JCAR Tests Emergency Communications

Jackson County Amateur Radio participated in the North Alabama Simulated Emergency Test this morning. We responded to a simulated cyber attack, which took down Internet and cellular networks in Alabama.

We used voice and data modes on HF and VHF to keep in touch with Madison County and a remote station in Paint Rock Valley.

We overcame some challenges and learned a lot, which will make us better emergency communications operators in the future. The best way to get better is to get out of the house and into the field to exercise your equipment and your comms plan regularly.

If this kind of thing interests you, check out our calendar of events at https://jcar.us/calendar for monthly opportunities to play radio in the field and improve your emergency communications skills.

Digital Modes Are Coming!

Ask ten amateur radio operators about digital modes, and you’ll get 11 different answers. Digital evokes some strong opinions from hams, good and bad. That’s okay! Hams are a diverse bunch, and we don’t have to like all the same things.

JCAR is soon going to send a digital data transmission as part of its weekly ARES Training Net. In an actual emergency, we will still have to pass data back and forth, and digital modes have significant advantages over phone modes for data transfer.

We’ll be using a mode called MT63-2000L, which works well on noisy repeaters and doesn’t require any special equipment to decode and send. If you’re interested in setting up a computer to decode our digital transmissions, see our guide here: https://jcar.us/digital-mode-decode-setup/.