[W2CRA] Announcing the Cherryville RACES practice net, all are welcome!

[Walter O'Brien / W2WJO]

Dear Cherryville members:

The Cherryville Repeater Association RACES chapter is pleased to 
announce the start of a monthly RACES message handling drill. The 
purpose of this drill will be to give all members more experience on 
the handling of formal message traffic in order to increase our 
preparedness for larger RACES drills, as well as any future actual 
emergency. The better we all get at sending and receiving these formal 
messages, the smoother communications will run when it really counts. 
We also hope to encourage more Cherryville members to join up with 
RACES.

The monthly RACES net will be held on the FIRST Thursday of each month, 
beginning March 4th, after the regular Cherryville net on the 147.375 
MHz repeater. RACES members, ARES members and all interested parties 
please join us. We will practice sending formal ARRL messages back and 
forth on a rotating basis so that everyone eventually gets the 
opportunity to send, relay, as well as receive, formal messages. 
General RACES information will also be disseminated when appropriate.

(This in no way is meant to conflict in any way with the importance of 
the ARES nets on 2nd & 4th Thursdays on the same frequency after 
regular net. The main difference will be in the type of message 
handlng, with RACES primarily using formal messages and ARES primarily 
using tactical messages. It is important to become proficient at both!)


- For samples of the ARRL message formats and more information about 
net traffic handling, go to 
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/fsd218.html

- To download the ARRL standard message in .pdf format for printing go 
to http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/radiogram2.pdf

- For information on RACES, go to the FEMA Guidance For Radio Amateur 
Civil Emergency Service website at 
http://www.fema.gov/library/civilpg.shtm.

- For more information on joining RACES, please contact Roberto Matos 
K2PA at k2pa@arrl.net, or Michael Varas KC2CMC at kc2cmc@arrl.net.

- For more information on joining ARES, please contact David Kanitra 
WB2AZE at wb2aze@yahoo.com.


Hope to hear you all on the first Thursday of each month, starting 
March 4th, at 8:30 PM on the 147.375 MHz repeater for the monthly RACES 
drill!.

Regards,

Walter O'Brien W2WJO
on behalf of Cherryville RACES