The Napa Valley Emergency Net

by N6XN

This is the net that was formed in 1978 to support Emergency Services in Napa County.  We had just formed an ARES group (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) in the County and felt it would be beneficial to have a weekly net dedicated to the support of the Group.  At that time, Arnold Ridings WA6ZPL was maintaining the VHF repeater on Mt St Helena on 147.180 mHz which went by the callsign WR6AFU.  Arnold quickly gave us permission to operate our net on his repeater and although the ownership and callsign have changed, the net has been in continuous operation.

Some have wondered at the purpose of this weekly net.  One can check in for weeks at a time and nothing much happens.  Sure there are announcements of upcoming meetings, weekly breakfast meetings, and an occasional QST but what is the purpose of this net and why has it been in operation for more than 30 years?

During one of our earliest emergencies, a flood, it became apparent that a lot of well meaning hams spend weeks, months and even years "in the wood work".  These folks usually have a disclaimer such as: "Well I really don't have time to participate but if you ever need me I'll be available."  So here we are in the midst of a genuine emergency, and we need help.  This fellow comes on frequency with his offer to help.  He only has a hand held radio, his battery is nearly dead, he can't find the charger, and the user manual is somewhere in a pile of magazines.  As the net control, I made the mistake of sending one such volunteer to a shelter, to contact the shelter manager and check into the net.  I think I heard him briefly but can't be sure.  I never heard him again.  Is this the kind of help we need?

So by having a weekly net, at the minimum the members will know where the battery charger is and hopefully will be encouraged to have some of the following:

A "get away" kit or "Box radio" equipped with:

But perhaps more importantly, the member will know who the players are and won't feel like a stranger when the emergency happens.

So why is it called the Napa Valley Emergency Net?

In the beginning, Civil Defense had just given way to OES.  We had a State of California operations center at the Veterans Home that was buried in dust from lack of use.  There was a CONELRAD* unit still in the original box, never opened.  The people responsible for running the place had better things to do than fool around with a bunch of obsolete electronics so we rarely saw them.

The County OES was also non-existent.  This was some time before RACES.

The ARRL was there with ARES and we were encouraged to join so we did.  Eventually a RACES unit was formed and saw a good degree of activity but that too waned and now we seem to be back to the ARES group.  And the net goes on.

We need your support!

*CONELRAD: Control of Electronic Radiation circa 1951  Read all about it