AREC at community events

    Amateur Radio Emergency Communication “AREC” the public service arm of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) formed by members who are individually licensed amateur radio operators.

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    Welcome to AREC New Zealand

    Welcome to Amateur Radio Emergency Communication “AREC”. AREC is the public service arm of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) formed by members who are primarily individually licensed amateur radio operators. AREC provides skilled Volunteers enabling essential communications to support search and rescue, disaster response, and our community.

    AREC.site
    AREC’s legacy website and the technical information it contained is still available for a period of time at www.arec.site

    Our Services

    Communications

    AREC provides a range of communications services covering the provision of highly trained, experience Volunteer radio operators delivering vital messaging services for search and rescue, civil emergencies and community events.

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    Training & Advice

    AREC delivers high quality education, training and assessment of AREC volunteers and other partner organizations. Our volunteers deliver advice and guidance utilizing their extensive technical and operational knowledge.

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    Infrastructure & Equipment

    AREC endeavours to provide and maintain suitable radio and communications technology equipment and infrastructure to enable our volunteers to provide a highly capable and responsive emergency communication service.

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    Volunteers

    AREC’s 375 fully equipped Volunteers provide communications services for civil emergencies, search and rescue and community events.

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    264

    Events attended by AREC + 126 SAR events

    47

    AREC groups
    nationwide

    375

    AREC volunteers

    8

    AREC partners

    (NZSAR, RCC, Police, LandSAR,)

    Latest News

    Southland AREC

    Tonight, we celebrate Southland AREC being recognized at the NZ Search and Rescue Awards. Brendon ZL4BDS was on hand to receive the certificate of achievement for the search for the
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    Wet day at Dip Flat

    It has been very wet, and now a bit cool at Dip Flat for the Police National SAR Course. AREC – Amateur Radio Emergency Communications providing Comms support with Christchurch and
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    long standing AREC members being recognised

    Years of radio communication have given one Balclutha man audio experiences for a lifetime. Balclutha local Cliff Gray recently received a life membership for his contribution to the South Otago’s
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    Keeping in touch when it counts

    Great article recognising all ‘Hams’ who supported Tairawhiti – Gisborne, through the worst devastation the region had seen in decades.  Ka mau te wehi! https://www.criticalcomms.com.au/content/public-safety/article/radio-amateurs-respond-to-cyclone-gabrielle-249881583
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    Join the adventure!

    Join AREC as a volunteer

    You will join a group and receive training to provide essential communications to support Search & Rescue, Disaster Response, and our community.

    Join Now!
    The sense of accomplishment helping locate a family's loved one cannot be beaten. As an AREC volunteer I enjoy the adventure, using and building my skillset, but most importantly the community
    I joined AREC because I want to help my community. I enjoy building my technical skills and volunteering my time with a group of like-minded people. Terrance Shaw – AREC
    I have been an amateur radio enthusiast for a number of years and find that through AREC I can give back to the community. As an avid motor sport fan,

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    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
    2 days ago
    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications

    Great to see this recognition - well done all! ... See MoreSee Less

    Great to see this recognition - well done all!Image attachmentImage attachment
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    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
    3 weeks ago
    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications

    AREC members from around the Otago region recently attended a Southern District SAREX hosted by Wanaka Police, held at The Peninsula and Stevenson Arm areas.

    During the exercise we worked alongside Southern District Police, Land Search & Rescue New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, to locate a group of 6 missing people who were kayaking on the lake.

    We contributed to the exercise by providing a comms truck, Starlink connectivity, a coverage map and base operators at the Wanaka SAR base.

    A huge value-add from AREC was providing support with tracking teams using SARtrack - well done to all those involved!     ... See MoreSee Less

    AREC members from around the Otago region recently attended a Southern District SAREX hosted by Wanaka Police, held at The Peninsula and Stevenson Arm areas. During the exercise we worked alongside Southern District Police, Land Search & Rescue New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand, to locate a group of 6 missing people who were kayaking on the lake. We contributed to the exercise by providing a comms truck, Starlink connectivity, a coverage map and base operators at the Wanaka SAR base. A huge value-add from AREC was providing support with tracking teams using SARtrack - well done to all those involved!Image attachmentImage attachment+7Image attachment
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    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
    4 weeks ago
    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications

    We are so pleased this tramper was rescued and are proud to have provided comms in the field to support Police and Wellington Land Search and Rescue.
    Well done to our AREC volunteers Ross Pedder and Rick Smith for their efforts.An ill-prepared solo tramper has been rescued after spending a night in the bush on the Kapiti Coast.

    At 11.30pm on Monday, Police received a distress call from a man lost on a track near Waikanae.

    The man hadn’t intended being in the bush after dark, but was ill-equipped when he became disorientated and lost his way.

    Wearing only light clothing and with no food or water on him, the man faced a long night in the bush while search and rescue teams tried to work out where he was.

    The man was tracked by this cellphone’s coordinates, up until his phone went flat.

    Wellington Search and Rescue Coordinator Sergeant Jonathan Westrupp says rescuers finally found the man about 11.20am on Tuesday – 12 hours after he first called for help.

    “Search resources were deployed quickly, but the search became very difficult as it descended into a river with steep hazardous terrain and log jams.

    “Thankfully, a Police dog team eventually located the man and by that time he was very cold and hungry, but otherwise unharmed.”

    The dying cellphone battery complicated the search, along with the man ignoring advice to stay put after getting lost.

    “It’s vital to stay put if you get lost.

    You put yourself at greater risk by moving around and can make it even harder for us to find you.

    “This is another example why you need to ask yourself ‘what if’ before venturing into the wilderness.

    Make sure you’re prepared – even when you’re on day walks, and especially if you’re going alone.”

    The rescue is the second in less than a week where an ill-equipped person was rescued by search crews.

    On Saturday, rescuers tramped for six hours to reach a hypothermic man on Mount Taranaki who was caught out by poor weather.

    “In this case, he’s lucky he could walk out with rescuers and wasn’t seriously hurt, or worse,” Sergeant Westrupp said.

    Police would like to thank the volunteer groups of Wellington Land Search and Rescue and the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) group for their support in rescuing the man.     ... See MoreSee Less

    We are so pleased this tramper was rescued and are proud to have provided comms in the field to support Police and Wellington Land Search and Rescue. Well done to our AREC volunteers Ross Pedder and Rick Smith for their efforts.
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    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
    1 month ago
    AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications

    AREC recently attended a Police Search and Rescue Exercise in Hawkes Bay that ran from Friday 8th November through to Sunday 10th November.

    The exercise was held in the Hinerua, Three Johns and Waipawa Forks areas.

    Hawkes Bay AREC members joined New Zealand Police SAR personnel and Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) for the scenario, which saw the agencies working together to find the identified people (actors).

    These scenario exercises are a great opportunity for AREC to prepare for future multi-agency operations that support the lost, missing, and injured.     ... See MoreSee Less

    AREC recently attended a Police Search and Rescue Exercise in Hawkes Bay that ran from Friday 8th November through to Sunday 10th November. The exercise was held in the Hinerua, Three Johns and Waipawa Forks areas. Hawkes Bay AREC members joined New Zealand Police SAR personnel and Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) for the scenario, which saw the agencies working together to find the identified people (actors). These scenario exercises are a great opportunity for AREC to prepare for future multi-agency operations that support the lost, missing, and injured.Image attachmentImage attachment+2Image attachment
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