It can be intimidating to make your first voice contacts when you’re a new ham.
Paul Havlik (WD9IOK) gave this excellent presentation to help motivate new hams to overcome their anxiety and get started.
See also: a video made by another WCARES member Cliff Batson (N4CCB):
Joshua Walter, Operations Manager for the Williamson County EMA, provides an excellent overview of Emergency Management and how it works to coordinate responses among all local partners.
Recorded May 10th, 2025, at the WCARES Monthly Meeting.
Get Ready for Field Day 2025!
June 28, 1PM – June 29, 1PM
Where:
3000 BrightStone Pkwy
Franklin, TN 37064
Click here to see the location on Google Maps
Work a station
We will have 2 stations setup in the climate controlled comfort of the Williamson County EMA Communications Trailer. Signup to operate a 2 hour shift, No Sweat! You can also help with setup and tear down – Sweat included at no charge.
Signup here:
CW Station
SSB / Phone Station
Setup / Teardown
Drop by, socialize, see the setup, bring a friend
Field Day is a great time to connect with fellow Hams and see an ARES remote setup. Bring a friend who may be interested in Amateur Radio and ARES.
Get On The Air – GOTA Station
Michael KJ4TFV will be working with visitors to Get On The Air. Bring your neighbor, kids, grandkids, in-laws, friends and show them how to GOTA.
Saturday evening fire pit rag chew
7-9 PM – Just show up no RSVP needed
SEE YOU AT FIELD DAY!
Get Ready for Field Day 2025!
June 28, 1PM – June 29, 1PM
Where:
3000 BrightStone Pkwy
Franklin, TN 37064
Click here to see the location on Google Maps
Work a station
We will have 2 stations setup in the climate controlled comfort of the Williamson County EMA Communications Trailer. Signup to operate a 2 hour shift, No Sweat! You can also help with setup and tear down – Sweat included at no charge.
Signup here:
CW Station
SSB / Phone Station
Setup / Teardown
Drop by, socialize, see the setup, bring a friend
Field Day is a great time to connect with fellow Hams and see an ARES remote setup. Bring a friend who may be interested in Amateur Radio and ARES.
Get On The Air – GOTA Station
Michael KJ4TFV will be working with visitors to Get On The Air. Bring your neighbor, kids, grandkids, in-laws, friends and show them how to GOTA.
Saturday evening fire pit rag chew
7-9 PM – Just show up no RSVP needed
SEE YOU AT FIELD DAY!
From Jeff Standifer, WB5WAJ
Ed Hudgens, Steve Waterman, Paul Tampien, Jeff Schwartz, Randy Moore, Cliff Batson and myself attended the 2025 EMAT [Emergency Management Association of Tennessee] conference for emergency management agencies.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of this week we attended several sessions on different EMA topics.
How does the Williamson County EOC actually operate during an emergency activation? There are many tables and computers, but how does it all come together to support the mission? Ed Hudgens (WB4RHQ) and Jeff Standifer (WB5WAJ) give us a great overview of how it works.
Brian Hendrix (N0DBH) has been visiting parks almost every weekend and has thousands of POTA contacts from his activations. His presentation is packed with photos and information on what he takes and how he prepares.
January 25th-26th, 2025
David Rogers shot and edited this brief video showing activity at the recent Winter Field Day event. Thanks, David!
The WCARES Discord server has been nicely enhanced and organized for greater application to the WCARES group and beyond. In this presentation from the January 18th, 2025 WCARES Monthly Meeting, brothers Ryan (KN4VKW) and Blake (KN4VKY) Pearson gave an update on DISCORD and all it can do for us.
The featured presenter at our January 18th, 2025 WCARES Monthly meeting was Ryan Husted, National Weather Service Coordination Meteorologist in Nashville. Ryan has been with the NWS for over 16 years. His topic will interest all Skywarn enthusiasts: Severe Weather/Storm Forecasting in Middle Tennessee: Understanding the Watch and Warning process of the National Weather Service.
Special thanks to Paul Havlik (WD9IOK) who worked with NWS to schedule this presentation.