For many people in the state of Colorado, our fun begins where the pavement ends and a dirt road begins. Unfortunately, many of us lose cell phone signal well before we reach our destination. Because of situations like this, the Colorado Emergency Reporting Net was formed. CERN is a group of volunteer amateur radio operators with the goal of monitoring the Colorado Connection’s statewide repeater system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in order to report any type of an emergency that is called into the net. Not every call a monitor receives is for an actual life or death emergency. Assistance can from range from a simple radio check to an emergency request requiring some form of professional assistance. Amateur radio operators are often called upon to help out with communications in local or state emergencies and natural disasters.
Our organizational structure outlines how operations are to be coordinated in order to achieve the goals of this organization. Policies and Procedures, standardized report forms, a weekly schedule and resources to help monitors locate the county the caller is in, as well as, a phone list for the Colorado 911 Public Safety Access Points. The CERN volunteer answers the radio call and writes down the caller’s location and all important information. The monitor will then relay the information to the 9-1-1 operator in the County where the caller is located. The 9-1-1 operator then activates the appropriate emergency responders such as police, fire, medical, or Search and Rescue.
The Colorado Emergency Reporting Net meets every evening at 6:30 PM and is a great introduction for new Hams wanting to get on the air and practice. After checking in, Net Control will repeat your information, give you a readability report and ask if they copied your information correctly. We invite all amateur radio operators to check into the net. If you would like more information about CERN or are interested in becoming a CERN volunteer monitor, please click here. We would also like to invite you to visit the website for the Colorado Connection at www.colcon.org.
The Colorado Connection is a system of linked 2-meter repeaters that is built and maintained by volunteers. The system is open to all licensed amateur radio operators. The Colorado Connection is not a club with dues and membership, it is a system supported solely by donations and managed by a board of volunteer directors. The system covers about 60% of the area of Colorado and is connected full time. So when you use any repeater you are transmitting on all the repeaters!
2019-04-25