like i know the basic idea, emergency communications backup for when normal stuff goes down, but i looked at the ARRL page about it and honestly it was a little overwhelming. EC, RACES, ICS, all these acronyms and i dont really know where any of it fits together. is RACES totally separate from ARES or are they kind of the same thing? i see people talk about both and never figured out the difference.

also wondering what kind of gear i should have before showing up. right now i just have a baofeng and my old kenwood mobile in the truck. would that be enough to at least get started or should i get something more before i introduce myself to the group?

ended up being stationed at mile marker 6 which was kind of in a dead zone between two repeaters and i had to switch freqs a couple times to find what was working. nothing went wrong exactly but there were definitely moments where i was fumbling with the radio while trying to write stuff on my ICS-214 and also a medic was asking me something and i just felt like i had 3 things happening at once. the net control guy was great though, super patient, never made me feel dumb for asking him to repeat traffic.

anyway just wanted to share because i feel like we dont talk enough about what the first activation actually feels like vs all the training. anyone else remember their first one? did you feel totally scattered or is that just me

the EC had us set up at the EOC and i was assigned to handle traffic between the shelter at the high school and the county emergency manager. seemed straightforward but the volume of messages got pretty heavy around hour 4 and i started second guessing my message handling, like was i using the right format, should i be logging timestamps differently, stuff like that. nobody complained but i kept feeling like i was just barely keeping up.

anyway it went okay i think. just curious if other people felt kind of lost their first time out even after doing all the training. also wondering if there's stuff you wish you'd practiced more before your first real activation

honestly i was nervous as heck driving to the EOC. like i knew the procedures on paper but when the EC handed me a packet log sheet and said 'you're on the hospital net' i kind of blanked for a second. ended up being fine, traffic was mostly welfare checks and some resource requests, nothing too crazy. but there was definitely a moment where i had to ask someone next to me how they wanted me to format the ICS 213 because i'd only ever done it in training and i second guessed myself.

anyway just wanted to share because i feel like people dont talk much about what the first real one actually feels like versus the drills. also curious — do most groups do any kind of debrief after activations? ours sort of just... ended. people packed up and left and i never really heard what went well or what didnt.

honestly i wasnt sure what to expect going in. our training exercises always felt kind of... organized? like everyone knew where to stand and what frequency to be on. the real thing was a bit more chaotic at first, EC was juggling like three different things at once and it took maybe 20 minutes before i even had a clear assignment. i ended up doing welfare traffic relay between two shelter sites which wasnt glamorous but it needed doing.

the thing that surprised me most was how much of it was just sitting around waiting and then suddenly a burst of activity. i went through almost a full notepad writing down traffic. net control was running things pretty tightly once things settled down, but that first hour was definitely an eye opener compared to the SET exercises we do.

anyone else remember their first real activation being kind of overwhelming at first? curious if thats normal or if i just wasnt prepared enough

my EC assigned me to one of the water stations about 3 miles from the finish line, ill be doing radio relay between the med team at my station and net control at the finish area. been told to expect maybe 4-5 hours of operation, mostly just check-ins and passing any medical traffic if something happens

i think im prepared but im second guessing everything. my go-bag is packed, HT is fully charged with a spare battery, i wrote out the ICS-213 form procedure on an index card because i always blank on the format when im nervous, and ive been practicing keeping my transmissions short and clear. but like... is there anything that always catches newer operators off guard at these events that i should know about? not talking about big emergencies, just the little stuff that trips people up

also not sure how formal the net discipline is going to be at something like this compared to our training nets, our EC is pretty experienced but i havent really talked to him much about what to expect day-of

the EC said i'd probably just be handling check-ins at the staging area which doesnt sound too complicated but i keep second guessing myself on the ICS stuff. like i know the basics from the online courses (did ICS 100 and 200) but actually filling out the forms under pressure when people are waiting on you feels different than doing it at home with coffee.

anyone been through their first activation and have tips? mostly just looking for reassurance i guess but any practical stuff would help too. i have my go bag mostly sorted, HT and a spare battery, the county simplex and repeater freqs programmed in, printed copy of the local ARES plan. feel like im forgetting something obvious.

honestly kind of nervous about it. I know I can handle basic HF and VHF/UHF operation fine but ive never done anything in an actual emergency management setting. like what do I actually DO when I get there, do they just hand me a radio and point me at a frequency or is there more setup involved. my EMCOMM experience is basically zero beyond practice nets so any advice from people whove actually done this would be really appreciated. also wondering if I should bring my own HB radio just in case or if they have gear at the EOC

like i know the basics, i can check in on a net, i can pass traffic, but an actual deployment feels different. theyre putting me at one of the water stations along the route with a HT and im supposed to relay runner counts and any medical calls back to net control. seems straightforward but i keep second guessing myself. what if i fumble the phonetic alphabet when it actually matters or i miss something important.

