The Centre County ARES needs a liaison station(s) to check in to the Western Pennsylvania Phone and Traffic Net and handle traffic (messages) in and out of Centre County. We haven’t had such a station for years and it really is part of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services system. I plan to use this station(s) during the SET on October 31, 2009 to handle some drill traffic.
To be honest, some of the traffic the WPA net handles is mundane; messages congratulating hams on upgrading or becoming a VE or reminding them to renew their license. That said, those messages ARE practice for times when we might handle real traffic in a disaster or emergency. Any traffic received can be handled directly or passed through on two meters, particularly on the Sunday night ARES net.
The net meets daily at 6:00 PM on 3.983 mHz, LSB. I do NOT expect that our volunteer station(s) will check in daily though, right now once or twice a week will be sufficient. Since the net meets on this frequency the operator will have to have a General Class license of above and a station capable of reliable operation on that frequency. If you are interested please contact me and we can discuss it further.
I can usually be found on 146.85,
Thank you.
73, Carmine, K3CWP