RACES is an organization sponsored by FEMA designed to provide disaster assistance communications during declared emergencies.

Wisconsin ARES/RACES is actually two organizations operating transparently as one with over 1350 ham radio operators who volunteer their expertise, time and resources to provide primary and supplemental communications to government agencies, private disaster response organizations and other nonprofit organizations. Other ARES/RACES organizations are present throughout the United States. In Wisconsin, each county has an ARES/RACES group, which regularly trains on the air and in formal training sessions.

To be a qualifed ARES/RACES operator, you must pass two(2) National Incident Management System (NIMS) exams. They are IS-100 and IS-700. Study documents and online exams may be found here , and here.

After passing the exams, you will find the Certificate of Achievement, also online. Print two copies of the certificate ... one for your records, and one for the PVR files.

These Certificates are required, and needed, for receipt of federal preparedness funds.

A) WISCONSIN ARES/RACES NET:

• Supplemental communications support to Emergency Management, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services during all types of emergencies and disasters.
• Primary and supplemental communications support during disasters and communications emergencies for private disaster response organizations.
• Severe weather spotting assistance for the National Weather Service.
• Primary communications for private organizations during special events and activities such as marathons, parades and large outdoor events.

B) SOME EXAMPLES OF THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE PINE VALLEY REPEATER ARES/RACES:

• Severe weather spotting assistance for the National Weather Service. Supplemental communications support to Emergency Management, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services during all types of emergencies and disasters.
• Primary and supplemental communications support during disasters and communications emergencies for private disaster response organizations.
• Primary communications for nonprofit organizations during events and activities such as marathons, parades and large outdoor events.

If you are a ham radio operator interested in public service, review this site and contact your county Emergency Coordinator Darin Gudgeon, KC9JTA at (608)647-8187 or (608)604-7736(c) or email: gudgeon()co.richland.wi.us. You may also contact Bob Naegele, W9MZ at (608)647-6430 or email: w9mz()arrl.net.

If you are not involved in ham radio and are interested in communications and public service, we want to talk with you! We are always looking for interested individuals who want to uniquely serve their communities. All it takes to get an FCC issued ham radio license is the desire to learn.

If you are in emergency management, state or federal government, law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical service, health service, or a private disaster support agency and are not engaged with your local ARES/RACES group, contact Bob Naegele, W9MZ. He will put you in touch with your county or district emergency coordinator.

Enjoy serving your community. Learn from your experiences, generate ideas to take back to your organizations and then share those ideas with us so we can share them with others.

Remember, we provide communications when no one else can!

Early in the morning of August 19, radio operators of the Pine Valley Repeater Amateur Radio Club were activated to go to the small community of Viola, WI, to set up an emergency communications station as all normal communications systems, even those of the Sheriff's Department, were down, destroyed, or unavailable. For 12 hours, the operators were on duty, passing and receiving information from and to the EOC in Richland Center and the State ARES/RACES system. Our ham radios worked well.

Operating the emergency communications station were: Chris Kanable (KC9CMD), Dick Neumann (W9JR), Andrew Rinehart (KC9GPB), Mary Maclay (KC9HQW), Bob Naegele (W9MZ), Roger Nicholson (KC9HHH), and Glen Dunne (KC9GPD).

The Richland County ARES/RACES Amateur Radio operators were called to duty at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 19, to serve as communicators at the Richland County EOC to monitor the radios and telephone during heavy rainfalls and flash floods. The PVR communicators were expertly led by Bob Naegele (W9MZ) and Chris Kanable (KC9CMD). Chris is also the PVR SKYWARN Coordinator.

The radio operators remained on duty, some for 24 hours/day, to help with the week-long flooding emergency that involved the following counties: La Crosse, Vernon, Grant, Crawford, and Richland. Operators were also dispatched to various county sites to monitor the rise/fall of creeks/rivers, and to determine rainfall amounts.

Several hundred messages were received and relayed from the Communications Center of the EOC to various local and county officials, and to the State ARES/RACES offices during the emergency. The Richland County Emergency Plan worked very well.

The following PVR ARES/RACES operators are to be commended for the tremendous efforts they put forth during this time of need: Bob Naegele (W9MZ), Dick Neumann (W9JR), Chris Kanable (KC9CMD), Glen Dunne (KC9GPD), Nancy McLaughlin (KC9HHD), Richard McLaughlin (KC9JTB), Heidi McLaughlin (KC9HQK), Roger Nicholson (KC9HHH), Joe Harrell (KC9HHK), Mary Maclay (KC9HQW), Mike Kaufman (WB9SLI), Linda Kaufman (KC9HHF), Gus Slayback (WB9SKG), Walt Lesetmoe (KC9KIG), Josh Lesetmoe (KC9KOM), Laura Rockland (KC9KOO), Shawn Rockland (KC9KOP), Cole Muth (KC9GPE), Dan Brewer (KC9HHG), Ken Ramsden (KC9KOR), and Dana Wilson (KC9KOQ). The Richland County Emergency Management Coordinator, Darin Gudgeon (KC9JTA), was the official in charge of the Emergency Management team. Good job!

Do you know what to do during a flood? For more information on this subject, you will find it here, and also here.

Once again, 9 months after the August flood of '07, the Richland County ARES/RACES Amateur Radio operators were activiated to provide storm watching duties and to operate from the Richland County EOC. Huge amounts of rain caused extensive flooding resulting in nearly 80 county roads and highways to be closed, communities inundated with water, many homes damaged, and people evacuated to shelters in Viola and Richland Center.

Hard hit was the community of Viola which was isolated due to flood waters inundating that community. Many homes in Viola were damaged because of water filled basements. Radio operators were also sent to Avoca to provide communications and assistance. Avoca was also severely flooded with roads into and out of Avoca nearly impassable. As in Viola, many homes and businesses in Avoca had basements flooded requiring pumping of the water. Nearby Lone Rock was another community where Richland County was called upon to assist with issues in that community.

ARES/RACES radio operators were on duty for 24-hour periods for several days, receiving and relaying messages to pertinent members of the Incident Command unit. The Pine Valley Repeater ham radio operators served a very necessary and important function during the flooding incident.

To make matters worse, more rain is expected to fall resulting is more flooding. These floods were worse than that of '07. WILL IT EVER STOP?

AREA/RACES radio operators put forth another super effort to make sure the emergency ran smoothly. They are: Bob Naegele (W9MZ), Dick Neumann (W9JR), Chris Kanable (KC9CMD), Santana Marroquin (KC9NSK), Roger Nicholson (KC9HHH), Joe Harrell (KC9HHK), Mike Kaufman (WB9SLI), Linda Kaufman (KC9HHF), Gus Slayback (WB9SKG), Walt Lesetmoe (KC9KIG), Josh Lesetmoe (KC9KOM), Laura Rockland (KC9KOO), Shawn Rockland (KC9KOP), Stacey Martynuik (KC9IHF), Dan Brewer (KC9HHG), Brice McCauley (KC9JOJ) and Charles Jausch (KG6DMY). Thanks for a job well done. Also to be commended are Incident Commander Darin Gudgeon (KC9JTA), his able assistant Jeanne Rice (KC9JOI) of the Richland County Emergency Management Office, and Dana Wilson (KC9KOQ) Grant County Skywarn Coordinator.

You can find more Wisconsin ARES/RACES information here.

When you get to the Wisconsin ARES/RACES site, please click on "WEM ARES/RACES Station Initial Communications Plan." Here you will find frequencies and modes that will be monitored when the ARES/RACES radio station at the Wisconsin Emergency Management EOC has been activied. Or, click here.

The 2008 winter is rapidly approaching, and here is a great site to visit. It will give you a lot of information pertaining to winter weather. Go here.

What, you ask, is a lid?

A lid is an Amateur Radio term used to denote a poor operator --- one who is inept at the practice of operating correctly.

You do not want to be known as a ... lid. The following are the steps to take to make sure you do not "earn" this reputation:

Step One: Use as many "Q" signals as possible. Yes, I know they were invented solely for CW and are totally inappropriate for two meter FM, but they are fun and entertaining. They keep people guessing as to what you really meant. I.E. "I'm going to QSY to the phone." Can you really change frequencies to the phone? QSL used to mean, "I am acknowledging receipt", but now it appears to mean, "yes" or "OK". I guess I missed it when the ARRL changed the meaning. It is also best to use "OK" and "QSL" together. Redundancy is the better part of Lid-dom.

