Ham Radio: ARES Meets 7PM Thursday

Nov 15, 2015 at 09:56 pm by Bryan Barrett

If you are a ham radio operator, have you considered using your hobby to help this community? The Rutherford County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) will hold its final meeting of the year at 7:00 o'clock this coming Thursday evening (11/19/2015). This volunteer group meets at the Rutherford County Fire Rescue Fire Training Center located at 1504 West College Street.

Emergency Coordinator Jim Goffos, WB8ZGM, said that the talk-in frequency will be on 145.23 mHz. New ARES ID cards will be available for current members and for those who have recently requested an ID card.

Goffos said, "Please notify your ham radio operator friends who may be interested in being part of Rutherford County ARES. Charlie O'Neal, KE4AIE, has been named the the emergency coordinator for Rutherford County beginning January, 2016. During the transition, you can contact Charlie at ke4aie@arrl.net or Jim at wb8zgm@arrl.net."

He announced that the Hospital Net will be held this Thursday at 12 noon. The net includes most of the hospital locations in middle Tennessee. In Rutherford County, RCARES operations are at Stone Crest hospital in Smyrna. Goffos noted that ARES continues efforts to re-establish operations at St. Thomas Rutherford in Murfreesboro as well. The net is held on VHF and UHF frequencies that are linked for the net. In Rutherford County, the net is available at 146.91 and the MTEARS system. The best frequency for the MTEARS system in Rutherford county is 443.725. Information on the MTEARS System is available at www.mtears.org.

Christmas Parade

The Murfreesboro Christmas Parade will be on Sunday, December 13th. Hams in Rutherford County have been assisting with the parade for many years. The ham participation in this year's event will be coordinated again by TomDelker , K1KY. The prime hours for assistance are from 10:00AM through the parade kickoff at 2:30pm. Operations start about 7:30am with the arrival of some of the early floats. Contact Tom if you are able to assist. Any time that you can spend will be helpful. Tom's emai is k1ky@bellsouth.net.
Skywarn Recognition Day
The 17th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) on-the-air event is set for Saturday, December 5, from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC. Cosponsored by ARRL and the National Weather Service, SKYWARN Recognition Day pays tribute to Amateur Radio operators for the vital public service they perform. Registration is now open for stations planning to participate from the National Weather Service Office in Nashville (Old Hickory). The link below will take you to a registration form for the event.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19nvxz_zdKjgPVPXUR_5TJD1maxgTd_QKNR9e79SCbWM/viewform

During the 24 hour event, Amateur Radio operators set up at National Weather Service offices, and contact other hams across the country. Amateur Radio stations exchange contact information with as many National Weather Service-based stations as possible. This event is also aimed at strengthening the bond between Amateur Radio operators and local NWS offices. Trained and experienced operators will be on-site for the entire event to help new Amateur Radio operators or others who need help or feel they lack experience.

The radios, antennas, and other equipment will be provided for the event. Operators only need to bring a positive attitude and their favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
Sections: News