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 City and 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.

Weather conditions at the St. Louis County Emergency Operations Center

Upcoming Events

Announcements

Try Winlink without connecting your radio! - The basic Winlink client can be run via the Internet. We urge you to download and install the basic program, then experiment and become familiar with how Winlink works and what it can do. Contact George Siede, KD0PMW if you need help. We desperately need net control operators to help run our two weekly nets - You do not need to be experienced, we will teach you what you need to know. Don't worry about making mistakes, we all do. Contact Steve Wooten if you would like to help Volunteers need for - Field Station development Website development Message and Traffic handling Working on our communications trailer Recording and archiving events Exercise planning and development Managing our physical assets Developing our financial resources Membership coordination Write messages for weekly practice net Please contact Steve Wooten, KC0QMU if you are interested in helping. New Skills Book Missouri Section ARES has replaced the older ARRL "Taskbook" with a newer "Skills Book". This is both a guide and a checklist to assist you in obtaining the training necessary to become an ARES volunteer. The Missouri Section Emergency Coordinator's letter explaining the update The fillable Skills Book in PDF format Hospital radio volunteers needed The Hospital Amateur Radio Net needs volunteers who can respond in emergencies, and can perform monthly tests on the Amateur Radios located at area hospitals and medical facilities, Please contact Steve Wooten, KC0QMU if you are interested in participating. Skywarn spotters in specific locations We are considering creating a cadre of spotters who we can alert when severe weather approaches their area. These spotters will then report back what they have seen real time and the damage they see after the event. Please contact Steve Wooten, KC0QMU if you are interested in participating. The latest ARES Basic Emergency Operations Plan is now available St. Louis Metro ARES has liability insurance, repeater maintenance, trailer maintenance, equipment repairs, hamfest tables and other expenses to pay. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations may be monetary or physical items. Click the link above for more information.

Weekly Message Practice Session

It is very important that amateur radio operators working emergency situations understand how to handle written messages. There are standard protocols and message forms. All of the details about handling these written messages, sometimes called "formal traffic", can be found on our Resources page or via the link below. We urge you to examine this material, then try copying messages read during our weekly message practice session.

Messages that have been read on the air

Details on the message practice session

Message Handling Tips

ARRL FSD-3: List of emergency, welfare, and standard messages (Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format¹)

FEMA ICS-213 form (Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format¹)

ARRL Radiogram (Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format¹)

RRI Radiogram (Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format¹)

ARRL FSD-244 Welfare form and instructions (Adobe Acrobat "PDF" format¹)

ARRL comprehensive description of sending Radiograms

What about email and website addresses in Radiograms?

Radio Relay International publications

Net Controllers needed!

The weekly practice message net has only two net control operators. If you'd like the opportunity to learn more and actually send messages, even just one time, please contact Steve Wooten, KC0QMU.

Thank you.

Interested in joining ARES^®?

New online application form now available! Click here to display the form on your browser. Fill in the blanks as best you can, then click the "Submit Form" button. A copy will be emailed to us.

If your prefer, you can download, print, and fill out a paper copy. Just Click here and send us the completed form via postal service. ¹

1 - Please see the Software section of the Resources page if you do not have software necessary to read these files.

What will we do in the event of a disaster? Click here to learn about Emergency Support Functions and the role of St. Louis Metro ARES/RACES in emergency management plans.	Check In St. Louis Metro ARES® holds a 2 meter net every week (see date and time listed below). All amateur radio operators are welcome to participate.	Net Control Run the show! We will teach you what you need to know. We'll give you the opportunity to control a net and help you if you have difficulties. See out Voice Net Operations page.	St. Louis Metro ARES Repeaters We maintain repeaters on - 145.350 MHz (-) CTCSS 141.3 Hz 442.375 MHz (+) CTCSS 141.3 Hz Both use the call sign N0ARS.
Presentations If you haven't been to our monthly meetings you've missed talks and demonstrations on Go-Bags, Message Handling, the Missouri Emergency Packet Network, DC Power and much more.	Help Is Available Do you need help building a go-bag? Are you unsure about what to use for emergency power? Would you like some information about personal preparedness? We can help.	Share Your Expertise Do you have emergency communications experience or knowledge that you'd like to share with others? Do you have some other skill or talent that could benefit the group? We'd be happy to hear from you.	Yes, We QSL Do you monitor St. Louis Metro ARES® activities? Write to us and we'll send you a QSL card. Click here for more information.
Next Meeting The date and location of our next monthly meeting can be found on the Calendar of Events page, along with directions how to get there.	Field Exercises Join us in our field exercises and develop your skills. Find out what things you do well and which areas you could improve. Help us to create a robust response team.	Social Media Click here to go to the St. Louis Metro ARES Facebook page. Click here to go to the St. Louis Metro ARES Twitter page.	Donations Yes, we accept donations of stamps, cash, items to sell or raffle, items that we can distribute to our volunteers, and so forth.

• Weekly 2 meter voice nets:
  The weekly ARES^® 2 meter resources net operates on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 PM Central Time. The net is on the W0SRC repeater, frequency 146.850 (-) MHz, tone 141.3 Hz. All amateur operators are invited to participate. Next net is
  Immediately following the resources net is the weekly ARES^® message practice session. A test message is read over the air to give you an opportunity to practice copying down formal traffic.

• Weekly Winlink net:
  This net is held to learn how to send and receive messages via Winlink, and to add new capabilites, such as using forms, to your skills. The Net Control Operator sends his instructions to the Winlink group net some time on Wednesdays. Group members pick up his message when they are able and perform the exercise he has given. Send a message to [email protected] and ask to be added to the group.

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