2025 ARES Fall SET

A couple times a year, the Eastern PA ARES group conducts a SET (Simulated Emergency Test). This is, more or less, a readiness check and practice session for emcomm. Our EPA Emergency Coordinator, Jay King, has Red Cros background and since Red Cross is often an agency we are asked to work with, these drills tend to have Red Cross features. This time is somewhat different. The emphasis is on interoperability—between our group and similar groups in other counties/ areas and between other agencies.

There are 4 key targets for this drill:

1. Alert and Readiness
2. Interconnectivity
3. Outreach
4. TPRFN messaging

Quick explanation is Alert is same as prior drills, I’ll send out an “alert” message. This will be via email. We will start up a net on Saturday Oct 4 at noon.
You should be prepared during this net to list a few items under 3 and 4 above. Regarding item 3, interconnectivity, have you ever checked in to an ARES net in a county other than Lehigh? Do you check into MARS nets, NTS nets, or any other message traffic net? We’ll make a list of these and forward to our EC post-exercise. I’ll need the repeater you used or the HF frequency. Something like “Carbon County Repeater” I can look up. No need to knock yourself out.
Second, do you belong to any groups or organizations related to emergency communications? Examples are Skywarn, NTS, TPRFN, ARDEN, WinLink, RACES, ACS, ServePA, REACT, CERT, etc.
The last part I’ll just tell you about. A group is trying to revive a big packet relay network. There are some VHF packet nodes around (none around here I can see) and interestingly an HF link (via packet) into this whole store-forward net. You need to be setup for packet messaging. The system can also use VARA modem. However, the operators seem to assume everyone knows how to set up a terminal program for ham radio on a computer (largely a skill lost decades ago) and exactly how to get VARA to work connecting to an HF BBS station. So—just FYI. We’re not doing this. I asked our EC for some help and he has no idea, either. I’ll send in our reports via regular email (this was requested by our EC) although I could use WinLink, too.
So that’s it for the Fall ARES SET.
Are you an ARES member? Well, here’s your chance. Membership requirements are a license and willingness to be in ARES. Period.
Don’t even know what ARES is? (Amateur Radio Emergency Services). It’s an ARRL program that is essentially the same thing as ACS is in PA (Aux Communication Services). Our club serves, officially, Lehigh County via ACS (although they always call is RACES which is something somewhat different but its pretty much semantics). For everyday life ACS and RACES are the same. Unless there is a big war and US Government invokes RACES (incredibly unlikely)—so we won’t worry about it.

So, make a list of all your various memberships and try to think of any nets other than ours you have checked in to. (no, not Rooster Net, Lumbago Net, etc.) Maritime Net—maybe. ECARS—yep (these are HF).

Thanks. Hope to talk on the radio on 94 repeater noon to maybe 2PM on Sat October 4.
“Operators are standing by for your call”–😊 .

73

Mike Mandell, KC3BLF