RARC hosts a Builder’s Day from 9am to 11am on the Saturday following the normal club meeting each month. The purpose of the Builder’s Day is for any club members to bring in and work on projects such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or any other projects that members are interested in working on. The Builder’s Day will be located in the same location as the monthly meeting – at the Rochester EOC, located in the lower level of the 2185 Wheelock Drive Building (Also Rochester Fire Station No. 2)
Category: Events
ALL RARC events which don’t have a more specific designation , such as public service, ARES, Nets, Exercises, Field Day, etc. should be posted in this category.
Iron Challenge – February 23rd, 2019
The Iron Challenge is a Fat Tire Bike Race, 4k Trail Run and Duathlon raising money for Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge and Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch. For 2019 the Iron Challenge will feature 3 levels of Fat Tire bike racing, 3 levels of a 4k Trail Run race and 3 levels of a Duathlon. This event could use 1-2 more people, sign up here! Contact Braeden – KE0NHW for more information.
Breakfast at Five West – Saturdays at 8:00AM
There’s a social breakfast with local hams at Five West 1991 Commerce Drive NW, Rochester 8:00AM on Saturdays. Note: The “Saturday Morning Hams” met for many years in Byron at a restaurant that closed. Please email k0sir@bobdubke.com to be included on its GoogleGroups email reminder list
Recommended Training for ARES Members
The following self-directed courses are available for free through FEMA.
ARES members are encouraged to take them in order to get familiarized with the Incident Command System in use nationally.
- IS-100b Introduction to the Incident Command System: http://training.fema.gov/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-100.b
- IS-200 Basic Incident Command System: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is200.asp
- IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700.asp
- IS-800 National Response Plan (NRP), An Introduction: http://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-800.b
MN ARES also recommends the following courses:
- EC-001 Introduction to Emergency Communication http://www.arrl.org/online-course-catalog#
- CPR/AED and First Aid Training: Via Red Cross
Olmsted County Emergency Services Nets
An ARES net is activated when threatening situations warrant as determined by the National Weather Service in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, or by the Olmsted County or Rochester Emergency Operations Centers. Skywan nets are directed nets and all communications is controlled by the net control station (NCS) using net procedures. Contact Steve Wiebke (W0STV), for more information on becoming a ARES net control station operator.
The Olmsted county ARES net uses the Olmsted EOC 147.255 repeater, PL100.0 Hz, for skywarn and emergency event activation/information. The 146.820, PL100.0 Hz, repeater is the backup for the 147.255 repeater and is available to provide additional ARES communications. A third back up repeater is the 146.625 PL 100.0 for redundancy and over flow traffic that can not be handled by the previous two repeaters..
An ARES information and training net is held every Sunday evening at 9:00 PM local time. Please see the Nets and Meetings page for net and repeater information. All registered ARES members are required to check into this net. Any licensed amateur radio operator may check into the net. Please listen first and follow the NCS check in procedures.
ARES net information links:
- ARES Net Control Station Schedule ARES NCS Schedule.
- ARES Net Control Station Preamble/Postamble Text
- ARRL Message Format (FSD-218) PDF Format and ARRL Radiogram form in PDF Format
- MN-ARES-Specific ICS forms and documents
The Olmsted skywarn activity debriefing is held during the Sunday evening ARES nets, following any previous weeks activation. All amateur radio operators that were activated are requested to check into the net. Comments and constructive suggestions are welcomed.
Sunday Night ARES Net Rotation
The Sunday Night ARES net will start a weekly repeater rotation in 2018 starting in February, as follows for each Sunday in a month:
| First Sunday @ 9pm | 147.255+ P.L. 100Hz |
| Second Sunday @ 9pm | 146.625- P.L. 100Hz |
| Third Sunday @ 9pm | 147.255+ P.L. 100Hz |
| Fourth Sunday @ 9pm | 146.820- P.L. 100Hz |
| Fifth Sunday @ 9pm | 147.255+ P.L. 100Hz |
The purpose is to monthly test each repeaters operation during a net from around the county for quality control, and to test our radio(s) on each VHF repeater.