The August meeting of ARES of Champaign County was held Wednesday, August 2, 2006 at the Fire Service Institute.  Here are important notes from that meeting and other news.<br>
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ATTENDING<br>
N9DN, AB9FJ, N9XDH, WB9HFK, KC9HXY, KC9ITF, N9GPA, K9SI, K9MLT, K9LMM, KC9HND, KB9KAI, KC9IHX, KC9IKL, KC9DSS, W9EML, W9DML (17)<br>
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HF and VHF/UHF ANTENNAS FOR FIELD USE<br>
Mark Belding, N9GPA, gave a presentation on antenna designs for field use in a deployment.  One was a NVIS HF antenna, and the second was a VHF/UHF dual band antenna featured in the August issue of QST magazine. Marlk will be assembling prototypes, including a portable mast system that will hold both antennas. Our goal is to have the antennas built and tested in time for the October SET.<br>
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WEB SITE INFO <br>
If you are having trouble navigating the WA9RES web site (mouse-over buttons not working), be sure that you have Javascript enabled.  Usually you can set this in your browser options. In Firefox, go to Tools, Options, Content, and check the Enable Javascript box.<br>
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UPDATE ON FEMA TRAINING<br>
Remember that under the requirements of NIMS, all participants, even volunteers, are required to have some basic training for NIMS.  The two courses required, as a minimum, for volunteers are FEMA IS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System and FEMA IS-700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction.   Under current regulations the first two courses must be completed by September 30, 2006. If they are not completed, you will not be allowed to work with Champaign County EMA as an ARES volunteer in an emergency or disaster response. This may also extend to working with the Red Cross in such disasters.<br>
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More information and links to the FEMA Emergency Management Institute can be found on the WA9RES web site.<br>
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So far, two ARES members have completed all four courses (see the WA9RES web site), and two others have completed 100 and 700.  You should be able to complete both courses in about 2.5 hours.<br>
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When you complete any of the FEMA courses, you will need to send a copy of your course completion certificate to me so your training file can be updated and we have a record of your completion.<br>
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AUGUST NET CONTROL STATIONS<br>
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.<br>

August 8           AB9FJ<br>
August 15          N9GPA<br>
August 22          KC9DSS<br>
August 29          KC9IHX<br>
Sept 5             KC9HND<br>
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NEXT MEETING<br>
The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, September 6, 7:00 p.m.  We are trying to arrange for a tour of the Champaign County EOC for this meeting.  Check the web site for updated details.<br>