Androscoggin ARES has held weekly nets on Thursday evenings to provide announcements and training. The repeater has not been available for a few years now and simplex simply doesn't cover the county well. For this reason, we have transitioned to alternating between zoom meetings and simplex net until such time the repeater is available. The calendar page on this site has the current status of our meetings and activities.
The government agency we support, Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency (ACEMA) has moved out of their long time location under the Lewiston Fire Station and relocated to the building that was previously home to Maine Public Broadcasting. This happens at the same time that ACEMA is wrapping up the buildout of their command trailer. They have been quite busy!
Other news involves ARES supporting events like Beach-To-Beacon (B2B) and Dempsey Challenge. Amateur radio support for B2B had been there since the start, but two years ago, some miscommunication kept amateur radio from being able to help out. Fortunately, this is no longer a problem, and amateur radio is planning to be present in 2027.
Dempsey Challenge is another event that has a prominent amateur radio presence. Having enough operators to cover the wide area this event covers had been becomming increasingly difficult. That wasn't the case this year. Operators from surrounding counties volunteered their time to ensure this event remained safe for all participants.