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What ARES does in 50 words or less: ARES provides backup communications when other systems fail or become overloaded. We do this primarily for State and County Emergency Management, and through them, a variety of agencies (like the Red Cross) and even private companies (like CP&L). ARES can also provide some primary information - weather, damage, anything our "served agencies" ask for. By the way, it's pronounced AIR-eez. ARES Structure: We'll build this pyramid from the bottom up.
 Above the county level, North Carolina ARES is divided into three Branches, and 15 Areas. This division mirrors the way North Carolina Emergency Management has divided the state. Wake County is in Area 7, which is in the Central Branch. Area 7 has an Area
District Emergency Coordinator
(DEC):
We'll have little contact with ARRL HQ for Wake County ARES operations, but just to be complete, the top of the food chain is the Field & Educational Services manager, Rosalie White K1STO .
What Wake County ARES is here for: this may be a bit more interesting Wake County ARES is here to provide backup communications support for both Wake County Emergency Management and North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM). Because Raleigh is the state Capitol, we hams here do double-duty with two big jobs to handle. For the State, our main job is staffing the ham station at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The State EOC is located in the basement of the State Administration building, at 116 W. Jones St., Raleigh. There is also Central Branch Office in Butner, NC that we may staff. We will review State EOC operations below. (By the way, you don't have to live in Wake County to volunteer for the State EOC or the Central Branch EOC. We need hams from surrounding counties to participate.) For Wake County, we staff the County EOC, which is in the basement of the County Courthouse on the Fayetteville St. Mall. In addition, we put hams at Command Posts and Staging Areas around the county, at shelters, and any place else we're asked to be (fire stations, hospitals, schools... wherever). Who can join ARES? Any licensed ham. Although ARES is part of the ARRL Field Organization, you do not need to be a member of the ARRL to participate. You do need ARRL membership to hold any office from EC up (you can be an Assistant EC without ARRL membership). And you don't need to be a member of any local clubs, though we will be working closely with local clubs for training and recruiting Amateur Radio's place in the State EOC
What information do we communicate? Anything needed by the agencies we serve. This may be a request for supplies, a team to rebuild a bridge, an update on evacuation progress, shelter status, weather conditions, damage assessment... anything. What tools do we have?
In particular, most of us use one or two repeaters regularly for ragchewing. We are familiar with their coverage, features, tones and other characteristics. But when it comes time to use another repeater, too many of us are lost. We don't know the frequency, the location, the offset, the tones. We don't have them programmed into memory. That may be good enough for ragchewing, but it's not good enough for a flexible ARES operator. You may be sent to any repeater providing county coverage during a disaster. If you need to be trained on the fly in that situation, we waste precious time. So please get to know the local repeaters, and try to use all of them at least occasionally. We have prepared a list of "recommended repeaters" in and around Wake County, and a list of machines covering a wider area is available at: http://www.rars.org/repeater/trirpt.htm. ("Recommended" means that we recommend that you program these repeaters in memory, and gain some experience with their coverage and features.)
Yes, and we may use them on an ad-hoc basis. But to have a regular place in our communications plan, we need enough stations and trained operators to be able to man these modes for the duration of an emergency. We'll probably start with an Assistant EC for Digital to evaluate both systems and people, and tell us when we're ready to use these modes routinely. When we get called up… How long will we be needed? Our general objective is 72 hours of continuous coverage at both the State and County EOCs. Shifts are 4 to 6 hours, with two hams per shift at each location. Then there are the field locations... This is a lot of manpower. And clearly the 72 hour figure is just a target. Actual callups may be shorter or occasionally much longer. We want to identify in advance the people we need for three days of operation. How
it will work: The EC and assistants will begin making phone calls to hams who have registered (that's you), filling out a duty roster for the time needed. We will also probably recruit hams with bulletins on the local repeaters. When you are called up, you'll need to know a few things about how to fill your shift.
The county EOC is in the basement of a downtown building. Operators will receive directions to this secure area when they are trained. During
activations, there is usually food available at
the County EOC
(pretty good deli "box lunch" is our experience), but we can't promise
it. Dress in layers - it can be warm or it can be
chilly. Wake County Emergency Management may set up Command Posts, Staging Areas, shelters, or other remote facilities that need Amateur Radio communications. These are typically at Fire Stations, town halls or Police Departments, schools and hospitals. If you get that assignment, you will receive directions from the EOC operator or an Assistant EC. Hams filling
Field jobs will need to be flexible with
both radio equipment
and their personal needs. Communications will typically be on
local
repeaters. But handheld radios with "rubber ducks" may not
reach
repeaters from many indoor locations. You may need to set up
a
temporary
antenna and run coax into a building. Crossband repeat may be
an
option. Some locations will have permanent Amateur antennas
and
perhaps
power supplies set up for ARES. The State EOC is located in the basement of the State Administration building, at 116 W. Jones St., Raleigh. That's at the corner of McDowell and Jones, at the north end of downtown Raleigh. Parking: On weekends, evenings and overnight, hams can park in the lot that's behind the building. But from 8 to 5 weekdays, all spots in that lot are assigned. If you have a weekday shift, you can park in the garage north of Lane St. It's a little hard to find... go north on McDowell from the EOC, and as McDowell begins its S-turn left to become Capitol, you can go straight and head back to the garage entrance. Get a parking ticket and have it validated at the EOC reception desk.
