Wood County
Emergency Communications
Serving Wood County West Virginia and surrounding areas
Who is WCEC?
Wood County Emergency Communications Inc. (WCEC) is an all volunteer Non-Profit organization, created to provide back-up and overload communications to all Public Safety agencies in Wood County, West Virginia and the surrounding counties in WV and OH. Read more in our Mission StatementCapabilities:
- Mobil communications command center setup
- Skywarn operating under the National Weather Service
- Digital Communications statewide via D.A.R.E.N.
- Voice Communications via handheld and mobile radio and in house wired telephone systems.
- Both fixed and mobile voice repeater setups available.
Dayton Hamvention®
The largest gathering of Amateur Radio Operators in the world the Dayton Hamvention® has been attracting 'Hams' from all over the world since 1952. If you plan to attend May 16,17 and 18, you need to check out their website.
Ticket information, exhibit information, parking information and more can be found on the newspage.
Updated April 18, 2008
The Educational Forum Schedule has been announced for the Dayton Hamvention®. You can read it in this weeks The ARRL Letter republished here or by going to the Dayton Hamvention® Website.
There is a nice collection of pictures from past Hamvention® at this site, look and see if you know anyone. 2001 to 2006 Picture collection
Bill Read Director National Hurricane Center comments on Ham Radio
Hams in the southern United State are getting ready for the upcoming hurricane season. Although we rarely experience the high winds of these huge storms, our area can be drenched with rain that is sometimes devastating.
What is pertinent in Florida during a hurricane may also be relevant here in the Ohio Valley area. High winds, flooding, the rare blizzard or even a rarer earthquake could cause disruptions in normal communications.
At the National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read, KB5FYA, had this to say about the role Ham Radio has to play in emergency situations where normal communications is lost.
"Ham radio has always played a critical role in emergencies. What goes out when you have a high wind event or major flooding is the communications system, so you lose even cell phones, landline phones, commercial radio and TV. In those cases, ham radio operators that can put up emergency transmitters and antennas in the wake of a storm can give us reports that are valuable. They also help in the search and rescue efforts in the aftermath."
View his remarks in this video: Bill Reed National Hurricane Conference 2008
I.R. Phone Home Critique
Now available is the critique on the December 08, 2007 multi-state exercise held at West Virginia University, Parkersburg. Titled “I.R. Phone Home” this was a multi-state exercise to test the communication capabilities of various organizations in the WCEC operating area.
You can down load the “After Action Report” in pdf format and read the conclusions arrived at and the questions developed by the observers.
Quick on you cell phone ah...
For those of you who are worried about the demise of Morse code, here is some assurance. Click the play button to view the video.
| Launch in external player |
For those with a Mac, go here to get 'Windows Media Player for the Mac'
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National Homeland Security Knowledgebase
Upcoming Activities
- WCEC Business Meeting 7:00 PM June 2nd. at the 911 Center, Core Road, Parkersburg, WV.
Attention all Amateurs
Field Day 2008
There are several rules changes this year so read thru the information carefully download the forms and get ready for “Ride the Waves 08” ARRL Field Day
The ARRL Repeater Directory 2008 - 2009 now available
When traveling your vehichle should have one. They are extremely handy in an ememgency. ARRL Product Catalog
US Amateur Radio Bands
The ARRL has published new Frequency Allocation charts for the
Amateur bands. Available in Color and Black an White, they may be
downloaded and printed from their website. These print nicely on
regular 8½ X 11 Paper.
US Amateur Frequency Chart
