Local Ham (Amateur) Radio Operators Take on the Mayan End of Days

Depending upon which translation one prefers, the Mayan Calendar's prediction of the End of Days will either actually take place on Friday morning December 21st at 11:11 AM PST... Or on that same date and time, mark the solstice that will supposedly begin the sequence of events that will lead to the end of the world as we know it.

Either way, two local Ham Radio groups, The Red Eye Net and Socal RescueNet, will be holding an "End Of The World As We Know It" Net (or on air discussion), on the Inland Empire's own Keller Peak Repeater. The net will begin at midnight on Friday December 21st and is scheduled to last at least an hour into Saturday morning. The subject of the morning's discussion will be (given the world doesn't actually end) the various scenarios that could still lead to just such an End of Days for the earth and humanity.

Although the discussion will mostly be tongue in cheek, many of the scenarios are based on scientific fact and taken very seriously by FEMA, State and local Emergency Managers who use just such scenarios when planning drills and writing emergency operations plans. And yes, that can and has included... "Zombies". The vital need to know information (or VNTKI) of how to tune to the KPRA Repeater can be found at: http://www.kpra.net . And to help follow the discussion, the EOTWAWKI Net VNTKI can be found and followed at: http://www.socalrescuenet.org .

Weekly Nets like SoCal RescueNet are primarily meant to test radio equipment and keep operator skills up to date and ready should they be needed during an actual state of emergency or disaster. SoCal RescueNet members are an eclectic collection of active and retired First Responders.  On the other hand, the Red Eye nightly Net is mostly made up of senior citizens of various mobilities, and provides a friendly place to gather and exchange the news of the day. If someone fails to check in and no one knows why... a family & friends phone tree can be activated to find and quickly get an eyes on report as to their health and welfare.

Regardless of the format Ham Radio Nets are also meant to spur interest in Ham (Amateur) Radio and attract new operators. Which is why many repeater owners have incorporated live streaming internet audio links, which can also be found at KPRA's and SoCal RescueNet's above mentioned URLs. Those streaming will also be able to participate by way of Twitter @SoCalRescueNet.