Bonner County training teaches residents to use Baofeng radios, MURS/GMRS options for emergencies

Richard Gage, a Sagle resident and architect, led a public training in Bonner County focused on low‑cost handheld radios and alternative communications for emergencies.

The session, organized by county staff and offered both in person and on Zoom, demonstrated operation of Baofeng UV‑5R radios, explained how to use the Multi‑Use Radio Service (MURS) “channel 3” as a backup when cellular service fails, and described local programming and licensing options including GMRS and amateur (ham) radio training and testing.

The training aimed to give residents a practical, repeatable set of steps for contacting neighbors and local nets when phones or the power grid are down. “This is our first of hopefully many trainings that we're gonna have for the community,” said Ron, the county emergency manager who organized the event. Gage told the audience the inexpensive Baofeng handhelds can be a useful backup, saying, “Get 2 or 3 of them if you can because you want to be able to talk to somebody else. Right? Give 1 to your neighbors and your friends.”

Why it matters: County staff framed the class as resilience preparation. Attendees were shown how to program radios to receive and transmit on local emergency frequencies, how to reduce transmit power to comply with FCC limits for MURS/FRS/GMRS in specific modes, and how to join recurring nets for practice so radios will be effective in a real outage.

What was covered and key takeaways - Radio model and accessories: Gage demonstrated the Baofeng UV‑5R and recommended replacing the stock antenna with an upgraded Nagoya 771 or a roof/vehicle antenna for better range. He noted newer Baofeng models have larger channel capacity, USB‑C charging and higher power options that should be used only by licensed operators. - MURS “channel 3” and protocol: Attendees were encouraged to use the community’s agreed‑upon “channel 3” (the training instructor called it a core AMRON/Channel 3 practice) and to follow a simple calling routine: check channel, transmit for short periods (about two minutes), and repeat hourly until contact is made. The trainer corrected usage to align with the Multi‑Use Radio Service (MURS) and FCC guidance on power limits. - Power limits, services and licenses: The class reviewed service distinctions the trainer cited during Q&A: FRS (Family Radio Service) low‑power radios, GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) which requires a license (trainer said about $35 for a 10‑year GMRS license) and permits higher power and some repeaters, and ham (amateur) licensing which requires passing an exam. The instructor stressed that some uses (repeaters, higher wattage) require the appropriate license. - Programming help and Chirp files: Volunteers in the room were available to program radios on site and to provide Chirp programming files. The instructor and other volunteers said they would help participants update or replace radio channel lists at Winter Ridge (the natural foods store on Hwy 2 at Boyer) and offered contact information and a sign‑up sheet for follow up. - Local nets and repeaters: The trainer described recurring local practice nets — a Wednesday night Round Lake / Sagle net on MURS channel 3 at 7 p.m., a Thursday West Bonner simplex/GMRS net at 6:30 p.m. and the county’s AMRON/other nets — as ways for residents to practice and verify radios and IDs. - Receive‑only and scanner uses: Participants were shown how a programmed Baofeng can act as a scanner (receive‑only) for local dispatch/repeater frequencies to monitor incident reports without transmitting. - EMP and storage questions: Participants asked about EMP protection. The instructor and others advised that some protective measures (Faraday‑style containers) can help preserve a backup radio, but they noted uncertainty about absolute protection and recommended cautious storage practices.

What the county and volunteers will do next County staff and volunteers will make a common programming set available for attendees, help program radios at Winter Ridge for those who sign up, and circulate contact details for follow‑up classes. The Bonner County Amateur Radio Club and local volunteers offered regular testing sessions for ham licenses and said they would consider running a multi‑session technician exam prep class if enough residents expressed interest.

Who spoke (selected) and where they appear in the meeting transcript - Ron, Bonner County emergency manager (organizer and moderator; introduced the training and handled logistics). First referenced in the event introduction. - Richard Gage, local resident and architect, Sagle (trainer and presenter; led the Baofeng demonstration and Q&A). First referenced when introduced to give the presentation. - Don (participant; facilitator of a West Bonner weekly net referenced during Q&A). Identified as running the Thursday 6:30 p.m. net for the west Bonner area. - Cheryl Mercer (sheriff's office contact referenced by volunteers as the local point for the neighborhood watch / GMRS repeater program). Mentioned as a contact to learn more about a three‑hour neighborhood watch/GMRS program. - Brad Arndt (named in transcript as the volunteer/repeater facilitator associated with the sheriff’s neighborhood watch repeater work).

Limitations and clarifications - The training repeatedly used the spoken label “MERS.” The article uses the widely accepted service name MURS (Multi‑Use Radio Service) when referring to the FCC‑defined civilian service the instructor intended, and corrects obvious product/brand misspellings from the transcript (for example, Baofeng rather than phonetic variants used during the talk). - Exact dates for follow‑up classes and the contact details for volunteers were provided at the meeting and on a sign‑up sheet; the transcript includes references to sign‑up and follow‑up but does not supply a single email address or phone number that can be published here. The article therefore notes that staff will circulate contact information and that attendees were asked to leave email addresses on the sign‑up sheet.

Ending Attendees left with step‑by‑step guidance for basic radio calls, an offer of on‑site programming help at Winter Ridge, and contacts for local nets and licensing resources. Organizers said they plan more resilience trainings and practical practice nets so residents can make handheld radios a reliable local backup when conventional communications are unavailable.