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Emergency comms
When power, mobile networks and the internet go down, radio still works. That's the whole idea. This page tells you where emergency traffic gathers, what you need to prepare beforehand and where the limits are. It deliberately works without JavaScript and stays on your device after one visit.
First things first: an emergency call goes to 112. Emergency radio doesn't replace the ambulance service or a control centre. It carries messages where the usual routes have stopped working, and even that in an organised way, not on your own.
Where traffic gathers
IARU Region 1 has set one frequency on each HF band as a gathering point: the “Emergency Centre of Activity". That's where you listen first and where you call. In normal operation these frequencies are free to use; during an incident they are cleared. In Germany there's also 3.643 MHz on 80 m, the frequency of the national emergency nets.
| Band | Frequency | What for |
|---|---|---|
| 80 m | 3.643 MHz | Emergency DL: the national emergency nets in Germany |
| 80 m | 3.760 MHz | regional at night, range via skywave |
| 40 m | 7.110 MHz | regional to central European during the day |
| 20 m | 14.300 MHz | worldwide, daytime |
| 17 m | 18.160 MHz | worldwide, when conditions are good |
| 15 m | 21.360 MHz | worldwide, when conditions are good |
Locally something else counts: the calling frequencies 145.500 MHz and 433.500 MHz, in Germany also 144.260 MHz in USB, and above all the repeaters nearby. You'll find them under Repeaters, and the terrain profile there shows whether you can reach them over the terrain at all.
Gathering frequencies from the “Emergency Centres of Activity" of IARU Region 1, the German frequencies (3.643 MHz, 144.260 MHz) from the DARC emergency communications desk. The same values, with all other activity centres, are in the table in the band plan.
What emergency radio is, and what it isn't
In emergencies and disasters the amateur service may pass messages on behalf of third parties. That's the exception to the rule that amateur radio serves only your own interest in the technology. The legal basis is the Amateurfunkgesetz (German Amateur Radio Act) and the Amateurfunkverordnung (AFuV, German amateur radio regulations).
What it doesn't include: appointing yourself incident commander, listening to and passing on emergency services traffic, or disrupting an ongoing exercise because you want to help. Emergency radio in Germany is organised, through the emergency desks of the associations and through agreements with civil protection and relief organisations locally. If you want to take part, sign up there before something happens, not afterwards.
What has to happen beforehand
Nobody improvises well during an incident. What counts is what's already in place and has worked at least once:
- Power without the grid. A charged battery of known capacity, plus a way to charge it. Calculated, not guessed: a 100 Ah battery with 20 A on transmit, 1 A on receive and transmitting a tenth of the time lasts a good day if it's LiFePO4. A lead-acid battery, which you should only discharge halfway, manages around 17 hours. Transmit non-stop and you're done after two and a half to four and a half hours. And the supply cable has to carry the current too, or the voltage collapses when you transmit. The battery calculator works out the runtime, the cable calculator the voltage drop.
- An antenna that works without a mast. A wire, a throw weight, a tree. If you can only operate with the beam on the roof, you're off the air once the roof is damaged.
- Frequencies on paper. Repeater list, gathering frequencies, band plan, printed or at least on the device. The pages of this collection keep working offline once you've loaded them; the repeater list on /relais is also available as CSV for your radio.
- Practised operating skills. Short, complete messages, spelling, time in UTC, taking notes. That's the real skill, not the equipment.
- A second route for the message. Voice is fast but fleeting. For lists and text there's Winlink over HF and the paging network DAPNET, which sends text messages to pagers.
When the power is out
The order is unspectacular and that's exactly why it helps: first make yourself and your home safe, then listen to the radio (broadcast radio remains the fastest official source), then operate. If you start transmitting straight away, you miss the situation report and waste battery for nothing.
When operating: listen, listen, listen. On a gathering frequency you check in with callsign and location, briefly say what you can offer, and then wait. Whoever runs a net is asked to do so; you don't appoint yourself.
Where to read on
The DARC emergency desks keep the training material, the emergency nets and the contacts to the authorities. Locally it runs through the local clubs; the club map shows which one is near you.
Full text of the legal basis at gesetze-im-internet.de (German). This page is not legal advice and doesn't replace proper training.