Below are some questions and answers that may help explain SARnetTM.
PLEASE NOTE:
SARnetTM is a stand-alone repeater system. Do not link any crossband repeaters, echolink, etc. equipment to it. This creates network issues. When such equipment is detected on SARnetTM, the associated repeater will be disconnected from SARnetTM.
When I key up my radio am I talking all over the state?
Yes. If you are talking into a repeater connected to SARnetTM then when you key your radio, your local repeater responds, along with all the other SARnetTM repeaters around the state, simultaneously.
When I key up my radio how long should I wait to talk?
Only a brief momentary pause of no more than one second is needed. It is much more important to WAIT about 2-3 seconds after someone else unkeys before keying up your radio. This will allow the end of the transmission to propagate through the network and for all of the repeater squelch tails to drop out. Otherwise, some sites with repeaters with long squelch tails will never drop in time to hear short replies from other sites on the system.
Is it ok to key my radio just to hear the network respond?
NO! Never do this on any repeater, let alone SARnetTM. It is illegal to transmit without identifying and it is very annoying to everyone else around the state who will hear you kerchunk 40+ repeaters at once! It also doesn’t really test any of the audio part of your radio anyway. Please ask for a radio or audio quality check on SARnetTM. More often than not, you will get a response. If you really just want to see if you can key a repeater but don’t want to talk to anyone then say something like this: “This is KC5LPA testing on SARnetTM. No response needed.”
Should I respond to bad actors or kerchunk-heads to try and get them to stop?
No. Never do this. It gives satisfaction to bad actors and, believe it or not, it is a violation of the FCC rules for you to communicate via ham radio with someone who is not operating a licensed ham radio station. See FCC rule 97.111(a)(1) which states hams will only exchange messages with other stations in the amateur service.
How do I give an audio quality report when another ham asks for one on SARnetTM?
It is always a good ham etiquette to give signal reports. Often times a SARnetTM administrator is monitoring the network and will hear and compare signal reports with what they hear. There are several aspects of a communications transmission on SARnetTM that can be described. One popular, and traditional, analog audio quality measurement technique is known as the R-S-T system: Readability-Signal Strength-Tone. The technique is a subjective analysis of the sending station’s signal, and is given by the receiving station. Each of the three parameters in the R-S-T system are expressed as a number from 1 to 5 and from 1 to 9, with the higher numbers meaning better quality. For voice communications only the first two parameters are all that’s important – readability and signal strength (R-S) when giving an audio quality report. For example on SARnetTM, a two-parameter report might be given like this: “KC5LPA, your signal is 5 by 9.” Which translates to, “perfectly readable with an extremely strong signal strength.” See scale below:
Readability, 1 to 5:
1) Unreadable.
2) Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3) Readable with considerable difficulty.
4) Readable with almost no difficulty.
5) Perfectly readable.
Signal Strength,1-9:
1) Faint signals, barely perceptible.
2) Very weak signals.
3) Weak signals.
4) Fair signals.
5) Fairly good signals.
6) Good signals.
7) Moderately strong signals.
8) Strong signals.
9) Extremely strong signals.
On SARnetTM there can be specific anomalies that you can report as well. Here are a few examples of additional signal report information you can give:
–> “The network is keying up but I am not hearing any audio.”
–> “Your transmission is broken up with every few syllables dropping out.”
–> “Your signal is mixed with burst noise 30% of the time.”
–> ” I am only hearing Ft. Lauderdale’s transmissions, not Tallahassee’s transmissions.”
How many sites will SARnetTM eventually include?
There is currently no plan that limits the total number of sites.
Is there a list of upcoming sites that will be coming on line?
There is no official list. At any one time, the team doing the work has about 3-5 planned sites that are in various stages of completion, from the planning phase, through equipment acquisition, to installation. As sites are completed, new sites come on the radar screen. But all of it is subject to change and are documented here: https://flsar.net/system-status/ As an example, at the National Hurricane Conference, the NHC in Miami expressed an interest in having access to SARnetTM. This moved a future Miami SARnetTM site up on the priority list and got them on the air earlier than planned.
Where does the SARnetTM equipment come from?
Much of the radio equipment is donated while the networking equipment is the property of FDOT. Remember though that all of the repeater trustees whose repeaters are on SARnetTM are licensed Amateur Radio Operators. The majority of these repeaters (FB2s) are owned and/or maintained by FDOT personnel or contractors that are HAMS. A few repeaters (FB2s) are locally owned, operated and/or maintained by trustees who are not affiliated with FDOT but each of these has a control station (FX1) associated with it, located at an FDOT tower, which is owned by FDOT personnel or contractors.
Why can’t I talk on SARnetTM using Echolink, IRLP or Allstar?
SARnetTM is intended as a network of Florida repeaters whose users are here in Florida (or along the state border) and are, for the most part, aware that they are talking on a statewide communications network. Systems like Echolink, IRLP, and Allstar interfaces permit hams from around the country and around the world to connect to each other. While these interfaces are exciting technologies, if they where interfaced to SARnetTM they would introduce the potential for the entire network to be tied up for long periods of time by hams who have no idea they are keying a network of repeaters in Florida. Several of the repeater trustees who have agreed to participate in SARnetTM would prefer not to have such traffic on their local repeaters. In addition, the traffic testing profiles that the FDOT considers realistic involve multiple repeater sites interfacing with each other dynamically over an IP network, not a single site injecting traffic without interaction. An Echolink, IRLP, or Allstar node that connects to the network through one connection could tie up the network as a single site for an extended period of time.
How do I find out who the trustee is for any of the SARnetTM repeaters?
You can try a national repeater directory or listening for local hams who can tell you.
When will the next SARnetTM site come online?
Check back from time to time and see if the maps have been updated. We will make changes to the maps and this page whenever we start to construct or complete a new site.
Can I use another mode besides analog voice on SARnetTM?
No.
We get this question a lot. FDOT uses the network to test and monitor how a sophisticated IP network handles analog voice radio traffic so other modes are not compatible with that mission. In addition most of the trustees, who have agreed to host SARnetTM on their repeaters have given permission for SARnetTM to interface to their repeaters with analog voice signals — no other modes. The impact (interference) of other modes to analog voice operations would be unacceptable, plus it would be difficult to manage, schedule, and troubleshoot all of the modes that various ham groups have proposed for use on SARnetTM.
Can our organization use SARnetTM for an event?
We get many requests to permit SARnetTM to be used as a communications resource. In general our policy is to not sanction any local or regional activities on SARnetTM. It is more appropriate for such activities to use local and regional communications assets. SARnetTM‘s primary mission is to support network research for the FDOT. In support of that mission the network side of SARnetTM is sometimes under test and unavailable. So as a rule it would be inappropriate for SARnetTM to be perceived as a communications asset that can be “assigned” to a particular activity.
Additionally, FDOT is partnered with a state agency and during large-scale emergencies such as a hurricane, it is possible that SARnetTM will be retasked to support a state response.
So what does this mean to you and your organization? You are welcome to use SARnetTM like any other ham resource but on a shared basis with other hams in the state of Florida. There are no priorities given to local and regional public-safety or non-public safety related entities. Any use of SARnetTM for a net activity must use an undirected net format so that other hams may continue to use SARnetTM at the same time. YOU MAY NOT COMMANDEER SARNETTM FOR ANY NET ACTIVITY AND MUST WAIT UNTIL SARNETTM IS CLEAR BEFORE BEGINNING OR CONTINUING YOUR INFORMAL, NON-DIRECTED NET.
Given the respect most amateurs feel toward those who work in public safety, if you are a public safety entity you will likely find minimal interference and delay from the ham community for any public-safety related-comms you do choose to put on SARnetTM.
Does SARnetTM provide a file with the all the frequencies that I can use to program my radio?
No. We do not currently maintain a downloadable list of frequencies. We do make recommendations on how to program your radio though so that it is easy to navigate the SARnetTM repeaters on your radio and easy to add new ones. Here are those recommendations:
1) Program the SARnetTM repeaters geographically and in regions. For instance, set up an I-95 list, I-10 list, I-4 list, and an I-75 list. The I-95 list might look like this: Yulee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Cocoa, etc. The I-10 list might look like this: Jacksonville, Lake City, Live Oak, etc. It is appropriate to put Jacksonville in both the I-95 list and the I-10 list, just as Tampa would be in both the I-75 and I-4 lists.
2) Arrange the lists one after the other in what ever order makes sense to you. If you live in Tampa you might put the I-75 list first, I-4 list second, etc. If you live in Cocoa you might put the I-95 list first, I-4 list second, etc.
3) Program the sequence of lists but leave some 4-5 blank channels between each list. That way when SARnetTM adds a new repeater you only have to move a few channels around in the appropriate list. Ideally this means you need about 40-50 channel spaces to program SARnetTM using about 4 regional lists.
4) Use a modern programming software tool that support cut and paste and database transfer to a new brand/model of radio. An example is the RT Systems software. When a new repeater is added to SARnetTM you can make the changes quickly and then transfer them to all your radios.
Do SARnetTM sites have emergency back-up power?
The majority do, but a few don’t. Many SARnetTM repeaters are installed at locations that have commercial emergency power systems that include generators and battery systems, as well as alarm notification capability. However, some repeater sites associated with SARnetTM may have only minimal emergency power facilities. The sites listed on the status page as FX1s are sites where the repeater is not on FDOT property. Those sites may or may not have emergency power. All of the sites listed as FB2s on the status page do have commercial emergency power systems that can run for many days without refueling.
If an FX1-connected repeater is off-line you may be able to access SARnetTM on reverse, going through the FX1 directly. The FX1 radios are installed at FDOT sites that have emergency power.