Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Communications Test

SLV Calendar·Communications·Radio (walkie talkie)

Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Communications Test

Sun, Oct 4 · 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM PDT·America/Los_Angeles

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Our next Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Communications Test will be Sunday, Oct. 4, 7:00 PM. This will be very similar to our previous August 3 test, explained below.

(We had to move the test to Sunday evening to avoid conflict with local ham radio nets.) I'll send another reminder of the test a week before it's scheduled.

Meanwhile, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

As you know, phone and internet communications may not function after a major disaster. Our backup plan is to connect organized neighborhood groups with the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) using amateur radio.

In this system:

  • Neighbors communicate locally using short-range MURS radios.

  • A licensed ham radio operator in each neighborhood relays information to and from the County EOC.

  • Amateur radio repeaters throughout the county provide the communication backbone between neighborhoods and the EOC.

Your neighborhood ham radio operator will use one of these amateur radio repeaters during this exercise:

  • K6BJ — Santa Cruz

  • WR6AOK — Ben Lomond

  • KN6GWQ — Watsonville

  • W6TUW — Bonny Doon

This test will be similar to our last test in June:

Sequence of Events

  1. At 7:00 PM ham radio operators at the County EOC announce the test to neighborhood ham radio operators on the repeaters listed above and repeat the evening’s test message several times.

  2. As soon as neighborhood ham radio operators hear the message, they relay it to members of their neighborhood group using MURS radios or another local communication method.

  3. Neighborhood hams collect acknowledgements from participants and keep a count of those confirming receipt of the message.

  4. Only after completing message distribution should the neighborhood ham operator check in on one of the repeaters and report:
    - The name of their neighborhood group
    - The number of individuals who confirmed receipt of the message

  5. Optionally, neighborhood groups may then send their own message back to the EOC.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I look forward to connecting with you during this emergency communications test.

Best regards,

John Gerhardt, N6QX
District Emergency Coordinator
Santa Cruz County ARES