Lake Oswego Amateur Radio Emergency Service

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is a program sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It consists of amateur radio operators who volunteer their time, personal equipment and communications skills as a public service when disaster strikes.

Facilitated and supported by the Lake Oswego Fire Department (LOFD), the formation of the volunteer radio operators group provides the City a backup communication system. This tertiary system will connect the Lake Oswego Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Fire Stations, Police, Public Works, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) in the field.

In addition, the Lake Oswego Amateur Radio Emergency Service (LOARES) communicates with Clackamas County’s EOC, the State’s EOC, hospitals, and others. The radio group can be activated by City's EOC or self-activate during major emergencies, including floods, windstorms, winter storms, suburban fires, earthquakes, hazardous material spills and terrorism events.

Every licensed amateur is eligible for membership in ARES. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a desire to serve.  The organization supports ARRL guidelines for emergency preparedness training.

The LO  Fire  Department Deputy Fire Marshal serves as the liaison between the City and the Lake Oswego Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Currently, LOARES meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. The meetings are open to the public and are typically held either at the downtown fire station at 300 B Avenue or the Maintenance Center at 17601 Pilkington Road. Guests are encouraged to email the contacts below to confirm the location in advance.

LOARES also holds a weekly radio on-the-air meeting Round Table Net (on-the-air meeting) every Sunday from approximately 7:20 to 8 p.m. The Net begins on the VHF simplex amateur radio frequency 146.500 MHz  with a tone of 82.5 Hz immediately following the Clackamas County ARES Net that starts at 7 p.m. Upon completing an initial check in on the simplex frequency of 146.500, participants then transition to the WA7LO repeater on UHF frequency 444.300 MHz with a positive offset of 5 Mhz and a tone of 82.5 Hz.

For more information:

• Contact LOARES: LOARES.WA7LO@gmail.com 

• Visit LOARES online: https://loares.org/ 

• Contact Lake Oswego Fire Department:

David Smith, Deputy Fire Marshal
503-635-0275
​dsmith@ci.oswego.or.us

To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to http://www.arrl.org/home