March 26, 2008
Anthony S. Harbour, KG4YXP
DEC-District 6

Much has happened in District 6 since the last news brief submitted in June 2007. We now have a developing ARES team in Henrico County with appointment of Parke Slater (N4KFT) as EC and Bill Perkins (KJ4ASH) as AEC to provide local leadership for Henrico County. The VDEM Amateur Radio Communications Auxiliary (ARCA) was formed in October 2007 to support amateur radio operations at the Virginia EOC. District 6 held its last District EC meeting for 2007 at Goochland County Fire-Rescue Company #3 (Centerville) with 16 hams in attendance. Plans were made for staffing an information booth and the next District 6 EC meeting to be held at the Richmond Frostfest in February 2008.

The Frostfest information booth was a success as we had many visitors to stop by to talk about ARES and Emergency Communications. The Richmond Amateur Radio Club (RARC) held a VE session at Frostfest and as new hams and upgrades were given their CSCE, they were also given a card to exchange for a bottle of ice-cold water at the District 6 ARES booth. We had 7 hams sign-up for more information and several of these hams have completed the ARES registration. As of March 2008, we have 50 registered ARES members for District 6! The mission for 2008 is recruitment and training of hams so we may continue to grow our ranks and establish teams in those localities that currently do not have amateur radio support.

District 6 wishes to thank the current Virginia Section leadership for its hard work over the past 18 months. We have enjoyed much support from the Section as we worked to forge new relationships and to rekindle faltered relationships. Thanks to Glen (W4GHS) for his dedicated leadership, Henry (K4YCR) for his support and encouragement, Dave (W4PRI) for his timely reports, Dan (AG4YU) for his work in maintaining the website, and the entire Virginia Section leadership for working together seamlessly to make the past 18 months a pleasure to be a part of the ARES and Virginia Section team!

June 11, 2007
Anthony S. Harbour, KG4YXP
DEC-District 6

District 6 held its second District EC meeting for 2007 at the Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC) on 2 June 2007. There were 14 hams in attendance, including Dave Damon, K4DND, A-SEC for the Virginia Section. The agenda topics included a discussion on a District photo ID, development of a District Communications Plan, and recruitment of hams to increase our ranks. Terry Hebert, KG4GLS, provided an overview of the VEOC and he led a tour of the "new" facility. The tour concluded with an orientation to the RACES station with an opportunity provided for those who wanted to operate the equipment.

We received queries from Henrico County and the City of Petersburg regarding providing amateur radio support for Emcomm. With only 39 active ARES members in District 6, we have to get busy with recruiting efforts to ensure we have sufficient resources to support all of our served agencies. Field Day will provide an opportunity for District 6 ECs to talk about Emcomm and to put a call out to interest hams to join us in providing public service to our community.

I want to thank all of the current ARES members and ECs for taking the time to reach 100% registration in the Virginia Section database. The time spent completing the forms will enable the ECs to have an accurate count of our members, their capabilities and their training levels. This will be essential in a time of need to match resources with requests for assistance. A heartfelt thanks goes out to Terry Hebert, KG4GLS, for all of his hard work in promoting ARES/RACES to the Emergency Managers in all of the localities within the Commonwealth. Terry has become a champion for amateur radio operators to provide a public service to ensure communications are maintained between the localities and VEOC during a disaster situation.

Thanks and 73,
Anthony

February 28, 2007
Anthony S. Harbour, KG4YXP
DEC-District 6

The first District EC meeting for 2007 was held on 3 February 2007 at Richmond Ambulance Authority in conjunction with a training session on Packet Radio operations. There were seventeen hams in attendance, including all of the District 6 ECs.

The City of Richmond has purchased two Kenwood TM-D700A radios and power supplies to deploy an amateur radio station to support EOC operations. We are excited and are pleased to be helping the City of Richmond in this effort and we are working from scratch to build a team to support this new addition to the District 6 served agencies.

We welcomed a new EC for Powhatan County, Greg Mika (KI4PXU), to the District 6 team and we look forward to working with Greg!

Goochland County had a breakfast meeting and in addition to some wonderfully tasty eggs, pancakes, and the usual breakfast items, we had a great turnout. In addition to 14 hams, we had representatives from Goochland Fire and Rescue, Goochland Sheriff's Office, The Deputy Director of EMS, the Deputy Director of Emergency Services, and reporters from The Goochland Gazette. After breakfast we conducted a follow-up training and demonstration session on Packet Radio. Goochland continues to lead the District with their efforts and a hearty thanks go out to the Goochland ARES / RACES team and Ralph Fetty (W4FEG), EC -- Goochland County. I am privileged to be working with such a wonderful team!

Thanks and 73,
Anthony

January 18, 2007
Anthony S. Harbour, KG4YXP
DEC-District 6

Greetings from District 6!

District 6 had a productive year during 2006 with the appointment of a new District Emergency Coordinator (Anthony, KG4YXP), an Emergency Coordinator for Chesterfield County (Travis, K4RCK), an Emergency Coordinator for Kew Kent County (George, K2QIJ), and an Official Emergency Station for the Offie of the Chief Medical Examiner (Charlotte, KI4MQV). Thanks go out to Keith (WA4KD) for his service as DEC and we wish him much success as he focuses as an OES and as the Assistant Director of Amateur Radio Operations at VDEM, a volunteer position he held in addition to serving as DEC and EC for the City of Richmond!

Goochland County led the District with a county-wide SET to test amateur radio as a backup for emergency communications for the Fire, Rescue and Sheriff Departments. The SET was a success and much was learned from all who participated. Chesterfield County has been ramping up a newly organized team and they have been active supporting the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross in addition to training sessions. The City of Richmond has purchased amateur radio equipment for deployment in their EOC and efforts are underway to establish a team and a communications plan. A training session on packet radio for emergency communications will be held in early February 2007 in conjunction with the first District EC meeting for the year. District 6 is looking forward to an even more productive year as we begin 2007!