Dane County ARES/RACES

We belong to the Wisconsin ARES/RACES Southwest district. ARES, or Amateur Radio Emergency Service, is organized by the ARRL. RACES, or Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, was created by the FCC and is administered by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Differences between ARES and RACES are outlined here. In Wisconsin, ARES and RACES ar... e combined into one group. We provide communications support for Dane County Emergency Management by staffing the radio room in the emergency operations center and assisting with weather-related activations (in cooperation with MidWest SSTRC) and any other communications-based activations. We also support the five Dane County hospitals, each of which have a ham radio station which can be staffed by Dane County ARES/RACES members to provide a communications link to other hospitals, the county EOC, and other areas of interest. We also train and help the community by providing communications support for many public service events in the area. This not only provides us with event-based communications training, it also benefits the event which may be a fund raiser or other form of public service. For a full list of upcoming events, see the events section. Some events that we support include the following: American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk Dairyland Dare Bike Ride Horribly Hilly Hundreds ICHS QuadruPedal Century Bike Ride Insane Terrain Challenge Madison-Chicago 200 Mile Relay Madison Marathon March of Dimes March for Babies MS Walk Wright Stuff Century Bike Ride Any amateur radio operator that's interested in joining our group can get more information by contacting us, checking into the weekly radio net, or attending any of our monthly general membership meetings. See also: Wisconsin ARES/RACES brochureRead More