The Purpose of RARs Public Service is to provide opportunities for Amateur Radio Operators to contribute their skills and equipment in support of community service organizations across the RTP area. We do this as our way of saying "Thanks!" for use of the Amateur Radio spectrum provided to us by the Federal Government.

Hams also provide more routine, but still important, communications to many worthwhile nonprofit and charitable organizations, typically when they hold fundraising events. For example, the National MS Society has several walks in the spring, and a major bike tour in the fall. These events are outdoors, spread over several miles (150 miles for the MS-150 Bike tour). Ham Radio and repeaters are ideal for providing both logistical and safety communications.

The MS-150 Amateur Communications Support web page provides lots of detail on operating a major public service event. Most events are much smaller, but the techniques are similar.

Event based public service around Raleigh is coordinated by the RARS Public Service Director. In the Durham/Chapel Hill area, David Marable KD4WQU does the coordinating. The clubs support public service, but you don't have to belong to RARS, or any club, to participate.

There are Amateur Radio Organizations such as ARES and Skywarn which provide Emergency Communications Services to Public Safety officials and Government Agencies.

Emergency communications comes under the banner of ARES, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Here we provide backup communications to North Carolina Emergency Management, and the Emergency Operating Centers (EOCs) in Wake and surrounding counties. Hams operate from the EOCs, staging areas, shelters, hospitals... anywhere communications are needed when normal phone or radio channels may fail. To be ready, we participate in regular training, nets and drills that let us practice the skills we'll need in actual emergency situations.

ARES is organized by County, and by ARRL Section (North Carolia is one Section). Each county has an EC (Emergency Coordinator) responsible for recruiting, training and supervising hams for emergency communications.

SKYWARN is also under the ARES banner. Hams trained in storm spotting report severe weather sightings to the National Weather Service via SKYWARN nets. SKYWARN covers a broad area, with several operations in North Carolina.

We support a wide variety of organizations, both private, governmental, and institutional. A sample of past "customers" includes:

The majority of the events that we support tend to be outdoor events involving 100+ participants. Typically they tend to be charity walks, fun runs and other types of events. Our primary role in any event is to provide communications for event management, and to enhance the safety of the participants during the event.

We are also known for supporting "extreme" sporting events such as Marathons or Triathalons, which can involve up to 50 communication operators on foot, on bicycle, on water (really!), and in support Vans. Please note that this type of event requires several months planning beforehand! Another one of our specialties is overnight cross-country bicycling events. Again, these are major Tours involving 100-400 cyclists and up to 50 radio operators over a 175 mile course!

We only ask two requirements of the event organizers who want our participation:

(1.) Your Event must be organized to benefit a community-based non-profit charity or group, and

(2.) You must provide the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society proof of liability insurance for your event (i.e. show us a copy of your event policy). For major ("extreme") sporting events involving large groups of RARs volunteers, organizers may be asked to explicity list RARs as a co-insured on the event policy.