In order for us to check our MURS radios and our communication system for all of our Micro Communities, we will do a monthly test. All you need to do is check in for a few minutes to make sure you’re on the correct channel and that we can hear you. This will take place on the third Saturday of the month at 9:00-9:30 am.
I chose this time because it’s early enough so that it doesn’t interfere with our weekend plans!
This monthly test is separate and different from the County-Wide MURS test on April 3, 2022 that will be a huge exercise with ARES and CERT.
You don’t need to RSVP for our monthly tests – just join us on Channel 04; Code 15. See you there!
Susan, this morning I could hear you and Eric and Keith. I could not hear Melody at all. Did anyone else check in?
Suppose a fire comes up Laurel Glen Rd (or Mt. View Rd) and then up over the ridge, to affect those on Sage Lane and in the 4000’s. Who will they be able to reach via MURS to tell what might be coming, so the rest of us can notify neighbors and plan to either hunker down or get out of the way? Who besides Susan and the ham radio operators has their MURS unit on all the time?
Jim Wason (sp?) from Aptos CERT joined us this morning. I’ll announce our monthly MURS tests (on the 3rd Saturday of the month at 9:00-9:30 am) at our event. People are probably confused because of the County-wide Communication Exercise on April 3rd (1:00-3:00 pm).
Keith Trinity has his ham radio on most of the time. He can reach 80-90% of the people on NRG because he’s higher up on hill and he has great antennas.
Our cell and landlines will be the primary way we communicate when there is a wildfire that is far away.
When the wildfire is imminent and PG&E turns off our power, our Micro Community leaders will turn on their MURS radios to Channel 04 (Code 15) to get updates from our NRG hams. Keith Trinity, Eric Swenson, Theresa Locatelli, and I are all hams (there are others and I hope they join us) and we will be talking to the OR3/EOC, CERT, ARES, and Central Fire to get updates from them.
Our many speakers at the NRG Firewise event on Saturday, April 23rd, will address this in detail. I have 3-4 speakers from different agencies who will answer these questions and concerns.