Fill out the ARES Registration form and submit it to your local Emergency Coordinator.

ARES® Vision Statement

ARES will be the premier amateur radio emergency communications service to the United States and its territories.

ARES® Mission Statement

ARES Strives to be an effective partner in emergency/disaster response, providing the citizenry and public service/safety partners with communications expertise, situational awareness, and capabilities of professional communicators.

Gilchrist ARES® Mission

Gilchrist ARES Mission

Our mission is to serve Gilchrist County with back-up Emergency Communications for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and citizens of the county. We are here to assist when conventual Coms fails and/or compromised.

EOC operation in Emergency:

· Back up Coms to State EOC.

a. SARnet – The Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) is a network of linked UHF voice repeaters that serves the State of Florida. The repeaters are operated by their local trustees and the network that connects them together does not interfere with the local use of the repeaters. These UHF repeaters were specifically chosen in part because the voice traffic on them is light.

b. HF-NETS – ARES NET and Traffic NETs. Point to point or relayed Radio Grams or ICS forms for needed assistance During Emergency channels are opened to EOCs and State.

c. Win-Link – This is a digital communication protocol that allows us to send welfare messages (from the public) and ICS forms for Government officials. This can be done by connecting with RMS (Remote Monitoring Station) or Point to Point. RMS stations are connected to the internet for email access.

d. SHAES Radio – same as b and c except use Homeland Security frequencies where encryption is allowed. Best path for Back-up Communication.

· Local Communications

a. Local Weekly Nets – 2-meter repeater Nets and HF Nets. – Exercises your communications ability to communicate with the Net Control Station. This allows the Net control station to know your call, name, location before an emergency.

b. Simplex 2-meter Nets – This Net should happen monthly from the EOC and replace regular ARES net on 147.285.

c. Portable Communications – Portable Stations will be available, if needed. This will allow Win-Link Welfare messages from the public to go directly to recipient’s email.

d. Sky Warn Nets – 2-meter Sky warn Net is in the works. We need Net control stations in different parts of the Area. This will allow a station in the severe weather area to secure their station. Remember all reports of severe weather should be directly to the Jax office at 1-800-499-1594 ext. 1 or 904-741-4670 ext. 1.

e. Hurricane Nets – 2-meter Hurricane Nets will be conducted nightly within 3 days of expected storm impact.

f. Emergency Activations — Hourly Nets and updates on Repeaters 147.285 and 147.390, and Simplex 146.520 and 146.460 (Comms to ARES portable stations)

History

Most Resent Activation

08/29/2023 Hurricane Idalia AUXCOM

0:800 – 11:00 Reported to EOC KD4INH and KO4YOL to connect coaxes to tower and set up radios.

18:00 Manning EOC KO4YOL and KD4INH (note Bell repeater inoperable)

19:00 Local VHF Hurricane NET (Chiefland repeater) begin monitoring Simplex channels.

19:40 Checked into NFPNet

20:00 Checked into Ares Hurricane nets HF and SARSnet. Local net announcement.

08/30/2023

21:00 -02:00 Local check ins

02:38 Check in via simplex 146.52 Ron.

03:00- 09:00 Check-ins most power out and trees down.

09:50 Official message from FDEM for Emergency Manager.

10:00 -13:00 Check in traffic Same trees down no power

13:00 End Emergency Checked out of all nets.

Gilchrist ARES History

03/31/2009 The FCC granted Gilchrist Emergency Amateur Radio Services 624 SW 2nd Ave Trenton, FL 32693 (Bill Hindenlang trustee) Call sign NF4EC. Gilchrist County EC ????????.

10/12/2018 Hurricane Michael. The Gilchrist County EOC activated at Level 2 and shelters opened. The local 2-meter repeater was excellent, and no power outages were reported. ARES primarily remained at Level 3 in monitoring mode. Daily nets were held for hurricane weather briefings and the Northern Florida Section Emergency Net on HF was able to provide up-to-date storm location information to the State EOC when it lost internet service. John Griner EC. KJ4PZE

090/7/2017 September 7 – 9 As in the past, Gilchrist ARES group began the nightly Gilchrist 2 meter Hurricane Net at 7:30 PM on 147.285 coordinating with Alachua ARES 2 meter Hurricane Net nightly at 8 PM on 146.820. The Gilchrist Hurricane Net is started when the 3-day cone shows tropical storm winds likely to enter our area. Gilchrist County Sheriff Volunteers (GCSV), Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) were e-mailed, reminding them to charge batteries and devices well ahead of the storm, and to please check with team leadership for any activation or deployment info. As always, do not self-deploy. Do prepare and help neighbors get prepared. September 10 The Gilchrist Emergency Operations Center (EOC) called for some CERT to deploy to shelters, and I was asked to operate radios at the EOC during the storm. The EOC call is NF4EC. My ARES storm plan was to monitor the 147.285 repeater frequency, and when we began to get threatening wind conditions, I would put out a call every hour at the bottom of the hour (30 minutes past the hour) for any emergency traffic. If they were on emergency power, they could call me at that time and save battery power the rest of the hour. At the top of the hour (on the hour) I would do a frequency change to 146.820 to confer with Alachua ARES EOC, where I would be for 10 minutes to relay and pass traffic/info as needed. In practice this time I ended up mostly monitoring the Alachua Net at the top of the hour, as they had their hands full opening 21 shelters in Alachua County. The hurricane net on HF and morning check-in on 3.950 (NFL ARES Net) complemented the 2 meter coverage. I planned for our ARES group to monitor in place. I asked that, if they lived in a quadrant of the county that has easy access to Levy, Dixie, and Columbia county repeaters, it would be helpful to monitor them and relay or pass any emergency traffic to the EOC in Bell as needed. In my deployment to the EOC I was going to wait until winds exceeded 40 MPH before going in, however, the county was calling for a curfew at 2 PM the day of the passing of the storm. Around the time of the lifting of curfew the following day, I was released to go home. September 11 – 14 Many of the ARES group had to lower antennas or towers in advance of the storm. I maintained communication with those that chose to shelter in place at home. Due to massive outages of the electric grid, I continued the nightly ARES Storm Net for many days after the passing of the storm until Thursday night’s regular 2 meter net on Sept. 14 had 11 operators check in. River flooding, especially on the Santa Fe River, just recently crested at near record levels. JG 9/20/2017 John Greiner, KJ4YPZ, ARRL ARES EC, Gilchrist County

11/25/2016 A Rural County ARES Group Planned for Hurricane Matthew -- In preparation for Hurricane Matthew's arrival on the Florida peninsula in October, Gilchrist County (a rural county northwest of Gainesville) EC John Greiner, KJ4YPZ, worked at the county EOC with a good plan for his ARES ops: "to monitor the 147.285 MHz repeater in [the farming town of] Bell, and when conditions warranted, I would put out a call every hour at the bottom of the hour (30 minutes past the hour) for any emergency traffic. If stations were on emergency power, they could call at that time and save power the rest of the hour. At the top of the hour (on the hour) I would change frequency to the 146.82 MHz repeater to confer with neighboring Alachua county ARES and EOC where I would remain for 10 minutes to relay and pass traffic/info as needed." Greiner planned for ARES to "monitor in place." If shelters were opened, Greiner would send two radio operators with 2-meter radios, "but I would have the last word on any deployments necessary."