Jackson County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (JC-ARES) is a group of licensed amateur radio operators who continually train as emergency communication (emcomm) operators. Our mission is to provide backup communications in disasters and emergencies when normal communications are overloaded or disrupted. We serve Jackson County agencies as well as community agencies who are involved in disaster recovery.

Operators are assigned to the County Emergency Operations Center, City and County fire stations, health departments, hospitals and other agencies as needed when normal communications are overloaded or disrupted. Most traffic is handled by voice or packet using dedicated equipment at the served agencies.  

Licensed amateur radio operators in Jackson County interested in emergency communications (emcomm) are encouraged to join. A successful background check from the county Sheriff's Office is required.

Members train in directed net operations, message handling, field radio station set-up, portable repeaters, simulated emergency tests, and other training to improve our proficiency in emergency radio communications and coordinating within the Incident Command System

The weekly training net is at 7:30 pm every Thursday on the Mt. Baldy repeater (146.840, PL 123.0), all licensed amateur radio operators are invited to check in as visitors after the regular member roll call.  

JC-ARES provides communication support for a variety of emergency services and organizations, including:

• County Emergency Management
• County Health Department
• Emergency Operations Centers
• Fire Departments
• Hospitals
• Mercy Flights
• National Weather Service

For more information please contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue Division.