Ohio ARES

03/10/2026

I am sad to share the passing of Sonny Alfman, W8FHF, District 9 ADEC. Our thoughts are with Sonny's family.

View George "Sonny" A. Alfman's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

21/09/2026

I apologize for not sharing this information earlier. The ARRL SET dates this year are October 3-4. In the past, we have not had much success with dictating SET activities at a statewide level. Therefore, the decision was made to allow the Districts and Counties to formulate their own SET plans. Please keep in mind, this does NOT have to occur exactly on October 3-4. You can complete your SET any time you want. Additionally, if you don't have the manpower to participate in an SET, you are welcome to submit paperwork associated with any appropriate planned event.

Because emergencies and ARES activations begin and end locally, it's my opinion that drills need to begin locally too. As a county EC, I encourage you to reach out to your adjacent counties and you District EC to come up with an exercise that makes sense to YOU and supports the objectives that YOU and YOUR SERVED AGENCIES need to practice.

If your simulation means that you want to get assistance from neighboring counties, then I encourage you to work with those counties and your DEC to spin up the resources needed.

I encourage you all to incorporate some sort of notification that adheres to the OSERP which requires any activated county to notify their DEC, and any DEC who is notified of an activation to notify me. These notifications can take place via digital messaging (give me a heads up and I will check my winlink account), email, or text message.

I have reached out to Bret to see if W8SGT will have any availability on October 3 or 4 and will report back here when I know.

More information about SET objectives can be found here https://www.arrl.org/simulated-emergency-test

Upon completion of your SET, please remember to submit the appropriate forms which can be found here https://ares.arrl.org/aresset/ You should submit BOTH form A and B.

If you need any help putting something together, or need any additional resources from other districts or from W8SGT, please let me know.

One last reminder to please sign up and attend the Ohio ARES conference on November 21. More info here https://n8esg.org/conference/ We are currently at about half capacity.

Mat KC8NZJ SEC

12/09/2026

Congratulations to Matt Welch, W8DEC for being appointed District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) for District 10. District 10 comprises the counties of Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Lorain, and Medina.

30/06/2026

Congratulations to Bill Priest, W8BNO newly appointed EC for Williams County.

29/06/2026

Congratulations to Eric Patterson, K8EEP on being appointed Emergency Coordinator for Allen County.

27/06/2026

To All Field Day participants. Please be aware of the requested
clearance of frequencies for the Venezuela Earthquake response… Please
avoid +/- 5 kHz of 7.135

Venezuela Earthquake — 25th June 2026 Frequency clearance
requested

Following the fatal earthquake in Venezuela on Wednesday at 5:04 PM
local time (10:04 PM UTC), local radio amateurs have asked that that all
amateur radio colleagues in the Americas and the rest of the world
protect the following frequency used by Venezuelan amateur radio
operators:
40 m: 7135 kHz.

Domingo L. Hernández Lima, YV5IZE, director of the Venezuelan Radio
Club’s National Emergency Network reports that a large part of the
capital is without electricity and communication systems are operating
on battery power. They were already activating their emergency shortwave
(HF) frequency and also using digital frequencies and communication
modes.

At the same time, the emergency communications coordinators of amateur
radio operators from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, and other countries in the region, as well as members of the
Board of Directors of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2
(IARU R2), remain on standby to provide any assistance that may be
needed.

Information received from Carlos Alberto Santamaría González, CO2JC,
Emergency Communications Coordinator, IARU R2.

08/05/2026

Register Now for the 2026 ARRL Youth Rally at Dayton Hamvention®
Get ready for amateur radio’s biggest annual gathering! Dayton Hamvention® 2026 is May 15 – 17 at the Greene County Fair and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio.
Among the activities taking place is the ARRL Youth Rally, returning on Saturday, May 16. The rally is designed for students ages 11 to 21 and offers a great opportunity to connect with other young hams. Youth Rally activities will be led by ARRL Director of Education and Learning Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, and volunteers from the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP).
Advance registration is recommended. While Hamvention admission is already free for students (high school and younger), the $20 Youth Rally registration fee includes a T-shirt (to be worn on Saturday), badge and lanyard, reusable tote bag, and a complimentary three-day Hamvention admission ticket (Friday through Sunday).
Students will enjoy an afternoon of hands-on activities, learning, and fun. Highlights include satellite communications, a short sprint contest, a fox hunt, and a chance to make contact with a parachute-mobile station. Attendees are encouraged to bring a 2-meter handheld radio if you have one.
The Youth Rally will be followed by the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Meetup.
For more information about the Youth Rally and registration, and to find other ARRL activities and exhibits at Hamvention, visit www.arrl.org/dayton-hamvention-2026. For Hamvention information and general admission tickets, visit hamvention.org.

02/05/2026

Come out and support the Lucas Co. ARES Hamfest and stop by the Ohio Section table.