Welcome to the Home Page of the
Maine Amateur Radio Emergency Service (r)
(Maine ARES)


Updated 25 April 2019

June 1: EMCOMM/AUXCOMM Meeting at Hermon Hamfest 11am


Amateur ("Ham") radio operators are uniquely skilled and equipped to provide backup disaster communications for served agencies during or after incidents that create a communications emergency. When you hear of a major hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or terrorist attack, you will hear that hams have assisted when the normal communications became overloaded or rendered inoperable. Notable events have included Hurricane Katrina, 9-11 and the Boston Marathon.

Served agencies can include those at the local, state or the federal level. Hams also support non-governmental relief agencies such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Hams can also support their local communities through "neighborhood watch" type programs as well as provide communications support for public events such as parades, races and numerous other community activities. All of this is done free of charge.

All FCC-licensed amateur radio operators are eligible to join ARES, which is an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) affiliated program. The application form may be downloaded from the ARES Information page. Fill it out and submit it to the Maine Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) or your closest Emergency Coordinator (EC) to become involved in your local ARES group. The various Emergency Coordinators are listed on the Contact page.

Visit these other websites who support amateur radio emergency services and ham radio operators: 

For comments or questions, please contact WE1U at DavidLoweMESEC(atsign)gmail(dot)com