Activites

Field Day 2023 Rock Bridge Memorial State Park Columbia MO

(L-R) Laura Aldred, Boone County Commissioner Justin Aldred, Ernest Shaw KCØEZE, Jim Barresi K0MIZ, Chris Kelley, Director Boone County Office of Emergency Management, Chris Swisher KØPHP, Brett Slaughter KEØBJL

Monthly Meetings

Meeting agendas generally involving evaluations of past recent local activites, planning and training for future local activities, discussions regarding district, state-wide, and national ARES activities as well as formal and informal ham-related presentation, demonstrations, and fellowship activities.

Check out our calendar for details on meetings and other scheduled activities.

The Boone County Office of Emergency Management is located at 2145 County Drive in Columbia, MO,

Winlink Exercises

What is Winlink?

Winlink Global Radio Email is a network of amateur radio and authorized government stations that provide worldwide radio email using radio pathways where the internet is not present. The system is built, operated and administered entirely by licensed “Ham” volunteers. It supports email with attachments, position reporting, weather and information bulletins, and is well-known for its role in interoperable emergency and disaster relief communications. It is capable of operating completely without the internet–automatically–using smart-network radio relays. Licensed Winlink operators/stations use both amateur radio and government radio frequencies worldwide.(https://winlink.org/)

For more information go to https://winlink.org/.

Winlink Thursdays

Winlink Thursdays is sponsored by EmComm-Training.org which consists of a group of roughly 1500 Amateur Radio Operators (“Hams”) working together to demonstrate, exercise and improve knowledge and proficiency sending emergency communications with Winlink.

They attempt to accomplish this by conducting weekly and/or monthly practice drills, sending various ICS and Winlink form messages.

For more information check out their YouTube channel Winlink Tutorials and visit their website, Em-Comm-Training.org.

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Regular practice in the use of Winlink is heartily encouraged, in all of its various modes currently available to the end user, as well as any modes that may be developed by the Winlink
Development Team (WDT) or acquired by the amateur in the future. These include, but are not limited to, Packet, VARA HF, VARA FM and PACTOR.

Field Day 2024 Activities

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Field Day

Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933.

For more information about the annual Field Day please use the links below.

“What is Field Day” (Printable PDF flier)

Field Day Locator (to find a Field Day site near you)

Simulated Emergency Testing (SET)

ARRL’s Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is a nationwide exercise where participants have the chance to test their personal emergency-operating skills and the readiness of their communications equipment and accessories in a simulated emergency-like deployment.

ARRL Field Organization Leaders at the section and local levels, and many other volunteers that are active in public service and emergency communications develop simulated emergency-like scenarios in consultation with a variety of agencies and organizations for whom radio amateurs are known to provide service during emergencies.

SET exercises are scored on a variety of parameters and then submitted in formal reports for all agencies to review. This provides some opportunity for all agencies and individuals who participate in the yearly SET exercises to better improve their skills and plans in the case of a real emergency.