Welcome to the web site of the Escondido Amateur Radio Society.
The Escondido Amateur Radio Society (EARS) is an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable, non-profit organization of educational benefit to amateur radio operators, and others interested in amateur radio within Escondido and surrounding areas.
Membership is affordable, come join the fun!
Please feel free to browse this website for information on EARS activities past & present, and other general information on amateur radio.
You are also welcome to join the discussion groups on Facebook, Yahoo! and Google - links are provided at the bottom of this page.
See below for meeting and membership details, or click on the following quick links...
If you are interested in becoming an Amateur Radio Operator, or wish to find out more about what you have to do, click the following link for more details.
For anyone wishing to take their amateur radio test, or upgrade their current licence - There is a Volunteer Exam session in Escondido on the last Saturday of each month. Click the following link for more details.
Many EARS members actively participate in various Emergency Communication activities which take place throughout the year.
Probably the largest being the ARRL Field day held annually on the 4th full weekend in June...
Details of this and other EARS events throughout the year can be found in the following calendar:
Next Meeting: Date TBC, EARS summer picnic - Rod McLeod Park.
The EARS annual picnic will take place in August. The exact date has yet to be confirmed.
Watch this space for more details...
Previous Meeting Presentations.
If you were unable to make any of the previous club meetings, simply click on the following link to view the previous Meeting Presentations.
Membership details:
Membership runs from January 1st to December 31st. The fees are shown below.
Regular membership:
- Annual - $15.00
- Lifetime - $150.00
Family membership:
- Family annual - $4.00 for each additional family member.
- Family Lifetime - $38.00 for each additional family member.
You can join (or renew) online using Paypal or a credit card by clicking on the EARS PayPal button in the Membership section on the left.
Alternatively, you can download the PDF membership form by clicking on the image of the brochure above.
It can also be found in the latest issue of 'ALL EARS', the EARS newsletter - available to download in the General section on the left.
Mail your completed application form along with your check to:
EARS,
PO Box 3243,
Escondido,
CA 92033
EARS Badges:
If you would like an EARS badge with your own name and call sign engraved on it (similar to the one shown on the right), simply click on the following link:
The cost of the badge varies betweem $9.00 and $10.50 depending on style:
- Aligator clip - $9.00
- Safety pin - $9.00
- Military post - $9.00
- Magnetic - $10.50
For an additional $6.00, they will mail the badge to you.
Once the badge has been ordered, the engravers will contact you for payment information and to find out whether you want it mailed or not.
EARS Documentation:
If you would like more info on membership of EARS, or on Ham Radio in general - send us an email at: membership@earsclub.org
Repeater and EARS Net information:
EARS operates 3 voice radio repeaters in the Escondido area as well as a Voice-over-IP Echo Link node 2846:
- 146.88 MHz, minus offset, PL 107.2 (also connected to the Echo Link node).
- 224.14 MHz (AE6GM repeater), minus offset, PL 156.7
- 449.24 MHz, minus offset, PL 127.3
The repeaters are open to all licensed Amateurs for general use, and on Sunday evenings there is the EARS net at 8:00 p.m. local time on the 146.88 MHz repeater... Come along and say "Hello!"
Procedures for the use of the EARS repeater & Echolink can be found here.
A new EARS EchoLink User Manual will soon be available for download from the club website, so watch this space. In the mean time, please feel free to e-mail any questions to: echolink@earsclub.org.
EARS CERT NET information:
In addition to the Sunday evening EARS NET, there is a CERT NET which meets on the EARS 2m repeater on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. local time.
Tom Stanford, K7YMG is net control.
The purpose of this CERT NET is to practice communicating in an organized manner during an emergency situation. New Hams will learn NET operation and methods.
Although this net is mainly for Escondido CERT members, non-CERT members in the Escondido area are also welcome.
The EARS repeater was chosen because it is located in Escondido in the same building as the public safety communications systems and has back up power.
The city of Escondido has established a volunteer CERT and is associated with the Escondido Fire Department. It is administrated by Jeff Murdock, AE6GM.
Please note that CERT is not a first responder but it is a support team for first responders during a major disaster.
You may contact Jeff and get CERT information here:
Jeff Murdock
Emergency Preparedness Manager
Escondido Fire Department
1163 N. Centre City Pkwy
Escondido, CA 92025
jmurdock@escondido.org
The Escondido EOC (Emergency Operations Center) contains VHF and UHF amateur equipment for emergency operations.
The call sign used during an emergency is K6ESC and the local emergency simplex frequency for Escondido is also 146.445MHz.
Many of the CERT volunteers are also Ham operators, so please come and join us for the net!
EARS monthly meetings:
EARS monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m.
The meeting location is:
900 Canterbury Pl,
Suite 300 (third floor)
Escondido,
CA 92025
(just east of the Mercedes dealer at I-15 and 9th Avenue).
Talk-in is on 146.880 MHz, minus offset, PL 107.2.
The meetings are usually technical, educational or informative in nature. For a list of the proposed meeting dates and topics for this year, click on the following link:
Specific details of the next meeting can be found near the top of this web page.
Note: There are no meetings in August or December because of the EARS summer picnic and Christmas party.
Last Thoughts:
The Escondido Amateur Radio Society is affiliated to the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).
Many EARS members are also members of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and other agencies such as RACES & ARES.
They regularly participate in drills, and are active in assisting with communications during times of disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina, and the wild-fires that we have in California.
EARS also has pages on Facebook and Twitter, as well as messaging & discussion groups on both Yahoo! & Google.
Click on the links below to join:
