Henderson County, North Carolina, ARES - Emergency Communication Amateur Radio

NC4HC Communicating for the Community

The Henderson County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is made up of a group of ham radio operators who have gathered together to provide public service and emergency communications in and around Henderson County, North Carolina.

Membership in Henderson County ARES is by application to the ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC).

In addition to the weekly nets and monthly meetings, many of our members are also members of the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club and Chapter 76, QCWA

Websites of importance for the Haiti situation

If a person in the area has taken appropriate steps, they may be listed on the Red Cross "Alive & Well" page.....

The Salvation Army has a site that accepts queries (in the first few hours, there were over 100). It could take a while to get an answer.

We are communicators. Our sole purpose other than the hobby of radio is to provide backup communications in the event of a state or national emergency. To become an ARES member with the Henderson County group you must

* Hold a valid FCC issued Amateur Radio License
* Complete FEMA Courses - ICS 100, 200, 700 and 800 and be willing to do more as they are updated and added to
* Regularly attend the monthly meetings
* Regularly attend the weekly net for additional training Wednesdays

Digital Geeks - Lets meet and greet - It's all good!

It's the third Saturday of each month, 11:15.

March at Binion's

Links you may be interested in

WL2K

APRS UI-View

Packet WinPack

ARES membes are expected to participate in weekly training nets and monthly training meetings. The Henderson County ARES Administrative net is held every Wednesday evening on the WB4YAO repeater, 146.64 mhz with 91.5hz tone access. All amateurs from any jurisdiction are cordially invited to participate. The net will begin at 8:30 P.M. Please check the channelization chart in link above under members info for alt frequencies Ch 2 & 3, in case the main repeater is down. We hope this will encourage participation with other ARES nets at 9:00 PM to take advantage of additional training.

Training Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of every month. Only exceptions are December No Meeting.

We are training in anticipation of an emergency. If the emergency never happens that is a good thing. If it does we need to know we have qualified operators to help when we are called. We are always the last to be called, not the first on the scene.

WHAT'S New on the Site?

ICS213 is now in the forms. Click on forms under members tab and go to the ICS213 Button and click on it. It will open in a new window.

If you are interested in becoming an ARES member and you are already a ham, download the application under the members tab, fill it out and send it to Will Hicks WI1L, 25 Blessing Ct., Hendersonville, NC 28739 or email him at will@willstech.com.

Are you interested in becoming an Amateur Radio Operator? Get your study material at a HamFest or through the various sites that offer it. Study and then go to a local Testing site or HamFest and take the exam. It is not required to learn Morse Code any longer to become a ham. However, knowing this mode of communication may come in handy during an emergency. It is also not a prerequisite to becoming an ARES member.

In Mountain Home, NC at the Fire Department, VE Testing takes place the 2nd Saturday of the second month of each quarter. So the months are Nov, Feb, May, Aug, Nov etc. Look at your calendar. Testing starts at 9 AM and walk-ins are welcome. If you would like to call ahead your VE manager is Sid K4IOE w4ioe@bellsouth.net . Alt is Debbie, AD2H dlynnhicks@bellsouth.net.

(DEC) is Duke Knief, W4DK

Your EC is Will Hicks, WI1L

Your AEC's are

Martin - W4FOT

Lee- KN4GC

Debbie - AD2H

March 22nd our next meeting
Etowah Lions Den 7 pm.

The Dupont 1/2 Marathon is coming in April. Make your wishes known. The list looked pretty good at the last meeting. This would be a good time to come out and see how it's done, just in case you're asked to do it.