Date:  May 8, 2006
From:  Steve Hilberg
Subject:  ARES of Champaign County QST  - May 2006


The May meeting of ARES of Champaign County was held Wednesday, May 3, 2006 at the Fire Service Institute.  Here are important notes from that meeting and other news.

ATTENDING
N9XDC, KB9KAI, W9EML, KC9HND, WB9HFK, AB9FJ, K9SI, N9DN, N9GPA, KC9DSS, KC9IKL, KC9IHX, KB7NFV K9CFD, KC9HXY

MAY MEETING
The training topic for our May meeting was net control station operation. Debbie Fligor, N9DN, gave a presentation on the basics of being a net control station operator.  The presentation was followed by a tabletop exercise simulating a severe weather net in which a net control operator had to deal with spotters reporting information, as well as "hams at large" wanting to know "what was going on". The tabletop exercise was a great way to reinforce the concepts outlined in Debbie's presentation.

MARCH OF DIMES WALK VOLUNTEERS
It was a cool and somewhat rainy morning, but there was a good turnout for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica event in Champaign on April 29.  Thanks to the following ARES members who helped out with this event:  N9XDC, N9GKA, AB9FJ, KC9IHX, KC9IKL, KC9HXY, KB7NFV, W9DML, and W9EML.

MS WALK VOLUNTEERS
On the other hand, the weather was perfect for the MS Walk on May 7 at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana.  The following ARES members provided communications along the walking course through the park:  KC9DEQ, W9MOO, N9DN, N9XDC, KC9IHX, and KC9IKL.

MAY NET CONTROL STATIONS
The weekly ARES net is held each Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., on the 444.100 repeater, CTSS 162.2.  An updated net check-in list is now available on the web site.

May 9        KB7NFV
May 16       KC9DSS
May 23       KC9HND
May 30       N9GKA
June 6       N9GPA


NEXT MEETING
The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, June 7, 7:00 p.m. at the Fire Service Institute.