Public Service
N5TIM's list of Standing Events - a list of weekly or monthly public service activities. These are mainly helping in siren tests for various local cities and towns, and is a great way to help with the severe-weather preparedness in your area.​
Are you interested in public service activities? See some of the types of activities that area hams have been involved with recently.
What do hams do in public service events? Here are some of the "job descriptions".
R.A.C.E.S.
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, or R.A.C.E.S. is an organization of licensed amateur radio operators who volunteer their time and equipment to provide supplemental communication to local, county or state agencies during times of crisis or disaster. R.A.C.E.S. is governed by F.C.C. regulations found in part 97, subpart E.
Garland R.A.C.E.S has been a part of our community for over 25 years. Garland R.A.C.E.S. training nets are conducted Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on the K5QHD 146.66MHz repeater or the K5QBM 147.24MHz repeater.
Reminder: by F.C.C. regulations, only R.A.C.E.S. affiliated stations may participate in R.A.C.E.S. nets, including training drills.
Information on Garland R.A.C.E.S., kit lists, etc can be found on N5TIM's site here. If you want additional information regarding Garland R.A.C.E.S., contact John Galvin, N5TIM.
Rowlett R.A.C.E.S. home page. Contact for Rowlett RACES: Ian DeFranco, KE5FOM.
Here's how to standardize your power connectors to "RACES standards"
ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (This is online. Not free)
SKYWARN
In the Dallas area, participation in Skywarn nets on amateur radio are limited to those R.A.C.E.S. stations who have attended a SKYWARN (spotter) training class in the last two years. More information, including radio officers to contact, is located at the bottom of this page.
Preparedness and Storm Spotter Information
Sam Barricklow's Storm chasing and Skywarn pages - he has a super collection of Skywarn and RACES links. He also has great information on storm chasing. And, go to 'storm events' and read his chase logs -- fascinating reading!