2009

OVERVIEW: On the Monday night nets, we try to provide an environment where people with the passion can do real things, learn and hone skills, and put their equipment through the paces.  We don't recruit people to any organization or mission.  Well, that's not entirely true.  We do promote MCECG* as a place to find useful, interesting things to do and thereby to acquire hands-on, boots-on-the-ground experience.  But that experience can be applied anywhere you want -- be it in one of the organized groups (Skywarn, CERT, SATERN, Red Cross, ARES, an EOC, MARS, or any other) or just for your own competency and self confidence.  Instead of re-inventing the wheel by organizing yet another top-down hierarchy, we focus on bottom-up training and preparation of the individual to qualify him/her to serve.  We don't care where these people serve; we just want them to be competent and capable when they do.

 

The Arizona Emergency Net - Maricopa is a place where real people do real activities to support real objectives whenever their real-world lives permit.

 

NET PHILOSOPHIES: 

1. •Names on a list mean little; it's those who show up who serve and thereby receive the benefit. 
   

2. •A servant spirit is the most important quality.  Everything else can be taught.
   

3. •It's not about the radio.  It's about people helping people in ways that can't be accomplished without communications.
   

4. •A well-run net is smarter than the sum of its participants' I.Q's. 
   

5. •Participation and mistakes are the currency of learning. 
   

6. •To strengthen the public-service community, strengthen the individual.  Help them be capable and resourceful where ever they serve.
   

7. •Volunteers can be permitted or prevented, but they cannot be forced.  Like herding cats, they can only be attracted.
   

8. •The best disaster-response plans are simple, such as, "When trouble strikes in Maricopa County, tune here."
   

9. •Hams can activate the net on a whim, but we cannot deploy unless invited by an authority.
   

10. •Life, love, and people come first, and then everything else.
    

 

SERVICE AREA:  Maricopa County, including Metropolitan Phoenix and surrounding communities.

 

FORMAT:  On-air exercises, practice drills, and equipment tests while honing operator skills.  Expect to do and learn real stuff.  This is not a quickie "check-in" net, social roundtable, or traffic net.  Several good nets serve those purposes already . 

 

TOPICS:  The focus topic changes each week. 

1. •Operational topics -- such as using tactical callsigns, working with non-hams, and public service job descriptions
   

2. •Equipment topics -- such as portable antennas, caring for batteries, and how to recover from equipment failures
   

3. •Organizational topics -- such as the Incident Command System, activation and callout procedures, and the role of Emergency Operations Centers
   

The weekly topic is announced by e-mail to those who sign up for the net at www.MCECG.net.  The topic also appears in the news section of that website.

 

RECORDINGS:  Most weeks, the net is recorded.  Click here or follow the links at the top of the page for the MP3 archives.

 

ON-AIR DETAILS:  Mondays, 9:00 p.m. local time.  The Mt. Ord 146.92(- offset) or the Shaw Butte 147.24(+) repeater.  Both require 162.2 Hz  tone.  The repeaters are linked and cover most of Maricopa County and portions of Pinal, Gila, Coconino, and Yavapai Counties in central Arizona.  They are not available on IRPL, EchoLink, or any other such network. 

 

AFFILIATION:  The net is an activity, not a separate organization.  Net participants may choose to get "real-world" experience through public service events organized by MCECG* or respond to drills and emergency activations with ARES** and the Maricopa County EOC***.  Membership in MCECG and ARES is encouraged, but definitely is not required for net participation.  Net members represent other respected groups as well, such as SATERN, Red Cross, Skywarn, CERT, RACES****, and others.  The different missions of these groups are equally served by the net training activities.

 

PARTICIPANTS:  There is no membership roster, no bylaws, no dues.  All Amateur Radio Operators are welcome to participate regardless of skills or experience levels.  The only criteria are a radio capable of the net frequency, a license to use it, and an interest in using both for the benefit of others.  Hams in other counties within range of the net repeaters are invited, too. 

 

EXPECTATIONS:  We have fun, but that's not our primary objective.  Equipment will be exercised.  Mistakes will be made and corrected.  Skills will be learned and improved. 

Net motto...

    Anything worth doing

        is worth doing well.

    Anything worth doing well

        is worth screwing up while you're learning.

 

Come learn with us.

Contact us:

Technical Webmaster -- Craig Ludwig, K7CSL, mailto:k7csl@iludwig.com

Content Owner and Net Manager -- Mike Pulley, WB4ZKA, mailto:mike.j.pulley@cox.net

 * MCECG - Maricopa County Emergency Communications Group, an informal collection of hams who emphasize scheduled public service events as a means to tactical radio proficiency.  For more information, see www.MCECG.net.

 

** ARES - Amateur Radio Emergency Service, an ARRL-sponsored organization that promotes Amateur Radio emergency communication services to civic agencies.  For information on the Arizona ARES organization, see www.AZ-ARRL.org/Secure.

 

*** EOC - Emergency Operations Center, a tactical civic (state, county, or municipality) emergency response organization, usually located in a fortified "war room" containing lots of communications equipment.

 

**** RACES - Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, a government-sponsored organization that promotes Amateur Radio emergency communication services to civic agencies.