anyone done one of these marathon or race events before? any tips for a first timer? also not sure what to bring gear wise beyond the obvious radio stuff, like should i have a log book, do people even do paper logs at these things

Anyway I've been a member of our local ARES group for about 8 months now and done maybe 3 or 4 training nets plus the ARRL SET last fall, but this was completely different. Like even just showing up and not knowing exactly where to stand or who to report to was kind of awkward. My EC was great but he was obviously pulling in a lot of directions at once.

I ended up on HF doing some traffic to a neighboring county group which was actually cool because I dont do much HF normally, mostly just 2m/70cm stuff. But I felt pretty useless for the first hour or so just kind of sitting there waiting to be told what to do. Is that normal for a first activation? I kept second guessing whether I should jump in or just wait.

Would love to hear how other people handled their first real deployment, whether it was a shelter gig or something else. Also wondering if there's stuff I could be doing now to feel more prepared for next time.

honestly the biggest thing i noticed was how different the pace is compared to drills. during drills everyone kind of knows its not real and theres this low-key relaxed vibe even when we're pretending to be serious. but when the net control at the EOC was passing actual shelter locations and real headcounts it just felt different. i was way more focused and also weirdly more calm than i expected, like the training actually kicked in.

one thing that tripped me up was my logging. i use whatever the standard ICS 214 form is but i hadnt really practiced filling it out fast under actual pressure and i fell behind a couple times. nothing major but my EC noticed and we talked about it after. also had a brief issue with my simplex frequency not being heard at one of the outlying sites but we worked around it pretty quick.

anyway just wanted to share because i remember reading posts like this when i was newer and wondering what a real activation would be like. if youre in ARES and havent been activated yet, the drills really do matter even when they feel repetitive.

they went over their ICS structure which i had zero knowledge about before, and the EC talked about how they interface with the county emergency manager and what kinds of activations they've done in the past few years. apparently last summer they helped with communications during a pretty bad flooding situation when cell infrastructure was down. that part really got my attention.

my question is kind of basic but — do i need my general to be really useful in ARES or is tech enough for most of what they do locally? i dont want to volunteer for something and then find out i cant do half the activations because of license limitations. also they mentioned something called AUXCOMM which i havent looked into yet, anyone know if thats different from ARES or kind of the same thing?

I understand the DHS requires all volunteers to complete FEMA IS-100.c, IS-200.c, IS-700.b and IS-800.d courses, and many counties have mandated amateur radio operators participating in emergencies must have completed the FEMA training. But I'm seeing different requirements from different areas.

Also heard about some new ARRL courses replacing the old EC-001? Any guidance would be appreciated from you experienced EmComm folks!

the training nets are one thing because everyone knows its practice and if you fumble a message or lose your place on the ICS-213 nobody really cares. but the idea of doing it for real with actual served agency people listening and county emergency management watching... i dont know. i feel like i know the phonetic alphabet and message handling well enough but what if i freeze up or something goes sideways with the radio setup

anyone else been through this first activation jitters thing? does it actually get easier or is it always a little stressful? i just want to do a decent job and not embarass myself or the group

i have to say i was not really sure what to expect going in. id done some simulated emergency tests before but this was different, real traffic, real people needing help, lots of waiting around honestly followed by bursts of actual radio work. the net control at the EOC was really on top of things but at the shelter i was posted at we went like two hours with almost nothing to pass and then suddenly had a bunch of welfare traffic all at once.

anyway im curious what other peoples first real activations were like. did you feel prepared or did you realize there were gaps. i felt pretty good about the radio stuff but i was not ready for how much just sitting and being available is part of the job, i kept wanting to do something and there wasnt always something to do. also brought way too much gear, next time im going lighter for sure.

well last weekend that changed. we had some pretty bad flooding in the area and the EOC got activated, and our EC called everyone in. i show up with my go bag and my ft-891 in the car and honestly i kind of froze up for the first few minutes because it was way busier than any training drill i'd been to. lots of people, the served agency folks were stressed, radio traffic was going constantly.

i ended up getting assigned to just log traffic at one of the stations which felt a little boring in the moment but looking back i think it was probably the right call for someone who hadn't done this before. by hour three i was comfortable enough that they let me actually handle some of the welfare traffic and i got the hang of ICS message format pretty quickly once i was doing it for real instead of just practicing.

