Welcome to Redmond ARES

Redmond ARES provides communications support and other services for both planned and unplanned events as well as training, mentoring, and technical assistance with ham gear and antennas.

Examples of planned events include ​​​​King County and Washington State disaster preparedness exercises and drills. We also participate in Redmond Derby Days and Marymoor Park events.

Several residential and retirement communities in Redmond have built their own networks using inexpensive General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) walkie talkies and base-station radios. Redmond ARES members and hams within those communities have helped build these networks and have practiced getting information in and out during an emergency.

Many ARES members also participate in the ARRL Field Day exercises held each year during the last full weekend in June.  Field day activities were covered in both the Redmond Reporter and Seattle Times.

Unplanned events are situations or emergencies where Redmond ARES receives a formal activation request from the City of Redmond, King County or Washington State. Examples of past unplanned events include the following:

• Nisqually Earthquake – February 2001
• Snow Emergencies – Numerous
• President’s Day Windstorm – February 1993 

If Redmond ARES is activated, team responsibilities may include the following: 

• Communicate within the city using personal or city amateur radio gear, agency radios, cell phones, GMRS/FRS radios or other communications devices. 
• Communicate with the King County EOC in Renton, WA and the State of Washington Emergency Management Division at Camp Murray, WA.
• Communicate with other municipal Emergency Operations Centers.
• Support the Redmond Police as requested.​

In an emergency, most ARES team members will operate from their homes or vehicles. From there, they will be using programs like WinLink to send  situation reports, wellness messages, and other traffic over their radios. We will coordinate operations over the air using whatever repeaters are operational or using direct simplex contacts with other hams and governmental agencies. We all have indepenent electrical supplies that include battery, UPS, solar panels, and generators to stay up when the power fails. 

Your success as an ARES volunteer depends on a familiarity with basic emergency communications skills, and a working knowledge of the Incident Command System (ICS) used by FEMA, Washington State, King County, and the City of Redmond. The following table describes the training you're expected to complete as a Redmond ARES member. All of these courses can be taken online.  

ICS and NIMS Courses--Those not shown in bold are optional.

• ICS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System
• ICS-200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• ICS-300: Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents
• ICS-400: Advanced ICS for Command and General Staff
• IS-700: National Incident Management System, An Introduction
• IS-703: NIMS Resource Management
• IS-706: NIMS Intrastate Mutual Aid – An Introduction
• IS-800: National Response Framework, An Introduction

There are three basic requirements for ARES membership:

• An amateur radio license Technician, General, or Extra.
• A willingness to serve your community and volunteer your time and talents.
• Access to a ham radio.

We can help get your license through online courses and local in-person classes. Since COVID, the Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG) has created online courseware to help train hams to pass the exams needed to secure an FCC Amateur Radio license. These programs methodically teach you what you need to know to pass the ham test using published test questions and answers. Several members of the ARES team are volunteer examiners (VEs) who have proctored thousands of tests—some to candidates as young as nine (she got nearly a perfect score).

As to your first radio, some testing groups provide free radios available for graduates. Check with your VEC testing center.

After you get your license, we can help find an elmer—a helpful ham to walk you through choosing and setting up your radio and antenna as well as introducing you to the wealth of local ham networks where you can practice on the air. 

Here's how to become a member:

1. Attend monthly meetings to find out if the Redmond ARES mission is a good fit with your interests and abilities. These meetings are held online over Microsoft Teams.
2. Request an application. You can use our contact form, or send mail to "info" at redmond-ares.org.

 To maintain your status as an active member of Redmond ARES, you must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Attend at least one online meeting per quarter.
• Check in during at least three weekly on-air nets per quarter.
• Meet the basic training requirement​s.
• Participate in planned deployments and emergency call-outs.
• Maintain a basic emergency activation kit (also known as a go bag or jump kit).

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  Email "info" at redmond-ares.org