so ive been a member of our local ARES group for about 8 months now, been to most of the monthly nets and a couple of the tabletop exercises but this weekend is my first actual activation — county emergency management asked us to support a pretty big community event and apparently they want radio coverage at like 6 or 7 different sites around the fairgrounds area.

my EC told me i'll probably be stationed at one of the outer posts which is fine, i have my HT and a slim jim hanging in my go bag but im wondering if there's stuff i just wont know to expect that nobody really tells you about ahead of time. like the practical stuff. how long do you usually end up waiting between actual traffic, do you just sit there? should i bring more battery than i think i need? i have two 2200mah packs and was thinking of bringing a third just in case but dont want to overpack

any advice from people who've done this kind of thing would be helpful, even just like general "here's what caught me off guard" type stuff

oh man yes bring the extra battery, always always always. you'll think you packed enough and then the event runs two hours longer than planned or net control asks everyone to stay on longer than expected. i've been doing ARES support for county fairs and half marathons and stuff for probably 12 years now and i still throw in one more pack than i think i need every single time.

as for the waiting — yeah, honestly a lot of it is just sitting there. especially at an outer post. you might go 45 minutes between anything meaningful and then suddenly net control is rattling off a welfare check or a lost kid situation and you need to be sharp. so i usually bring something to read or just chat quietly with whoever's nearby if there is anyone, but keep one ear glued to the radio the whole time. don't let yourself zone out. thats the thing that gets newer operators, you get bored and then you miss your callsign on the net.

also make sure you do a radio check with net control before the event kicks off, don't assume your HT is hitting the repeater well from your spot — i've had sites where i needed to move six feet to get a clean signal in. good luck this weekend, you'll do great

bring snacks and a folding chair if you can, nobody ever mentions that part lol. i showed up to my first one standing at a parking lot gate for four hours and my feet were done by noon. small thing but makes a huge difference.

the radio stuff you'll figure out fast, the hardest part for me early on was remembering proper net discipline when things got even slightly busy — like fighting the urge to just key up and say something instead of waiting for net control to call on you. your EC has probably covered that in training but it hits different when it's real traffic moving