Emergency Communications Nets

During an emergency, SCCo ARES/RACES operates a number of different “nets” for different sorts of traffic. Different stations (EOC, DOC, health care, etc.) will participate in different nets to keep communications efficient. It is common for stations to have multiple radios and operators so that they can participate simultaneously in multiple nets.

County Resource Net

The county Resource Net is a voice net used to coordinate the response of SCCo ARES/RACES resources (operators) to an emergency or incident. It operates on three levels:

1. Information gathering and situational awareness reports.
2. Announcements of activations of city tactical nets and/or EOCs.
3. Mutual aid resource mobilization, tracking, and demobilization.

EOCs must report to the county Resource Net when their local city tactical net and/or EOC has been activated. Aside from that, there is no expectation that EOCs must monitor or participate in the county Resource Net.

EOCs may choose to monitor Level 1 to help them assess how widespread an incident is. EOCs that have requested ARES/RACES mutual aid resources may choose to monitor Level 3 to track the progress of those requests.

County Message Net

The county Message Net is a voice net primarily used for emergency/immediate traffic. All EOCs should continuously monitor the county Message Net. Traffic volume on this net is usually low.

Less urgent traffic is normally sent on the Packet Net (see below). However, if a station is not reachable on the Packet Net, less urgent traffic may be sent on the county Message Net.

County Command Net

The county Command Net is a voice net primarily used for command-level (management to management) communications and for technical support with communications issues. All EOCs should continuously monitor the county Command Net. Hospitals will not generally monitor this net, but could use it to request communications technical support. Traffic volume on this net is usually very low.

County Packet Net

The county Packet Net is a data net primarily used for non-immediate message traffic. It is about 15 times faster than voice communications, and automates logging, acknowledgements, and other emergency communications workflow. All EOCs and hospitals shold continuously monitor the county Packet Net.

EOCs and hospitals with line of sight to one of the SCCo ARES/RACES backbone sites are best served by connecting to the Packet Net through the SCCo ARES/RACES intranet. This provides a much faster connection than regular AX.25 VHF packet access, and it substantially reduces contention on the VHF packet frequencies.

Failing that, EOCs should use the 1.25m (223 MHz) access frequencies to the county packet BBS systems. This reduces contention with hospitals and field stations, which typically use 2m (144–145 MHz) or 70cm (433 MHz) frequencies.

County Hospital Net

The county Hospital Net is a voice net for hospitals to communicate with each other and with the county Public Health Department Operations Center (PHDOC). All hospitals should continuously monitor the county Hospital Net. EOCs do not generally monitor this net.

County EOC-to-EOC Net

The county EOC-to-EOC radio system is a commercial radio system between city EOCs and the county OA EOC. It is not an amateur radio system, but many EOCs locate this radio in the ARES/RACES radio room and expect the ARES/RACES team to handle it. Traffic on this radio system is typically very low.

City Tactical Nets

City tactical nets are per-city voice nets used for a variety of tactical communications as established in the city’s emergency communications plan. All EOCs and health care facilities should continuously monitor their city’s tactical net(s) as specified in their plan.

Frequency Coordination

To run all of the above nets, many different repeaters and frequencies are needed. One of the key services provided by SCCo ARES/RACES county staff is the negotiation of agreements with repeater owners used by the county nets noted above, and the coordination of simplex frequencies, to enable all of these nets. We are grateful to the repeater owners for making their equipment and frequencies available to the SCCo ARES/RACES community for emergencies, exercises, and drills.