Calendar

Monthly Meetings

MCACS holds a meeting via Zoom at 8 PM on the first Tuesday of each month. Members should receive a Zoom invitation via email prior to each meeting. Please keep the meeting link handy, as it is different each month.

Net Schedule

ARES® Training nets are held on all other Tuesdays at 8 PM, usually on the MARC 146.955 (156.7) repeater. If the MARC repeater is not available, look for us on the 443.900 repeater or 146.445 simplex.

wdt_ID Date Program Type Topic Net Control Operator
74 04/02/2024 ZOOM MEETING - NO NET TONIGHT TBD n/a
82 04/09/2024 Field Exercise 2Q Hospital Drill -- starts at 7 PM on WA3YOO repeater, 443.9 MHz. TBD
84 03/19/2024 Discussion TBD Please volunteer!
86 03/26/2024 Discussion TBD - What would YOU like to discuss or learn about? KC3MIX
77 03/12/2024 TBD Please suggest a topic of interest to you and others. Please volunteer!
85 03/05/2024 ZOOM MEETING - NO NET TONIGHT Slide show of recent Red Cross drill and demo of Winlink import/export feature. n/a

Other Upcoming Events

Date Time Event Notes wdt_ID
04/17/2024 1900 - 1930 Maryland/DC Section monthly HF Hospital Radio Net 3820 kHz. See details below. 26
04/08/2024 2000 - 2130 MCACS Board Meeting* -- 24
03/11/2024 2000 - 2130 MCACS Board Meeting* -- 44
03/12/2024 0000-2359 (any convenient time) Maryland-DC ARES Monthly Winlink Challenge See details below 45
03/12/2024 1930 - 2030 Maryland State RACES Monthly Commex Contact K3CSX if you would like to participate. This will be the last Commex until September. 38
04/09/2024 1930-2030 Maryland State RACES Monthly Commex Contact K3CSX if you would like to participate. 52
04/13/2024 0800 - 1300 (approx) Red Cross HF drill We will establish an HF station at the ARC facility in Gaithersburg and exchange messages with other participants via Winlink. 59
03/20/2024 1900 - 1930 Maryland/DC Section monthly HF Hospital Radio Net 3820 kHz. See details below. 36
04/09/2024 0000-2359 (any convenient time) Maryland-DC ARES Monthly Winlink Challenge See details below 49
04/09/2024 1900-2100 MDC Quarterly Hospital Drill This quarterly drill focuses on testing simplex communications paths between participating hospitals across the Maryland-DC section. 57
04/04/2024 7 PM Prince Georges County ARES 2Q Hospital Drill A few MC ARES stations are needed to support this drill. Our MC stations will be operating from home on UHF voice and 2m Winlink. See announcement on News page. 61

* Board meetings are held by teleconference (usually on the second Monday of the month) and are open to members. We welcome your involvement. If you are interested in taking a more active role in the organization, or have ideas for the board to consider, please join us.  Contact any board member for access information.

Monthly HF Hospital Nets

Maryland-DC ARES sponsors the monthly Maryland/DC HF Hospital Net on 3820 kHz LSB. Despite the name, all local amateurs are invited to check into the net from your home station. Most hospital EOCs in the DC/Maryland area are not equipped for HF operation. The concept of operations is as follows. In the event that a hospital needs to communicate with an entity outside of VHF/UHF range, the traffic will be passed to a nearby HF-equipped ham via VHF/UHF, then forwarded to the distant entity via HF radio. In other words, the home-based HF station serves as a relay point for the hospital traffic.We encourage such home-based hospital relay stations to equip themselves with Winlink capability so that record traffic can easily be relayed, but voice-only stations are welcomed to participate.These exercises are normally scheduled on the Wednesday following the third Monday of the month at 7:00 PM local time. If the frequency is busy, tune  ± 5 kHz.

Maryland-DC Section Monthly Winlink Challenge

The Maryland-DC Winlink Challenge is a monthly training activity sponsored by Maryland-DC ARES to familiarize operators with advanced features of Winlink and other digital modes that are useful for emergency and disaster communications. All ARES members in the MDC section are encouraged to participate. (We have a few participants from neighboring sections as well.) One purpose of the Challenge is to encourage the regular use of Winlink among amateur radio operators. It’s easy to participate — all you have to do is send a Winlink message to tactical call sign MDCWINLINK-1, asking to be added to the mailing list for the challenge. You’ll receive a Winlink message each month with instructions for that month’s exercise.

The monthly Challenge usually concludes on the second Tuesday of the month, when participants are asked to send a Winlink Check-In message to the exercise coordinator. There are often optional activities that can be performed in the days leading up to the second Tuesday.

Most exercises do not require you to be on a certain frequency at a specific time. Rather, a range of time is specified, and you complete the activity at a time of your choosing within the specified time span.

Do you have a suggestion for a program?

While we look to guidance for a number of sources to develop topics for weekly nets, monthly Zoom meetings, and other training programs, we are always open to suggestions from members regarding topics you would like to learn more about. Click here if you have an idea you would like to share.