Yahoo! Groups	Purpose of Radio Network
Board of Directors President Terry Weatherford Jr. Treasurer Craig Held Secretary Anthony Suarez Trustee Mike Dickerson Trustee Andy Stubblefield Trustee Chris Weatherford	2 Frequencies cover statewide Illinois, Missouri and Indiana, 1 covers only Illinois
	1)  Search and Rescue Operations / Mutual Aid assistance / Disaster Coordination      A.  On-Scene SAR/Cave Rescue ops in Tri-State area (MO, IL, IN)            Multiple SAR teams will be able to legally communicate on one of our 3 frequencies.      B.  Bases to relay info from radios on scene (Dispatch: Make Telephone calls, etc.)      C.  Air Helicopter Landing Zone Coordination. 2)   Severe Weather -- Watchers / Broadcasting      A. "Point-to-Point" communications; allowing the public to monitor local weather situations/alerts      B.  Mobile to Point/Repeater communications (field ops to dispatch) (Not for "storm chasing')      C.  Localized weather watching operations (for Fire, EMA, SKYWARN, NWS, other organizations) 3)  Local Events & Communications (Non-Emergency)       Security/Ops/Comms for local events, ie: Parades, County Fairs, Carnivals, School Ops, Bike rides, Runs, Charity Events
	I-WARN News & Updates
	12/5/08 Website Overhaul - Please contact us if there are any issues. E-mail address issues are fixed now. 12/3/08 Anthony Suarez is now the Secretary and Craig Held is now the Treasurer.  Both are from Springfield, IL 1/8/08 We would like to welcome our newest associate team, Bureau County ESDA (IL) 3/11/06 Updated Links with all area regional Radars from the National Weather Service. 2/28/06 We would like to welcome our newest associate team, Twin Rivers Search & Rescue of East Alton 9/4/05 We would like to welcome our newest associate team, Northwest Emergency Services of Indianapolis

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you duplicating systems already in place by Ham & Goverment agencies?  Not necessarily. -- We understand that Amateur (Ham) Radio Repeaters and Government agencies are already out there providing many of the services & communications that this network can provide.  -- This is a chance for non-hams and non-Public Safety personnel to get involved.  Although, Hams & Public Safety personnel are encouraged to get involved. -- This network is also for statewide (IL, IN, MO) Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.  -- Most Search and Rescue (SAR) Teams in Illinois DO NOT have a frequency available only for their needs.

Can't we just use I-REACH or 155.16 (the National SAR frequency)?   No 1)  I-REACH is for interagency discipline coordination.  It is used to contact other agencies, Air Helo Landing Zones, but should not be used as a dispatch or tactical channel. 2)  155.16 is not licensed by ANYONE in the state of Illinois to be used statewide for SAR ops. 3)  It is also used by many EMS agencies & School Districts for bus dispatching & operations.  4)  It is used as MERCI-3 (EMS to Hospital contact channel) in Madison and St. Clair County.

What Fees are involved if my Team/Agency wants to join I-WARN?    Basically none. At this time, the only fees involved in I-WARN are frequency coordination fees for base stations or repeaters. Of course, you are responsible for providing and funding your own radios, programming them, your own antennas, towers, feedline and electricity needed to operate your station.

Why do you require teams to become members and not just automatically allow them use? -- We are legally responsible for the operations on the frequencies that we are authorized to use, so we must know who is using them, for what purpose, etc. -- We also will attempt to make sure that ops on a certain frequency or certain tone will not interfere with other users in their response areas.

Who Can Join?

Currently we are only taking applications for MOBILE use by Search & Rescue Teams, EMA or Weather Watching related agencies.  If you are requesting a base station, please email for information on how to obtain a license on your own.  We will be happy to assist.

Search & Rescue Units: We encourage ALL agencies in the tri-state area to get involved to have these frequencies legally available to them. Weather Units: A permanent base is the most important at this point, not "weather chasers" or mobile units. Air Medical Units:  By default, you have permission to use our frequencies for Landing Zone Coordination.

How Do I Join?

Use our online FORM, fill it out, copy it and E-mail it to I-WARN  I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

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