City/Agency BBS Assignments
Every city ARES organization and agency in the county has an assigned primary BBS that they should use for packet communications. This is where operators will address messages for that agency, unless notified otherwise. Agencies also have a secondary BBS to fall back on when the primary BBS is down.
Each agency also has an assigned three-letter prefix, which should be the first three letters of the tactical call signs for that agency as well as the message number prefix for that agency.
Neighboring counties and their agencies also have prefixes and primary BBSes assigned, for those cases when they need to use SCCo systems directly. However, they should use their own BBSes when possible, to avoid hidden transmitter issues.
County BBS Assignments
Alameda County [1]
Prefix
XAL
Primary
W4XSC
American Red Cross
Prefix
ARC
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Cal FIRE Santa Clara Unit
Prefix
SCU
Primary
W2XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Cal OES Coastal Region [1]
Prefix
COS
Primary
W1XSC
Campbell
Prefix
CBL
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Contra Costa County [1]
Prefix
XCC
Primary
W1XSC
Cupertino
Prefix
CUP
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Gilroy
Prefix
GIL
Primary
W2XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Hospitals & PHDOC
Prefix
HOS
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W2XSC
Loma Prieta
Prefix
LMP
Primary
W2XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Los Altos
Prefix
LOS
Primary
W3XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Los Altos Hills
Prefix
LAH
Primary
W3XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Los Gatos / Monte Sereno
Prefix
LGT
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Marin County [1]
Prefix
XMR
Primary
W4XSC
Milpitas
Prefix
MLP
Primary
W4XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Monterey County [1]
Prefix
XMY
Primary
W2XSC
Morgan Hill
Prefix
MRG
Primary
W2XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Mountain View
Prefix
MTV
Primary
W3XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
NASA/Ames
Prefix
NAM
Primary
W3XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Packet Practice
Prefix
PKT
Primary
W2XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Palo Alto
Prefix
PAF
Primary
W3XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
San Benito County [1]
Prefix
XBE
Primary
W2XSC
San Francisco County [1]
Prefix
XSF
Primary
W4XSC
San Jose Water Company
Prefix
SJW
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W2XSC
San José
Prefix
SJC
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W2XSC
San Mateo County [1]
Prefix
XSM
Primary
W4XSC
Santa Clara
Prefix
SNC
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W2XSC
Santa Clara County
Prefix
XSC
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Santa Cruz County [1]
Prefix
XCZ
Primary
W2XSC
Saratoga
Prefix
SAR
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W4XSC
Stanford
Prefix
STU
Primary
W4XSC
Secondary
W1XSC
Sunnyvale
Prefix
SNY
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W3XSC
Valley Water District
Prefix
VWD
Primary
W1XSC
Secondary
W2XSC
| City / Agency | Prefix | W1XSC | W2XSC | W3XSC | W4XSC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County [1] | XAL | PRIMARY | |||
| American Red Cross | ARC | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Cal FIRE Santa Clara Unit | SCU | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Cal OES Coastal Region [1] | COS | PRIMARY | |||
| Campbell | CBL | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Contra Costa County [1] | XCC | PRIMARY | |||
| Cupertino | CUP | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Gilroy | GIL | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Hospitals & PHDOC | HOS | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Loma Prieta | LMP | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Los Altos | LOS | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Los Altos Hills | LAH | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Los Gatos / Monte Sereno | LGT | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Marin County [1] | XMR | PRIMARY | |||
| Milpitas | MLP | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Monterey County [1] | XMY | PRIMARY | |||
| Morgan Hill | MRG | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Mountain View | MTV | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| NASA/Ames | NAM | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Packet Practice | PKT | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Palo Alto | PAF | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| San Benito County [1] | XBE | PRIMARY | |||
| San Francisco County [1] | XSF | PRIMARY | |||
| San Jose Water Company | SJW | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| San José | SJC | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| San Mateo County [1] | XSM | PRIMARY | |||
| Santa Clara | SNC | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Santa Clara County | XSC | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Santa Cruz County [1] | XCZ | PRIMARY | |||
| Saratoga | SAR | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Stanford | STU | [2] | PRIMARY | ||
| Sunnyvale | SNY | PRIMARY | [2] | ||
| Valley Water District | VWD | PRIMARY | [2] |
- Note [1]
- Non-Santa Clara County agencies are encouraged to use their own BBS(s) in their area. This reduces the chance of hidden transmitter problems. And regular use, such as weekly check-ins, helps test inter-county communications. In the event an agency doesn’t have their own BBS or the network links have failed, the Santa Clara County BBSs listed here are recommended for each agency.
- Note [2]
- Secondary BBS. Connect to this if your primary BBS is down.