The World of ARES: How Good are We, Judging by the Web Site?

Monday, November 14, 2005

We all know that we’re in Colorado ARES District 14.  Most of us know that there’s an ARES web site for Colorado—you can link to it from the PPARES.  The question I wanted to answer in this article is how many states are as organized as well as Colorado? The short answer is that Colorado may, in fact, be the best organized state from the ARES perspective. 

Site Selection

I first constructed a list of state ARES sites.  These are shown in a Appendix A, below.  Since this information is current (as of 14 November 2005), you’re welcome to run down the links as I did and see if you understand the situation the same way I do (or not).

One of the simplest observations that can be made—just based on the list—is that some states, seventeen of 50—don’t have a state-wide ARES site.  Massachusetts has no state-wide site but has an “Eastern Massachusetts ARES” site and a “Western Massachusetts ARES” site.  New Jersey is split into Northern and Southern ARES.  Utah has a “Northern Utah ARES” site, but no equivalent “Southern ARES site.”  Thus, Colorado is one of 33 states which has a state-wide ARES site.

Initial Evaluation

Of course, state-wide ARES sites are not all the same.  In the “first cut,” I looked at four characteristics of the sites:

1. Does the first page have an ARRL reference?  Since ARES is organized under the ARRL, it’s only fair to recognize that fact.  My main reason for including this as a criterion is that new hams who may be interested in ARES may not understand that ARES isn’t a local phenomenon.  It has support and sponsorship from the local to the national level.
2. Is there an explanation of what ARES is?  Again, for new hams, a simple and concise statement is useful for explaining why there is an ARES and why anyone would want to become involved.  Some of the sites had absolutely no hint as to what ARES was about—it just said it was the “ARES home page.”  I didn’t think that was acceptable.
3. Is there a link to training?  What distinguishes a ham from an ARES member is training and experience.  Training is a critical component of ARES, and so a link to training materials is important.
4. Is there a link to the state ARES districts, or at least a map showing how the districts are organized?  The question asked by a prospective member would be “What district am I in?” and a question asked by a more experienced member might have to do with “Which ARES districts surround mine?”

Of the 33 states that had state-wide ARES sites, only nine (including Colorado) had the four basic elements discussed above.  The results are shown in Appendix B, below.  Interestingly, fewer than half the sites explained what ARES was all about.  I should add that the four criteria I selected above were selected without having evaluated the Colorado ARES site.  Happily, Colorado made the final cut.

Final Evaluation

I browsed through the nine state ARES web sites that met all four criteria outlined above.  The sites and my comments are found below in Appendix C.  The three I liked the best were Connecticut, New Hampshire and, of course, Colorado.  These three sites had the best organization coupled with the best information.  These two sites also may hint at some improvements we could make.  Connecticut had a document I liked—the “ARES training roadmap.”  It listed various courses ARES members were expected to complete and provided a comprehensive view of what was expected of an Connecticut ARES member.  The New Hampshire site was organized more conventionally, but the lists of links to information were well thought out.  One feature I found attractive was a link to a page which covered essential items for a go-kit which, again, goes towards advising members what’s expected of them—training and readiness.

Conclusion

I find our state-wide ARES web site, hosted by W0IPL, among the best, if not the best in the nation.

Appendix A: List of State ARES Sites

I constructed this list by conducting a Google search using each state’s name and the word “ARES.”  It’s possible I missed some, and if you know of any I’ve missed, please let me know.

Appendix B: List of site characteristics (first cut)

Appendix C: The Final Cut

73,

Al Glock, KC0PRM (@arrl.net)