Coachella Valley ARES
About ARES
Don Stouder, N1GAY ARES Emergency Coordinator
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) if the field service organization of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), a private, non-profit organization for amateur radio operators. ARES began operations in 1935 and is designed to provide emergency communications support to any agency, public or private.
ARES consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization is eligible to apply for membership in the ARES. Training may be required or desired to participate fully in ARES. Because ARES is an Amateur Radio service, only licensed radio amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership.
ARES members may also serve their own neighborhoods and communities as needed during a disaster. In the Coachella Valley, ARES is sponsored by the Desert RATS Club. If you would like more information or to join, please reach out to Coachella Valley ARES Emergency Coordinator Don Stouder at N1GAY@arrl.net.
A revised version of the Coachella Valley ARES Emergency Operations Plan is now available. Download it here.
How Can ARES Help?
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service is a 90 year-old national organization that provides licensed volunteer radio operators to support short term, back-up emergency communications for our neighbors and our communities in the event of a disaster. Members are trained and certified in a number of areas including CERT, emergency communications and the Incident Command System (ICS). Locally, the group is called Coachella Valley ARES.
Our capabilities include:
• Over 50 local members with home-based communication stations that are scattered throughout the Coachella Valley. Each station can immediately provide local situational awareness as well as local, regional, and nationwide communications, reliably and without any power or other infrastructure.
• These members and their equipment can be deployed locally to support organizations or neighborhoods that may have had their infrastructure damaged. We do not deploy to an affected area unless requested.
• We have 14 analog and digital vhf/uhf repeaters in 9 different locations available to us, all with battery back-up. Local, regional, and state-wide point-to-point communication is virtually guaranteed in any situation.
• In addition to radio communication, many of our members maintain WINLINK stations enabling them to send and receive email even if internet and power are down. This software includes a full suite of ICS forms as well. This capability is portable and can be very easily deployed anywhere.
• We are able to quickly deploy our own STARLINK system to provide internet, VoIP, and WiFI calling to up to 120 individual users. We also maintain ZOLEO satellite texting capability. STARLINK can also provide us with local and worldwide digital voice communications using C4FM and DMR systems.
• We train regularly and stand ready to assist any organization that requests our assistance.
ARES Net
Coachella Valley ARES NET meets the 1st and 3rd Monday Nights of each month on 146.760 (-) PL 107.2 at 7:30 PM. This net will be run by a different ARES member. Visitors will always be welcome.
If you wish to be a NET CONTROL OPERATOR please check out this example PREAMBLE for your use by clicking on this sentence. Please keep track of check-ins on your own.
Master list of Check-ins is updated once a month and will be e-mailed out to everyone that runs the NET. All check-ins need to be reported to the NET Manager Steve KM6HWX at stevemc5123@gmail.com so that the master list can be updated.
Coachella Valley ARES and Interop Frequencies
These are repeaters that provide good communications throughout the Coachella Valley on any typical 5 watt HT, as well as frequencies that would be useful to monitor in an incident or emergency. Absent a life or property-threatening emergency, remember to only transmit on the frequencies for which you are licensed.
