[ILHam] Subject: Cook County ARES Spring Exercise, Sunday, May 23, beginning early afternoon

[Neil R. Ormos N9NL]

Dear Cook County ARES Members and Friends:

All licensed amateurs interested in Emergency
Communications (EmComm) are invited to participate
in the Cook County ARES Spring Exercise on Sunday,
May 23, beginning early in the afternoon.  Come
out and test your EmComm gear and skills.  This is
a training exercise.  You need not be a member of
ARES or any other group to participate. Residents
of any county are welcome.

To participate, get your go-kit and other EmComm
equipment ready, and prepare to travel with your
EmComm gear to the exercise location.  The
exercise location is within Cook County.  The
location and exercise scenario will be announced
Sunday at 1:00 PM local time on the SARA repeater
(146.88 MHz, R-600 KHz, PL107.2) and via the Cook
County ARES web page:

  http://ares.n9nl.com/

Notes:

1.  Please *monitor* the SARA repeater (146.88
MHz, R-600 KHz, PL107.2) for instructions
beginning at 1:00 P.M.

2.  We will be using the following frequencies,
which we encourage you to program into your radios
before the event:

  a.  146.88 MHz (SARA repeater, R-600KHz, PL107.2); 
  b.  146.55 MHz Simplex; 
  c.  146.49 MHz Simplex; 
  d.  147.42 MHz Simplex; 
  e.  147.45 MHz Simplex; 
  f.  147.48 MHz Simplex; 
  g.  147.51 MHz Simplex.

2.  Please bring your EmComm gear, including your
go-kits, with you. For a guide to what we
recommend should be among everyone's EmComm gear,
see items 2-39 in the EmComm Readiness
Self-Assessment we used for the Fall 2003
Simulated Emergency Test, available here:

  http://pages.ripco.net/~ormos/ares-set-assessment-20031102a.pdf

(Other, more comprehensive lists of suggested
EmComm gear are available.  Contact me for
details.)

3.  Although we are asking everyone to bring their
go-kits and other EmComm gear, those without
extensive go-kits can still participate as long as
you have a mobile or hand-held 2-meter radio.  If
you don't have one of those, contact me by
telephone (847 477 7104) and we will either lend
you a radio or find some other way you can
participate in the exercise.

4.  The exercise location is accessible via public
transportation, but you may need to get an early
start.  Those who plan to arrive by public
transportation should contact me ASAP by telephone
(847 477 7104).

Hope you can join us on Sunday afternoon.  Please
give me a call if you have any questions.

73

--Neil Ormos N9NL
Emergency Coordinator
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Cook County Suburbs