In the 50s, the national government established the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). The current rules for RACES can be found in Title 47, Part 97, Subpart E, of the Code of Federal Regulations. Subpart E is provided in its entirety at the end of this article.
Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations covers all of the rules established by the Federal Communications Commission over the years. It is broken up into parts which cover the various areas for which the FCC has authority. For example, Part 95 covers Citizens Band, Family Service, General Mobile Radio Service and Multi-Use Radio Services among other things. Part 97 is all about Amateur Radio. In Amateur Radio, we simply refer to Part 95 or Part 97. It is understood that we mean 47 C.F.R.
RACES was established as a part of the Civil Defense effort to respond in case of a nuclear attack. The idea was that if telephones and other means of communications were down, we could still pass communications across the country. It was the first Internet. {The effects of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) were not fully understood at the time. It is interesting that it was discovered that vacuum tubes were less susceptible to EMP than the solid-state devises in use today. But I digress.}
Originally you had to have a special license to be a member of RACES. I understand the FCC has since let the program wane and they are not issuing licenses for RACES anymore. Some RACES licenses still exist and the organization is still active, though I am not quite sure what the membership requirements are. The idea is that only RACES licensees could communicate with another RACES licensee. They were only activated in event of Civil Defense war-type activities. This law does provide that any amateur radio operator could communicate to save life or property.
ARES (Pronounced air-ease) is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service established by the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). It does not have any regulation specifically outlined in Part 97. The ARRL has worked with the FCC since the FCC was formed in 1934, however. Thus the ARES is recognized by the FCC and other government entities.
It should be noted that REACT is the same. It grew out of the popularity of Citizens Band radio in the 60s and 70s. They monitored channel 9 for emergencies and the FCC eventually regulated channel 9 as the official emergency channel on CB radios. Channel 19 is used for traffic information. Today licenses are not required for CB, but you must still follow FCC regulations or you can be fined heavily.
ARES was developed as an amateur radio group to respond to all types of emergencies. It is designed to respond if an event is pending. This could be any man-made or natural disaster. Locally we have had several incidents over the years which cause ARES to respond.
In February of 2015, a damaged fiber optic cable caused telephone and Internet disruption throughout northern Arizona. This included 911 services. ARES was activated. It was actually this event that inspired me to get an amateur license. In October 2016, a prescribed burn caused visibility problems on Interstate 40 causing an accident and stopping traffic for hours. During our first winter storm over Christmas, a 28-car pile up occurred on I-40 blocking traffic for hours in Williams. A similar incident occurred on I-17 south of Flagstaff.
ARES operators monitored scanners and the repeaters in Flagstaff and Williams during these incidents. If a person in these situations lost cell phone service and ran out of gas, they could have called for help on a radio. That is what emergency communications is about. It is not only about catastrophic disasters such as Katrina. It is also important for minor emergencies such as those listed above. Of course if you are caught in one of these “minor emergencies,” it is not minor to you.
There is an effort afoot to create an emergency communications group in Williams and the surrounding area to extend the emergency communications capability of the ARES group centered in Flagstaff. Cooperation of all radio services is essential. In fact, it is required by the Federal Communications Commission. If emergency communications are started on any repeater or frequency, all normal conversational use MUST CEASE.
The Williams Emergency Communications group (Working title. It may change.) is forming for just this purpose. They intend to set up a “band plan” reserving certain channels of Citizens Band, GMRS/FRS and MURS channels for emergency use. They intend to leave open most channels for general communications between families during an emergency. Anyone is eligible to join. However if you have a felony record, you cannot obtain an FCC amateur radio license. You can have your rights restored, however, under certain conditions. If you cannot get a license, or don’t want to, we can still use help from runners and log keepers.
Anyone from Ash Fork, Valle, Tusayan and the outlying areas are welcome to join. There are ARES groups in all counties and we will interact with all of them
If you opt for an amateur license, there are a lot of fun activities you can join in on. There are contests, field days and simply being able to communicate around the world for fun. Anyone who can pass the amateur radio exam is eligible for a license.
