THE SOUTHERN IDAHO PREPAREDNESS NET

When I moved to southern Idaho five years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see the preparedness lifestyle wasn't looked at as something of an oddity. It isn't even considered prepping. It's the normal way of life here in the country.  

Having so many potential resources during hard times, local, regional or national emergencies, the one thing I didn't see was a stand alone infrastructure  where other like minded hams could turn to for news and information which could be vital to surviving any given event and offering resources and support to both neighbors down the road and across the state. 

The Southern Idaho Preparedness Net (SIPNet) exists to train our community to come together on the radio in bad times for that important news that may not be reported on the news or social media in bad times. We do this as a weekly net to train ourselves for that emergency or disaster. When SHTF, a person will instinctively revert back to the lowest level of training or experience. In the absence of training, panic and poor decision making sets in.  

Originally, live streaming the SIPNet was an after thought. It soon took on a life of its own. The net is accessible on several ham radio repeaters here in the Magic Valley of Idaho. It's based on my repeater, equipped with a digital mode C4FM. As such, other stations outside of local repeater range can participate using WiresX, YSF, or Echolink. 

The SIPNet is designed as a conversational and topic driven net as opposed to most ham radio nets which are check in nets. Each week we try to discuss some aspect of the preparedness lifestyle. Food, water, fuel, self defense, radio communication, tactics, medical and staying informed of timely events. 

The length of each net runs from an hour to three hours sometimes. Because several repeaters in the valley are carrying the net, I decided to bifurcate the net to check in's and news stories on the radio and livestream and then direct the discussion part to the livestream only where it's more relaxed and conversational.  

JS8Call is a software application that allows amateur radio operators to communicate using a digital mode called JS8, which is based on FT8. It enables keyboard-to-keyboard messaging and is designed for weak signal communication, allowing users to send and receive messages even in challenging conditions.

Within JS8CALL you can designate special callsigns and groups. @SIPNET is one such group. Stations listening for @sipnet will see @sipnet communications in their highlighted message area. Using JS8CALL, the SIPNET (Southern Idaho Preparedness Net) can pass important radio traffic, News and Information, setup bartering exchanges and conduct tactical communications without the need for cell phones, internet or sometimes chaotic voice transmissions on two way radio. 

We use 40 Meters on ham radio because it is well suited for short to medium range two way communications. In an actual emergency where entire regions of the country could be without cell service or internet, 40 meters is fairly reliable from 5 to 500 miles.  This is ideal to connect most of Idaho. 

The reason we conduct both the Southern Idaho Preparedness Net and the 40 meter JS8CALL nets is to train for an emergency. When SHTF and there is a real emergency, People will fall back to their lowest level of training or experience. If we develop a place and time to rally around the radio, to receive credible news and information, pool resources, barter or help out our neighbors and check on loved ones, When the bad stuff happens we'll be one step ahead of the game.