Amateur Radio Emergency Service

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
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.

To Join the Huron County ARES Group, send me an ARRL application form FSD-98 to:

Steve Buss KG8BT
213 Hayes Street
Willard, Oh 44890

ARRL FSD-98 ARES APPLICATION

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

Founded in 1952, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a public service provided by a reserve (volunteer) communications group within government agencies in times of extraordinary need. During periods of RACES activation, certified unpaid personnel are called upon to perform many tasks for the government agencies they serve. Although the exact nature of each activation will be different, the common thread is communications.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides planning guidance, technical assistance, and funding for establishing a RACES organization at the state and local government level. A comprehensive RACES manual, Guidance for Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, is available on the FEMA Web site (http://www.fema.gov/library/civilpg.htm).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for the regulation of RACES operations. RACES is administrated by a local, county, or state civil defense agency responsible for disaster services. This civil defense agency is typically an emergency services or emergency management organization, sometimes within another agency such as police or fire. RACES is a function of the agency's Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS), sometimes known as DCS (Disaster Communications Service), ECS (Emergency Communications Service), ARPSC (Amateur Radio Public Service Corps), etc. Many ACS units identify themselves solely as RACES organizations, even though their communications functions and activities typically go beyond the restrictions of RACES operations. Other ACS units combine government RACES and non-government ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) activities and identify themselves as ARES/RACES organizations. Yet other ACS units who use amateur radio for emergency government communications identify themselves solely as ARES organizations, whether or not they activate under FCC RACES Rules.

The National Traffic System plan is a means for systematizing amateur traffic handling facilities by making a structure available for an integrated traffic facility designed to achieve the utmost in two principal objectives: rapid movement of traffic from origin to destination, and training amateur operators to handle written traffic and participate in directed nets. These two objectives, which sometimes conflict with each other, are the underlying foundations of the National Traffic System.

NTS operates daily, even continuously with the advent of the advanced digital links of today.

The personnel consists of operators who participate for one or two periods a week, and some who are active daily. The National Traffic System is an organized effort to handle traffic in accordance with a plan which is easily understood, is basically sound, and which employs modern methods of network traffic handling in general acceptance today.

ARRL is the national membership association for Amateur Radio operators.
Today ARRL, with approximately 163,000 members, is the largest organization of radio amateurs in the United States. The ARRL is a not-for-profit organization that:

1. Promotes interest in Amateur Radio communications and experimentation

2. Represents US radio amateurs in legislative matters, and

3. Maintains fraternalism and a high standard of conduct among Amateur Radio operators.