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Doomsday Preppers Equipment & Go Kit Show and Tell Night - May 24th, 2012

No, we're not really Doomsday Preppers, but it sounds cool, so we'll go with it. We are "Preppers" in the sense that we are preparing for an emergency. Bring your Equipment and/or Go Kit to share. APRS stuff, generator or battery power setup, dual band repeater setup, handy stuff to have in a backpack at an event, favorite snacks at an event, emergency charging kit for cell phone, etc, etc. Bring anything that you think would be interesting to the group. It does not have to be Ham radio related. If you have stuff that will help you personally cope with an emergency, bring it in and share it - things like a gas shutoff valve, a 1000 lb sack of rice, a solar powered FM radio, a crank flashlight, a propane-powered pencil sharpener, etc. If you have a Go Kit, bring it, but not just formal Go Kits, bring what you use to work Public Service Events, etc. I have a laptop case with dual band and power supply that I take to Public Service events - not really a Go Kit - some assembly required - bring this type of thing. Any equipment that would be useful in an emergency. Let's learn from each other. The ARES radios will be there so everyone can check them out.

AND don't forget, attending this meeting earns you a chance to win the FREE HT

Summit County ARES will be giving away a dual-band HT at the October 2012 meeting.

ARES membership is NOT required to win this prize.

Tickets for the drawing will be issued for each of the following:

Every ARES meeting attended
Every ARES training class attended
Every one of ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, ICS-800 completed in 2012
Every other approved training completed in 2012, such as CERT, VRC, ARC First Aid, CPR, Disaster Assessment & Shelter Ops
Every Formidable Footprint drill attended
Any other activity designated during the year by the EC as earning a ticket.

Spotter information statement from the Cleveland NWS

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

Current weather statements issued by Cleveland NWS for Summit County, Ohio

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To see additional severe weather information for Summit County pleaseclick here: Summit County Skywarn for the Summit County Skywarn site

Who are We?

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible for membership in the ARES. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a sincere desire to serve. Because ARES is an amateur service, only amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership.

For more information please check out this page:
ARRL ARES Manual

Any licensed amateur radio operator living or working in Summit County may become a member of Summit County ARES (SUMCO-ARES). We may have the title of "Amateur" Radio Operators but there is certainly nothing "amateur" about the quality of the services that we provide and we are constantly striving to improve on those services. With this in mind, on an increasing basis ARES organizations are following national standards necessary for a volunteer to be useful in an emergency situation. In order to meet these requirements and to be eligible to be issued an ARES ID the Summit County ARES organization requires the following:

That the member participates in at least one ARES sanctioned Public Service event per year
That the member attends at least 2 ARES meetings per year
That the member has a current NWS Skywarn Spotter ID
That the member has completed the following training:
- 1) Intro to EmComm course by Summit County ARES, or ARRL EmComm Lvl 1

Click here to open the SUMCO ARES registration form.

Where are We?

We meet on the fourth Thursday of each month (no meetings in November or December) at the Summit County American Red Cross Chapter, 501 West Market Street, Akron when space is available. We also meet at the Green EOC and Stow Safety Center when the ARC is full. Please use the "Meetings" menu option to find more information about any of these locations.

Nets are held every Monday Night at 7:30 PM Local Time on 444.55 (PL131.8)

All licensed amateur radio operators are welcome to "check-in". If you have a programmable scanner capable of receiving the 400MHz public service bands you can "listen in" by programming your scanner to receive on a frequency of 444.55 MHz.

What do we do?

ARES makes available radio communications for various community events as well as emergency situations. Throughout the year we may participate in Emergency Preparedness drills, public service events and special events all which require temporary mobile communications for the transfer of information.

Why participate in non-emergencies?

The non-emergency events we participate in are quite important. Since true emergencies rarely happen we use participation in these events to constantly hone our skills. As well as providing community support, this also helps advertise Amateur Radio to the general population. It also demonstrates to agencies, that we normally serve, that we are active and prepared to provide a high level of professional communication support if the need should arise.

National Homeland Security Knowledgebase

For information please contact:

Dennis Conklin, AI8P

Emergency Coordinator

Underwritten by SumCo Association of Volunteer Emergency Communications Organizations with the support of LEK.NET
Webmaster Ken Dorsey.

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