Join Us On The Air!
The Bay County ARES Team has Formal Radio Nets every* Thursday Night, at 7pm (1900hrs) CST; *with the exception of the 3rd Thursday of each month. The ARES Team meets at the Primary Bay County E.O.C. every THIRD THURSDAY of the month, at 7pm CST. No radio net is conducted on actual meeting nights. On the fourth Thursday of every month, a "SkyWarn" radio net is conducted. This is to give participants monthly practice with reporting current weather conditions in and around their station or mobile location.
The ARES nets are primarily for team members to conduct on-air training, assess the status of their personal radio equipment and also to pass on Team-related information and general comments that may be of interest to the group.
Anyone with an Amateur Radio license is welcome to participate in these scheduled radio nets.
Bay County ARES also uses the W4RYZ (*210) repeater, as needed, during actual inclement weather watches and warnings.
Most of our members are trained and certified, through the National Weather Service, as SKYWARN® Storm Spotters. In times where the potential for a weather hazard is increased or expected, Bay County ARES may initiate a special weather monitoring net, so that real time hazards and conditions can be relayed as they are observed and happening. In the event that an extreme weather condition does occur, a formal Skywarn® Net would also be conducted on this same repeater. (You do not need to be certified in Skywarn®, or a member of Bay County ARES, to participate in a weather monitoring net.) Local Radio Amateurs who have been certified as Skywarn® Storm Spotters are also welcome to coordinate with the Net Controller, as to your weather observations and conditions, wherever you may be in the Florida Panhandle.
For those who have radios with D-Star capability, a secondary D-Star Radio Net usually follows the primary ARES net. The D-Star net is initiated at 7:30pm (1930hrs) CST and is conducted on the KK4TAD repeater: 146.880 (-) No Tone
For you operators who just can't seem to get enough "airwave interaction", the Bay County ARES Team wants to remind you that the PANAMA CITY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB offers even more PTT opportunities.
The PCARC maintains the W4RYZ repeater and offers its use to every licensed radio amateur. The W4RYZ repeater is also available to be accessed via Echolink. (Node: N4KGL-R)
For additional information, you can find a link to the PCARC website in the "Other Links of Interest" tab of our site menu.
(A link that can direct you to the Florida "Statewide Amateur Radio Network" (SARnet) website is listed there, also.)
