RMHAM supports Colorado ARES SET Exercise

This past weekend Colorado’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Simulated Emergency Test (SET) for 2024, exercise Dark Storm occurred. This exercise is a simulated emergency deployment for people to test their communication skills and readiness of their equipment. As part of the event, RMHAM supported the exercise with use of their Communications trailer and Quick Response Vehicle (QRV). The RMHAM DMR linked repeater system was also utilized as part of the exercise.
The Communications trailer was employed by the ARES Colorado Section Emergency Coordinator, James Cizek KI0KN, as a remote Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for communications on HF, VHF, and DMR. The QRV mast was used for mounting, elevating and rotating Yagi antennas on VHF and 40 meters. The activity centered around the Communications trailer as State ARES personnel arrived in support of the exercise’s remote EOC.
The RMHAM DMR network was utilized as part of the exercise to allow Statewide UHF communications between municipal and county EOC’s with State EOC. They were able to use the DMR linked network to communicate with other units when communications using either 40 meter HF or VHF simplex were unable to get through. Having an independent amateur radio microwave linked system, which does not rely on the Internet, allows for communication during times of electrical power outages and internet failure. RMHAM is proud to be a provider of resources that support communications in training exercises and in real time emergencies.