anyway just wanted to share because i feel like nobody talks about how weird that first activation feels. like all the training is good but there's something about it being actual that just hits different. anyone else remember their first one?

i've been to maybe 4 or 5 of the monthly nets and did the ARRL EC-001 course online a while back but nothing really prepares you for showing up to an actual shelter with your go-bag and just... being useful. or trying to be anyway. i was assigned to the high school gymnasium which was running as a red cross shelter and basically my job was passing traffic between there and the EOC on the county simplex frequency.

honestly the thing that surprised me most was how much of the job is just waiting around and being ready. like 90% waiting, 10% actually keying up. but when they needed a welfare message relayed or a supply request passed along it felt like it actually mattered which was kind of a cool feeling. my EC was great about checking in on me periodically which helped since i was a little nervous about screwing something up.

anyway i guess my question is — for anyone who's done a lot of these activations, what do you wish you'd known going in? i felt underprepared in some ways and not sure what to work on before the next one.

my county apparently has an active ARES group but i havent reached out yet. a little nervous honestly because i feel like im still figuring out the basics and i dont want to show up and be totally useless. anyone been in a similar spot when they first got involved? is there like a minimum skill level expected or do they take you where you are?

i've been part of the group for about a year and done a few tabletop exercises and one SET but this was the first time we actually deployed and it felt really different from the training. like the training made sense in the room but out there at a rest stop for 6 hours with the sun beating down it becomes a much more practical thing real fast

my question is mostly around net control stuff — the guy running NC was incredible, super calm and efficient, and i was watching how he handled conflicting traffic and stations stepping on each other. is there a specific resource for learning that side of things or is it mostly just experience? also our EC mentioned something about ICS integration and how we're supposed to fit into the incident command structure, i got a little lost there. do most ARES groups require the ICS courses before you can activate?

my setup is pretty basic, just my HT and a spare battery pack, but our EC mentioned something about bringing a go bag. i dont really have a proper go bag put together yet, not sure if that matters for something like this or if its more for like actual disasters. also not sure what the net control expectations are since ive only ever called in on the weekly check-in nets. anyone done something like this before and can give me a heads up on what it actually looks like day of?

the net control stuff was pretty straightforward, i've done plenty of traffic nets so that part felt familiar. but what threw me off was just the pace of it all — like during training exercises everything moves kind of slow and organized, but when it was actually happening there were moments where three people were trying to check in at once and i could tell the net control op was having to really work to keep things sorted. we were mostly passing health and welfare traffic between the EOC and the shelter they set up at the middle school.

what i didnt expect was how much of the job is just... waiting. like you get there, you set up, you check in, and then sometimes its an hour before anything actually needs to go. i was glad i brought a book lol. but when things did pick up it was genuinely satisfying to feel like the comms were actually useful and not just a drill.

has anyone else had that experience with their first real activation? curious if the waiting around part is just normal or if our group is particularly slow

For someone new to emergency communications, where should I start? I see FEMA IS-100 and IS-700 are recommended, plus SKYWARN training. Should I focus on getting my General upgrade first, or dive into the emergency training? Any advice from experienced ARES folks would be appreciated!

a buddy at my club mentioned ARES and said theres a local group that meets monthly and does training exercises. i looked up some stuff online but its hard to tell what actually happens at these meetings vs what the official org websites say happens, you know? like the ARRL page makes it sound really formal and structured but my buddy says its pretty relaxed.

i guess my main question is, if i show up to my first ARES meeting, what should i bring and what are they actually going to ask me to do? do they care that im pretty new? im comfortable on the radio but i definitely dont have years of net control experience or anything like that. also wondering if you need to have specific gear to participate in activations or if you kind of figure that out as you go.

but i came away with a few things im not sure about. they mentioned something about ICS and NIMS training being required before you can actually activate with them, and i guess there are specific FEMA online courses you have to do? IS-100, IS-200, something like that? i started looking it up when i got home but wasnt totally clear on which ones are actually mandatory vs just recommended for ARES specifically versus like if you want to work with the county emergency manager directly.

also they talked about a weekly net they run on the local repeater for check-ins and i guess that counts toward your "participation" for the year. does that actually matter much for activations or is it more of a formality to keep the roster active. my schedule is kind of unpredictable with work so im wondering how strict most groups are about that stuff.

anyway it was a good time. they had someone demo their go-kit setup which was pretty neat, had a yaesu FT-857 running off a battery with a rollup jpole. made me want to put something together of my own eventually.