08/09/2026
Family, Friends and Neighbors,
With what we are seeing happen with this Wrights Spring fire, having back up communication and the secondary ability to contact someone when you need it is Important. Radio communication is becomming more and more important and a way of life. We have a huge group of people that belong to our Klamath Falls High Desert AMRRON Emergency Preparedness Group (American Redoubt Radio Operators Network) We help all Members and all Communities learn and keep the ability to communicate during these emergencies. We have a once a month meeting where we all get together and help each other out with radio issues, programming issues (Which are simple), antenna discussions such as: types of antenna that best suits your needs/location, best distance, best location and so on. These meetings are at Mia and Pia's every third Saturday at 3 pm in the meeting room, and anyone is welcomed to join us! There are a lot of us that have 10 - 50 watt base stations which will let us expand our coverage area not just for reaching out to you but also to recieve you. Also all of us have small 5 watt hand held radios that can communicate with repeaters as described below for long didtance and also via simplex/GMRS which will cover most of Klamath Falls. The radios work two ways, 1. Communication via linked repeaters, with the repeaters during emergencies they are linked and we can cover most all of Klamath County, sush as, these areas form Klamath Falls Chiloquin (28 Mile coverage), Bonanza (25 Mile coverage), Sprague River (38 Mile coverage), Lake county (96 Mile coverage) and as far as Roseburg (162 mile coverage) and even Shasta Valley California which is 80 mile coverage. Then when the repeaters are down, 2. Simplex or standard GMRS/FRS communication. When the repeaters are down we still have the ability to reach anyone in the City of Klamath Falls, our local community. Even if the cell towers are down and the electricity is down. For what these radios can do you would think it's very expensive to get into, it is not. For a 5 watt hand held radio they cost $109.00 dollars, they come with the radio, rechargable battery, charger, lanyard, programming cable, and a belt clip.
You do need a license but there is no TEST! Just logon to fcc.gov applt for a FRN # (Federal Registration Number), once you are issued a FRN, logon again with your number and answer some general questions on the form for a GMRS License, you pay $35.00 for the license and it is good for 10 years, and it is good for your whole family! Once you or one family member has the license it can be used for all your family. Don't let a lot of this information scare you out of this, this is all really quite simple. We have approx 60 people (Members) that are all willing to help you with this. Alot of you out there already know me and know that I am well known in the Community. One reason is: I am The Net Control Operator/Net Control Station (WSBT889) for our Klamath Falls High Desert AMRRON Emergency Preparedness Group, along with a good friend of mine Jim (WRZN509) is my Backup Net Control. Please if you are interested, contact me via my email [email protected], this is the best way to reach me because I also estimate commercial construction and this is our busy time of year, but I will return your email. I will help you with learning, navigating through this and understanding this, Please be safe out there, that goes for everyone!
John Mendoza-WSBT 889
[email protected]
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