ARES and other Section Field Services members

promoting Amateur Radio as a Community Resource World-Wide

during annual RAC Canada Day event

 

 

 

For the first time in the history of Radio Amateurs of Canada, plans are underway for the RAC ARES/NTS to be on the air simultaneously in every Section of the RAC Field Organization using their respective official RAC call sign to promote the ARES in particular and Amateur Radio in general as a vital public service in time of disaster.  This "first" will take place during the annual RAC Canada Day Contest on July 1, 2007, and RAC Field Services members are invited to participate.  There are eight Sections in the RAC FS and a total of eleven official RAC call signs have been authorized for their use.

 

This is all part of a prelude to the joint USA/Canada event being planned and scheduled for later this year, organized by the applicable federal government departments of Canada and the US, and put into action by RAC and the ARRL.  It will take place at an internationally-known historic Canadian location and is certain to garner international media attention.  (More information on that will be released when available.) 

Furthermore, in both the Canada Day and the planned joint US/CAN events, the media and on-air Amateur Radio exposure will be of invaluable assistance to the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in its efforts on behalf of Amateur Radio this fall during the World Radio Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, promoting Amateur Radio before an international gathering of countries as a vital resource in time of disaster.  That helps safeguard our existing frequencies, while aiding efforts to secure more.

 

IARU Technical Representative Ken Pulfer,VE3PU, asserts that all Canadian Radio Amateurs must  publicize the ARES and other Amateur Radio emergency and disaster communications capabilities on the air during RAC contests.

 

By actively participating in the Canada Day event, RAC ARES stations are part of a larger effort to promote themselves and Amateur Radio.  Although not mandatory, it is anticipated that participating stations will operate individually from their own home locations.  There is no requirement or expectation for stations to group together in field day fashion.

 

ARES stations should contact their EC.  ECs, DECs and SECs should contact their respective Section Manager to be included in scheduling.  ECs should notify and encourage their ARES stations to take part by having them complete the on-line participant information form found at http://www.rac.ca/fieldorg/arescanadaops.htm.  Further information is at that same address. Once submitted, completed forms will be forwarded to the respective SM.

 

Not a member of the RAC Amateur Radio Emergency Service?  Want to be part of the Canada Day promotion and of a community resource?  It's easy.  Contact your RAC Emergency Coordinator or click HERE to register.  RAC membership, while strongly encouraged, is not a requirement to become an ARES volunteer emergency station.

 

 

"Amateur Radio exists as a frequency spectrum user because it qualifies as a service. Its continued existence depends to a great degree not on the the service it has performed in the past, or on its simple potential for service, but on what service it is performing now and will continue to perform in the future."