The 2026 Great ShakeOut takes place this Thursday, October 15, at 10:15 AM local time. All Hams are welcome to participate. We are registered with the Shakeout as Ventura County ACS-ARES. We can provide a certificate to those that participate and request one. Those who check in will have their time automatically entered on the portal. We will combine our efforts with ARES LAX Northeast District, others from Southern California, and around the world.
Ventura County ACS/ARES is launching a comprehensive training program to help members learn and master Winlink Global Radio Email.
Winlink has become an essential emergency communications tool, providing a reliable connection between radio operators and the internet when normal communications systems fail. Using amateur radio frequencies—VHF/UHF for local communications and HF for long-distance communication—Winlink allows operators to send and receive email messages, weather maps, ICS forms, damage reports, casualty lists, and other important information without depending on local internet or cellular networks.
While it is desirable to send Winlink messages via packet, VARA FM, VARA HF, or mesh, anyone with a computer and Winlink Express can participate in the training program by sending messages via Telnet.
The program is built around a “learn by doing” approach. Participants will complete a series of exercises that become progressively more challenging, helping them develop Winlink skills while becoming familiar with the many forms commonly used during emergency communications operations.
The program will begin countywide on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. ACS/ARES members should look for an email with exercise details and instructions.
To learn more about the program, including suggested Winlink frequencies and helpful instructions, click this link or go to the “Operations” drop down at the top of this page and select “ACS/ARES Winlink Training.”
The 2024 Great ShakeOut — a popular worldwide annual earthquake drill (www.shakeout.org) — was held on October 17, 2024, at 10:17 AM local time. Millions of people around the world participated in the drill to practice earthquake safety. The ShakeOut Amateur Radio Community Intensity Map (ARCIM) project — a collaboration of Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) LAX Northeast, Ventura County Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)/ARES, San Diego ARES, the ARRL San Joaquin Valley Section, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) MOVE Radio Club, W4MOV — offered the whole community of radio operators the chance to submit Winlink “Did you feel it?” (DYFI) reports as part of their ShakeOut drill experience. Continue reading:
Thursday, October 20th, is the Great California ShakeOut, and ACS will conduct an exercise that you can do from home or work. We will have a voice check-in on ACS channel 9 (145.200 – PL 127.3) and Winlink check-ins using the USGS form.
The time of the mock earthquake is 10:20 A.M. Please check in by voice 10:20 and 10:45 A.M. using your member number and FCC call sign. If you have only a handheld radio, look for a high, clear spot to operate from. An external antenna will generally provide better results than will a stock handheld-mounted antenna
If you have Winlink capability, please also send a Winlink DYFI form using the built-in template to DYFI@vccomm.org after 10:30 A.M. Please include your location’s latitude and longitude (decimal degrees with the longitude being a negative number) on your Winlink check-in form, as we will be mapping the results. If you are unsuccessful, wait a few minutes and try again.
ARES LAX NW District, LA EmComm group and WaveTalkers are running another round of their Winlink Basics for EmComm course every Friday and Sunday at 2pm PST for the next few weeks. The Friday and Sunday sessions are repeats of the same material so feel free to join either session live, link below, or catch the recordings on WaveTalkers. http://wavetalkers.com
Session 2: Getting on The Air With Winlink Over Telnet, starts today at 2pm PST and will be repeated live on Sunday at 2pm PST. All course sessions are being live streamed at my WaveTalkers site: http://wavetalkers.com and links to the Live Zoom sessions, previous course sessions, and show notes are available by joining the class.
The course being conducted live via Zoom and all Zoom sessions are limited to 100 participants.
Click here to view the presentation made by Andy Moorwood-K3CAQ on the October 17, 2020 “Did You Feel It” Great California Shakeout event in Ventura County.
