Welcome to the Newberry Friends Radio Network Resource Hub.
Whether you are a seasoned operator with a shack full of gear or a new neighbor just getting your first handheld, this page is designed to be your compass. The Newberry Springs community is as unique as our desert landscape—stretching across vast distances where a clear signal and a reliable contact aren’t just hobbies; they are lifelines.
We have curated this alphabetical list to bridge the gap between the technical world of radio communications and the daily life of our high-desert town. Here, you will find everything from propagation guides to help you skip a signal over the mountains, to local emergency frequencies, and even links to the local history that makes this area so special.
Bookmark this page and check back often. As our network grows, so will this collection. Consider it your digital field guide to staying connected, informed, and prepared, right here in the heart of Newberry Springs.
Scroll down to explore the resources, and as always—keep the mic open and the chatter friendly.
— The Newberry Friends Radio Network
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| American Radio Relay League https://www.arrl.org/ | The ARRL.org website serves as the national association for amateur radio in the US, providing members with the latest news, solar updates, and club information. It is a central hub for operators to access publications like QST magazine, find call sign data, and stay informed about the wider ham radio community. |
| Barstow Amateur Radio Club https://wa6tst.club/ | The Barstow Amateur Radio Club (WA6TST) is a full-service club serving the Barstow, California, area, operating a linked repeater system for wide-area coverage and hosting a weekly net. The website shares club news and activities, including their annual Field Day participation and recent POTA (Parks on the Air) activations. |
| BitChat https://bitchat.free/ | Bitchat is a decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging application that creates ad-hoc communication networks over Bluetooth mesh, requiring no internet, servers, or phone numbers. For amateur radio operators, this is a relevant tool for off-grid, localized communication, offering a resilient and censorship-resistant alternative that functions independently of traditional infrastructure during emergencies or in remote areas. |
| Call Log – Live https://upnexx.xyz/osint/sbsd.html | This page provides a live, filterable viewer for San Bernardino County Sheriff and other public safety call logs, displaying real-time data with color-coded rows for different agencies (SBSO, CHP, Fire). It offers advanced features like on-demand history loading, revision tracking, and data export, making it a practical tool for monitoring local emergency responses. |
| Civilian Team Awareness Kit https://www.civtak.org/ | CivTAK.org is a news and information hub dedicated to the civilian and public safety use of the Team Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem, covering software updates, plugins, and deployment strategies. For amateur radio operators, this site is highly relevant as it highlights tools for low-bandwidth voice communications, off-grid situational awareness, and interoperable mapping, which are valuable for emergency communications and field operations. |
| Discord https://discord.com/ | Discord is a popular free platform for voice, video, and text chat that enables users to create or join dedicated “servers” for organized group communication. Within the amateur radio community, these servers are widely used as real-time virtual ham shacks for technical discussions, Elmering (mentoring), coordinating nets, sharing DX spots and propagation data, and integrating with radio-linked apps like EchoLink and AllStar, effectively extending the global conversation beyond the airwaves. |
| Federal Communications Commission https://www.fcc.gov/ | For amateur radio operators, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is the federal agency that establishes and enforces the rules and technical standards for the Amateur Radio Service, as outlined in 47 C.F.R. Part 97. The FCC manages the entire licensing system for GMRS and hams, including the issuance of operator licenses with different classes (Technician, General, Amateur Extra) and the regulation of call signs through both sequential and vanity systems |
| Jami https://jami.net/ | Jami is a free, open-source, and peer-to-peer communication platform that provides end-to-end encrypted messaging, audio, and video calls without relying on central servers. For amateur radio operators, Jami offers a privacy-focused, infrastructure-independent tool for secure coordination, which can be especially useful for supporting emergency communications or linking digital modes over local networks when internet access is unavailable. |
| Meshtastic https://meshtastic.org/ | Meshtastic.org is the official hub for the Meshtastic project, an open-source, decentralized, off-grid mesh network that uses low-cost LoRa radios to enable long-range, encrypted text communication without any existing infrastructure. For amateur radio operators, this platform is a direct gateway to a popular and rapidly growing digital mode that offers a secure, license-free (in many bands) complement to traditional ham radio for local and regional messaging, telemetry, and emergency coordination. |
| Repeater Book https://www.repeaterbook.com/ | RepeaterBook.com is a globally trusted, verified directory of amateur radio repeaters, meticulously maintained by a team of volunteer administrators to ensure accuracy and reliability. For hams and GMRS, it is an essential resource for finding active repeaters by location, frequency, or mode (including FM, DMR, and Fusion), offering tools like interactive maps and data export to stay connected whether at home or traveling. |
| Southern California Mesh https://socalmesh.org/ | SoCal Mesh is a community-driven project building an open-source, off-grid LoRa communications network across Southern California using Meshtastic technology, enabling text messaging and GPS telemetry without relying on cell towers or internet. For amateur radio enthusiasts, it represents an exciting complementary digital mode and a practical application of mesh networking in the UHF spectrum, with hundreds of nodes already active in the region. |
| Team Awareness Kit https://tak.gov/ | TAK.gov is the official U.S. government portal for the Team Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem, providing authorized users—primarily government and military personnel—with access to downloads, documentation, and event information for this critical situational awareness platform. For amateur radio operators, the TAK ecosystem is highly relevant as it represents a sophisticated tool for off-grid coordination, mapping, and data sharing, and its interoperability with various radio systems makes it a powerful complement to emergency communications and field operations. |