Amateur radio activated into . ood areas of North Carolina

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) and Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) are volunteer organized groups of amateur radio operators who are activated after an emergency such as the devastating floods that have inundated the flood areas around Ashville, North Carolina, where flooding is so severe that in many parts of these counties there was no power, telephone and cellular phone service. RACES and ARES provide several communication tools including voice and messaging forms through a program called Winlink to the incident commander, including communication for the police and fire departments and other agencies.

Radio amateurs fund their own equipment, and do not receive, nor want any form of renumeration as ham radio is considered a public service.

The Seal Beach/Los Alamitos area has four amateur radio communication stations: Seal Beach Police Department, the Seal Beach Pier Station, Fire Station 48 and the Los Alamitos Police Station. Several amateurs are equipped to provide strategically located field emergency radio stations using solar charged battery operated radios in most areas of both cities.

The Seal Beach and Los Alamitos RACES drill Wednesday evenings to be assured the radio systems can connect through the repeater atop the Boeing building and/or via simplex operation not using a repeater.

Members of the cities RACES Team participate in field drills with fictional scenarios at least two times per year. Each team member will know exactly what is expected in the event of an emergency. Local residents are encouraged to form a neighborhood communication network using Family Radio Systems. No license is required.

For more information regarding RACES, go to www. RACES41.com.