SC4 Amateur Radio Emergency Service

SC4 Amateur Radio Emergency Service Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from SC4 Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Nonprofit Organization, La Honda, CA.

SC4ARES consists of licensed radio amateurs in the Southcoast, South County area of San Mateo who have registered with their local ARES leadership volunteering personal time, skill and equipment to serve in the public interest.

01/01/2026

The La Honda Fire Department Operations Center was activated for 24 hours beginning noon, December 23, in anticipation of power and communication outages caused by high winds in the area. Volunteers from SC4ARES and CERT staffed the community resource center around the clock.

The first of five Advanced Resource Containers (ARCs) was unveiled this past weekend. These are self contained incident ...
10/06/2025

The first of five Advanced Resource Containers (ARCs) was unveiled this past weekend. These are self contained incident command posts placed in communities and neighborhoods which have been frequently isolated due to failures of roads and communication infrastructure. They contain a small cache of tools and supplies needed in emergencies and have ham radio, GMRS and satellite communications. They will serve as a hub of communications and support ARES, CERT and other volunteers in times of need.

The ARCs are remotely monitored and when needed are activated to provide a public WiFi hotspot for emergency calling, have two way intercom calling, outside and inside lights and the command post space has climate control provided by a small heat pump. The doors can be unlocked remotely. There is sufficient battery storage to operate independently for at least 72 hours and the batteries are maintained by solar electric panels with an option to bring in generator power if it's needed.
The ARCs are made possible through generous grants by San Mateo County and Measure K funds, 100 Women Who Care Coastside and their commitment to community resilience, PG&E supporting emergency preparedness in our remote communities, and American Medical Response recognizing the importance of distributed emergency response and helping procure the AED for this project. Leadership and governance is through the boards of La Honda Fire Brigade and Kings Mountain Fire Brigade.

03/27/2025

San Mateo County has released a new, Tsunami Hazard Area Dashboard indicating worst case scenario regions of concern.
https://arcg.is/0e1e5y0

It's with great sadness that I report the passing of Linda Bennett, W6LJB. Linda served as ARES emergency coordinator fo...
03/13/2025

It's with great sadness that I report the passing of Linda Bennett, W6LJB. Linda served as ARES emergency coordinator for the south coast area of San Mateo County for 6 years, ARES district emergency coordinator for coast side San Mateo County for 6 years and served as president of the SC4ARC radio club at its founding. In addition, she was on the board of directors for La Honda Fire Brigade where she served terms as president, vice president and organized many fund raisers. Her love for her community and her boundless energy will be missed.

So you get an SMC Alert that a tsunami warning has been issued in our area and to, "avoid low-lying areas and beaches. M...
12/08/2024

So you get an SMC Alert that a tsunami warning has been issued in our area and to, "avoid low-lying areas and beaches. Move to higher ground NOW!" What's considered "low-lying"? How high should "higher ground" be?

San Mateo county has mapped out areas of possible inundation and the map is available at https://gis.smcgov.org/apps/publicviewer/ Among the many layers of information published, click on "HAZARDS" and then the check box "Tsunami and Seiche Inundation Areas" to see an overlay of what the County considers the greatest extent of possible inundation from combined tsunami, storm surge and king tide.

If you live in San Mateo County and aren't already getting SMC Alerts, visit https://www.smcgov.org/dem/smc-alert and sign up now.

The first weekend in October, radio amateurs are encouraged to participate in an annual simulated emergency test. This y...
11/17/2024

The first weekend in October, radio amateurs are encouraged to participate in an annual simulated emergency test. This year SC4ARES fielded two pop-up communication stations at likely community, gathering points and relayed mock welfare messages to our district operations center.

08/31/2024

In 2023, SC4ARES volunteers contributed 242 person-hours of their personal time to keep the flow of communications open during emergencies.

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La Honda, CA

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