Welcome to Ojai Valley CERT

IMPORTANT UPDATE.....


THIS WEB-SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED.

PLEASE GO TO HTTP://OJAIVALLEYCERT.ORG

This blog provides information to those interested in CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) activities in The Ojai Valley, CA. CERT works in partnership with OVARC (Ojai Valley Amateur Radio Club) which provides Ham Radio Communications - http://www.ovarc.org/.

http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert is a good place to begin learning about CERT. The fact is, immediately after a major disaster, each of us will be on our own while Emergency Services Personnel (Fire, Hospital, Police, Hospitals, etc) figure out what happened and how to respond. CERT teaches valuable self-preservation skills and empowers each of us to be of service to ourselves, family, neighborhood and community. By integrating CERT with Ham Radio, citizens can effectively communicate actionable information from the field to the Emergency Operations Center -- help will be on the way sooner.

Please check out the CERT Calendar & Map at the bottom of this web-page and sign our Guestbook (top right of page).

Ojai Valley (CERT, Ham Radio, Red Cross)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Introduction to General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)

20090619PG Revised re: GMRS Repeater relocated from Thacher to Ojai EOC

During every disaster post-drill debriefing, the main topic of discussion for improvement is "communication". Ojai Valley CERT is committed to having effective communication be a primary topic. While we enjoy a strategic partnership with Ojai Valley Amateur (Ham) Radio - www.ovarc.org - there are other forms of communication to learn about and use.

This posting will discuss GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service). Tim Shates (K6CTS) -- a member of OVARC -- is well-versed in Ham Radio, FRS and GMRS and contributed this article.

GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) is a licensed service that requires no exam and includes members of the licensee’s family, including spouse, children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and in-laws (47 CFR 95.179). The fee is currently $85 for a 5-year license. Go to the FCC website http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls for online registration.

The Ojai Valley GMRS repeater operates 24/7 on 462.575 MHz with Digitally Coded Squelch (DCS) of 054. (Duplex offsets in the GMRS band are always +5.000 MHz, meaning the repeater receives on 467.575 MHz with DCS of 054 and transmits on 462.575 MHz.) The GMRS repeater is now at the Ojai Police Department (EOC) at an elevation of approximately 750 feet. The EOC does have emergency backup power.

It is highly recommended that CERT Area Coordinators have, at a minimum, a GMRS license and at least one duplex-capable radio, such as the Icom F21GM (available at the GMRS Outlet) http://www.gmrsoutlet.com/product.php?productid=12&cat=0&page=1 or the Tekk XT-series (available from Tim Shates) http://www.tekk.us
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