Northeast Louisiana ARES/RACES/Skywarn - Guestbook

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Louisiana Public Safety Expo 2008
Northeast Louisiana ARES participated in the 1st annual Louisiana Public Safety Expo today at the Monroe Civic Center. The event was organized by the Louisiana State Police and featured numerous agencies from across the state. The general public was invited out to witness demonstrations and see the latest equipment. Amateur Radio was well represented and we even let some non-hams make a few contacts on the radio. The Northeast Louisiana ARES Mobile Command Unit and portable 100 foot tower and communications trailer was setup right outside the main entrance to the arena and we received some very high exposure. Overall the event was a huge success and we have been invited to participate in next years expo.

Skywarn Class held on Saturday, March 8th, 2008: The National Weather Service conducted a skywarn class on Saturday, March 8th at the Ouachita Parish Fire Training Center. Aproximately 70 people including ham radio operators, meteorology students, law enforcement and the general public attended this class. According to the National Weather Service, it was the largest class that has ever been conducted in the Shreveport Warning Area. Thanks to all that addended !!!

Statewide EOC HF Tests: The state EOC in Baton Rouge will be conducting a series of HF tests on a bi-monthly basis. These tests will be conducted on 7.285 and 3.873 MHz. For a current schedule and results of the tests, visit: www.eacom.org

Severe Weather Outbreak - February 5, 2008: A local skywarn net was activated on the 146.850 repeater in Monroe at aproximately 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 in reponse to a forecast severe weather outbreak. The net lasted neary twelve hours and concluded just after midnight.

Radio links to the National Weather Service in Shreveport were setup on the link system repeaters and via echolink to Jackson NWS on the 147.015 repeater. Local net control was stationed at the Northeast Louisiana Regional EOC in West Monroe.

A total of 35 operators participated on the local net, including: W5HUD N5MEL KD5MWL KD5KZZ KE5HLT KE5MXG KB5SAR KA5JNL N5ASA AC5DW NB5K KB5TLB K5ER KE5ESU KD5ITA N5JU N5KWB WC5M AD5XM N5YEE KD5IGZ KD5KDQ W5WZ N5WLG W5KGT KC5TYV KD5CJT KE5JVZ N5HMH KE5PZN KE5PZM K5NOE KB5VJY KD5ETB and W5DSG.

Special thanks to all that assisted during this event. Although many stations did not have any severe weather to report for their immediate location, had our area experienced a major event, we would have been able to relay real-time eye witness information direct to the National Weather Service and possibly save lives.

LA ARES NET & Echolink Conference: A special statewide ARES HF net is held each on Sunday nights at 7:30 on 3873 KHz. Also if you have echolink, you are invited to join the LA ARES echolink conference at 8:00 p.m. You can connect to K5GLS, WA5LQZ, W5DSG or AD5XJ to join the conference. For more information on Echolink, visit: www.echolink.org

Statewide EOC HF Test- On the morning of Friday, December 28th a statewide test was held to demonstrate HF continuity between various EOC and served agencies and the state EOC in Baton Rouge. The test conducted on 80 meters (3.873 KHz) proved to be VERY successful. The goal is to conduct an HF test at least once per month and therefore, identify any issues with equipment and antenna systems installed at EOCs.