Here are presentations from our CARA Meetings:
February 2017 Meeting – “Introduction to Antenna Modeling” by Shawn / N3AE
Shawn’s Presentation of “Introduction To Antenna Modeling” consisted of the attached slide show and running various antenna models utilizing readily available computer software.
March 2020 Meeting: Presentation to Calvert County Board of County Commissioners and Letter to Editor of local newpapers
The Calvert County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) a part of FEMA and MEMA and Calvert County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) a program of the American Radio Relay League (the national association for amateur radio in the United States) are a joint cadre composed of FCC licensed Amateur Radio operators who have voluntarily registered their capabilities and equipment for public service communications duty. Under Federal regulations, Amateur Radio public service communications are furnished without compensation of any kind. The Calvert County ARES and RACES groups are joined into Calvert County AuxComm group. Our RACES officer is Bill Hackett N3XMZ of St Leonard and our ARES Emergency Coordinator is Shawn Donley N3AE from Huntingtown.
The ARES/RACES group is part of the County Emergency Management Plan with a desk in the Emergency Operations Center. The group holds weekly radio network sessions to assure county wide communications and message traffic. They train and are tested by FEMA and MEMA by taking nationally approved courses to assure competence in emergency operations. The group has exercises quarterly locally and statewide annually to keep up their skills. Exercises include finding lost persons, monitoring weather and reporting flooding and wind damage as SkyWarn Weather Spotters reporting to the National Weather Service.
Many of the operators are set up to operate from home when the power and phones go down with backup generators and solar powered stations. Many also have mobile radio stations and are willing to rove their neighborhoods assessing damage and reporting in to the EOC. Several are also part of the Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT.)
Calvert County AuxComm thanks the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners for voting unanimously to approve a budget amendment to spend $20,454.84 on RACES equipment from a windfall grant from Maryland Homeland Security. This will help to assure county wide emergency communications when we have a natural or manmade disaster such as the tornado to ravage Nashville TN recently. Thanks also to Calvert Emergency Services for making this a priority budgeting item.
Calvert AuxComm members are mainly members of Calvert Amateur Radio Association, Inc., the oldest amateur radio club in Calvert County and a 501c3 nonprofit service organization. CARA supports 2 amateur radio repeaters for general use and emergency operations as K3CAL. Meetings are held at the Harriet Brown Community Center on E Dares Beach Road in Prince Frederick, MD on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30PM. All hams and prospective hams are invited to attend. CARA also participates in ARRL Field Day annually in June and supports events such as bike races, PRAD parade and out of county running races.
David Hardy KB3RAN
CalvAuxComm PIO and Secretary of CARA
Davehardy0101@aol.com
410-394-0095(H) 443-440-1736(C)