Welcome to
Prince George's County, Maryland
ARES/RACES
Our call sign is W3PGC
Our VHF Repeater is K3ERA - 145.230- pl 110.9
atop Doctors Community Hospital, Lanham, MD .
Our two RMS nodes are W3PGC-10 on 145.750 MHz. & 445.975 MHz.
To see our complete Frequency List, click the Frequencies button above.
Net Control Station Schedule
Training Nets - EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:30 PM
 See: NCS Operator Schedule and Net Control Script
Regular Eye-ball Meetings - 3rd Monday of every month.
  

Introduction

PG-ARES/RACES provides emergency communication support. When the cell towers are down, or overloaded, when the land lines are down and the power is out, Amateur Radio operators can communicate with other operators anywhere in the world.  All members are volunteers with various levels of Amateur Radio licenses.  We also volunteer our personal Amateur Radio equipment when we are called to serve.

Amateur Radio Emergency Service Today - by the late Walter Cronkite - YouTube Video

To view and print the PG-ARES Tri-Fold Brochure

If you are a FCC licensed Amateur Radio Operator and wish to participate or volunteer, you are encouraged to join our Tuesday evening Training-Nets or Meetings.   You may also join our PG-ARES Yahoo Group.

Subscribe to PG-AresRaces
Powered by us.groups.yahoo.com

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Membership

The PG-ARES/RACES is a service organization and as such membership requirements include: a valid FCC Amateur Radio Operators License as well as a willingness to participate.   Our main function is to serve the community with our Amateur Radio hobby in times of need.

To be ARES Member you must participate in the On-the-Air Training Nets and come to the Meetings. See below.

To be RACES Member, qualified by Prince George's County and the State of Maryland, you must have completed the
FEMA On-Line Courses IS-100a, IS-700a, IS-200b and IS-800b  Send your course completion certificates to the RACES Radio Officer (RO) by email or hand deliver it at a regular Meeting,

Click HERE to download the PGARES Membership Application. Please fill it in and return it to the AEC for Membership or bring it to the monthly meeting.



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Meetings - Events Calendar   < < Click

PG-ARES On-Air Training Net on EVERY TUESDAY of the month @ 7:30 PM on the GMRA 146.610- Bladensburg Repeater

Monthly Meetings on the 3rd Monday of the month @ 7:30 PM at the
EOC Meeting Room, PG Co. Fire Services Building, 6820 Webster St., Hyattsville, MD 20784-1474.

HF Health Care Traning Net on the Wednesday following the Monthly Meeting @ 8:00 PM on 3820 KHz LSB.  This is a controlled net, please follow the instructions of the Net Control Station, usually Wanda-KA3AHI.

Training Meeting on a selected Saturday Mornings of most months, starting at various times and ending at 12 Noon
at the EOC Meeting Room, PG Co. Fire Services Building, 6820 Webster St., Hyattsville, MD 20784-1474.


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Activities

In order to hone our skills as communicators, net controllers, and volunteers in general, we provide communication support for local events such as marathons, bicycle races, parades & festivals.  We also provide communication support during emergencies and disasters with other volunteer organizations.

Prince George's County (PG Co.) Health Care Coalition  < < Click
We have standing agreements with local hospitals and County Health Depts. to provide communication support if and when their existing systems fail.  Currently we have complete radio stations at six of the County hospitals.   Also, the County Health Departments will come online during 2009. When these other stations come on line, PG-ARES will need another 10 to 13 trained operators to operate the new stations. So, if you would like to become involved with the Prince George's ARES, we would like to train you now. Please check into one of the 1st, 3rd, or 5th Tuesday Training Nets and make yourself known.   See the Prince George's Co. Health Care Coalition pages.

HF Health Care Traning Net on the Wednesday following the Monthly Meeting @ 8:00 PM on 3820 KHz LSB.  This is a controlled net, please follow the instructions of the Net Control Station, usually Wanda-KA3AHI.


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Training

On-the-Air Training Nets are held every Tuesday on the 146.610 repeater @ 7:30 PM Local.
Click Training Net Control Operators to see a list of the NCS Ops.   Download the Net Control Script

Training Sessions are also held on one Saturday Morning per month at the FSB-EOC.

Please see the WB2IFS-Jesse's PG-ARES/RACES/CERTCOM Training Web for a much more complete listing of upcoming training opertuities.   Also see the PG-ARES Events Calendar for times and locations of training sessions.

The FEMA Online Courses - a complete listing - http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp
        The IS-100a , IS-700a, IS-200b and IS-800b course completions are currently required by Prince George's County OEM to qualify you to work any County or State declared Emergency Incidents (RACES).

