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Welcome to the Ventura County ACS/ARES web site. We are a group of radio amateurs that offer our services as a Ventura County Emergency Communications organization.
Ventura County ACS/ARES is actually two organizations:
Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Auxiliary Communication Service (ACS) organizations (also sometimes known as RACES organizations) are communication resource organizations existing at the state and local levels. RACES was originaly designed to be an auxiliary communications civil defense organization, to be activated in case of a national emergency such as war. Ventura County also had an organization called RACES (that also fullfilled the national RACES function), consisting of California State Disaster Service Workers, communications class. Ventura County RACES was renamed Ventura County Auxiliary Communications Service to better describe its mission. Ventura County Office of Emergency Services (OES) administrates Ventura County ACS, and handles the Disaster Service Worker (DSW) registration.
In Ventura County, it is recognized that the ACS members are also member of ARES, and that the leadership of the ACS organization is the same as the ARES organization.
To register as a Disaster Service Worker and obtain the ACS DSW identification badge, you should contact your local Emergency Coordinator.
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service is a special interest group of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), dedicated to emergency communications and public service. The ARRL is a national organization, and is divided into divisions, sections, and districts. Ventura County is in the Southwestern Division, which encompases the southern half of California and Arizona. Within this division are sections. Ventura County is part of the Santa Barbara section, which also includes San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The Santa Barbara section is divided into three districts (which in this section follow the county lines).
Why Amateur Radio for Emergency Communications?
Since Amateur Radio equipment does not rely on wires and communications facilities provided by common carriers and phone companies, it is immune to disruptions with the telephone system.
Licensed Radio Amateurs use a wide range of radio bands, each one with its particular strength in overcoming the barriers to radio communications. VHF (Very High Frequency -- 144 MHz) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency -- 440 MHz) radios are small and portable with lots of channels to handle a multitude of short range communications. HF (High Frequency) can propagate over mountains and valleys to provide coverage beyond VHF and UHF. Amateur Radio operaters can use a wide range of communication modes, whether TV, data, voice, or Morse code to exchange messages. The very nature of the Amateur Radio Service encourages amateurs to learn how to make contacts, regardless of the challenges that may abound.
Amateur Radio operators are distributed throughout the community, near schools, churches, and park facilities which are often used for evacuation shelters. They are located near hospitals and other key locations. They may already be near the scene of the trouble area and can respond.
Amateur Radio operators are allowed to run higher power than other licensed and unlicensed personal radio services such as Citizen Band (CB) and the Family Radio Service (FRS) and have more flexibility with the equipment. Therefore Amateur Radio can communicate over greater distances. Amateur Radio operators use their equipment regularly, which verifies that it's maintained and operational. Some of the equipment includes hand-held portables or mobiles installed in vehicles. The Amateur Radio operators are familiar with the operation and capabilities of their equipment, and how to overcome obstacles to radio communications that may exist within their neighborhood.
Last Revision: 15 November 2007 by AA6VH