FEMA Region 10 Monthly COMMEX

On the third Wednesday of each month, FEMA Region 10 conducts a COMMEX consisting of radio check in’s from authorized state, tribal, federal and amateur stations to test HF interoperability in case of an emergency or disaster response.  Cities, counties, tribes, authorized Federal agencies and amateur operators that support jurisdictional emergency management organizations are welcome to participate.  The coordination and authorization of this net between Federal stations and amateur licensees has been coordinated and authorized by the NTIA and the FCC.

This 3^rd Wednesday net will include a digital component intended as a 1-way broadcast message to test the ability for FEMA to send messages, and remote stations to receive.  In order to ensure compatibility with amateur stations digital transmissions will follow the ARRL recommendations for amateur digital use on 60m from http://www.arrl.org/60m-channel-allocation.

The voice net will open on 60m Channel 1 – 5330.5kHz at 1730z with net control announcing the digital net.  Check-ins will be postponed until after the first round of digital transmissions.  Following the initial set of digital transmissions net control will call for voice check-ins on CH1.  ALL stations will be expected to check-in with their callsign, city and state of operation, and a report on the ability to receive the digital messages, along with which mode is preferred.  The alternate frequency for the voice net is 5403.5 KHz USB in case the primary frequency does not propagate well.  If you do not hear traffic on 5330.5 KHz, please check 5403.5 KHz.

Messages will all be sent using FLMSG 4.0 using the Blank form template.  This method will allow users of FLMSG to validate 100% decoding of the message but will also allow stations who do not have FLMSG to still read the text.

The digital portion of the net will consist of two different messages, each repeated using different digital modes.  The first message is a short intro message intended to validate that stations are correctly setup to receive the digital messages.  The second message is much longer, and reports will help determine recommendations for modes to use in future exercise or real-world events.

The digital portion of the net will occur on Channel 2 – 5346.5kHz USB with the digital software centered at 1500hz.

Third Wednesday Region 10 HF Interoperability Testing Schedule:

*note: all times listed are Zulu (UTC).  A tool available to assist you in converting the time to your local time zone is http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html.