A Member District of ARES Ontario

What is ARES?

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service or "ARES" is a national emergency communications service administered by the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) . This organization is made up of volunteer radio operators who provide their time, skill and equipment during emergencies.

Why do we need ARES?

When a disaster strikes, normal communications are often not enough, sometimes the telephone system is overloaded, sometimes phone lines are down. Commercial radios such as those used by municipal public works, fire departments or even the police may also be down or unusable. Cellphones can be overloaded or when the normal phone networks fail the cell systems also fail. The Internet can also be down.

Communications normally relied on in normal times have proven time and again to be incapable of providing for the needs of emergency service workers. That's when ARES plays a big part. We can talk locally, regionally, provincially, nationally or even world wide when other systems are unavailable.

What is Trent District ARES?

Trent District ARES are the local ARES groups in the Trent ARES District. The Distict is part of the Larger Ontario Section. There are 8 RAC Field Organization Sections in Canada and ARES is one of the Field Services. The National Traffic System and the Official Bulletin Service as well as the Official Observer Service are the other Field Services

The Trent ARES District includes:

• Haliburton County
• Hastings County
  • City of Belleville
  • City of Quinte West
• Northumberland County
• Peterborough County
  • City of Peterborough
• Prince Edward County
• South Algonquin Township

And this is a Map of the Trent ARES District

I'm a Licensed Amateur Radio Operator in this area, where do I sign up?

Please visit our "Joining ARES" page for more information.

But I'm not a Licensed Amateur Radio Operator, How can I help?

If this sounds interesting but you are not already a Ham or Amateur Radio Operator then please visit the "How to be a Ham" page that the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club has posted on its website