Suggested Band Plan


The old band plan for West Salem CERT using FRS radios was confusing in that the zone plus 7 rules for using the frequency for your zone was easy to forget and entirely too confusing. In an email from Luc, he pointed out to me:

“For all of Salem CERT, an idea was put forth that after a natural disaster any member should begin on channel 10 and see if anyone responds. If not or if there was too much traffic, other channels could be tried. It seemed a bit generic to me, but if members throughout the area knew and did that, it would be better than nothing.
Like with us in WS using the formula above, I don't know that any of this is remembered. For the radio exercise last summer, the instructions were to start on a specific area's channel for initial check in. Some people in the area where I was the contact did not transmit to me. I tried a few channels and found one who was still listening for someone, 15-30 minutes after the exercise began.”
As I have pointed out in other documents the use of FRS just isn’t a good idea. FRS can only transmit at 2 watts, where GMRS can transmit up to 50 watts. Most GMRS handheld radios today come set at 5 watts. I have a pair of Motorola GMRS radios at 7.5 watts. Perfectly legal as I hold a GMRS license (Whiskey Romeo Mike Tango 291 WRMT291). Because of the hills in West Salem, using GMRS radios would make a big difference in communication for West Salem CERT. Additionally most GMRS radios also have FRS frequencies programed in at 2 watts as well as weather channels.
The Band Plan

Each zone will use the frequency number same as their zone number. This will be on both FRS and GMRS. This will save some time in an emergency as volunteers won’t have to do the math to figure out zone and frequency.

Channel 8 on both FRS and GMRS will be the general call frequency and command frequency. In the event of an emergency all CERT members should first listen in on that frequency. If asked to check in do so.

Channels 9 – 12 will be reserved for the cache specific locations and may employ privacy channels if necessary.

The remaining channels (especially GMRS) will be reserved for special operations.

Those selecting the Baofeng GMRS-9R radios can be assigned GMRS frequencies set up with tones. As I stated in the Selecting a GMRS radio document, I will program the radio for those who wish.