Video on GMRS communication for California citizens in rural areas affected by fires

[RickW]

I came across a short (under 4 min) professionally made video showing how citizens in fire prone areas took action to have some kind of communication network. This came about because of the horrific fires in rural areas and loss of telephone and cellphones. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uhOwng_j38

 

The solution was to purchase GMRS radios and apparently quite a few where sold in just one rural area. They had some help from what looks like a ham or two (but did not identify them as such), and even set up a modest repeater to get across one ridge area. The equipment shown were Midland MXT series radios. And for this application, I think this is a good choice for plug and play. 

 

 

[marcspaz]

Fantastic! Good for them. The guy in the white shirt is an amateur radio operator and Emergency Coordinator for Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) in that county.

 

Hopefully they have been training in radio relay and traffic management in the event that the repeater gets taken out. In the same manner that the cell towers are destroyed, the repeater and tower can be, too. Depending where the fire is/goes, that may never be a problem, but they should prepare for it.

 

Overall I think it's an outstanding job. I am very happy to see the community coming together and making it work.

[WRCZ387]

They added a slightly longer version of the video on the 28th

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZiSC4sgKYw

[berkinet]

...Hopefully they have been training in radio relay and traffic management in the event that the repeater gets taken out....

 

In the video, though maybe only the longer version, they quickly mention a weekly net  control to learn how to use the radios. Given the support they had in setting this system up, I would hope they are also learning good net communications practices.

[berkinet]

...The equipment shown were Midland MXT series radios. And for this application, I think this is a good choice for plug and play. 

 

I am not sure I would agree with that. The video mentions that costs ranged from $250 to $600 per family. For significantly less, they could have organized a group purchase of used, commercial quality, equipment. Of course, that would require someone, or a small group, to buy, program and test and distribute the radios. This approach also gives the end-user a plug-and-play solution, but with better quality equipment.  BTW, that is exactly what we have done in our local CERT effort and we now have over 50 participants using mostly Motorola equipment.

 

Also, while it won't make a huge difference, using wide-band would also improve their audio quality and range.

[Darrell]

ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

[berkinet]

ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

That is a commonly cited phrase, but is also not really true. Something that takes your time and energy and falsely increases your hopes, and then delivers zero is quite arguably worse than nothing.

 

However, in the case at hand, it certainly looks like this is a well directed effort. The questions posed in this discussion have been about how it was managed and if it might have been managed more efficiently. Such a conversation is not intended to denigrate or criticize the group’s actions. But rather, to help others who might want to do something like this have a few more ways to think about their plans.

[gortex2]

All in all this is a good idea. Could they save money by going used part 90 gear. Most likely, however this is exactly why Midland is selling like it is. Its easy and simple and you can go anyplace to get a radio ready to roll. When my father bought his first one i cringed. After learning the issues and how i could help fix it it does the intended purpose. If someone wants to add a second  or third they jump online and order another. I have one repeater specifically in NB just for some friend that have the midland gear. I am actually in the process of switching my repeater in my motor home to NB as well being I take it on some Jeep rides and more folks are going to GMRS in the off road world. 

 

I still use my part 90 gear (APX and XTL) for most of my communications but having something that works for these folks and others is a good solution. 

 

JMHO

 

JS

[n4gix]

At least they had the good sense to install an excellent COTS repeater: Bridgecom BCR-40U.