NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 20, 2002--Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members got to work quickly the morning of Sunday, November 17, as an ice storm knocked out power to almost 130,000 Connecticut homes and businesses, mostly in the northwestern part of the state. The statewide alert--and the resulting ARES activation--lasted 48 hours. Connecticut Gov John Rowland toured the region and visited the ham station set up at the Torrington Emergency Operations Center.

CONNECTICUT Section Emergency Coordinator Allen Pitts, W1AGP, said about 30 hams from all over The Nutmeg State headed into the affected area, mostly in northwestern Connecticut. Pitts characterized ARES members' efforts as "wonderful."

PITTS said Connecticut ARES had been drilling informally in conjunction with ARES teams in Eastern New York and New Hampshire, and the effort paid off. "The drills covered a very similar situation," he said. "The level of coordination and cooperation was incredible."

HE also cited the work of Torrington EC Dave Hyatt, K1DAV. Recovering from serious injuries sustained in a fall earlier this year, Hyatt still managed to efficiently fulfill his duties during the storm, Pitts said.

BRENNAN Price, N4QX, of West Hartford--an ARRL staffer--took a turn from 12 midnight until 2 AM November 18 as net control of the Connecticut Phone Net on 3965 kHz . "The good thing about this particular situation was with such a small part of the state hit, there were a lot of others in the state able to help out," he said. "It all came together quickly and was nicely pulled off." Price said there was not a lot of overnight activity from Sunday to Monday, but an amateur was stationed at a shelter in Torrington, and a lot of others were "listening and ready."

WEST Hartford-Area EC Harry Abery, AB1ER, said most of the work hams did was in Torrington area shelters. That Litchfield County community was among the hardest hit. Abery said among others responding to the area were Richard Lawrence, KB1DMX; Rose Anne Lawrence, KB1DMW; Stephen Kelly, W1KLY; Jeff Russell, K1XU; Geoff Wadhams, N1IDU; Irving Christensen, KB1EYY; Tom Ponte, WB1CZX; Howard Hecht, W1HO, and Mark Dzamba, KB1FMY. Rose Anne Lawrence and Dzamba also are ARRL staff members.

CONNECTICUT ARES linked 10 VHF and UHF repeaters in Torrington, Vernon, Naugatuck, Meriden, New Milford and Washington. Separate resource and tactical nets were run on other 2 meter repeaters.

DUTCHESS County, New York, EC Adam Nowik Jr, KC2DAA, said amateurs in Eastern New York activated their own net, and more than a half dozen arrived in the Torrington area within three hours of the activation. "Our net was kept active in the event the Connecticut section had need for additional communications or had a complete communications breakdown," Nowik said. Frank Stone, KB2YUR, served as a liaison between Abery and the hams in Eastern New York for the duration of the incident.

AFTER 27 hours, the Connecticut Phone Net's Emergency session on HF was able to stand down the afternoon of November 18, as temperatures rose into the 40s and the weather system that caused the ice storm moved into the North Atlantic.

BUT just 20 minutes after the net secured at 12:25 PM, it had to be brought back up, Pitts said.

"WE thought things were copasetic," he said. "The sun had come out and things were warming up. But then we lost the electric trunk line from New York City and more people lost power." The number of those without power fluctuated all afternoon, Pitts added.

RELIEF efforts by area radio amateurs continued into the evening of November 18, as more than 30,000 electric customers faced another night of frigid temperatures.

THE statewide ARES alert was terminated November 18 as expected inclement weather did not materialize. "We did not shut down statewide until we were sure everyone was off the roads, home safe and checked in," Pitts said.

PITTS said he's noticed greater professionalism and proficiency over the last six months, and he attributed it directly to the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications courses offered on-line. "We're seeing a real difference and the quality of operations is definitely up," He said.

THANKS to a $33,000 grant from Hartford-based United Technologies Corporation, up to 250 Connecticut amateurs will be able to take the ARRL Level I Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course (EC-001) free of charge.