The Ottawa County ARES leadership team is made up of, from left, Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Ryan Merrow; Emergency Coordinator, James Garber; and Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Molly Mazur. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – On June 28, the public had the opportunity to get an up-close view of the vital impact Ottawa County ARES has on the community. ARES, which stands for Amateur Radio Emergency Services, hosted Field Day at Waterworks Park. The event, which was sponsored by the Amateur Radio Relay League, was held in cities around the nation. Locally, it had a twofold purpose. It introduced local residents to Ottawa County ARES’ new communications trailer, and ARES members participated in a national amateur radio contest.

ARES is an all-volunteer group of licensed amateur radio operators, also known as ham radio operators, who offer backup communications services in an emergency. If phones are down during a natural disaster or other major emergency, ARES can provide communication across the county, to the State Emergency Operations Center in Columbus, or, if necessary, around the world.

Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Ryan Merrow, talks about the equipment inside ARES’ new communications trailer. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Ottawa County ARES is based in the Emergency Operation Center of the Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency office inside the courthouse. At the Field Day event, Ottawa County ARES gave tours of its recently-acquired communications trailer. The trailer is equipped with radios and computers capable of worldwide communications and gives the group mobile access to emergency sites.

“It’s important to have the communications trailer because the east end of the county has a radio frequency blind spot,” said Ottawa County ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Molly Mazur. “Now we can have communications all through the county. It is a huge boon to have that capability.”

Field Day at Waterworks Park was hosted by Ottawa County ARES members, including, from left, Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Ryan Merrow; Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Molly Mazur; and Emergency Coordinator, James Garber. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

The trailer is currently on loan, and the group is hoping to eventually purchase it.

“We were graciously lent it from Ken Kiser Sound and Communications, and we’re looking into procuring it,” Mazur said.

Ottawa County ARES Emergency Coordinator, James Garber, said the trailer is completely self-contained.

“We can power this thing and talk to someone uptown or around the world,” he said. “If there is a big disaster in Graytown or Catawba, we can deploy the trailer in about an hour. This is a huge asset for the county.”

Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Ryan Merrow, stands inside the new ARES communications trailer. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

In addition to debuting the communications trailer, Field Day also served as a contest for amateur radio operators. Starting at 2 p.m., ham radio operators around the nation competed for the most radio connections in a day. Once the timer started, Ottawa County ARES members began attempting connections by voice, digital message and morse code.

Garber said that Ottawa County ARES members also serve as trained SKYWARN severe weather spotters. SKYWARN is a program of the National Weather Service that trains volunteers to be its local eyes and ears during inclement weather. When severe weather hits Ottawa County, ARES members hit the road to look for tornados and other potential weather hazards.

ARES members install one of at least seven antennae around the new communications trailer. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

They were the first to spot tornado funnels in the county on June 18.

“We were observing the sky, and we saw some funnels,” Garber said. “We called it in to the National Weather Service. We caused the tornado warning to be issued.”

On Field Day, Ottawa County ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Ryan Merrow, welcomed visitors inside the trailer to help them better understand amateur radio operations.

“This is ham radio on steroids,” he said.

Merrow explained everyday operations and emergency communications services, and he talked about some of the unusual things ham radio operators can do, like connect with the International Space Station and communicate with other ham operators by bouncing radio waves off the moon.

“There are all kinds of things you can do with amateur radio,” Merrow said.

For more information on ham radio, visit the Ottawa County, Ohio ARES Facebook page.