PanhandleARES.org

Saturday and Sunday June 22nd & 23rd

For us Amateur Radio operators, the Bike MS event serves two purposes. First and foremost it is a fun time to get together and give back to the community. We always have a lot of fun with this event each year. Second, and also equally important, it is practice for an actual emergency situation where Amateur Radio operators would be called upon to provide emergency communications. For more information, visit the Event’s Website

Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to a good use for a wonderful cause. Helping with the Bike MS Wild West Ride is where the true spirit of amateur radio is. Let’s keep active with public service events and keep amateur radio alive and useful!

2013 Route Change! Bike MS: Ride the Rim encircles the picturesque Palo Duro Canyon. Second only to The Grand Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon is one of the seven wonders of the south. The routes include fully-stocked rest stops every 10-12 miles, a great lunch stop each day and safety provided by volunteer nurses, HAM radio operators, law enforcement and motorcycle escorts and bike repair courtesy of OE Sports and Sun Adventure Sports. We start, finish and overnight from the beautiful campus of West Texas A&M University, with a trip down into historic Palo Duro Canyon State Park on day two.

Day One starts Saturday morning at 7 a.m., on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. The route makes a loop around the rim of Palo Duro Canyon for a total of 105 miles on day 1, with an option to stop at 100K (64 miles). The finish line is back at the campus of WTAMU.

Day Two begins and ends Sunday morning at 8 a.m. on the WTAMU campus and goes to the entrance to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Riders will be bused into the state park for brunch and photo opportunities and then bused back out to ride back to the WTAMU campus. The total on day 2 is 25 miles.

Meals

• Free lunch/snacks—rest stops catered (generally sandwiches, mixed nuts, fruit, etc.), but bring a sack lunch in case your duties at the rest stops and along the route prevent you from eating the meals provided.
• Free dinner Saturday evening at WTAMU
• Free breakfast Sunday morning at WTAMU
• Free brunch Sunday in Palo Duro Canyon
• Free lunch Sunday afternoon at WTAMU

I want to thank everyone for helping with the 2013 Bike MS Ride the Rim event. Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to a good use for a wonderful cause. Helping with the Bike MS fundraiser is where the true spirit of amateur radio is. Let’s keep active with public service events and keep amateur radio alive and useful!

To volunteer for an available position, call Chris Seright, KE5ZRT, at 806-231-4227 or email: KE5ZRT@gmail.com

We need volunteers for Net Control Operators, Rest Stop Communicators, Sweeper Truck Communicator, and Safety and Gear (SAG) Communicators. SAG Communicator is our hardest volunteer position to fill. The MS Society is providing all of their own Safety and Gear (SAG) vehicles and drivers due to liabilities. Again, due to liabilities, a SAG driver cannot communicate via radio, phone, or otherwise while transporting a rider. We desperately need to place a communicator in each of their vehicles if possible. A 70cm HT and a mag mount antenna will be sufficient. This is a great way to participate without spending your own gas money!

Correction: Saturday October 6, 2012

Volunteers Needed!

Tour d’ Cotton is a fund raiser of Childress Theatre Company, a nonprofit corporation, dedicated to the restoration of the historic Palace Theater in Downtown Childress Texas. For more information about the Palace Theatre please click here.

 The Tour d’ Cotton consists of 3 simultaneous bicycle races with distances of 60 miles, 30 miles and 8 miles. Each race begins at 0800, 0815, and 0830 respectively. We are looking for volunteer ham radio communicators to assist with communications at the rest stops. APRS support of the event would also be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to good use for a great cause. helping with this event is where the true spirit of Amateur Radio is. Let’s keep active with public service eevents and keep ham radio alive and useful!

For us Amateur Radio operators, the Tour d’ Cotton serves two purposes. First and foremost, it is a fun time to get together and give back to the community. We always have a lot of fun with this event each year. Second, and also equally important, it is practice for an actual emergency situation where Amateur Radio operators would be called upon to provide emergency communications.

Traditionally, we meet at Dawson’s Family Restaurant at 1709 Ave F NW in Childress before the race at 0630 to finalize the communications plan over a plate of biscuits and gravy.

To volunteer please contact:

Jim Moody, AF5S, 940-585-1168 jim.moody.jr@gmail.com

or

Chris Seright, KE5ZRT, 806-231-4227, KE5ZRT@gmail.com

Saturday and Sunday July 28th & 29th

For us Amateur Radio operators, the Bike MS Wild West Ride serves two purposes. First and foremost it is a fun time to get together and give back to the community. We always have a lot of fun with this event each year. Second, and also equally important, it is practice for an actual emergency situation where Amateur Radio operators would be called upon to provide emergency communications. For more information, visit the Event’s Website

Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to a good use for a wonderful cause. Helping with the Bike MS Wild West Ride is where the true spirit of amateur radio is. Let’s keep active with public service events and keep amateur radio alive and useful!

Meals

• Free lunch/snacks—rest stops catered (generally sandwiches, mixed nuts, fruit, etc.) but bring a sack lunch in case your duties at the rest stops and along the route prevent you from eating the meals provided at Miami.
• Free lunch—at Miami in the park (don’t count on lunch being delivered to your rest stop). Be prepared.
• Free dinner Saturday evening in Canadian
• Free breakfast Sunday morning in Canadian
• Free lunch Sunday in Canadian at the Quiet Inn—BBQ in the park

Lodging

• YMCA—Free (bring your own bedding)
• RV Park (Rodeo Grounds—north of Canadian) $10.00/night. Tent camping is also allowed.
• Canadian Courts Motel (806) 323-8058
• The Quiet Inn (806) 323-6111
• Best Western Oasis Inn (806) 323-9660

I want to thank everyone for helping with the Bike MS Wild West Ride. Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to a good use for a wonderful cause. Helping with the Bike MS Wild West Ride is where the true spirit of amateur radio is. Let’s keep active with public service events and keep amateur radio alive and useful!