Step Two: Never laugh when you can say "HI HI". No one will ever know you aren't a long time CW rag-chewer if you don't tell them. They'll think you've been on since the days of Marconi.

Step Three: Utilize an alternative vocabulary. Use words like "destinated" and "negatory". It's OK to make up your own words here. I.E. "Yeah Tom, I "pheelbart zaphonix" occasionally myself."

Step Four: Always say "XX4XXX" (Insert your own call) "for I. D." As mentioned in Step One, anything that creates redundancy is always encouraged. That's why we have the Department of Redundancy Department. (Please note that you can follow your call with "for identification purposes" instead of "for I. D." While taking longer to say, it is worth more "LID points".

Step Five: The better the copy on two meter FM, the more you should use phonetics. Names should be especially used if they are short or common ones. I.E. "My name is Al... Alpha Lima" or "Jack.. Juliet Alpha Charlie Kilo." If at all possible use the less common HF phonetics "A4SM... America, Number Four, Sugar Mexico." And for maximum "LID points", make up unintelligible phonetics. "My name is Bob... Billibong Oregano Bumperpool."

Step Six: Always give the calls of yourself and everyone who is (or has been) in the group, whether they are still there or not. While this has been unnecessary for years, it is still a great memory test. You may also use "and the group" if you are an "old timer" or just have a bad memory. Extra points for saying everyone's call and then clearing in a silly way "K2PKK, Chow, Chow."

Step Seven: Whenever possible, use the wrong terminology. It keeps people guessing. Use "modulation" when you mean "deviation", and vice-versa.

Step Eight: If someone asks for a break, always finish your turn, taking as long as possible before turning it over. Whenever possible, pass it around a few times first. This will discourage the breaker, and if it is an emergency, encourage him to switch to another repeater and not bother you.

Step Nine: Always ask involved questions of the person who is trying to sign out. Never let him get by with just a "yes" or "no" answer. Make it a question that will take him a long time to answer.

Step Ten: The less you know on a subject, the more you should speculate about it in the roundtable. Also the amount of time you spend on the subject should be inversely proportionate to your knowledge of the subject even though you have no damn clue.

Step Eleven: Always make sure you try to communicate with only a handheld and a rubber duck antenna. Also, make sure you work through a repeater that you can hear very well, but it cannot hear you. This will put out a kind of "LID mating call": "Well, Joe, I can hear the repeater just fine here. I wonder why it can't hear me?" You will score maximum LID points if you are mobile, and with the radio lying in the passenger seat.

Step Twelve: If you hear two amateurs start a conversation, wait until they are twenty seconds into their contact, and then break in to make a call, or better yet to use the auto-patch. Make sure you keep the repeater tied up for at least three minutes. This way, once the two have re-established contact, they won't even remember what they were talking about.

Step Thirteen: You hear someone on the repeater giving directions to a visiting amateur. Even if the directions are good, make sure you break in with your own "alternate route but better way to get there" version. This is most effective with several other "would-be LIDs", each giving a different route. By the time the visiting amateur unscrambles all the street names whizzing by in his mind, he should have moved out of the range of the repeater. This keeps you from having to stick around to help the guy get back out of town, later.

Step Fourteen: If an annoying station is bothering you, make sure your other "LID" buddies have a "coded" frequency list. Even though "CODES" are strictly forbidden on Amateur Radio, it's really neat to practice "James Bond" tactics.

Step Fifteen: Always use the National Calling Frequency for general conversations. The more uninteresting, the longer you should use it. Extra points are awarded if you have recently moved from an adjacent frequency for no reason. Make sure when DX is "rolling" in on 52.525 that you hang out there and talk to your friends five miles down the road about the good old CB days!

Step Sixteen: Use the repeater for an hour or two at a time, preventing others from using it. Better yet, do it on a daily basis. Your quest is to make people so sick of hearing your voice every time they turn on their radio. they'll move to another frequency. This way you'll lighten the load on the repeater, leaving even more time for you to talk on it.

Step Seventeen: Never say "My name is ...."; it makes you sound human. Instead use the old CB "The handle here is ...."; cool!

Step Eighteen: If the repeater is off the air for service, complain about the fact that it was off the air as soon as it's turned on. Act as thought your entire dayhas been ruined because the repeater wasn't available when you wanted to use it --- even though you have never paid a penny to help out with the upkeep of it, or volunteered your labor to help with the upkeep.

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