¹ IS-100a, Introduction to Incident Command System - http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is100FWA.asp
² IS-700a National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction - http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700a.asp
  IS-200b, ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents - http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is200b.asp
  IS-800b, ICS for National Response Framework, An Introduction - http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS800b.asp



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Files

Files, Instructions & other PDF's listed here are for downloading.
You may need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view some files.
Click the Acrobat Reader link to download the Reader.    
  • PG-ARES Tri-Fold Brochure - Who we are - 144 Kb
  • Net Control Script .PDF file, Ver. 2.7 Revised 12/22/11 - 75 Kb  
  • Net Operations - Chapter 4 - W3YVQ's PSCM NTS - 361 Kb
  • MEMA Maryland Natural Hazards Preparedness Guide - 3.0 Mb
  • Are You Prepared? September is Emergency Preparedness Month - 206 Kb
  • Disaster Preparedness web pages by Dave-KJ4ACS
  • E-jumpkit - A collection of files for use by the ARES/RACES team for use in the field. (coming soon)
  • Useful MAPS
  • ICS-213 - General Message Form  

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    Links

            WEB SITES
    PG ARES-RACES - Yahoo Group and eMail Reflector.
    ARRL - Amateur Radio Relay League
    ARRL - ARES - Amateur Radio Emergency Service
    ARRL Atlantic Division - Web Site
    ARRL - Maryland DC Section - Section Manager Jim Cross, WI3N

    FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency - Home page
    MEMA Maryland Emergency Management Agency - Home page

    SKYWARN - Balto./Wash. Section
    NWS Forcast Office Balto./Wash. - enter your Zip Code for report
    NOAA Wx Radio - Wash. DC - WNG-736 @ 162.450 MHz
                Program your WX Radio for Prince George's County, MD 024033, MDZ013
    WX4NHC - National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station
    MEPN - Maryland Emergency Phone Net

    GMRA - The Green Mountain Repeater Association - 2 Meter Repeaters
    CMRG - Central Maryland Repeater Group - 70 CM Repeaters
           We greatfully thank GMRA and CMRG for the use of the repeaters for the ARES Training & Emergency Nets.
    T-MARC - The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council
    PGARC - Prince George's Amateur Radio Special Events Club of Md.


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    Contacts

    On the air -   W3PGC
    RMS Node -   W3PGC-10 - 145.750 MHz
    Location: 39.94553ºN   76.900022ºW
     
    Snail Mail -   PGARES/RACES
    6820 Webster St., Room 113
    Hyattsville, MD 20784-1474

    PG-ARES STAFF MEMBERS

    Brandywine, MD    		   - ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC)
     


    Upper Marlboro, MD    		   - AEC for Administration
     

     
    Riverdale, MD    		   - AEC for Operations

     
    Brandywine, MD    		   - AEC for Health Care Coalition (Hospitals & Health Depts.)
     

     
    Clinton, MD    		   - AEC for Training Coordination
     

     
    Upper Marlboro, MD    		   - AEC Public Information Officer
     

     
    Bowie, MD    		   - AEC for Liaison
     


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    Photo Albums

  • National Night Out 2011 - Aug. 2, 2011   
  • Field Day 2011 - June 25-26, 2011
  • WinLink RMS Express Class - July 23, 2011
  • Map of PGARES WinLink2K RMS Packet Nodes - Jan. 26, 2011
  • Prince George's VFD Parade Communications Team - Sept. 18, 2010
  • Wind Wizard 2010 Drill - August 26, 2010
  • August 2010 Meeting - Cake celebrating the new EC & RO for PGARES
  • August 2010 Meeting - Cliff-W3CB receives his "Most Net Check-Ins 2010" award from the new EC, Jim-WB3KAS
  • National Night Out 2010 - Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - Pr. Geo's County, MD
  • Holiday Social 2009 - at the Golden Corral, Largo Towne Center
  • National Night Out 2009 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - Pr. Geo's County, MD
  • Field Day 2009 - American Legion Post 66, Bowie, MD
  • "Go Kit" Seminar & "Show & Tell" - July & August 2008
  • Holiday Social 2007 - at the Golden Corral, Largo Towne Center
  • Field Day 2007 - at the Armed Forces Retirement Home, DC
  • Red Cross Shelter Simulation Exercise - Sept. 29, 2007
  • Hams At Settings Other Than Ham Radio Functions
    •             ☺ Jim-N3XKJ with Santa and members of Girl Scout Senior Troop 3988 prepare to ride the engine truck to an event.
                ☺ Jerry-N3WSG tees off at a charity golf tournament
                ☺
          		Hams at the Anne Arundel Scottish Highland Games & Festival - Oct. 13, 2007
         Also see "QST" for January 2008, page 13
    If you have digital photos of PG ARES events, your EmComm gear, your QTH Shack, or other photos involving Ham Radio,
    please email them with captions to

    • News Clips

    Publication: Andrews Gazette - Friday, Sep 07, 2012
    Ham radio operators help hospitals in emergencies
    by Chris Basham, Staff writer


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    - Web Master.
    All content, images & graphics Copyright © 2008-2013 by ARRL or PG-ARES - Page last updated - Mar. 13, 2013