Who we are. The Mountain Empire Amateur Radio Club, AKA the MEARC is a disorganized bunch of Amateur Radio Operators in the Eastern most part of San Diego County, CA, U.S.A. No meetings, no dues, no repeaters.
Our Mission. We don't have one. I would like to see us do some social activities but everyone out here is so busy with work or retirement it's hard to get us all together.
What we do do. Lots. Mostly we are affiliated with local response and public service agencies. Campo Fire and Rescue provided us with a room at the firehouse to put our radios in and more. Go to this link for more details. At the same link you will find information on our local disaster preparedness committee, our local CERT Team and our area communications plan. Several of us are members of the San Diego County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) group. Others are trained to work with the San Diego Imperial Chapter of the American Red Cross.
If you are an old, new, or want to be, Ham radio operator, and would like
more information on our group, give me a call at 619-478-2505 or email to 
.
What we prepare for:
Below is a story from the ARRL. You will NOT see it in any other media. This
is exactly why we try to be prepared. We also live on the Ring of Fire. When
all else fails Amateur Radio works!
Radio Amateurs in Japan Still Providing Communications Support
03/23/2011
Amateur Radio operators became involved in the rescue effort soon after the
March 11 8.9 earthquake and devastating tsunami that hit northern Japan, and
that effort continues nearly two weeks later. "In the early stage following
the earthquake and tsunami, several radio amateurs were able to activate
their stations with car batteries or small engine generators, despite the
electric power outages," IARU Region 3 Secretary Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP, told
the ARRL. "They transmitted rescue requests and information on the disaster
situation -- including refugee centers and their needs -- and the
availability of basic infrastructures, such as electricity, water and gas
supplies." After the earthquake and tsunami, there was no electricity, water
or gas service in many of the affected areas.
In his report to the ARRL, Yamamoto said that the Japan Amateur Radio League
(JARL) quickly activated JA1RL, its headquarters station in Tokyo, to assist
in the rescue effort. With the help of many other amateurs, it also
activated its regional headquarters station JA3RL in Osaka to communicate
with amateurs in the areas devastated by the tsunami, including its Tohoku
headquarters station JA7RL in Sendai. "The communications were mostly on the
7 MHz band in daytime and the 3.5 MHz band at night," Yamamoto explained.
"Short range communications were also made on the 144 and 430 MHz bands. The
information gathered through Amateur Radio communications was reported to
the rescue and disaster relief organizations for their appropriate
deployment. Some other amateurs accepted health-and-welfare inquiries from
the [impacted] areas and then posted the information on the Internet."
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications -- that country's
equivalent of the FCC -- approved the use of an additional 300 UHF/VHF
transceivers in the affected areas.
With gasoline and natural gas in short supply, Yamamoto said that the fuel
shortage was "a very serious problem in the cold climate. Calls for fuel
were received over radio from many disaster areas, but delivery remained
very difficult at least for the first week as the access roads were hacked
up everywhere. Several days later, some Amateur Radio clubs reached the
affected areas with their radio equipment and established communications for
supporting disaster relief."
Yamamoto told the ARRL that several radio equipment manufacturers offered
"hundreds of VHF/UHF transceivers to JARL for the use at refugee centers and
local disaster relief centers. These transceivers should help to establish
mutual communications between refugee and disaster relief centers, and to
facilitate smooth and appropriate delivery of disaster relief goods."
As of noon JST on March 23 (0300 UTC), Japanese authorities announced that
9408 people have been killed and another 14,716 people have been reported
missing in the earthquake and tsunami.
Arlington VA RACES
Manuals, procedures and training.
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