Hi, it's Chuck in KC,
Just wanted to ask you for your area findings and what if any plan of action your CERT/RACES teams have regarding this sudden blackout.
Due to work issues, I have been out of my home city for almost a month. When I got home I found a major outbreak of criminal gang activity. One of my responses was to turn on my high-dollar trunk tracking scanner. I was shocked due to what I haven't been able to hear. What I was seeing wasn't generating normal radio traffic.
I posted a similar question on Larry's List on a Yahoo group like this. My response was somewhat shocking. I received a lot of direct contact responses because they didn't want to be seen by outsiders. A general summary of what was said is this. " Police Departments requested the Federal Government to start the in-mandate phase to blackout all government radio communication. This includes:
1. Weather alerts and emergencies
Live ground truth reports we as
CERT & RACES make use of....
2. Live Fire Dept and SAR ground
Thuth reports that we would
Make us off in CERT & RACES...
I know a few of you in this group have leadership positions in emergency management.
In closing, I have talked about this on several radio nets in my area and everyone was surprised
Also, a few responders said we needed to set up a special radio net on 2M/FM just for CERT&RACES hams in all groups in East Kansas due to the possible need for mutual aid due to the low number of hams doing this work. They would like to start this on field day late afternoon. I think 6M/FM would also be good. I am putting up a base antenna for this over the next few days any way.
73s
Chuck Digby KB0TOT
913/648-2585
Masterdowser@...