Sign in at the reception desk, and pick up a visitor badge. All hams need either a SERT badge or a visitor badge (SERT badges will be available to a limited number of regular station operators). If you've never been to the ham station, you should request an escort by one of the hams on duty. It's a little hard to find. Dress in layers for the State EOC. It can be warm or chilly any time of year. You can bring your own drinks or snacks. Food service during activations is unpredictable. There are some vending machines with drinks and junk food. Operating the State EOC Station
The 80 meter band supports propagation around the state most of the time, although in the early afternoon signals might get very weak. The Tarheel Net may move to 40 meters, at 7232 kHz, in those times. Or you may need a relay station to move traffic between stations who can't hear each other. The State EOC HF station is not a particularly good performer, due to long feedlines and a lot of clutter around the antenna. We may ask for backup stations operating from home who can relay to the State EOC on VHF or landline. But we will always try to staff the HF station anyway. The Tarheel Net Manager will provide Net Control Stations for the duration of the activation. The State EOC station should not be Net Control. If you are interested in acting as a Tarheel Net Control from your home station, you should participate regularly and you'll find ample opportunity. During activations, stations from across the state monitor the Tarheel net. You will be particularly interested in stations at County EOCs, NCEM Branch Offices, staging areas and other "official" locations. Most of the traffic to and from the State EOC will be from these stations. Sometimes, though, you'll get valuable information from other "non-official" hams - weather conditions, damage reports and such. However, some
hams will think of the EOC station as
their personal link
to emergency services. You'll need to discourage
this. We
don't
take reports like "a tree down blocking my street". This
traffic
should be reported to local authorities. Other hams on
frequency
may assist in relaying that kind of traffic. We will post a
list
of local ARES nets and repeaters to direct individual hams to for local
traffic. The second VHF
radio, and the UHF side of the
dual-band radio, can
be used to reach other repeaters or linking systems for coverage
targeted
at specific areas. We will post a list of repeaters and
frequencies
that the State EOC station can be expected to reach during normal
propagation
conditions. We will also post information on using repeater
linking
systems available. Additional
information is
available here.
All messages to and from anyone in the State EOC go through the Message Officer, conveniently located right outside the Amateur Radio station. You can give the Message Officer your ARRL Radiogram, or write the message on plain paper. The Message Officer will be able to enter the message on the EOC's computer system and route it to the correct person or agency for action. And any messages to be sent over Amateur Radio will come to you through the Message Officer. Do not roam the EOC trying to find the person a message is addressed to, or trying to collect outgoing traffic. If there is no Message Officer, call the Communications Operator on duty and ask for instructions (the phone number will be posted). Eventually we
will have a computer tied into the EOC
network in the
Amateur station, and we will be able to enter and receive traffic
directly.
On
the air: The Wake County EOC
monitors 145.39
(82.5 Hz tone)
for Wake County ARES activity, and 146.88 to communicate with the State
EOC. Other repeaters may be designated depending on coverage
required.
Wake County ARES may establish a Net Control station on either or both
repeaters, but the EOC station should not
act as Net
Control. Additional
information is
available here. The Wake County EOC also has a Message Officer, located in the middle of the room. All messages should route through the Message Officer. Public Information Our Amateur Radio operation will attract media attention at some point during most emergency activations at the EOC. When Public Information Officers (PIOs) are available they will be responsible for management of all media contacts. In some circumstances reporters will appear at the Amateur station when the only people on duty are the on-air operators. Operators are not required to give an interview, and may just pass along some off-camera background information. If the decision is made to give an interview, here are some interviewing tips. What
to say:
Personal Appearance When assigned to the EOC, station operators should dress comfortably; however, we should always strive to make a good impression on the press and other EOC workers and State officials. Clothing including clean t-shirts and jeans will be appropriate. Please refrain from wearing clothing that may be offensive to others. Well, that's about it.. If you want to participate in Wake County ARES, click here |
SKYWARN
is a part of ARES, but it follows geographical divisions set up by the
National Weather Service, so it doesn't fit the ARES structure conveniently.
Wake County is covered by Central
Carolina SKYWARN, and the person in charge is SKYWARN EC,
State
EOC 
Enter
the Administration Building from the doors in the center of the back of
the building. If they are locked, there is a telephone in a
box
marked
"EOC" next to the door. Just pick up the phone and it will
ring
at
the communications room. Once inside the door, take a quick
left
through a door and down the stairs to the basement. 
The
Wake County EOC station is in a corner of the main EOC situation
room.
There are two Kenwood TM-V7A dual-band radios, installed in April, 2001
(the picture shows Karl K4LNX programming them to match the V7A at the
State EOC).