New Hams Take A Tour Of RFA Station #5 And ARES Equipment

Riverside Fire Authority Volunteer Station #5 had visitors this weekend.  Team member Jim Pace brought a great group of new hams, recently licensed through his Volunteer Examiner program, for a tour on Saturday afternoon.  We had the opportunity to show them the K7CEM repeater as well as the 100 ft. antenna tower outside the facility.  Jim took the time to explain how the repeater system works and answered questions.  A repeater can be a strange looking piece of equipment to new hams.

Most of the time, however, was spent in Comm II and around Comm IV, our communications trailer.  After demonstrating the on-board equipment and radios, we spent a considerable amount of time discussing the mission of the Centralia Amateur Radio Emergency Service team, and how we train.  As the area was under a flood watch this weekend, questions naturally turned to the Chehalis River, Skookumchuck River, and China Creek, our normal sources when flooding occurs.

Our next scheduled training period for Centralia ARES will occur only two days after the Station #5 tour and we will be visiting five different flood monitoring locations in Centralia.  The new hams were invited to join us on the training and learn more about how floods occur, local planning to mitigate stream flow, river gauges and how ARES members volunteer during local flooding.

After the Station #5 tour, the new hams also visited Chuck, W5KAV, for a tour of his wonderful ham shack and antenna farm.  Later, they stopped at Don’s house, AI7CE, to see his ham station under construction.  What a great way to introduce those new to the hobby to the equipment we all use.