PPARES Membership

What is ARES®

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) is a group of licensed amateur radio operators that have volunteered their skills, equipment and are registered to provide emergency communication in times of emergencies or disaster. ARES® is a “service” program coordinated and organized by the American Radio Relay League(ARRL).

Our Mission

Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Emergency Service (PPARES) is an organized group of amateur radio operators whose goal is to provide emergency communications for both government and private agencies in the Colorado counties of Teller and El Paso when called upon. PPARES strives to enhance the reliability, quality and professionalism of Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) personnel, through the establishment of training and performance standards, policies, procedures, management and supervision

What We Do

We regularly participate in several exercises each year developing our critical emergency communication skills supporting the City of Colorado Springs, Teller and El Paso Counties, and various military organizations. Also, we are active in providing communication support to several Public Service Events (PSE's) each year.  We also provide valuable weather information to the National Weather Service in Pueblo, Colorado through "trained spotter" participation in the National Weather Service Skywarn Program. 

What We Ask of You

You do not have to be an ARRL member to participate in ARES, however, you must have have a sincere desire to serve our ARES group. As a service organization, active member participation is implied. No club or organizational affiliation is required to join or participate in Pikes Peak ARES® (PPARES) and we have no membership fees or dues.

PPARES has three basic expectations from our members. They are "To Train"," To Learn", and "To Participate and Volunteer". Each of these are explained below:

To Train

We expect our members to train. Training takes many shapes and forms but breaks down to 2 distinct levels in PPARES; Organizational and Self-Improvement.  Organizational training includes but is not limited to MEAT (Minimum Essential ARES Training, Skywarn, On -air Training, Public Service Events (PSE's) and other organizational coordinated activities.  You cannot expect to participate in PPARES without taking the initiative to train yourself. Some examples of self-improvement are ARRL courses on ECOMM, the Colorado Courses on ECOMM, NIMS courses through FEMA, public service event participation and participation in general. Much of the skills and knowledge needed to be an emergency communicator in PPARES are perishable. They will erode without practice.  

To Learn

We expect you to understand the material presented in training. We expect you to practice. If you don’t know, ask! When an emergency happens is no time to say you do not understand how to do something!

To Participate and Volunteer

ARES in general and PPARES are a "service" organization. We are not a social club. As a member of PPARES you are expected to participate in training (organizational and self-improvement), emergencies and other incidents when you can. We fully understand that there may be times when you cannot participate in training, or an event, due to unforeseen circumstances.  All we ask is that you participate as much as you can. We are active year around and expect our members to be active participants!  Those that register but never actively participate will be asked to resign.

To Become A Member

If you are ready to volunteer to become a member of Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Emergency Service, please register with us at: http://www.ppares.org/members/index.php or follow the link on this page.

Membership questions? Contact our Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) Resources for more information on PPARES. Jim KC0PAZ

All members must subscribe to our E-mail list server as this is our primary vehicle for disseminating information about emergency activations, training, exercises, public service events and significant severe weather bulletins.
To register visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ppares

All members are strongly encouraged to participate in our weekly Pikes Peak ARES® Net, every Tuesday at 1900 hours local (7:00pm) on the 146.970- (100 Hz tone) repeater. This net provides up-to-date information on current and future PPARES activities and we also conduct on the air training monthly.