Our Emergency Radio Network is off to a great start!
On 18th June we held a workshop Community safety during floods & fires with CB Radio. Communication is the foundation of community resilience. Going 10 days without phone, internet or functional roads taught us that and we’re never going to be caught out like that again! We’ve had fantastic guidance from Greg Hall (from Elands) and John Miller from the Summerland Amateur Radio Club (SARC) who educated us on CB radio, how it works and what we can do with it. Greg taught us how to build a simple power-backup system to keep our comms devices going during blackouts. Check out his information sheets on CB and back-up power on this resources page. Greg has a knack for explaining things as you can see in the short video. His information sheet on CB is very helpful. Check out Getting Started With Citizen Band (CB) Radio.
Evaluation showed the workshop was much appreciated, with participants keen to join the network. We now have one of the most developed CB radio networks in the Northern Rivers, with 65 people in the valleys and on high points from the village to Terania, Keerrong and Koonorigan to Tuntable Creek. We’re especially happy to have participation from the Keerrong valley where there is such vulnerability to flooding. Needless to say, this network is also going to be very useful in fire emergencies.
Many people are using inexpensive radios that need to be programmed to Australian frequencies. If you want one of these to participate in our Channon network please contact Martha Beasley 0401 514 641. Alternatively you can buy an Australian radio. When the current order arrives we will start with the next stage of network development. This will involve:
- Establishing a base station in the village for better connectivity
- Developing a simple protocol for emergencies
- Establishing a regular ‘radio hour’
- Further tests for radio coverage so that we can map connectivity
If you would like to join The Channon Emergency Radio Network email with your name, address and phone number.
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