There is a new Ham Radio Blog on the scene. You can check it out here.
There is a SE Division CERT net net at 9PM on Thursday's on 147.50 Simplex. I recommend listning in and this frequency should be in your radio in the event of an emergency because this is where Salt Lake County will be.
GOAL ZERO SOLAR PANELS & LED FLASHLIGHTS
You can find them using Google. They have a flashlight that can be used as a lantern or flashlight. It has a very long cord with a cigarette lighter plug on it so that it can be run from a car or an emergency gel cell. Goal Zero gets about $50 for it, but KE7ORB reports that they are at Emergency Essentials for about $35.
Speaking of flashlights, at Fresh Market Stores they have a red plastic flashlight that (at first glance) seems to be one of those big heavy flashlights that uses so called "lantern batteries" that are large and bulky and heavy and expensive. Not this one. It uses 4 AA cells and is the brightest flashlight I have EVER seen. The multi-function switch turns on the bright white light. Click it again and a RED light in the base turns on (white light goes off). Click again and the red light starts flashing as a warning beacon or emergency locator. Click again and all lights go off. There are two small metal contacts on the outside of the case. If the light is dropped in water, those two metal contacts sense the water and start the red emergency locator red light blinking automatically. About $15 and worth a lot more.
The above banner is for a phone service reseller called Kitty Wireless. They resell Verizon access. You can buy any amount of access that you want or need. Do you have an emergency phone that you never use but keep around for emergencies? How much per year does it cost you? How does $30/Year sound? With this service you have to put money in every 4 months (120 days) to keep your account active. Minimum amount you can put in is $10. That's just $30 a year for Verizon service. You can also put in $25 or $50 every 4 months. Or you can buy Talk-And-Text 1200 for just $29.95 per month. Now you get talk, text and data for a fraction of the Verizon cost. There is also an unlimited plan.
Here is the best part. You can bring your own phone. Any phone that works on Verizon you can activate through Kitty Wireless. Don't have an old Verizon Phone? go to eBay - you can pick them up for cheap. Want a brand new phone? Kitty sells new and refurbished phones. Go to Amazon and you can buy a brand new Palm Pixi Plus Smartphone for $39 and it is Verizon branded.
Sue and I dropped Verizon, went with Kitty Wireless and cut our cell phone bill to ONE FOURTH of what we were paying Verizon and we are STILL with Verizon (through Kitty Wireless)! Oh, you can port your existing cell phone number from Verizon or you can request a new cell phone number. And, best of all, for a limited time new cell phone activations are FREE and Kitty puts $2 on your phone to get you started.
We have been with Kitty Wireless for over 8 months and we love it. I'm big on saving money and this deal was a no brainer. Now I tell everyone I know about it and now I am telling you.
Here is a listing of simplex frequencies that will be crucial to have in your radio in the event of an emergency.
Lets start with SL/Tooele County MARA. Our simplex frequencies are 145.69, 145.31, 145.67 and 145.61. (NOTE: 145.31 is a repeater frequency in Cache and Carbon Counties and its simplex use is on a non-intererence basis only.
ERC simplex frequencies in our area are 145.49, 147.48, 147.44 and 146.60.
Salt Lake County ARES uses 147.54, 145.53, 146.42, 146.50 and 147.46.
The National Simplex Frequency is 146.52.
Code practice can be done on 146.58.
Council of Utah Amateur Radio Clubs uses 146.44 and 147.58.
I'll have more later, that's enough for now.
73 from N7OZH
