2009 ARRL Field Day
07/03/2009 |
W0FT
For the second year in a row local amateur radio operators affiliated with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) activated a radio station in Fire Station #1 using equipment and antennas that are part of the permanent ARES station in the Loveland Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Our host, City Emergency Manager Merlin Green, visited the Field Day 2009 operation several times during the weekend. He is our primary contact within the Loveland Fire Department and an advocate for the radio communications capabilities the ARES volunteers bring to the Loveland EOC and other served agencies in the Loveland area. During recovery efforts for the Windsor tornadoes on May 22, 2008, amateur radio operators staffed both the EOC station and the deployed Mobile Command Center vehicle, providing radio communications support between the Loveland and Windsor EOCs, and shelters setup to house families displaced from their homes. They also transmitted video from the incident scene to the Windsor EOC via Amateur TV, providing a insight into damage caused by the tornado for EOC officials.
We arrived at the Loveland EOC on Saturday morning to setup the ARES station, check antennas on the roof, and get ready to begin Field Day 2009 operations. During the 24 hour event, which ran from 1200 MDT on Saturday until 1200 MDT on Sunday, the team made 452 contacts with other amateur stations around the country, copied Field Day message traffic using both voice and Morse code, hosted over 30 visitors to the EOC, and had fun.
Two visitors to the EOC during Field Day 2009, Brad Johnson, age 10 and his brother Kevin, age 12, took advantage of the visit to make a their first radio contacts with a little help from Mike Bates, N7DQ. Both vowed to get their ham radio licenses before they return to school in the fall. Introducing young people to the hobby is important as they will provide the next generation of volunteer radio operators.
Other visitors to the EOC during the 24 hour event included City Councilman Cecil Gutierrez and his wife Kay. He acknowledged the contribution of amateur radio communications to the Windsor tornado recovery and expressed appreciation for our support to the City of Loveland.
Councilman Gutierrez was welcomed to the EOC by Rob Strieby, W0FT. Rob is a member of the Loveland EOC team and is the ARES Emergency Coordinator for District 10, covering Larimer, Weld and Jackson counties. District 10 currently has over 60 trained ham radio volunteers ready to respond if needed. Other visitors included Colorado Section Manager Jeff Ryan, K0RM, and Colorado Section EC David Markham, W0CBI.
Shortly after the end of the exercise on Sunday, the team had packed up the EOC ARES equipment and everything they had brought with them after spending over combined 200 training hours at the EOC through the weekend.
The annual Field Day event is always conducted on the 4th weekend in June and the ARES volunteers hope to be back in the EOC next year. -- WA7BNG
Our host, City Emergency Manager Merlin Green, visited the Field Day 2009 operation several times during the weekend. He is our primary contact within the Loveland Fire Department and an advocate for the radio communications capabilities the ARES volunteers bring to the Loveland EOC and other served agencies in the Loveland area. During recovery efforts for the Windsor tornadoes on May 22, 2008, amateur radio operators staffed both the EOC station and the deployed Mobile Command Center vehicle, providing radio communications support between the Loveland and Windsor EOCs, and shelters setup to house families displaced from their homes. They also transmitted video from the incident scene to the Windsor EOC via Amateur TV, providing a insight into damage caused by the tornado for EOC officials.
We arrived at the Loveland EOC on Saturday morning to setup the ARES station, check antennas on the roof, and get ready to begin Field Day 2009 operations. During the 24 hour event, which ran from 1200 MDT on Saturday until 1200 MDT on Sunday, the team made 452 contacts with other amateur stations around the country, copied Field Day message traffic using both voice and Morse code, hosted over 30 visitors to the EOC, and had fun.
Two visitors to the EOC during Field Day 2009, Brad Johnson, age 10 and his brother Kevin, age 12, took advantage of the visit to make a their first radio contacts with a little help from Mike Bates, N7DQ. Both vowed to get their ham radio licenses before they return to school in the fall. Introducing young people to the hobby is important as they will provide the next generation of volunteer radio operators.
Other visitors to the EOC during the 24 hour event included City Councilman Cecil Gutierrez and his wife Kay. He acknowledged the contribution of amateur radio communications to the Windsor tornado recovery and expressed appreciation for our support to the City of Loveland.
Councilman Gutierrez was welcomed to the EOC by Rob Strieby, W0FT. Rob is a member of the Loveland EOC team and is the ARES Emergency Coordinator for District 10, covering Larimer, Weld and Jackson counties. District 10 currently has over 60 trained ham radio volunteers ready to respond if needed. Other visitors included Colorado Section Manager Jeff Ryan, K0RM, and Colorado Section EC David Markham, W0CBI.
Shortly after the end of the exercise on Sunday, the team had packed up the EOC ARES equipment and everything they had brought with them after spending over combined 200 training hours at the EOC through the weekend.
The annual Field Day event is always conducted on the 4th weekend in June and the ARES volunteers hope to be back in the EOC next year. -- WA7BNG
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