Greetings,

We had a really good session last night for our monthly meeting.  Jeff, KF7ETM, gave a presentation about the emergency communications element of the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.  He showed photos and provided information on their primary, secondary and back up communications systems as well as how they support Civil Air Patrol as well as work within the FEMA communications architecture.  Sid Brown, the new Director for Emergency Communications spoke about how they operate, who is supported and where they are at in their quest to connect all of Idaho’s counties.  Basically, they are rebuilding after what happened during COVID (and they definitely have some work to do).  The primary mission of the office is to assist the Incident Commander by providing back up communications, sending out information, receive/send requests, and receive/send instructions to the counties and other entities involved.  Sid said they have about 20 entities in their current net construct.  The office is a member of SHARES as well.

So, all that said, they need volunteers.   Their goal is to have enough qualified Hams to operate 24/7 if need be pretty much indefinitely. They have six volunteers right now.  To volunteer you will need to undergo a background check, have some sort of access to Gowen Field, have radio experience, be committed to the mission and be team oriented.  The time commitment is somewhat flexible but is generally from 7:00 AM to 10:30 AM on Wednesday’s. 

If you want to volunteer, feel free to contact Jeff, KF7ETM or Sid Brown, KJ7TLA.  Sid’s contact info is sbrown@imd.idaho.gov or call 208-258-6522. 

Also, the Treasure Valley 220 MHZ Net is going strong.  Nick, K7NQB, Scott, W7IMC,  and I are acting as net controls.  If you have 220 MHZ capability, we are looking for at least one more net control operator. It’s easy to be net control and using 220 MHZ to run a net (the only one in the Treasure Valley or surrounding area) is fun since it is little used and there is virtually no interference.