To volunteer for an available position, call Terra Seright, KE5ZRU, AT 806-336-1746 or email: KE5ZRU@gmail.com

This is our hardest volunteer position to fill: The MS Society is providing all of their own SAG vehicles and drivers due to liabilities. Again, due to liabilities, a SAG driver cannot communicate via radio, phone, or otherwise while transporting a rider. We desperately need to place a communicator in each of their vehicles if possible. A 70cm HT and a mag mount antenna will be sufficient. This is a great way to participate without spending your own gas money!

We are currently seeking a volunteer to coordinate a booth at the conference on Saturday March 18th 9:30-12:30. We need to demonstrate a UHF / VHF station, a packet station, and an APRS station. We have some literature available and also a large banner with the club logo. I have a power supply if needed and also some reflective ARES vests. Please contact me, Chris Seright, at 806-231-4227 to volunteer to be the coordinator for this event.

Update/Clarification: This event is Friday December 3rd at 6:00 PM Central until Saturday December 4th at 6:00 PM Central.

The 12th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) Special Event will take place Saturday, December 4, 2010. SRD is co-sponsored by the ARRL and the National Weather Service (NWS) as a way to recognize the commitment made by Amateur Radio operators in helping to keep their communities safe. During SRD, Amateur Radio operators can visit their local participating NWS office, working as a team to contact other hams across the world throughout the 24 hour event.

For more information on the SKYWARN Recognition Day Event please visit the ARRL Website.

Click Here for a slideshow of the 2009 SRD Special Event at Amarillo!

Raymond Winter, W5RAW, has volunteered to bring in an operating station and logging software. We need an antenna or two–we might know someone with a very nice tower trailer! Also, we need operator pairs (loggers and operators) who can work in shifts to cover a 24-hour period. Terra and I will take the early, early, early morning shift (0400-0800) unless someone else wants it! This year the Amarillo NWS will design and print the QSL cards for us.

To volunteer to help out with the Amarillo SKYWARN Recognition Day Special Event, please contact:

Chris Seright, KE5ZRT

Send me some mail!

or call 806 231-4227

or Twitter: @chris_seright

Update/Clarification: This event is Friday December 3rd at 6:00 PM Central until Saturday 6:00 PM Central.

On Thursday, March 25, ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American Red Cross (ARC) at ARC National Headquarters in Washington, DC. The MoU, which replaces an earlier Statement of Understanding that expired in 2007, provides a “broad framework for cooperation” between the ARRL and the ARC “in preparing for and responding to disaster relief situations at all levels in rendering assistance and service to victims of disaster, as well as other services for which cooperation may be mutually beneficial.”

The ARRL Board of Directors approved the signing of the MoU at its January 2010 meeting following the completion of negotiations. The Red Cross requires the completion of a criminal background check to participate in Red Cross activities and provides a process by which a volunteer may have a criminal background check performed at no cost to the volunteer. In the case of ARRL volunteers, the Red Cross has agreed to accept an alternative process: ARRL volunteers may arrange, at their own initiative and expense, to have the criminal background check performed by a state or local law enforcement agency.

The Red Cross also has agreed that ARRL volunteers shall not be asked or required to consent to credit checks, mode of living investigations or investigative consumer reports in order to provide a communications function.

The ARRL and the Red Cross encourage interested volunteers in their respective organizations to become members and to participate in the activities of the other organization. ARRL volunteers should be aware that if they wish to become Red Cross volunteers, they may be required to consent to additional background checks in accordance with Red Cross policy that may include credit checks, mode of living investigations or investigative consumer reports.

Per the MoU, “both ARRL volunteers and ARC workers will work cooperatively at the scene of a disaster and in the disaster recovery, within the scope of their respective roles and duties as recommended.” During a Red Cross Disaster Relief Operation (DRO) and depending on their training and qualifications, ARRL volunteers may perform in one or more of several roles, including Amateur Radio Liaison, Communication Equipment Operator, Communication Equipment Installation/Repair and Disaster Assessment. ARRL volunteers who are assigned roles by the Red Cross during a DRO will be provided with Red Cross credentials as required by the role, consistent with Red Cross policy.

“Because of the importance of emergency communications, we are happy to be able to continue the League’s long-standing relationship with the American Red Cross,” said ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. “The ARC and other served agencies give Amateur Radio operators the worthwhile missions in our communities that allow us to thank America for the privilege of being hams.”

Original article from: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-red-cross-sign-memorandum-of-understanding

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For us Amateur Radio operators, the BP 150 serves two purposes. First and foremost it is a fun time to get together and give back to the community. We always have a lot of fun with this event each year. Second, and also equally important, it is practice for an actual emergency situation where Amateur Radio operators would be called upon to provide emergency communications. For more information, visit the Event’s Website

Enjoy the weekend and put your hobby to a good use for a wonderful cause. Helping with the BP 150 Bike Ride is where the true spirit of amateur radio is. Let’s keep active with public service events and keep amateur radio alive and useful!

Update: Thank you all for volunteering to assist with communications for this event. Hope to see you all at breakfast at Denny’s at I-40 and Ross, Saturday morning at 4:00 am. Otherwise, we will see you at the Amarillo College East Campus at 6:00 am. If you are driving a SAG vehicle, please remember to bring a cooler if you have one, and pick up some water, ice, fruit, etc. at the start line, for the riders. I want to thank everyone for helping with the MS BP 150.

Current Volunteer Assignments: