By Bruce Wolfe, HANC Board
At the April HANC Membership Meeting, Eric Albrecht (W2GMD) introduced us to the SF Amateur Radio Club (SFRC) (he is President) and to the Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) (he is the Radio Operations Lead), which operates under the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management. Because amateur radio operators, or HAMS, are members of both SFRC and ACS, the two entities are frequently mistaken to be the same.
From their website, "The San Francisco Radio Club (SFRC) was formed in 1909 by a handful of radio enthusiasts with the objective of exchanging messages over the air. In 1916 the president at time, Henry W. Dickow (6HD), founded the club and published the first Yearbook. In the early days the club enjoyed a membership of as many as 300 radio amateurs!
"Today, 100 years later, the SFRC continues to operate as a not-for-profit Amateur Radio Club servicing the city of San Francisco and the community. Our members’ interests cover the entire spectrum of what Amateur Radio Service has to offer. We are a long standing member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and with our members we participate in, and organize events such as the Field Day, MS Walk, the San Francisco Marathon etc."
Then, Eric presented on ACS which "was organized by the San Francisco Office of Emergency Services (OES) following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake to support the communications needs of the City and County of San Francisco when responding to emergencies and special events." Recently, a joint drill between SF and Marin Counties to practice and exercise a potential earthquake disaster was held where all marine traffic into SF Bay was halted. Eric explained how this was coordinated.
Finally, Eric announced a new and growing entity he started with other HAMs operators called SF Wireless Emergency Mesh (SFWEM) that would serve to provide a municipal or regional Internet network in emergencies. It has good coverage in SF and East Bay.
Find more information at:
ACS https://sfdem.org/auxiliary-communications-service
SFWEM https://sfwem.net