Welcome to Cupertino ARES/RACES
This site is operated by and for Cupertino Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CARES) members interested in emergency preparedness and amateur radio communication. Visitors are welcome to check us out.
What's News!
After the rain comes the rainbow
Posted by Jim KN6PE, 7 Feb 2024
While doing some repeater maintenance, Davide W6DGE grabbed this picture from the roof of our repeater site. That's the W6TDM antenna off to the side.Thanks Davide for a view from the top!
ARKnet and our Hillside Neighbors
Posted by Jim KN6PE, 6 Dec 2023
Back in 2016, a group of CARES members lead by Marcel AI6MS began implementing ARKnet, a WiFi network designed to connect the ARKs throughout the city. We brought several of the planned client sites on line with the largest implementation being the central Sector Site at the Lehigh Cement Plant. This site was in the foothills about 900ft above Cupertino in a Lehigh land reclamation area.A year later, the Arbor Day Foundation named Cupertino a 2017 Tree City USA for its commitment to "effective urban forest management." And as you probably know, tall trees do not lend themselves well to line-of-site microwave WiFi transmission. That, plus Lehigh's announcement to shut down its operations, meant that our Sector Site would have to be removed. What's next is another story for another time.
In the meantime, what is interesting was the range of wildlife that co-existed near our site and so close to home. We had a camera trap at the site, more as a security measure, that also captured the wide range of the local wildlife that lives above our city. Check out this 3 minute video of our neighbors. How many different animals can you identify?
ISA Communications Exercise - 2023
Posted by Jim KN6PE, 18 Nov 2023
The scenario was a 7.2 M earthquake on the San Andreas fault south of San Francisco. What do we do? For starters, CARES performs the Infrastructure Safety Assessment (ISA) on behalf of the City of Cupertino and our Served Agencies.It started with CARES members making Mike-Mike Reports to Net Control that resulted in an overall (simulated) score of 6.5. This was more than what we needed to initiate our Initial Response Operations. Santa Clara County RACES activated their Resource Net and received our Mike-Mike summary. Cupertino Citizen Corps opened the Department Operations Center (DOC) to coordinate the volunteer response. And 16 CARES members checked in to the emergency net and accepted ISA field assignments.
With asset assignments in hand, CARES field teams deployed throughout the city to locate, check, and report on the status of critical infrastructure items including roads, city facilities, fire stations, and water supply and sanitary system infrastructure components. Over the 4 hour deployment, field responders reported the status on 57 of the 74 assets which were then passed on to and acknowledged by our Served Agency representatives. All of this was accomplished with 192 hours of volunteer time!
The exercise had several new elements including a Cold-Start (nothing was pre-staged) as well as tests of several of our tools, processes, and procedures.
Overall, we met our objectives. We also learned a lot (as usual) and will have plenty to work on in terms of tweaking our procedures. Special thanks to all the CARES members and city staff who made this exercise a success!
2023 Public Safety Forum
1 Nov 2023
On October 19, Cupertino's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) sponsored the Public Safety Forum held at the Quinlan Community Center. It's an annual event for the residents and the business community to connect with local and regional public safety officials, including the Sheriff’s office and the Fire Department. Of course, Cupertino Citizens Corps was present with CARES bringing out Comm 469.Attendees learned about volunteer opportunities, disaster preparedness, and more while enjoying light refreshments from Starbucks and Pineapple Thai. In case you missed it, a recording of the event will be available in the coming days on the City's YouTube channel and the City's website.
Upcoming Activities
1 May 2025, General Meeting
AHF Comm Drill Prep; St Jude Parish Hall,19:30 to 21:00
17 May 2025, AHF Comm Exercise
Staff Allied Health Facilities to pass SCCo Public Health Traffic. Local, 08:00 to 12:00
5 Jun 2025, General Meeting
Field Day Prep; St Jude Parish Hall,19:30 to 21:00
21 Jun 2025, ARRL Field Dsy
Tentative: Memorial Park | Parking lot behind Quinlan Center, 10185 N Stelling Rd. 08:00 to 17:00