105 Introduction To Net Operations

Course Overview:

This is the updated and revised version of previous REACT guidance on conducting nets, last issued in 1999.   It provides more detail than found in our Emergency Communications Course and supplements that training.  Nets are an integral part of emergency and disaster communications, and operating in a net environment is a key skill for REACT communicators.This is the updated and revised version of previous REACT guidance on conducting nets, last issued in 1999.   It provides more detail than found in our Emergency Communications Course and supplements that training.  Nets are an integral part of emergency and disaster communications, and operating in a net environment is a key skill for REACT communicators.

Our Introduction to Net Operations covers:

• What Is A Net
• Types of Nets
• Net Organization
• Basic Net Procedures
• Dealing With Failures And Interference
• Logs
• Net Scripts
• Forms

The course manual is 37 pages in length, and should take no more than 2 hours to complete.  There is a detailed final examination – when you are ready, contact our training staff at Training@REACTIntl.org to obtain the web address and password for our online testing system.  Continuing education units are awarded for course completion.

This course will not make you an expert in being a net member or serving as a Net Control Station.  It is an introduction.  You have to practice.  If your Team has a net, participate in it.  If it does not have a net, start one, even if the net only is conducted with Family Radio Service radios before or after your regular meeting.  Practice net procedures when you do a tabletop exercise (make sure you identify transmissions as part of an exercise).

Many people assume that a good net is one with lots of participants.  That is incorrect – a good net is one that opens on time, conducts the business of the net quickly and efficiently, and closes when the job is done, or no later than the scheduled closing time, returning the frequency or channel to general use.  You can run a good net with three stations, and a chaotic, unproductive net with 100.

So practice.  When you develop proficiency, you will make a real contribution to improve REACT’s overall ability to be an effective communications partner for the emergency management community.