| REPEATER | LOCATION | FREQUENCY | OFFSET/PL | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRATS 1 | Edom Hill | 146.94 | -107.2 | Main Desert RATS repeater. Upgraded battery back-up. PRIMARY ARES REPEATER. |
| DRATS 2 | Edom Hill | 449.24 | - No PL | Wires X-C4FM repeater. Upgraded battery back-up. |
| DRATS 3 | Edom Hill | 224.48 | -110.9 | Desert RATS 220 repeater. SOLAR POWER BACK UP. |
| DRATS 4 | Edom Hill/Indio Hills | 445.64 | 107.2 Edom Hill 131.8 Indio Hills | WB6RLC repeater. Privately owned, ARES agreement in place. |
| DRATS 5 | Simplex | 146.52 | None | National Simplex Calling Frequency. |
| DRATS 6 | Digital Simplex | 145.5625 | None | C4FM Simplex/Group Monitor Mode. |
| DRATS 7 | San Jacinto Peak | 146.76 | -107.2 | San J-CAP. Privately owned. Open repeater. |
| RACES Tram 1 | San Jacinto Peak | 145.48 | -107.2 | RACES + City and County EOC when staffed. |
| RACES Tram 2 | San Jacinto Peak | 145.2 | -131.8 | |
| RACES 220 | JW Marriott | 224.92 | -156.7 | |
| PAPA 18 | Edom Hill | 445.86 | -103.5 | Coachella Valley ARES has an agreement with the PAPA System to have PAPA 18 taken off network for our use if our primary systems fail in an emergency. |
| PAPA 7 | Toro Peak | 447.84 | -103.5 | Coachella Valley ARES has an agreement with the PAPA System to have PAPA 7 taken off network for our use if our primary systems fail in an emergency. |
| PAPA Digital | Various | The PAPA system has DMR, P25, and D-Star digital repeaters covering the Coachella Valley at Edom Hill and Toro Peak. See their website for details. papa.org | ||
| DARN 20 | Edom Hill | 447.24 | -136.5 | Coachella Valley ARES has an agreement with the DARN System to have DARN 20 taken off network for our use if our primary systems fail in an emergency. darn.org |
| DARN 14 | Toro Peak | 445.28 | -114.8 | Coachella Valley ARES has an agreement with the DARN System to have DARN 14 taken off network for our use if our primary systems fail in an emergency. darn.org |
| CV GMRS | Indio Hills | 462.65 | + DCS 072 | cvgmrs.com. Diesel generator back up. |
| MTN Radio Net | Santa Rosa Peak | 145.34 | -107.2 | n6mrn.org |
| SC Intermountain | Snow Peak | 445.16 | -67 | http://scirainc.org/repeaters.php |
| Palm Springs Fire | 154.355 | 123 | Dispatch Frequency | |
| Cathedral City Fire | 154.415 | 131.8 | Dispatch Frequency | |
| RivCo Fire RRU 3 | 151.13 | 94.8 | Dispatch Frequency | |
| RivCo Fire Cmd 9 | 154.175 | 167.9 | DHS, Interstate 10 | |
| RivCo Fire Cmd 10 | 154.755 | 167.9 | Indio, Coachella, La Quinta | |
| RivCo Fire Cmd 12 | 154.8 | 167.9 | Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells | |
| Coachella Valley Disaster Net | 155.145 | 167.9 | Governments, RACES, schools, public agencies, tribes, community EOC’s all monitor. Tested monthly. | |
| Calcord | 156.075 | 156.7 | On—scene interagency. Used frequently by Helos locally. | |
| RivCo SAR | 155.16 | 151.4 or 110.9 | County-wide Search and Rescue + Riverside Mtn SAR | |
| JTNP Tram | 169.65 | 146.2 | National Park Service, Joshua Tree. Linked repeaters. | |
| VSAR16 | 155.16 | Open | Natl Interop FEMA Freq SAR, also Marine Channel 16 | |
| VLAW31 | 155.475 | 151.4 | Natl Interop FEMA Freq Law Enforcement | |
| VFIRE21 | 154.28 | 156.7 | Natl. Interop FEMA Freq Fire Service | |
| VFIRE22 | 154.265 | 156.7 | Natl. Interop FEMA Freq Fire Service | |
| VFIRE23 | 154.295 | 156.7 | Natl. Interop FEMA Freq Fire Service | |
| VFIRE24 | 154.27 | 156.7 | Natl. Interop FEMA Freq Fire Service | |
| VFIRE25 | 154.2875 | 156.7 | Natl. Interop FEMA Freq Fire Service | |
| Winlink VHF | Edom Hill | 145.63 | Open |
ARES Training and Resource Links
NEW!
Incident Command System for On The Air Video
ARES Riverside County Emergency Operations Plan
RIVCO Riverside County Emergency Operations Plan (2024 Update)
