Today was the quarterly meeting of the ARRL West Central Florida section ARES group and it did not disappoint!

It began with lunch at Sonny’s Barbecue for those who wanted to meet, and let’s face it…barbecue and ham radio is always a great combination! There were approximately 13 in attendance and good food & good fellowship was enjoyed by all.

This was followed by the ARES meeting which was held at the Pinellas county EOC, and it is quite a place. Approximately 30 were in attendance in person as well as several more over Zoom. Discussion ranged from FEMA’s ICS training and Auxcomm training to the High & Dry emergency exercise and the NXDN capability of the NI4CE repeater system.

Lastly we were introduced to Pinellas county’s own “Go-Boxes”, and to say they are impressive is an understatement.

If you’re at all interested in emergency communications (after all, even the F.C.C. defines Amateur Radio as a service), it would behoove you to learn more about ARES and to attend the quarterly meetings to really get an idea of ARES in action.