W.E.A.R.C.

               West Essex Amateur Radio Club, Essex Fells, NJ

                                   an ARRL Special Service Club             

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 Essex County EmComm ARES/RACES

 Essex County EmComm needs YOU!

There are hundreds of hams living in Essex County, but only a small fraction actively participate in organized emergency communication activity under the banner of ARES or RACES.  Let's be frank, the overall state of EmComm preparedness in Essex County is precarious.  Should disaster strike tomorrow, the response from the ham community, while there will be one, will be chaotic, fractured, and disorganized.  That's because few are trained, prepared; standing-by.

This essay is not to point fingers, but simply to call attention to the fact that we know that Amateur Radio has a crucial role to play in disaster response should a major event occur that disrupts or strains normal channels of communication.  Essex is one of the most densely populated Counties in the State, and also contains critical industries and infrastructure that are key both to the State, the region, and in some cases the country. Many of us believe that a major disaster in Essex Country is not a question of "if", but "when". 

Ray Linke, K2DEE, Essex RACES officer, and Bob Crifasi, KC2RFC, ARES District Emergency Coordinator for Essex have been working hard getting the word out to attract interest in EmComm within Essex County.  They can't go it alone; they need hams to step up, especially hams in Essex County (though hams from other counties in the State will not be turned away).

We know there are a lot of valid reasons for apathy towards EmComm in Essex County.  Certainly both the County Government, and some local Governments, at times have not exactly embraced us, or even fully understood our capabilities.  It doesn't help that many Essex towns are not exactly Ham/antenna friendly, and a lot of Hams resent the way they've been treated.  Yet the Amateur Radio charter of Public Service requires that we ignore the hostility and Governmental apathy, carrying forward in preparation for disaster.  Because we know that when the time comes, those Government officials, and our non-ham friends and neighbors, are going to need us very, very badly.

To find out how to join Essex County EmComm, please contact:

Ray Linke, email k2dee@ verizon.net

 or

Bob Crifasi email CrifasiRF@ comcast.net, cell phone # 201 259-8446

Note:  A space has been inserted between @ and the ISP address above to thwart email crawlers so that Ray and Bob don't get buried in spam emails.  You will have to remove the space in order to successfully send email to them.

 Web Links

Resources 

ARRL
FCC
R.A.C.E.S.
Essex SKYWARN
ARRL Hudson Div
QRZ
Eham.net
AMSAT
NJDX Assn
NNJ Red Cross ARC
Int'l Dx Assn (INDEXA)
NOAA
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