K9ESV repeater
The primary repeater for the operation of our group is the K9ESV repeater located in Woodstock Illinois with operating frequencies 146.835 out, 146.235 in, and with PL of 91.5. With its antenna located on the public services radio tower at the county Government Center, the repeater covers the entire county and well beyond that.
In addition to providing reliable county-wide coverage, the repeater is capable of broadcasting National Weather Service Watches and Warnings as well as paging alert tones. This provides us with an easy way to alert and activate our volunteers as well as keep the general public informed about any potential hazards. Contact W9ZE (w9ze@arrl.net) for more information on the paging tones.
Net operations
The official RACES/ARES weekly net is conducted on Monday nights at 20:00 CST. This a formal, directed net conducted by trained net control operators. All check-ins are welcome, as we are always looking to expand our ranks and involve more hams in the county. The purpose of this net is to provide a single point of contact for all trained RACES & ARES operators in McHenry County, to test emergency communications procedures, and to provide information pertinent to the operations of the group. In addition to weekly check in, the net is used to keep our members appraised about upcoming public service events, training, group announcements and other ham radio related events.
Most common emergency net activations in our county are severe weather activations. During these nets, our members create a weather monitoring net across the county to keep an eye on any developing storms and report any hazards. Most of our members are also trained storm spotters and any hazardous weather reports are forwarded directly to National Weather Service.
Net Control Stations for 2023/2024 (Revised 01/2023)
Monday Night Net Control Stations
| DATE | NET CONTROL STATION | DATE | NET CONTROL STATION |
| 12/19/2022 | Dulaney | 7/17/2023 | Zelz |
| 12/26/2022 | No Net | 7/24/2023 | Zwierzycki |
| 1/2/2023 | Lubow | 7/31/2023 | Dewey |
| 1/9/2023 | Zelz | 8/7/2023 | Dulaney |
| 1/16/2023 | Zwierzycki | 8/14/2023 | Finnegan |
| 1/23/2023 | McGrath | 8/21/2023 | Leracz |
| 1/30/2023 | Dewey | 8/28/2023 | Lubow |
| 2/6/2023 | Finnegan | 9/4/2023 | McGrath |
| 2/13/2023 | Leracz | 9/11/2023 | Wiegel |
| 2/20/2023 | Lubow | 9/18/2023 | Zelz |
| 2/27/2023 | McGrath | 9/25/2023 | Zwierzycki |
| 3/6/2023 | Wiegel | 10/2/2023 | Dewey |
| 3/13/2023 | Zelz | 10/9/2023 | Dulaney |
| 3/20/2023 | Dewey | 10/16/2023 | Finnegan |
| 3/27/2023 | Zwierzycki | 10/23/2023 | Leracz |
| 4/3/2023 | Dulaney | 10/30/2023 | Lubow |
| 4/10/2023 | Finnegan | 11/6/2023 | McGrath |
| 4/17/2023 | Leracz | 11/13/2023 | Wiegel |
| 4/24/2023 | Lubow | 11/20/2023 | Zelz |
| 5/1/2023 | McGrath | 11/27/2023 | Zwierzycki |
| 5/8/2023 | Wiegel | 12/4/2023 | Dewey |
| 5/15/2023 | Zelz | 12/11/2023 | Dulaney |
| 5/22/2023 | Leracz | 12/18/2023 | Finnegan |
| 5/29/2023 | No Net | 12/25/2023 | No Net |
| 6/5/2023 | Lubow | 1/1/2024 | No Net |
| 6/12/2023 | Finnegan | 1/8/2024 | McGrath |
| 6/19/2023 | No Net | 1/15/2024 | Wiegel |
| 6/26/2023 | Dewey | 1/22/2024 | Zelz |
| 7/3/2023 | No Net | 1/29/2024 | Zwierzycki |
| 7/10/2023 | Wiegel |
