When communications were disrupted due to a California wildfire, residents realized that they needed their own radio communications tower in Cloverdale. Cazadero resident Tony Goodwin led the charge, equipping his home with General Mobile Radio Service. Designed to communicate over short distances, the land-mobile FM UHF radio service allows limited two-way communications. As the Press Democrat reports, Goodwin was inspired to set up the “walkie-talkie” system for his household when he was unable to reach his wife during an emergency.
Safety-minded neighbors also joined the GMRS via radio boxes at various locations throughout the county. The communications cell tower in Cloverdale doubles as one of the host sites for the GMRS system. With vigilance as its focus, the tower includes fire cameras, radio service and a fail-safe digital communications network. There are also plans afoot to add a weather station to the solar-powered tower to record temperatures and wind speed in real time.
“It’s turning out to be a really, really cool project,” said Sonoma County Public Infrastructure Director, Johannes Hoevertsz.
Hoevertsz explained that the cameras are currently operating on a trial basis. A joint team of members of the Northern Sonoma County Community Emergency Response Team and radio volunteers are monitoring the current camera arrangement. The project is expected to cost $250,000, noted Hoevertsz, an expense that will be covered by funds from both county funds and community partners.
Goodwin told the Press Democrat that the GMRS has already proven its worth. “We at one point were trapped [by a power outage], all our exits were blocked by trees,” said Goodwin. “We had no communication via cellular phone or landline but our radios, our infrastructure we put in for radios worked.”
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