Travis County ARES

TCARES members use several methods to receive or exchange information. This website is a general reference tool. In addition, we have several local repeaters, Alpha-numeric Pagers, a dedicated Yahoo mail group and mail announcements from the membership database.

The dedicated repeater for TCARES is located in West Austin near the TV towers. It is the 147.36 machine and has a 131.8 tone required for access.  Weekly nets are held on this machine. Other repeaters in the area may be found on the website of our sponsor organization, the Austin Amateur Radio Club. The specific location on the AARC site is repeaters. The primary repeaters used for events, training, weather nets and activations are in red. For a very extensive list of repeaters see Wikipeater.com This site is user maintained and frequently more up to date than others you may find.

AWACS pagers are available to TCARES members. This is a sponsored program where TCARES members get access to the alert and notifcation system used by the City of Austin and Travis County for emergency notifications. A number of message types are transmitted but we only get notice of  road closures/re-routes, fire/rescue calls, CTECC activations, weather forecasts, and storm watches/warnings.  We also have the ability to do an "All Call" alert to ARES members for an activation. The application form for AWACS pagers and a help card are both in file download area on the home page menu.

The Yahoo mail group for TCARES is TRAVISCOUNTYARES. You may subscribe to this group by sending a mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This mail must be sent from the account you will use on the group. You may subscribe additional addresses by repeating the process. This would allow you to post from a different account if needed. Group members are protected from spam since only a group member may post a message. Applications must be approved by a moderater to join but you may post mail  at any time once you are a member.  If you want to learn a little more about the group before joining, use this address. All TCARES members are strongly encouraged to be a member of this group so we can reach you with info about activities and get input from TCARES members.

The membership database also has a link in the main menu. It is used to track skills, time and contact information on TCARES members. See the front page article for more info. It can generate mail notices to members using one or more addresses they provide and maintain directly. Notices could be sent by officers to everyone or to only groups with a certain equipment or a special skill. It is to your advantage to create a record in the database and keep it updated.