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Volunteer radio network grows to link Upper Highway 4 residents during outages
Summary
Ebbets Radio Safety Net (ERSN), a volunteer group started from Pine Brook neighborhood efforts, now runs weekly radio check-ins, uses solar-powered repeaters and low-cost radios, and advises residents on GMRS licensing and Meshtastic text-mesh tools for emergencies in Calaveras County.
Kirk Boynton, president of the Ebbets Radio Safety Net and a Pine Brook Homeowners Association board member, said the volunteer group now has “almost 80 members,” 68 of whom take part in regular weekly nets aimed at keeping people connected when power, cell or internet service fail in Calaveras County’s Upper Highway 4 corridor.
The network grew from neighborhood conversations about communication failures during heavy snow and public-safety power shutoffs and now offers regular check-ins, technical help and community training to help residents check on neighbors and coordinate local responses during outages and wildfire threats.
ERSN began after Pine Brook neighbors raised concerns about reaching people during severe weather and utility outages. Boynton said Dan Papias, a Pine Brook homeowner, brought a radio and the idea that a community radio net could provide local communications when other systems were down. “We…
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