Welcome to the St. Louis County R.A.C.E.S. & ARES^® 

Emergeny Operations Website

 

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a standby radio service provided for in Part 97.407 of The Radio Amateur  Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations governing amateur radio in the United States.^[1] The concept of a standby "Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service" to replace the conventional "Amateur Radio Service" during wartime was developed in 1952 as result of input from the American Radio Relay League and the Department of the Army's Office of Civil Defense. During World War II, the Amateur Radio Service had been silenced and a new War Emergency Radio Service (WERS) had to be created from scratch in a process that took six months.

The resulting standby RACES service was designed to provide a quicker and smoother transition in the event the President ever needed to silence the regular Amateur Radio Service again when invoking the War Powers Act. Despite four wars involving the United States since 1952, this has never happened.

 

Activation

When so activated, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service will consist of only those amateur radio operators who have previously registered with State and local governments to provide emergency radio communications for them in times of emergency. Other amateur radio operations might be suspended and operations under the RACES rules might be restricted to certain frequencies within the amateur radio bands.

In addition to wartime communications, operations under the RACES rules can provide or supplement communications during emergencies where normal communication systems have sustained damage. It may be used in a wide variety of situations, including natural disasters, technological disasters, nuclear accidents, nuclear attack, terrorist incidents, and bomb threats.

 

Participation

In the past, actual RACES station licenses were also issued to civil defense organizations. To prevent abuse of station licenses by officials who were not licensed amateur radio operators, limitations on the duration of non-emergency operation and stations that might be contacted were incorporated into part 97.407. Such RACES station licenses are no longer issued, and any operations under the RACES rules would now use licensed amateur radio operators as control operators.

In daily practice, most amateur radio operators enrolled with their local government for possible operations under the RACES rules are also members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, organized by the American Radio Relay League provides emergency communications in the conventional Amateur Radio Service without the need for an emergency declaration from the government.

 

                                                            

Amateur Radio Emergency Service^® (ARES^®)

 

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service^® (ARES^®) provides emergency communications to "Served Agencies" such as fire and police departments, the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, hospitals, and others. Many ARES^® teams also provide communications for public service events such as marathons, parades, bike riding events, and boat races. Individual ARES^® teams are organized at the county level in Missouri. This is the Web site of the ARES^® team serving St. Louis County, Missouri.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service^® is a program of the American Radio Relay League. "ARES" and "Amateur Radio Emergency Service" are registered marks of and are used on this Web site by permission of the American Radio Relay League.

Many ARES^® teams also provide communications for public service events such as marathons, parades, bike riding events, and boat races. Individual ARES^® teams are organized at the county level in Missouri. This is the link to the Web site of the ARES^® specific team serving St. Louis County, Missouri. www.stlares.org.

 

 

ARES^® Upcoming exercises and projects:
   

ShowMe Intertie Exercise	May 1, 2013
Field Day	June 29-30, 2013
County-wide Simplex Exercise	July 27, 2013 (tentative)
VAMC Simulated Emergency Test	August or September 2013
ARCEmergency Communications Awareness Day	September 2013
Simulated Emergency Test Deployment Exercise	September, October 2013

 

For further information and/or questions, please contact:

Steve Wooten    KCØQMU
Emergency Coordinator for
St. Louis County ARES^® & HARN

314-623-8649 / kc0qmu@yahoo.com