Welcome to Prince George's County, Maryland ARES/RACES Our call sign is W3PGC Our VHF Repeater is K3ERA - 145.230- pl 110.9 in Distric Heights, MD . Please set your rig for both TX & RX Tone Squelch to 110.9 Hz. Our VHF Winlink node is KA3AHI-10on 145.750 MHz. We also have HF Winmor nodes, call sign K3ERA on 80m & 40m . To see our complete Frequency List, click the Frequencies button above.

Training Nets - EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:30 PM Local - K3ERA 145.230- pl 110.9 Repeater
Net Control Schedule for January 1, 2019 thru July 3, 2019
See: Net Control Script, Ver. 4.4, 12/28/14

Regular Eye-ball Meetings - 3rd Monday of every month at 7:00 PM Eastern Local

HF Hospital Net - 3.820 MHz LSB on
Wednesday following the 3rd Monday, Every Month at 7:00 PM Eastern Local

NOAA - NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
Current WASHINGTON AREA WEATHER

SantaFest Flier with Directions

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 Today" - by the late Walter Cronkite (YouTube Video)

PG-ARES is supported by contributions from members, the public, and grants to PGCERA, Inc..

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

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Membership

The PG-ARES/RACES is a field service organization of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) 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 an ARES Member:

• download and complete the Membership Application and either return it to the AEC for Administration or bring it to a monthly meeting;
• participate in the On-the-Air Training Nets held every Tuesday at 7:30 PM Local on K3ERA 145.230- pl 110.9 Repeater; and
• attend the monthly meetings held the 3rd Monday of every month at 7:00 PM Eastern Local

To be a RACES Member, qualified by Prince George's County and the State of Maryland, you must have completed the following FEMA On-Line Courses:

• IS-100.C: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100
• IS-700.B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
• IS-200.B: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-800.C: National Response Framework, an Introduction

Send your course completion certificates to the RACES Radio Officer (RO) by email or hand deliver it at a regular Meeting.

To join PG ARES, download and complete the Membership Application, return it to the AEC for Administration or bring it to the monthly meeting.

 
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Meetings - Events Calendar 

PG-ARES On-Air Training Net on EVERY TUESDAY of the month @ 7:30 PM on the K3ERA 145.230- pl110.9 District Heights, MD Repeater

Monthly Meetings on the 3^rd Monday of the month @ 7:00 PM at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Meeting Room, Prince George's County Fire Services Building, 6820 Webster Street, Hyattsville, MD 20784-1474.

MDC Section HF Hospital Training Net (HFHN) on the Wednesday following the Monthly Meeting @ 7:00PM Local 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 localevents 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
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 Hospital 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.  The HFHN is open to all HF operators from anywhere as we would use this Net for wide area/multi state emergency communications.

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Training

On-the-Air Training Nets are held every Tuesday on the 145.230- pl110.9 repeater @ 7:30 PM Local.
Download the Net Control Script, Ver. 4.4, 12/28/14
Net Control Schedule for January 1, 2019 thru July 3, 2019

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 opportunities.  Also see the PG-ARES Events Calendar for times and locations of training sessions.

A complete listing of FEMA Online Courses

The following courses must be completed in order to work any County or State declared Emergency Incidents (RACES).

• IS-100.C: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100
• IS-700.B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
• IS-200.B: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-800.C: National Response Framework, an Introduction

As you complete the FEMA courses, please send a copy your completion certificate to the AEC for Administration to update your records in our database, so we know you are eligable to work a RACES incident.

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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 - 223 Kb
• Net Control Script, Ver. 4.4, 12/28/14 - 73 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
• RMS Express Tutorial WB3KAS Rev 1.0.pdf (5 Mb) - Given on Aug. 24, 2013 at the EOC.  

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Links

ARRL Links
ARRL - Amateur Radio Relay League
ARRL - ARES - Amateur Radio Emergency Service
ARRL Atlantic Division - Web Site
ARRL - Maryland DC Section - Section Manager Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM

Reflectors
PG ARES-RACES - Yahoo Group and eMail Reflector.
MDC-ARES - Maryland-DC Section ARES reflector
MDC-EC EC & AEC reflector

Government
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency - Home page
MEMA Maryland Emergency Management Agency - Home page
Pr.Geo's. Co. Prince George's County Emergency Warming Centers

Weather
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
Lightning Maps - Maps of the local lightning strikes

Traffic Nets
MEPN - Maryland Emergency Phone Net

WinLink 2000
Winlink 2000 web page
RMS Express software download - get the RMS_Express_setup_xxx-xxx.zip file

Broadband Ham Net HSMM-MESH
HSMM-MESH Home page
WB2IFS's HSMM-MESH Project Slideshow

Groups & Clubs
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.
AARC - Anna Arundel Radio Club of Davidsonville, Md.
T-MARC - The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council

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Contacts

PGARES Call Sign - W3PGC
VHF Repeater is K3ERA - 145.230- pl 110.9 located atop Doctors Hospital in Lanham, MD
RMS Node -   W3PGC-10 - 145.750 MHz & 445.975 MHz located at the EOC in Hyattsville, MD Location: 39.94553ºN   76.900022ºW Snail Mail -  
PGARES/RACES
6820 Webster St., Room 113
Hyattsville, MD 20784-1474
 

PG-ARES STAFF MEMBERS

Jim Montgomery - WB3KAS Brandywine, MD ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC)

Richard Snider - WA3YTK Upper Marlboro, MD AEC for Administration

Steven Keller - KC3DSO Lanham, MD AEC for Operations

Wanda Montgomery - KA3AHI Brandywine, MD AEC for Health Care Coalition     (Hospitals & Health Depts.)

Jim Baker - N3XKJ Beltsville, MD AEC for Fire Dept. & EMS

AEC Training Position Open

Bill Milligan - W3WFM Upper Marlboro, MD AEC Public Information Officer

Sandra Joseph - KC3JIF Mount Rainier, MD AEC Webmaster

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Photo Albums

• National MakerFaire 2016. - June 18-19, 2016 at Univ. of Distric of Columbia  
• Slide show from the 2016 Makers Faire - June 18 & 19, 2016 - A few pictures of WB2IFS-Jesse and N3ADF  
• State's Attorney's 5K Crime Victums' Fund Run - Oct. 2012
• 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 the Webmaster.

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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Sandra Joseph - KC3JIF - Webmaster.
All content, images & graphics Copyright © 2008-2020 by ARRL or PG-ARES - Page last updated - January 6, 2019