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)
860 216-7443 (Cell)
AB1GL@winlink.org
The DEC's schedule:
2021
1st Mon each month - NARL club meeting, on the 145.450 repeater until further notice)
2nd Wed each month - BEARS meeting, 7 pm via ZOOM until further notice
3rd Wed each month - PVRA meeting
4th Mon each month - CTARES Region 3 DMR net on TAC3
4th Wed - Manchester CERT briefing
AB1GL Nets:
Sundays 8 pm - the CT ARES SM net, KB1AEV linked repeaters
Sundays 8:30 pm - CT ARES DMR net, talkgroup "CTARES Statewide"
Mondays 8 pm - the ARES Reg 3 net, KB1AEV Linked repeaters
Mondays 9:15 pm - the BEARS traffic net, 145.110MHz minus offset, PL77
Tuesdays - 7 pm - Manchester CERT net, K9OEM repeater
Wednesdays 9:30 pm - Nutmeg Traffic Net, W1EDH 147.090 + PL110.9
Thursdays 7:30 pm - The NARL Information net, 145.450MHz minus offset, PL127.3
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Note: AB1GL will not be available as net control on Wednesday May 12.
Alert Level: 0
Watch WWW.CTARES.ORG for near real-time level changes.
ARES / Red Cross May 8 Drill
May 8 Drill Schedule for ARES Region 3:
Thanks to everyone who participated in Saturday's drill. Eight towns from Region 3 have submitted logs and documentation to the DEC and proved conclusively that ARES is capable of doing simplex communications from mobile teams dispatched to shelters. Hams at home stations were available for relay, and several stations submitted valid Winlink resource requests to the Northeast regional Red Cross hub.
Please send your after-action comments to AB1GL, the Region 3 DEC, to add to the final report.
Several lessons were learned, including that hand-held HT's, even with after-market antennas, are not adequate in an emergency and that at least 50 watt mobiles and mag mount antennas are a minimum requirement should the repeaters be unavailable. Also, a complex, multi-frequency drill requires multiple net controls and scribes at each town's command center for documentation to be successful. -- AB1GL
ARES Winlink Wednesday
The first Wednesday of the month is ARES Winlink Wednesday. Check ctares.groups.io distribution list for details for this month's drill.
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 |
This week's learning moment from the DEC
CT ARES is now supporting Winlink training
- Winlink Wednesdays - first Wednesday of each month
- ARC Winlink Thursdays - every Thursday, send the specified test message by 7pm per the instructions issued from the ARC reflector list.
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!
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