If you decide to get a GMRS license, there are certain advantages, as well. You are allowed to use the higher power on GMRS channels giving you extended range. You can also use open GMRS repeaters to extend range even further, using your FCC issued call sign. If the head of a household gets the license, all of the family members can use the radios using the call sign. No foul language or business use is permitted.
Subpart E—Providing Emergency Communications
§ 97.401 Operation during a disaster.
A station in, or within 92.6 km (50 nautical miles) of, Alaska may transmit emissions J3E and R3E on the channel at 5.1675 MHz (assigned frequency 5.1689 MHz) for emergency communications.
The channel must be shared with stations licensed in the Alaska-Private Fixed Service. The transmitter power must not exceed 150 W PEP. A station in, or within 92.6 km of, Alaska may transmit communications for tests and training drills necessary to ensure the establishment, operation, and maintenance of emergency communication systems.
§ 97.403 Safety of life and protection of property.
No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radio communication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available.
§ 97.405 Station in distress.
(a) No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station in 47 CFR Ch. I (10–1–09 Edition) distress of any means at its disposal to attract attention, make known its condition and location, and obtain assistance.
(b) No provision of these rules prevents the use by a station, in the exceptional circumstances described in paragraph (a) of this section, of any means of radio communications at its disposal to assist a station in distress.
§ 97.407 Radio amateur civil emergency service.
(a) No station may transmit in RACES unless it is an FCC-licensed primary, club, or military recreation station and it is certified by a civil defense organization as registered with that organization, or it is an FCC-licensed RACES station. No person may be the control operator of a RACES station, or may be the control operator of an amateur station transmitting in RACES unless that person holds a FCC-issued amateur operator license and is certified by a civil defense organization as enrolled in that organization.
(b) The frequency bands and segments and emissions authorized to the control operator are available to stations transmitting communications in RACES on a shared basis with the amateur service. In the event of an emergency which necessitates invoking the President’s War Emergency Powers under the provisions of section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 606, RACES stations and amateur stations participating in RACES may only transmit on the frequency segments authorized pursuant to part 214 of this chapter.
(c) A RACES station may only communicate with:
(1) Another RACES station;
(2) An amateur station registered with a civil defense organization;
(3) A United States Government station authorized by the responsible agency to communicate with RACES stations;
(4) A station in a service regulated by the FCC whenever such communication is authorized by the FCC.
(d) An amateur station registered with a civil defense organization may only communicate with:
(1) A RACES station licensed to the civil defense organization with which the amateur station is registered;
(2) The following stations upon authorization of the responsible civil defense official for the organization with which the amateur station is registered:
(i) A RACES station licensed to another civil defense organization;
(ii) An amateur station registered with the same or another civil defense organization;
(iii) A United States Government station authorized by the responsible agency to communicate with RACES stations; and
(iv) A station in a service regulated by the FCC whenever such communication is authorized by the FCC.
(e) All communications transmitted in RACES must be specifically authorized by the civil defense organization for the area served. Only civil defense communications of the following types may be transmitted:
(1) Messages concerning impending or actual conditions jeopardizing the public safety, or affecting the national defense or security during periods of local, regional, or national civil emergencies;
(2) Messages directly concerning the immediate safety of life of individuals, the immediate protection of property, maintenance of law and order, alleviation of human suffering and need, and the combating of armed attack or sabotage;
(3) Messages directly concerning the accumulation and dissemination of public information or instructions to the civilian population essential to the activities of the civil defense organization or other authorized governmental or relief agencies; and
(4) Communications for RACES training drills and tests necessary to ensure the establishment and maintenance of orderly and efficient operation of the RACES as ordered by the responsible civil defense organization served. Such drills and tests may not exceed a total time of 1 hour per week.
With the approval of the chief officer for emergency planning in the applicable State, Commonwealth, District or territory, however, such tests and drills may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours no more than twice in any calendar year.