KPARN FAQs

See below for some Frequently Asked Questions about KPARN 

The hospitals in the areas we serve have dedicated amateur radio stations usually located adjacent to the hosptial emergency operations centers.

They have multiple single-band Alinco radios supporting 2 & 6 meter, 220, and UHF (440) bands.  See photo on the home page and some photos on the Events page for typical installations.  A few locations have roll-out portible setups and there are a few go-box portable systems that can be deployed in the field.  

Some of the stations in the LA and San Diego areas also have HF readios primarily to augment communications between these areas where VHF/UHF repeaters may be out of range.  See our Public Frequencies page.

We use high mountain repeaters and ROIP links with significant hot standby and redundant systems.  KPARN owns and operates repeaters on the 6 meter (command) and UHF (440 tactical) bands. The repeaters are located in the mountains south of Corona, CA.  There are multiple UHF backup repeaters in the greater LA area and in San Diego on top of our hospitals to serve the local area in emergencies should our main repeaters be off-line.

In addition we have agreements in place to use other repeaters to support emergency communications if needed.

We are not embracing pactor, winlink, etc.  We are experimenting with it but the learning curve is great and it is not a proven hospital tool.  Unfortunately, there also is lack of county and state standardization and leadership supporting this technology.  Realize we have counties that require amateur radio support and others that have no plan or procedure.  We have no counties requiring digital protocols (LA County is using some Winlink).

We are interested and looking for some digital leadership to slowly open new opportunities.  But our stations are set up for emergency comms, not experimentation.  Hospitals have very high noise floors which can render some RF tools useless.  Our Alinco redios can be augmented to provide digital capabilities when the need is established.

KPARN covers an area from San Diego to Bakersfield an area larger than the state of Indiana.  Unfortunately, due to this area we do not have face to face meetings. We also do not have many zoom style meetings.  KPARN is not a social club and if that is your interest, we may not be a good fit. Occasionally we use Zoom seminars and virtual meetings.