The goal of the 1st Wednesday EmComm Net at 11:00 is to improve West Contra Costa neighborhoods’ ability to integrate ham, GMRS and FRS radio communication in emergencies. The use of radios permits communication even when electrical and telephone infrastructures are compromised or out of commission.

The net begins on the first Wednesday of each month shortly after the 11 a.m. Community Warning System siren test finishes.

The net has participation from many places in Richmond as well as from other communities in the East Bay. We welcome all who are interested in practicing radio communication for emergency response.

In January, 2025, we enter the 7th year of the 1st Wednesday EmComm net. Have a look at the current roster (as of 6 December 2024), with over 120 participants from neighborhoods in Richmond and across the East Bay.

NEW and IMPORTANT
We are introducing a new method to better track the equipment used in participants' neighborhoods. Please complete this Google form and resubmit it whenever you change your radio, your antenna or your location. Thanks very much.

The net begins with an opening from the Net Control Station (NCS). The NCS is often described as a traffic controller.

The NCS describes how the net is to be run.

The NCS asks participants to check in and records their call signs and/or names and locations.

If there is to be a practice exercise, the NCS will describe and, sometimes, run the exercise.

The NCS will report the number of check-ins and announce Part B of the net.

Part B consists of a communication activity involving FRS and GMRS stations. These activities are intended to be interesting and useful in improving radio communication for all the participants.

At around 1145, we conduct Part C, two further EmComms for licensed ham operators on each of two 70 cm repeaters.* Check-ins are conducted as on the GMRS/FRS channel. Sometimes the exercise for the day will be conducted on the ham frequency.

*1. WA6KQB repeater, 444.275 MHZ, +5 MHz, transmit tone 82.5 Hz.
[Thanks to the Contra Costa Communications Club for permission to use its
70 cm WA6KQB repeater.]
2. WA6DUR repeater at 442.150, +5 MHz, transmit tone 107.2
[Thanks to Walt Pyle [WA6DUR] for the use of his WA6DUR repeater.]

We have developed script templates that provide all of the information that the NCS will convey to the net.

Please look over the templates to get an idea of how the net will progress. 

Click here for a script template for a GMRS/FRS net.

Click here for a script template for a ham net with two repeaters (WA6KQB and WA6DUR).

Click here for a script template for a ham net with two repeaters (WA6KQB 2 meter and WA6KQB 70 cm).

Keep in mind that these templates are not fixed documents but can be adapted for different purposes.

We always are interested in having volunteers participate as Net Control operators. If you have an interest in doing this, contact Karen Leong Fenton at karenleongfenton@gmail.com.

Knowing which GMRS radio to buy is a potentially confusing process. To help with this, Jay Fenton [WRAP287] has summarized a group of features of GMRS radios and put these in separate comparison tables, linked below.

Comparison of GMRS Handheld Radios—January 2022

Comparison of GMRS Mobile Radios—January 2022

He has also created a buyer's guide to handheld & mobile GMRS radios.

GMRS Buyer's Guide—January 2022

IMPORTANT
You'll need a license from the FCC to operate your radio at greater than 2 Watts of power on GMRS channels. See the next section to see how to go about obtaining your license.

A GMRS license is required to transmit at more than 2 Watts (W) of power on GMRS channels.
N.B. Power output is limited to 0.5 W for Channels 8-15, regardless of radio or license status. The GMRS license fee is $35, is good for 10 years, may be used by members of an entire household, and is renewable.

Getting your GMRS license can prove to be a confusing process, as well. For a guide to obtaining a GMRS license, check out this link from the Colorado Springs GMRS Radio Club: https://www.cogmrs.org/how-to-get-a-gmrs-license. (The information is not accurate with respect to the GMRS license fee; remember, it is now $35.)

A ham license is required for transmission on ham frequencies. The ham license fee is now $35. For tips on getting a ham license easily online, see the information provided by the Silicon Valley VE Group
at this link: http://www.svve.org

A Technician ham license (the entry level license) costs $35, but there will be no fee to upgrade the license to a General or an Amateur Extra license. We need more active hams in West Contra Costa County EmComm neighborhood network. Ham license holders are an important tier in our EmComm communications setup, so, please, do consider getting your license. 

Ham radios are not authorized for transmission on GMRS frequencies but they may be used to monitor them.

The BTECH GMRS-V1 radios (as well as many others) can monitor but cannot transmit on ham frequencies.

All FRS radios can operate only on FRS/GMRS simplex.