In the fall, Orange County experiences Santa Ana winds during fire season. The danger is real. Dave, who has call code KG6QCI, lives in the canyon and has reason to be concerned that there should be quick action on any wild fires. Dave has been dedicated and active in organizing radio communications to help the canyon residents and their animals react quickly to the fire danger. Dave monitors the 447.180 repeater and GMRS channel 22 (used by canyon residents). Any HAMS with information on local fires can provide a valuable service to the canyon residents by reporting current information on fires when they occur. Give Dave a call on the repeater when you become aware of any information. It is important for the residents to know when there is danger so that the large animals may be removed early.

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Trabuco Fire Plan Contacts

JULY 25, 2009... What we have in Trabuco Canyon for non-licensed radio operation is FRS / GRMS Channel 22 with no PL. That means if you are looking at the screen on your radio you should see a big 22 and a little zero.  These radios are 1/4 watt to 1/2 watt in transmitting power.  FCC license may be required.  See your owners manual for details. You can find these commonly available small radios from Target, Radio Shack, or Sports Equipment Outlets, and even in some home improvement stores.  Look for the radios where you can change out the rechargeable batteries with regular off-the-shelf AA batteries so that they are more versatile when running out of power. When storing the radios, remove the batteries, since they discharge quickly in storage when the batteries are left in. In addition, don't leave the radios connected to the charger as it will over-charge the batteries making them warm our even hot, which will actually make rechargeable battery worthless. And as you know, regular off the shelf batteries should not be charged - they won't recharge but instead they will just get hot. Here in Trabuco Canyon we have a 50 watt, Channel 22 transmitter located on a hill on Mountain View Road. It covers Trabuco Canyon, opening of Holy Jim, Hunky Dory, Hamilton Trail, RSM, Portola Hills, Target Parking lot in RSM, down to the 5 and the 405.  Its call sign is WQDW669, legally registered to Susan and I. Any information that pertains to the community will be transmitted on this radio, which is not a repeater (more on those latter) but rather just a big honking transmitter. Now, because of our foothills, some coverage is spotty. If you hear someone say "I couldn't hear that", just repeat what you heard on your radio, because you are in a spot to hear both radios and can talk to both radios, where they are in a spot to hear only you. Just help out your neighbor and repeat what you heard. When speaking on the radio, hold it about 6 inches away from your mouth, don't holler at it (it wont make it go any farther). This keeps your voice understandable, not overdriven. If you have (non-emergency) conversation with another neighbor or family member, just tell them to go to a different channel. Your little radio has 22 total channels. Therefore say, "lets go to channel 21." If you use the PL's or Privet Line, or Quiet Codes (you might have 37 of them), you have over 400 frequencies you can talk on. Each channel can be divided into 37 sub divisions by these PL's. Each is only heard by other radios tuned to the same channel with the same PL, like channel 21 with a PL of 7.  This would look like big number on the screen of 21 with a little number of 7. The frequency of channel 22 is 462.725. If you have a scanner (even one of the old cheap ones), this will fit right in there, so no need to have your radio on all the time since you will get the latest info as it happens. NEXT STEP UP: REPEATERS Repeaters do just that - they repeat every thing you say at a much higher power. They use 2 frequencies to do this. One is for up-link (or input) and the other is for down link (or out put). You need a repeater-capable radio to do this. Your FRS /GRMS won't work on repeaters. So now a little hand held 5 watt radio just became a 50 or a 75 watt monster, covering a much larger area. The GRMS guys have repeaters in the area.  You need a license to run a repeater-capable radio. No test is necessary and $40.00 license fee covers the whole family for 5 years - just join CREST and they will let you use their repeaters.  CREST has one in Trabuco Canyon at Joplin, one on Santiago Peak, and also in Silverado and Modjeska. If you need more info on CREST or licensing, just drop me a line and I will send you the information.  DSeroski@cox.net Here are additional frequencies for your scanner:   Joplin 462.575,   Santiago peak 467.675 WHAT ABOUT HAM RADIO OPERATORS? HAMS are the Hot-Dogs of the radio world. They have been known to talk around the world using their neighbors' rain spouts as antennas. They fear no antenna (or frequency) or mode of operation, which just puts the FCC in a tizzy (Federal Communications Commission).  They are highly regulated but have more operational capability than any other group. SOARA, or South Orange Amateur Radio Association, is your local HAM radio club at www.SOARA.org. Go to the SOARA web site and look for "Where's the Fire?" Click on it. It will tell you the latest on the fires in the area. A number of OC fire men are HAMS and they post there all the time. You'll find much inside info you can't get anywhere else. For more information, just drop me a line at DSeroski@cox.net. Here is another frequency for your scanner: 447.180. This is our repeater on the top of Santiago Peak, usably bristling with info when there is a fire. Dave Seroski 949/533-7153