Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course Announcement

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course Announcement

Hillsborough County ARES/RACES, in cooperation with Hillsborough County Emergency Management, is proud to offer the American Radio Relay League's "Level I -- Introduction to Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (EC-001)" in a traditional classroom setting.

The only prerequisite for this Level I course is holding any level of amateur radio license.

This course will be held on two Saturdays - the 20th of March and the 3rd of April 2010, at the Museum of Science and Industry, located at 4801 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33617. Class will start at on both days at 9AM and continue until 5PM. On the 3rd of April, testing will begin at 3:30PM.

Course topics included in the Level I course are Introduction to Emergency Communications, Emergency Communication Organizations and Systems, Message Handling, Emergency Activation, Alternative Communication Methods, and Marine Communications, among others.

The instructors for this class have been drawn from Hillsborough County ARES/RACES members who have been deployed in actual emergencies to provide backup and auxiliary support for Emergency Management.

The registration fee for this Level I Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) is $45 per student for ARRL members and $75 per student for non-ARRL members, cash (preferred) or check. These fees will be refunded (at the ARRL member rate) for students who successfully pass their ARECC Level I examination on the second day of class (April 3rd).

The textbook for this course will be distributed to students at class time and is included in the course registration fees listed above.

There is an optional class activity, to be held on the 27th of March.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society is holding their annual MS Walk, and Hillsborough County ARES/RACES will help provide emergency communications during the event. Details will be distributed during the first class date.

Additional information about this course is available on-line at http://www.arrl.org/cce/.

The class size is limited – and you can sign up online! In order to properly prepare materials and gauge class sizes, please send an email to training@hcaresraces.org to reserve your seat in this class. The registration deadline is Monday, March 15th, 2010.

If you are unable to attend both sessions of the course, please let us know about that as well - there is some scheduling flexibility for this class.

Keating Floyd
RACES Officer
ARES Emergency Coordinator
Hillsborough County, Florida