As you all probably know, it seems that all of Southern California is on fire. Here is my iPhone shot of this morning’s smoke from our backyard. Ash is everywhere and this is definitely not the day to take up jogging or any other outdoor activity. We are on stand-by for Search and Rescue in case parts of Irvine need to be evacuated. Curious to see how the day turns out. Hoping for the best.
KI6MDR – My New Call Sign
As part of my Search and Rescue training they encourage you to get a HAM amateur radio license. Last weekend at SAR (Search and Rescue) City – explained here, I took the Technician class test and am now officially licensed by the FCC as KI6MDR. The idea is, that other than regular communications, if there is a large scale disaster (I live in SoCal so read that as “earthquake”) we can all still all communicate. I picked up a nice little handheld unit, the Yaesu VX-7R to start. See where it goes from there.
Off to SAR City
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue Team. This weekend I am heading off to “SAR City” which is three days of training classes and learning opportunities for those who work on Search and Rescue teams here in the Western United States. I’ve found it to be a great way to give back to the community while learning about and doing the activities I have always been interested in. For me – I enjoy the technical rescue, i.e. ropes work. Looking forward to it!