the ARRL ARES Program
Courtesy of the ARRL

  (Dec 23, 2017) - - - The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) has been the public service communications program of the ARRL since 1935. Over the program’s eight decades it has occasionally undergone updates to make sure it meets the needs of partners at all levels, adjusts to changes in the Amateur Radio Service, and incorporate lessons learned from emergency and disaster activations. However, the last major update to ARES occurred more than 40 years ago, and it is quite clear that a lot has changed since then.

So, two years ago, the ARRL board of directors created the Public Service Enhancement Working Group to study the ARRL’s public service offerings and recommend changes and improvements. The working group focused on many areas including training, volunteer management, field organization positions, and mission – all areas of concern brought to the board and staff’s attention from those in the field. The recommendations were vetted through a peer review group of field organization volunteers and readied for implementation.

In the months ahead, you will receive information on enhancements coming to the ARES program, including:

• A new national mission statement for ARES
• New national training requirements and local training resources for ARES
• Updated field organization job descriptions
• Improved ARES operating guidelines
• New ARES group benefits
• A new volunteer management system – ARES Connect

The first step in the next evolution of ARES is group identification. Currently there is no way to identify ARES groups or their associated volunteers with a searchable unique designator, which makes reporting and accountability difficult. Beginning January 1, 2018 ARES groups will need to sign up for their unique ARES identification number. This number will be utilized by the ARES Connect system and provide ARES groups with unique benefits (think club affiliation, but for ARES!).

Once ARES groups receive their identification numbers they will be eligible for benefits including:

• ARES book sets (great for the EOC or Red Cross radio room)
• New ham referral
• Early access to the annual ARES Report
• Email forwarding, which will provide ARES groups that have a club callsign with a uniform "call sign@arrl.net"
• More to come!

Groups that will need an ARES identification number include local level (city/county/district) and section level. Information about the ARES identification application process will be sent out the week before the application system opens.

If you have any questions, please contact ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, ki1u@arrl.org

In the coming months Stark County ARES will be providing additional information on how this new ARES program will be implemented here as we are also reviewing the current ARES registrations into those members eligible for Tier 1 Status. Contact Stark County EC Terry Russ, N8ATZ with any questions on this new program.

The Next Go-Box Designs
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

  (Dec 23, 2017) - - I recently completed two new Go-Box Equipment Stations using parts obtained during my trip to Dayton Hamvention this year. The first is a VHF/UHF design using the classic Ammo Box design while the other is an updated design of an HF station box.

If you are interested in looking for ideas or are ready to building a portable Go-Station have a look at our Projects webpage where you will find several of my own designs as well as stations assembled throughout Ohio ARES complete with photographs and assembly ideas. You may already have some spare equipment that would work out perfectly for a Go-Box. Time to start thinking about assembling one of your own !

Canton Repository Grand Parade
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

    (Aug 19, 2017) ...  The Canton Repository Grand Parade starts long before the seats along Cleveland Avenue are filled. Long before the first float begins its journey, when the sky has yet to change from starlight black to morning blue. High School Bands are still finding their positions and tuning up their instruments, parade balloon are slowly being filled with helium while their handling teams get last minute marching instructions and the dozens of classic cars that carry football legends and celebrities alike are lined up like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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 Stark County .

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, Parade Communications Center and the Balloon Inflations area, all included in our early morning duties. At exactly 8:00 A.M., the gun sounds and the parade starts down the route. Terry Russ, N8ATZ is stationed at the  television area to act as communications liaison to Parade Chairman and Vice-Chairman Drew Felberg. As part of our new responsibilities, Dave Belta, WD8AYE was assigned to the parade Communications Center to act as liaison with parade communications and public safety forces.

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 EMS in providing communications assistance with this ever present problem area. 

As in previous years Emergency Coordinator Terry Russ - N8ATZ maintained communications with the Parade Chairman  in the Parade Communications Center. This provided a link to both Emergency Medical Service and Police personnel.  

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 Akron area including members from the Summit County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and several other area radio clubs including both the Canton and Alliance ARC and the Portage County ARC. A special thanks for these additional volunteers, provided through our Mutual Aid pact with neighboring county ARES.   

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
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

    (Jul 29, 2017) - - With a slight chance of severe weather, members of the Stark Co ARES, Canton & Massillon ARC's once again assisted in the opening events of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival by providing communications support for the Community Parade held this year on Sunday, July 23rd.

Again this year amateurs provided both logistical support communications for parade staging as well as medical support covering the EMS units assigned to the parade route and TV Production assistance.

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

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Stark ARES Display
Terry Russ, N8ATZ - Emergency Coordinator

   (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

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ARES Assists With RNC
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

 (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

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Stark County EMA Activation
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

 (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

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Gary Garnet Selected as Meteorologist-in-Charge of NWS Cleveland
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

  (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.

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ARES Activation
Terry Russ, N8ATZ - Stark Co EC

 (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.
(Photo courtesy of Dale Lamm, NX8J)

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"Go-Box" Version 2.0
Terry Russ, N8ATZ - Stark Co EC

 (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.

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ARRL ARES E-Letter Posted
Terry Russ, N8ATZ -  Emergency Coordinator

   (Dec 15, 2017) --  The  November, 2017 edition of The ARES E-Letter is currently posted and includes the following highlights; 

Major DOD Exercise Held; MARS, Amateur Radio Local Components Active Case Study: ARESMAT Mutual Assistance Planning at Its Best in Oregon MESH Training Held in Utah Focuses on Emergency/Disaster Communications Spotlight on Vermont Emergency Management's RACES Program K1CE For a Final: First Contact

Click Here for a direct link.

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- National ARES News  -

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Volunteers Invited to Assist in 2018 Boston Marathon
Courtesy of the ARRL

    (Feb 2, 2018) - - Opportunities for Amateur Radio and non-amateur volunteers are available for the 122nd running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). Amateur Radio volunteers are needed for starting line, course, and finish line positions, and non-amateur volunteers are wanted for medical transportation and various other medical and logistical roles. Volunteer registration is open through Wednesday, February 7.

Those interested in volunteering for the 2018 Boston Marathon but unsure if they will be able to participate in April should register now and notify the volunteer coordinators later, if it turns out they will not be able to attend.

“It will be very difficult to bring in volunteers once registration closes, and if you register but can no longer volunteer at the event, please let us know as early as possible so contingency planning can be completed,” the Boston Marathon Amateur Radio Communications Committee has announced.

Amateur Radio volunteers do not need to specify any group name or passcode; just request at least one ham radio assignment of your preference. Volunteers will receive an application confirmation number. Returning volunteers will be asked to provide a BAA Volunteer Loyalty Number, sent by BAA via e-mail in early January.

“Help us get the word out by forwarding this e-mail to your club and other hams who might like to volunteer, and for non-hams to any volunteer groups who might be interested in supporting the event,” the Committee said. “If you know new amateurs or other new people involved in volunteering for events, let them know. Even a quick mention at your club meeting or regular meeting of your organization can be a big help.”

Prospective Amateur Radio volunteers should visit the Boston Marathon - Amateur Radio Communications page or the Boston Marathon Volunteer Registration page for more information.

 

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   Monitor the 147.12 Mhz Repeater for Severe Weather information here in Stark County !

 

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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.

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The Stark County Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Canton,  Ohio  44701

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