THE NASSAU COUNTY ARES
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS TRAILER

Nassau County ARES, through a grant with Home Depot purchased a 12' by 6' Cargo Trailer on January 10, 2010.

Watch this page for updates on the trailer as we make progress on outfitting it and using it for emergencies and special events!!

We had our first planning meeting on January 16th at Curtis Morris's house and we had a great turn out. In attendance were:

At the planning meeting we took measurements and photographs of the trailer and decided to do the following:

1) Try to take the trailer to the Camp Blanding Statewide Public Safety Interoperability Jamboree the week of January 25, 2010.

2) Get some vinyl lettering, and possibly logos, put on the sides of the trailer before the Camp Blanding event. Wayne and Dwayne are working on lettering, and Brian on the logos.

3) Use only temporary amateur radio equipment, antenna mounts, and furniture for the Camp Blanding event.

4) Get together again and plan how to build out the trailer. Good ideas like fold-down countertops that can be used as bunks, work benches and operator positions were discussed. Also a window, overhead cabinets, awnings, and rooftop ntenna support structures and platforms were considered. Dwayne and Paul may be able to contribute some square structural aluminum. We will start priortizing and establishing an estimate for what is needed.

5) Work on trying to get a location to sell bar-b-q on field day that will bring in financial support and attract membership. The trailer would be a great attraction for this event and so any progress we can make on it between now and then will be great! Dwayne indicated that such an event takes a lot of advance work and we need to really commit to it to pull it off. We will start lobbying the membership to get involved for this one so watch your email inboxes!

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF THE TRAILER FROM OUR PLANNING MEETING ON JANUARY 16, 2010.

Tony W9AFM, checks out the side door on the new Nassau County ARES Trailer. Note the single axle and drop-ramp backdoor.	Looking to the rear left corner inside the trailer.
Ceiling view looking backwards. The ribs are 24" on center, except near the the doorway.	Looking forward.
Trailer Specifications Sticker.

FUND RAISER BBQ APRIL 16 and 17th, 2010

ARES held a BBQ fund raiser for the trailer on Friday and Saturday April 16th and 17th. We had a good turnout and raised $575 that will go towards outfitting the trailer!! Many thanks to Dwayne and Curtis who fronted the money to put it on AND who supplied everything!!! In attendance were:

Here are some photos from the fund raiser!!!

Here is the set-up for the fund raiser in Yulee on SR 200. We used Dwayne's old car as a eye catcher. The trailer, the focus of the fund raiser, was there too!	Another view of the set-up that Dwayne and Curtis and Tony put together starting at 3AM in the morning on the 16th. We found out that all you need to sell is ribs and chicken. Burgers and hot dogs were a bit overshadowed and were not big sellers. The 3 side dishes we sold were a hit and so were the sodas.
Where the magic came from! The smoker that Curtis and Dwayne worked morning, noon, and night!	Rich got a deal on this used sign, complete with lettering, and did some restoration work on it with the help of Curtis and Dwayne.
Did I mention the food tasted great?!?!

FUND RAISER BBQ October 29-31, 2010

Once again ARES held a BBQ fund raiser for the trailer this time on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday October 29th-31st. We had a good turnout and raised more money for outfitting the trailer!! Many thanks to Dwayne and Curtis who once again did the heavy lifting and cooked up a storm! A lot of hams came out to help and offer moral support -- even from St. Johns County! We set up some radios and also had a mini-hamfest -- ok: a couple guys with some radio gear in the back of their trucks.... (thanks Doug and Ken!) Here are a couple photos from the event...

Once again Curtis and Dwayne brought out the big guns.... The KE4BXR chuck wagon! Here Curtis is......um.....er....waiting for the ribs to be just right!	We had 3 canopy tents set up for 3 days at the New Life Baptist Church in Yulee.
The field crew work to set up a G5RV antenna. We had an HF rig and a VHF/UHF rig operating all weekend too.