Beginning Tuesday, August 25, 2020, the Greene County ARES (GCARES) Voice Net and Digital Training Net will move to the GCARES 440 repeater every fourth Tuesday of each month.
The nets will remain on the GCARES 2m repeater all other Tuesdays. This will allow us to train and test on the 440 repeater so that it is ready in an emergency.
Be sure to add the GCARES 440 repeater to your radios. (442.7250+ no tone)
John Westerkamp/W8LRJ
Greene County AEC for Administration
N8QHV’s latest training was about an FDA hand sanitizer recall that could affect your Go Kit.
The Greene County DMR net meets every Tuesday at 8:30 pm local time on :
444.8750(+), Color Code 13 N8NQH East repeater.
444.4375(+), Color Code 11 N8NQH West repeater.
Talk Group 310557 Timeslot 2
For more information see http://tim-yvonne.com/ham/dmr.
This net is for the discussion of DMR in general and training in DMR net operation. This net is open to all amateurs. You do not need to be a member of any local or national organization or live in Greene County to participate.
There is a general Ohio DMR net on Monday’s at 8:30PM on Talkgroup 3139.
There is also a list of DMR nets statewide on the Ohio ARES site (several are ARES nets) and a map of Ohio DMR repeaters.
Winlink is a digital mode used primarily as a store and forward messaging system. A station connects via RF to a VHF or HF node known as a Radio Message Server (RMS) Gateway. The RMS gateway forwards that message to one of two redundant Common Message Servers (CMS) via internet. When a receiving station connects to the system, the CMS sends the message to the RMS that the receiving station is logged in to. There are also Hybrid gateways that will relay messages when the internet is down.
This gives a valuable capability when internet is down in a local area, allowing stations to connect to HF gateways outside of the impacted area.
Winlink operates much as an E-mail program and has many standardized forms such as used by the Red Cross and Incident Command System (ICS) forms used by FEMA and local EMAs.
In addition to VHF and HF connections, there is a Telnet option that connects using the internet, providing an opportunity to learn the program prior to integrating it with your radio.
The Red Cross has incorporated Winlink into national exercises such as the one held on 8 May 2021. See the ARC-EmComm Training group for details on upcoming drills and their Winlink Thursdays training program.
Two local Winlink nets are:
Greene County ARES Winlink net:
Ohio Winlink Net:
Additional Nets:
Great Lakes Area Winlink Net: Wednesdays, send a message to GLAWN with the subject of “GLAWN Date of Check-in” (example: GLAWN 3/10/2021), with your information in the body (FIRST NAME, CALLSIGN, CITY, COUNTY, STATE, COUNTRY). You can also use any of the standard Winlink forms or templates. Additional references for those that don’t use Facebook: https://groups.io/g/glawn https://groups.google.com/g/glawn Current Invitation: https://tinyurl.com/GLAWN-Current-Invitation
In addition, there is the Original Winlink Wednesday Net with net controls in Virginia. Check out their website and read the All About Winlink Wednesday document (.pdf file) for more details. In addition to checking in via VHF/UHF and HF RMS nodes (no TELNET please), they also hold HF Peer to Peer (P2P) sessions. (
Going a bit further out of the region there is a North Texas Winlink Net
On Thursdays, our neighbors have their own nets:
Kentucky Winlink Net focusing on P2P connections. See details here.
West Virginia Winlink Net, using standard RMS messages and P2P connections.
Various District 3 counties hold weekly Digital nets. These provide valuable training on using digital modes to pass traffic during an activation. They use sound card digital modes and the free FLDIGI software package.
FLDIGI is used in a keyboard to keyboard mode, either with two stations passing traffic to each other or for net operations with multiple stations. The companion FLMSG software allows use of standardized forms (such as American Red Cross of Incident Command System) to be passed.
Greene County:
Montgomery County:
If any other District 3 counties are holding Digital nets, please pass the information to ka0azs@arrl.net for posting here.
N8QHV’s latest training was about the NCBRT/Academy of Counter-Terrorism Education.
From the June 2020 ARES E-Letter, comments of Ohio SEC Stan Broadway, N8BHL:
Stan Broadway, N8BHL, Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator, reported “We did well for the Red Cross exercise on May 30; we had more Winlink activity than expected. So we need to increase the penetration and use of Winlink along with/as a part of the Ohio Digital Emergency Network (OHDEN), which principally supports the Ohio state EOC, and our traffic nets.”
Ron was the District 3 DEC for many years
Per the DARA RF Carrier:
March 18, 2020
With all that is going on lately, it is with sadness that I must inform the club that Ron Moorefield, W8ILC, passed away earlier today. Due to the corona virus, the family has postponed the memorial services and will make an announcement later. Please keep his family in your prayers as we get through this unusual and difficult time.
73 de K8UD
Steve Coy
As the newly appointed West Central Ohio ARES Emergency Coordinator for District 3, I want to thank Fred Stone for his assistance as I transition into this new position. It goes without saying; Fred’s guidance leading District 3 has benefited the organization moving it forward.
I want to introduce myself and provide some background. Many of you know me as a Dayton SkyWarn Coordinator assisting with the NWS/SkyWarn weather spotter classes, Hamvention Security Chairman, Montgomery County ARES – AEC Logistics/PIO, or Montgomery County EMA EMCOMM team leader/EOC staff.
I have over 40 years experience in Public Safety involved with a variety of emergency incidents, disasters, planning drill exercises, and instructing public safety courses.
Over the past years, I’ve been a first responder to the major emergency incidents in the Miami Valley region. I’ve been to the Xenia tornadoes 1974 and 2000, Miamisburg train phosphorous incident, blizzard of 1978, and many other incidents.
As an EMCOMM member, in 2019, I worked the water emergency, KKK rally, Tornado outbreak, and the mass shooting with the EMCOMM team/EOC staff members at the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management.
I have years of experience organizing and participating in public service events as a net control operator for area ham clubs and organizations. I’ve been a ham radio operator for 27 years, I enjoy the hobby including being a Volunteer Examiner and experiencing the excitement of students receiving their Technician ham radio license or moving up to the next level.
My years of experience involved in the many aspects of ham radio communications, disasters, planning, and executing drills made my decision to apply for the District Emergency Coordinator.
I’m looking forward to working with everyone and moving ARES into the future. It takes the cooperation of team work to move forward.
Don Parker KB8PSL
District Emergency Coordinator
West Central Ohio District 3 ARES
