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ARRL at 100: A Century of Ham Radio

Sussex County ARES is comprised of FCC licensed operators who volunteer their time providing emergency communications to Sussex County, Delaware, when needed. Sussex County ARES provides back up emergency communications to several served agencies in Sussex County.

 

Sussex County ARES staff consists of the Emergency Coordinator (EC), Assistant Emergency Coordinators (AEC’s), Skywarn Coordinator and any specifically designated operator(s) which will provide liaison services for the ARES group. The ARES organization is not subdivided into local municipalities to allow maximum flexibility in response. It is also NOT divided along “club boundaries” for the same reason.

 

Sussex County ARES holds regularly scheduled net sessions. The purpose of the net is to provide training, test emergency center radio equipment and to provide information about ARES activities in and around Sussex County.

 

The Sussex ARES Nets are held on first and third Wednesdays on Even Months and the first Wednesday of odd months. Net are held at 7:00 p.m. local time, on the ARES Primary Repeater 147.090 MHz (PL 156.7). Additional area NETS can be found on the NETS page. The second net that used to take place in the odd months has been replaced with an Online Training Zoom as noted below.

Upcoming 2026 Training Nets, Zoom Training Meetings, and Events

February 4 - Bimonthly 2m Training Net - 7pm, 147.090 Repeater, Mike, N3MRM is NCS

February 11 - Hybrid Meeting, Arena's at the Airport in Georgetown, 6:30PM, half price sandwiches, HWN Presentation Zoom Link below

February 18 - Bimonthly 2m Training Net - 7pm, 147.090 Repeater, Pat, KW3Z is NCS

March 4 - Bimonthly 2m Training Net - 7pm, 147.090 Repeater, Steven, KC3DSO is NCS

March 18 - Online Zoom Training - 7pm various topics Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84627190775?pwd=SRsvDUpU4ozlB48s86165pn2uP41fk.1

April 1 - Pre Drill Zoom, 6:15PM just before the NET - Zoom Link:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83548554717?pwd=VhHROtbOApPxEcMSK6Sa0ZfGShTcE8.1

April 1 - Bimonthly 2m Training Net - 7pm, 147.090 Repeater, Mike, N3MRM is NCS 

April 4 - Sussex ARES 2Q Hospital Drill - all facilities in Sussex County. 

April 8 - Hybrid Meeting, Arena's at the Airport in Georgetown, 6:30PM, half price sandwiches, PowerPole LED Go No Go Assembly - Zoom Link below

April 25 - ARES Support for the 2026 Ocean to Bay Bike Tour 

 

Sussex County ARES to Support the 2026 Ocean to Bay Bike Tour - April 25, 2026

Sussex County ARES will again support this event by providing amateur radio support along the courses. Public Service event are a good way to provide basic communications experience which provide valuable during an incident. This event will be an all day event with approx 10-12 stations requiring staffing. All of the locations are static and almost all you can use your vehicle. Some locations require a bit more than what an HT can provide which will be noted in the plan. RSVP your support to Steven, KC3DSO, kc3dso@gmail.com. If you worked years past you can have the same spot. 

 

Sussex County ARES has chosen new Hybrid Meeting Location

Due to great feedback, Sussex County ARES will continue having their Hybrid In Person/Zoom meeting at Arena's Restaurant at the Airport in Georgetown. 21553 Rudder Lane. We will be using Arena's meeting room which is on the left as you enter the building. We will have Wifi, TV and of course, order off the menu. It's half price sandwiches on Wednesday so there will be something for everyone.  Agendas are sent out to all ARES members. Want to get on the notification list for Sussex ARES? Join the SussexCountyARES.groups.io forum as noted below. We are eliminating the old email style of notifications.

 

Invites sent to Sussex ARES Members to join SussexCountyARES groups.io forum -EMAIL LIST TO END MARCH 2026

A group email was sent to all past and current ARES members asking them to join the new SussexCountyARES groups.io forum. Starting the in spring of 2026 this will be our only mode of group communications. The email list will not be used. Until the final change I will be cross posting data to both groups. I apologize for the double data you will get but I want to ensure members get all ARES updates.  Know of somone not on the list that should get an invite? Tell them to visit The Sussex ARES (SussexCountyARES@ARRLDelawareSection.groups.io.) forum. An online zoom training session for navigating the groups.io forums can be setup if there is interest but it's pretty intuitive. The Members Manual can be found online and a Members Getting Started page is availalbe also. Any questions let me know. After that, only the SussexCountyARES will be used. Any questions contact Steven, KC3DSO, kc3dso@gmail.com. 

 

Sussex County ARES NET Control openings have been sent out for 2026 - FIVE Dates still need to be filled!

Sussex County ARES will continue with our current NET and training schedule into 2026. Even months have a hybrid meeting (second Wednesday) and will continue to have two nets; first and third Wednesday. Odd months used to have two Net's on the first and third Wednesday but we replaced the second Net in those odd months with a Zoom Training Session. The current 2026 Schedule is posted under Forms & Docs. Sign up for NCS by sending an email to kc3dso@gmail.com with "NCS" in the subject line with the dates to can be NCS. I will update the online form frequently to show the open dates.

 

Sussex County ARES completes First Qtr Drill for 2026 - A Great Success!

Sussex County ARES held it's First Quarter Hospital Drill on Saturday, January 10, 2026. The drill started promptly at 0845 with operators checking their stations for readiness by testing voice and data. A MSEL was used to send a series of multi point injects to all the hospitals and Sussex EOC. In line with Sussex ARES adhering to national standards related to improvement planning, we will having our After Action Zoom on Wedensday, January, 21, 2026 at 7pm. Sussex ARES needs input from all participating stations so we can complete our After Action Report/Improvement Plan. These AAR/IP plans are always made available after every drill, exercise or Public Service Event we run. These plans are not only for our radio operators but also our served agencies. The Zoom link for the AAR meeting is: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85321759670?pwd=T5o7Wui2sQZZt9W2uxDFa3gjAQ5Fns.1  Sign in with first name and callsign.

 

Sussex County ARES to have guest Speaker at February 11, 2026 Meeting

The Sussex County ARES will have a guest speaker for the February 11, 2026 Meeting at Arena's in Georgetown. Via Zoom we will have Bobby Graves, The Hurricane Watch Net net Manager and Webmaster. Bobby will run us through the operation of the HWN providing us insight in the amateur radio operations at the National Hurricane Center as well as it's integration into the NWS. Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82353592404?pwd=bAdgRyxudIlqq4kZU57iUavElBOfGi.1