On January 31, 2024, the High Frequency (HF) radio system in the communications room of the Humboldt Emergency Operations Center (EOC) became operational, joining the VHF system which was activated a few months earlier. The EOC can now serve as a communications hub during emergencies, as well as provide support to local drills, exercises, public service events and radio nets.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services was awarded a Cal OES High Frequency Communications Equipment grant on May 9, 2022. The purpose of this grant is to provide funding for equipment that will allow local government EOCs to participate an integrated HF radio network that utilizes special frequencies authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to facilitate communications with state, local, and federal agencies.
This system provides a secondary backup communications system to daily operations. High Frequency uses wireless technology to “bounce” radio signals off the earth’s atmosphere to communicate both by voice and digitally. Through this grant, the county purchased two HF Codan Envoy systems. One is a mobile HF radio system designed for field deployments, and the other is a base station located in the Humboldt EOC and in the 5th floor radio room. Unlike most radio systems that are directly connected from the radio control point to the antenna, this system is linked by the county network system. This network allows the radio frequency unit to be closer to the antenna, thus improving its overall performance and allows it to be accessible by remote control by PC or phone applications. The Codan Envoy has a very unique operating system that allows it to use digital voice encryption, and send/receive email using Winlink with a Pactor modem.
