What happens when a disaster strikes and power lines go down and cell phone service disappears? How do you coordinate a response and get critical information to people in different parts of the state?
It turns out there's a small group of dedicated volunteers who plan for this sort of thing and who have been quietly working to expand their ability to, for example, allow someone in Twin Falls to talk to someone in McCall when all other means of communication have failed.
It's the brainchild of the Voice of Idaho Amateur Radio Club, and they use what you may know as ham radios.
And after five years, their linking project has finally come to fruition, linking five repeater stations high on Idaho mountaintops to prepare for just such an emergency.
But the club does more than prepare for the worst. Ham radio is a great way to talk to people in other countries, even to astronauts in space, while making friends and building community.
The president of the Voice of Idaho, Rob Oates, and executive vice president, Dr. Mike Dunlap, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about the club.
