Yes. If you are talking into a repeater connected to SARnet then when you key your radio, your local repeater responds, along with all the other SARnet repeaters around the state, simulataneously.

Only a brief momentary pause of no more than one second is needed. It is much more important to WAIT about 2-3 seconds after someone else unkeys before keyking up your radio. This will allow the end of the transmission to propagate through the network and for all of the repeater squelch tails to drop out. Otherwise, some sites with repeaters with long squelch tails will never drop in time to hear short replys from other sites on the system. This is believed to be a current issue at Orange City, however that repeater is mounted at the top of the tower so it may be some time before the repeater squelch tail is possibly shortened.

The current plan is to build out approximately 25-30 sites. That size network will be optimum for the ongoing testing that the FDOT wants to do. The sites are chosen by the FDOT to support their testing needs for network technology.

There is no official list. At any one time, the team doing the work has about 2-3 planned sites that are in various stages of completion, from the planning phase, through equipment acquisition, to installation. As sites are completed, new sites come on the radar screen. But all of it is subject to change. As an example, at the National Hurricane Conference, the NHC in Miami expressed an interest in having access to SARnet. This moved a future Miami SARnet site up on the priority list and got them on the air earlier than planned.

Much of the radio equipment is donated while the networking equipment is the property of FDOT. Remember though that all of the repeater trustees whose repeaters are on SARnet are licensed Amateur Radio Operators. Some repeaters (FB2’s) are locally owned, operated and/or maintained by trustees on none-DOT tower sites, however, all FX1’s and a large majority of FB2’s are owned and/or maintained by FDOT personnel that are HAMS.

SARnet is intended as a network of Florida repeaters whose users are here in Florida (or along the state border) and are, for the most part, aware that they are talking on a statewide communications network. Systems like Echolink, IRLP, and Allstar interfaces permit hams from around the country and around the world to connect to each other. While these interfaces are exciting technologies, if they where interfaced to SARnet they would introduce the potential for the entire network to be tied up for long periods of time by hams who have no idea they are keying a network of repeaters in Florida. Several of the repeater trustees who have agreed to participate in SARnet would prefer not to have such traffic on their local repeaters. In addition, the traffic testing profiles that the FDOT considers realistic involve multiple repeater sites interfacing with each other dynamically over an IP network, not a single site injecting traffic without interaction. An Echolink, IRLP, or Allstar node that connects to the network through one connection could tie up the network as a single site for an extended period of time.

All SARnet repeaters are listed on the Florida Repeater Council website at https://www.florida-repeaters.org/. Search your area for the repeater frequency you are interested in to find the trustee call sign.

As soon as we can get it done! Check back from time to time and see if the maps have been updated. We will make changes to the maps when ever we add a new site.

No.

We get this question a lot. FDOT uses the network to test and monitor how a sophisticated IP network handles analog voice radio traffic so other modes are not compatible with that mission. In addition most of the trustees, who have agreed to host SARnet on their repeaters have given permission for SARnet to interface to their repeaters with analog voice signals, -- no other modes. The impact (interference) of other modes to analog voice operations would be unacceptable as well, plus it would be difficult to manage, schedule, and troubleshoot all of the modes that various ham groups have proposed for use on SARnet.

We get many requests to permit SARnet to be used as a communications resource. In general our policy is to not sanction any local or regional activities on SARnet. It is more appropriate for such activities to use local and regional communications assets. SARnet's primary mission is to support network research for the FDOT. In support of that mission the network side of SARnet is sometimes under test and unavailable. So as a rule it would be inappropriate for SARnet to be perceived as a communications asset that can be "assigned" to a particular activity.

That being said the FDOT is a state agency and during large scale emergencies such as a hurricane, it is possible that SARnet will be retasked to support a state response. You may be aware of the statewide weekly directed net on SARnet that is conducted in particular to ensure that a statewide response to an emergency would be possible with SARnet. This is the only directed net permitted on SARnet.

So what does this mean to you and your organization? You are welcome to use SARnet like any other ham resource but on a shared basis with other hams in the state of Florida. There are no priorities given to local and regional public-safety or non-public safety related entities. Any use of SARnet for a net activity must use an undirected net format so that other hams may continue to use SARnet at the same time.

Given the respect most amateurs feel toward those who work in public safety, if you are a public safety entity you will likely find minimal interference and delay from the ham community for any public-safety related-comms you do choose to put on SARnet.

No. We do not maintain a downloadable list of frequencies. We do make recommendations on how to program your radio though so that it is easy to navigate the SARnet repeaters on your radio and easy to add new ones. Here are those recommendations:

1) Program the SARnet repeaters geographically and in regions. For instance, set up an I-95 list, I-10 list, I-4 list, and an I-75 list. The I-95 list might look like this: Yulee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Cocoa, etc. The I-10 list might look like this: Jacksonville, Lake City, Live Oak, etc. It is appropriate to put Jacksonville in both the I-95 list and the I-10 list, just as Tampa would be in both the I-75 and I-4 lists.

2) Arrange the lists one after the other in what ever order makes sense to you. If you live in Tampa you might put the I-75 list first, I-4 list second, etc. If you live in Cocoa you might put the I-95 list first, I-4 list second, etc.

3) Program the sequence of lists but leave some 4-5 blank channels between each list. That way when SARnet adds a new repeater you only have to move a few channels around in the appropriate list. Ideally this means you need about 40-50 channel spaces to program SARnet using about 4 lists.

4) Use a modern programming software tool that support cut and paste and database transfer to a new brand/model of radio. An example is the RT Systems software. When a new repeater is added to SARnet you can make the changes quickly and then transfer them to all your radios.

Some do and some don't. Many SARnet repeaters are installed at locations that have commercial emergency power systems that include generators and battery systems, as well as alarm notification capability. However, some repeater sites associated with SARnet may have only minimal emergency power facilities. The sites listed on the status page as FX1s are sites where the repeater is not on FDOT property. Those sites may or may not have emergency power. All of the sites listed as FB2s on the status page do have commercial emergency power systems that can run for many days without refueling.

If an FX1-connected repeater is off-line you may be able to access SARnet on reverse. The FX1 radios are installed at FDOT sites that have emergency power.