Connecticut ARES - Region 3
DEC: George Lillenstein, AB1GL
Asst DEC: Bill Storey, AB1LZ
Where to Find Us:
CT ARES Section 3 DEC
(District Emergency Coordinator)
George Lillenstein, AB1GL
39a Downey Dr
Manchester, CT 06040
Phone: +1 860 289-1445 (H)
860 716-3367 (Cell)
860 645-5449 (Work) (leave voicemail here only)
AB1GL@winlink.org
The DEC's schedule:
2018
1st Mon each month - NARL club meeting, Newington Sr Center (2nd Mon in January)
1st Wed each month - Emcomm elmer session, Manchester EOC
2nd Wed each month - BEARS meeting, Manchester EOC 7 pm
3rd Wed each month - PVRA meeting, Marcus Communications, Manchester CT
4th Wed - Manchester CERT briefing
AB1GL Nets:
Sundays 8 pm - the CT ARES SM net
Mondays 8 pm - the ARES Reg 3 net
Mondays 9:15 pm - the BEARS traffic net
Tuesdays & Thurs - 7 pm - Manchester CERT net
Wednesdays 9:30 pm - Nutmeg Traffic Net
------------------------------
Oct 24 - Manchester CERT meeting
Oct 25 - PVRA meeting
NOV 5 - NARL meeting
Nov 10 - Size-up training for MRR, Manchester EOC
Nov. 22 - Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day
Alert Level: 0
Watch WWW.CTARES.ORG for near real-time level changes.
ARES is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the field arm of the American Radio Relay League.
Our special focus is the use of Amateur Radio for emergency communications, and the recruiting and training of a pool of skilled radio operators to be available in times of emergency.
ARES in Connecticut partners with state and municipal governments, public health entities, and non-profit providers such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army.
ARES members have their own radios and many can respond from their homes and vehicles, allowing ad hoc ARES nets to form using operators who are already in place when a disaster wipes out communications infrastructure. This means ARES functions even when the roads are blocked and the electric and telecom grids are jammed or down.
Amateur radio can be used to
- pass welfare traffic ("Aunt Minnie made it safely to the community shelter"),
- forward requests from stranded facilities ("the XYZ nursing home urgently needs oxygen bottles"),
- Pass status messages from outlying hospitals to the central reporting agency ("hospital A has 23 beds available"),
- Digitally convey sitreps, ICS forms, maps and photos to an incident command post
- Act as an email gateway to a functioning part of the Internet via long-distance HF radio to another state or country.
To keep our operators trained and equipment working, we provide Public Service communications at no charge. ARES members volunteer for service at charity races, runs, walks, parades, and other large events. Operators man checkpoints, observe along the course, circulate in large venues. They contribute to public safety, guiding first responders to where they are needed, clearing the way for emergency vehicles, and reporting incidents to the Unified Command post.
Our radios work where cell phones can't get dial tone or coverage, and are interoperable where the specialized public safety and commercial radios are not.
For a detailed list of training available, see the training page of the state ARES web site, CTARES.ORG.
IMPORTANT! Whenever there is an ARES activation, leadership will notify and assign tasks ONLY to those who have current records in the ARES member database. Go to www.ctares.org and update your record now!
ARES CONNECT
The ARES Connect web site is now active. All ARES members may now create an individual account by going to
http:/vhub.at/aresconnect-ct
This account will let you enter your volunteer hours when you participate in an event that has been listed by your EC.
As of now, the only events listed are the statewide ARES SEC net, held Sunday at 8 pm on the KB1AEV linked system and the DMR net immediately following.
Very soon we expect the EC's and DEC's to be able to create events in this system as well.
Eventually, we would like to have every ARES event including training, drills, regular nets and meetings, public service events, and activations for actual emergencies listed within ARES Connect and collecting self-entered volunteer hours, and points for passing formal messages.
Skywarn Weather Nets in Region 3
Weather nets are held routinely by ARES Skywarn Coordinators, and on special schedules during severe weather.
For Region 3, there is a weather net every Thursday at 9 pm on the W1HDN repeater in Tolland.
Tune to 146.790, minus 600kHz offset, PL tone 82.5.
To report severe weather, please give the information in the order below. Also indicate if it is measured, averaged, or estimated, and if it is storm total or since last report,
| Temperature | Precip intensity | Depth | Damage |
Monthly Reporting method for Region 3 EC's
The ARRL has posted fillable PDF forms for use by EC's to report monthly and annual activity. Please go the DOWNLOADS page and pull down the three PDF forms. To use, fill in the form, SAVE AS a new file name, and email the file to the SEC (w8zy@arrl.net) AND to the DEC (dec@ctares-region3.org)
EC's: keep an eye on CTARES.ORG. We expect new information to be posted soon on how to use ARES CONNECT instead of these forms to report events and volunteer hours. The system is supposed to go live on Jan 1, 2019.
This week's learning moment from the DEC
* Look both here and ctares.org for more info on ARES Connect.
* Watch you email for new Region 3 ARES meetings and training opportunities. We are working on programs to help you get on the air with HF voice and digital modes. We need to establish point-to-point emcomm within the region without reliance on repeaters, using either ground wave or NVIS skywave.
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