Welcome to the website for the Ventura County Auxiliary Communications Service/Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ACS/ARES).
The Ventura County ACS mission is to serve the County in support of any possible communications need in an emergency. ACS members act as emergency communications reserves to support the County in providing reliable, point-to-point voice and data communications anytime, anywhere. In addition to emergency activations, ACS is involved in promoting emergency preparedness.
Click here to view the basic requirements for ACS/ARES membership.
If you would like to know more, please contact ACS Radio Officer/ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Rob Hanson – W6RH at ec@vccomm.org.
The next ACS-ARES meeting is set for Monday, September 9, 2024 at 7:30 P.M. You are encouraged to arrive at 7:00 for a bit of social time before the meeting.
Yellow shirts are appropriate. Either the County one or ARES shirts. Wearing your ACS ID is suggested since it is a police facility. The meeting is open to all, members, non-members, and the curious. Anyone interested in what we do is encouraged to attend.
The meeting will be held in the Camarillo Police Department Community Room. Detailed instructions are located below. The meeting will start promptly at 7:30 P.M. You are encouraged to arrive at 7:00 for a bit of social time before the meeting. There are no mask, testing, or vax requirements, but you are welcome to take any precautions that you wish. Yellow shirts are appropriate. Either the County one or ARES shirts. Wearing your ACS ID is suggested since it is a police facility
Ventura County hams were recognized for their community service by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors at their meeting on Tuesday, June 18. The board issued a proclamation at the televised event declaring the month of June as Amateur Radio month in Ventura County. Read the entire proclamation here.
Please plan to attend the Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting at 10 A.M. on Tuesday, June 18, where all Ventura County Amateur Radio operators will be recognized with a proclamation honoring their service to the community.
This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our presence and to receive recognition for the many activities we engage in throughout the year. The meeting is televised and it’s also a great way to promote our Field Day activities later that week. Call sign badges and tasteful ham-related apparel would be good to wear if you have them.
We will also stream the meeting via Zoom. To get Zoom credentials please refer to our discussion group at: https://vc-acs.groups.io/g/main.
If you haven’t see the ACS station there, you are missing out on an excellent example of a Ham operation.
The meeting will start promptly at 7:30 P.M. (1930). You are encouraged to arrive at 7:00 for a bit of social time before the meeting.
Talk-in frequency is the county repeater (channel 9) 145.200 – PL 127.3
The meeting is open to all – members, non-members, and the curious. Anyone interested in what we do is encouraged to attend. Feel free to pass on this information to others you believe might be interested. This is a chance to put a face to the people you may only know as a voice on the radio.
We will review progress on our systems, and new information about upcoming events will be discussed.
• Progress reports on EOC and infrastructure systems
• An update on the ACS-ARES web portal
• Info on the HF net
• An overview of Winlink activities
• Report on past events and information on future ones
If you have a subject that you would like to discuss or have discussed, please let me know and I will put it on the agenda.
On Wednesday, April 3, Congresswoman Brownley presented $963,000 to the County of Ventura to upgrade the region’s 15-year-old analog simulcast radio communications system. The funds will go toward establishing a state-of-the-art digital radio communication system which will utilize 700MHz frequencies. The upgraded radio system will be used by all public safety entities throughout the county to improve communications interoperability for public safety and first responder individuals as they respond to incidents and disasters.
It’s time for µField Day again…and at last, it looks like the weather is on our side. It’s expected to be a bright sunshiny day in the mid 70s. Same location, the Ventura County Fire Department’s Regional Fire Training Center. Thanks again to the Ventura County Fire Department as well as Dan Dicke KE6NYT for arranging the site (details below). The event is Sunday, April 21 from 1100 to 1500.
Sunday is also the ARRL’s Rookie Roundup, which is a fun low-pressure contest just for people that have been licensed for three years or less, with any license. And to get as many people on the air as possible, Ventura County Amateur Radio Society VCARS will be there with equipment and Elmers. So even if you’ve never come to µFD because you don’t have an HF setup, you should come this week. As we say on the net every morning, it’s an opportunity to exchange ideas, share news, ask questions, practice skills, make announcements, and most of all hang around with some good people. We may also have one of the YouTube personalities that are slated to speak at the µExpo there to stream for a while.
Put “34.2087, -119.0726” into your phone and it will get you there, or use what3words timeless.budget.glitter. Take the 101 to the Las Posas exit and head South to Pleasant Valley Road, and turn right/West. Then turn right on Airport Way (there’s a traffic light there.) Take that a few short blocks until it ends, and make another right on Durley. It will curve first to the left and then the right, and come to a gate.
