Welcome
This is the home of the East Thurston County ARES Team in
Washington State.
The all-volunteer ETC ARES Team was established by the
ARRL
Western Washington Section leadership to serve the
communities of Yelm, Rainier, Tenino, and the
surrounding areas of East Thurston County, Washington.
For ARRL training and administrative purposes, our team is currently
organized under the ARRL Western Washington
Section, District #5, and is affiliated with the
Yelm Amateur Radio Group.
We work with the Thurston County ARES
(TCARES) Team who are the
amateur radio interface to the Thurston County Emergency Coordination
Center (ECC) and Thurston County Emergency Management.
Vision
The ETC ARES Team's vision is to increase public safety and
reduce the uncertainty and chaos in our communities in the aftermath
of a disaster event by facilitating efficient and effective radio
communication between our neighbors, local organizations, and
government officials.
Net Schedule
Sunday Weekly PNW Digital ARES & EMCOMM Check-In Net.
This net is held at 6:30 PM local time on Sunday evenings
on the
Pacific Northwest (PNW) Digital
repeater network, on "Pacific Northwest Regional" or "PNWR",
DMR talk group 31771.
This DMR-mode check-in net is open to all Pacific Northwest region
hams interested in amateur radio emergency communications.
Sunday Weekly Team Net.
This net for our East Thurston ARES Team members is held each
Sunday evening at 7PM local time on 146.550 MHz simplex.
After our initial check-in on simplex we move the net to the
Yelm repeater, K7YLM (440.200+/100.0) for announcements
and traffic.
Visitor check-ins are always appreciated.
Note: Net control and all ETC ARES Team members
transmit CTCSS (103.5) so if you want to hear only our
traffic you can program a channel
of your radio to use CTCSS on receive.
Team members are using this feature so they can leave a radio
tuned to our net frequency 24/7 for the purposes of emergency
call-out drills and emergency announcements.
Tuesday Weekly District 5 Net.
District 5 holds a net each Tuesday evening at 7PM local time
on the Grass Mountain W7AOO repeater (145.370-/136.5).
Our team falls under ARRL's Washington ARES District #5.
Team members are encouraged to check into this net to learn
about events and training happening at the district level.
FRS/GMRS Emergency Radio Nets
Our group works with a multi-layered approach at disaster communications that
encourages the integration with other non-ham radio services such as
FRS/GMRS.
This approach is compatible with the Radio Relay International
(RRI) National SOS Radio
Network Hamwatch program as described in their training
presentation:
NSOS-Hamwatch-PPT-TR-003-Final-Approved.pdf.
The primary benefit is that we expand the reach of our finite amateur radio
resources and increase our contact with the public.
We hope to grow the following list of organized neighborhood emergency radio nets:
If you represent such a neighborhood group or would like to help form one
please contact us with the e-mail link at the bottom of the page.
The ETC ARES team has regular comm exercises and drills where we'd
like to practice interfacing with the various neighborhood
emergency radio nets.
Membership
Anyone with a current FCC-issued Amateur Radio license may apply for
membership on the East Thurston County (ETC) Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) Team.
Having a current FCC-issued General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license
is optional, but also a helpful asset to the team.
We serve the eastern area of Thurston County, so ideally you live in
Yelm, Rainier, Tenino, or one of the surrounding areas.
Our current Disaster Communications Plan in the Documents section
below describes our served area in detail.
If you are interested in joining the team or have questions that our
Plan doesn't answer, feel free to contact the ETC ARES Team
Emergency Coordinator (EC) via e-mail [ec@etc-ares.org],
text message,
or phone [+1 (360) 999-0680].
Documents
Radiograms
A radiogram is a telegram sent by shortwave radio nets
operating 365 days per year, 24-hours per day.
These nets are sponsored by
Radio Relay International
and use a variety of communication technologies including voice,
Morse code, and the latest, very sophisticated, digital methods.
See the frequently asked questions on the back of the
"Standard Radiogram Form" below.
