Bear Valley Springs Emergency Radio Team — serving the community since 1999
The Bear Valley Springs Emergency Radio Team (BVSERT) has been part of the BVS community since 1999. Team members attend Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council meetings and help integrate amateur radio into the community's emergency response plans.
Nixle, Red Flag, and ReadyKern rely on internet and cellular infrastructure — which can fail in major emergencies. Amateur radio works even when these systems are down, providing a reliable backup.
Amateur radio has been critical in:
For a $25 donation, BVS residents receive a specially programmed radio and charger. Radios are set to listen-only mode so residents can receive emergency information without accidentally transmitting.
W6SLZ · 146.700(−) · 123.0 PL
Weekly BVSERT Net: Sundays at 1900 (7:00 PM) local
Backup: 145.580 Simplex
A Winlink RMS gateway is in service in Bear Valley Springs and open to all licensed hams. Winlink lets you send and receive email over radio — useful when internet and cell service are down.
N6RFI · 145.050 MHz · 1200-baud packet
Battery backup · internet link falls back to Starlink
The gateway is on the valley floor, so a direct connection is most likely from inside BVS. The pin on the Winlink.org map is randomized within the grid square — don't rely on that location. Packet was chosen because it's free and can work through a standard packet digipeater if one is placed up high in the future.
New to Winlink? Start at Winlink.org ↗. The Wavetalkers YouTube channel ↗ has a large library of how-to videos (no new uploads lately, but the back catalog is still very useful).
Tehachapi Area Repeaters
