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Officer Appointments
Taylorsville, NC 18 MAR 00 -- Congratulations to two new appointees to the Alexander County ARES/RACES CERT. Bradley Millsaps, KE4TSC has accepted the appointment of Technical Director for the group. Bradley has served as treasurer for the last few years and will continue in that position. John Dollar, N4NNX has accepted the appointment of Net Manager. John has served as AEC in the past and is largely responsible for the beginning of ARES/RACES in Alexander County. 

Phase One Complete
Taylorsville, NC 14 FEB 00 -- Phase One of our repeater enhancement is now complete with the installation of the 441.625 KF4CYI repeater on Linney's Mountain in Taylorsville. This repeater (donated to the group by AT&T) enhances our emergency response preparedness greatly. Our thanks to all of those involved in the completion of this project.

Christmas Dinner Held
Taylorsville, NC. Dec.12, 1999 -- Several members of the Alexander County ARES/RACES met on December 4th at Sims BBQ for our annual Christmas dinner. Good food, entertainment and good fellowship made a great evening.  Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for January 18, 2000 at the County Courthouse.

New Net Format/Training
Taylorsville, NC. Nov. 8, 1999-- The next Alexander County ARES/RACES meeting is scheduled for November 20th at the Alexander County Courthouse at 7:00 PM. 

All current members should have received a new net format in the mail. This new format is effective immediately. Each first Tuesday of the month is training night on the Alexander County ARES/RACES Net on the 442.95 repeater. We will spend about 5-10 minutes of net time in special training.

The 442.95 machine is down for the moment as our new (to us)  replacement repeater is being readied.   Weekly  nets will meet on the 442.625 repeater until the 442.95 machine is back up.

W4AW Appointed EC
Taylorsville, NC, Oct 21, 1999--Dave Fleming, KE4JHJ, North Carolina SEC has confirmed the appointment of Jonnie Hutchison, W4AW as the new Emergency Coordinator for Alexander County ARES/RACES. Jonnie has served as the newsletter editor for Alexander County ARES/RACES for the past five years. 

Alexander County ARES/RACES EC Resigns
Alexander County ARES/RACES Emergency Coordinator Rudy Rice, K1ROK has resigned his post due to health problems. Rudy has served Alexander County ARES/RACES as EC since it's beginning in 1994. Our thanks to Rudy for his years of leadership and service given to Alexander County ARES/RACES and the citizens of Alexander County and North Carolina.

North Carolina Floyd Ham Response Possibly Largest Ever
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 30, 1999--North Carolina Section Manager Reed Whitten,
AB4W, says the Amateur Radio response in that state to Hurricane Floyd and the resulting flooding could be one for the record books. "This was the largest operation we have had in a number of years--possibly the largest ever," Whitten said this week. He also called it the "smoothest operation" in terms of amateur mobilization and coordination.

In addition to their traditional role as communicators, hams applied their technical expertise to benefit the North Carolina flood recovery. Whitten said amateurs were instrumental in setting up a nonamateur UHF repeater system for the Red Cross. "Without Amateur Radio assistance, he said, "this system would not be in place."

After Virginia ARES/RACES relayed a Red Cross request for assistance, Whitten contacted North Carolina ARRL Technical Coordinator Danny Hampton, K4ITL, and a site was secured within 24 hours. "Danny got information from the Red Cross and selected one of the frequencies that were available to them after an interference and intermod study," said Whitten, who called Hampton "probably North Carolina's foremost repeater expert." Whitten said Hampton also arranged for installation of the equipment September 24 near Raleigh at no cost to the Red Cross.

Whitten said Elmo Yancey of Direct Call Inc, Durham, North Carolina, donated the repeater, amplifier, antenna, and installation for the Red Cross repeater system, so the system was operational before the Red Cross had any radio equipment in North Carolina.

As part of the repeater effort, Whitten said, an amateur from South Hill, Virginia, Sammy Simmons, KD4MJO, traveled 50 miles to Emporia, Virginia, to meet Red Cross radio technician Patrick Doherty, also an amateur, to give him the software necessary to program the Red Cross mobile radios. "This system is providing mobile coverage into Raleigh, Goldsboro, Kinston, Greenville and Tarboro, North Carolina," Whitten said. The Red Cross has deployed more than 80 emergency response vehicles in eastern North Carolina. "I think this is an excellent example of ARES operating in an appropriate role as communications consultants."

Additional rainfall this week did not generate renewed ARES/RACES callups nor any additional need for Amateur Radio volunteers, Whitten said. "The recent rain certainly slowed down the recovery operation but appears to have only slowed the time it's going to take for the rivers to go down," he said, adding that some hams eventually might be involved in damage assessment. He said damage assessments--done in cooperation with the Red Cross--typically are handled on a county-by-county basis.

Salvation Army Tactical Emergency Radio Network operator James Proctor, KA4IZN, in New Bern, North Carolina, reported today on the National SATERN network that conditions are deteriorating in North Carolina due to the rain and the "potential evaporation of volunteer interest," a SATERN report said. Proctor and his wife are actively involved in helping The Salvation Army effort to feed and clothe flood victims in eastern North Carolina. "Amateur Radio operation has been critical to this disaster operation," the SATERN report said. "Over and over private and civil organization and agencies have been assisted by hams who have greatly expedited the organizations' ability to mitigate the impact of the disaster due to good communication."

At week's end, hams primarily were providing backup communication, and none remained stationed at county emergency operations centers, shelters or mass feeding units. "Although there are no longer several hundred amateurs spending long hours away from home, we still have a presence in the recovery operation," Whitten said. The nine Southern Baptist kitchens--with a capacity of upwards of 120,000 meals a day--were using ham radio as their backup communication to the American Red Cross. Volunteers from North Carolina and other states remain available, if needed, he added.

The North Carolina traffic and ARES nets have resumed regular operating schedules. "We are having daily critiques on the Tar Heel Emergency Net on HF," Whitten said. Whitten thanked all amateurs, emergency officials, and state government officials who have participated in the Hurricane Floyd response.