is a nonprofit organization of citizens interested in radio communications and committed to public service.
Dallas County REACT originally was a group of community volunteers who routinely monitored Citizen’s Band (CB) “emergency” channel 9. This was offered as a free service to motorists who needed directions or to relay requests for emergency assistance.
Over the years CB radio has changed and it is no longer the essential tool for mobile communications that it once was. As a result, Dallas County REACT has evolved. Our basic “public service” element is still the same but our responsibility and capabilities have grown to match today’s environment.
We are actively invite applications for membership. If you have a genuine interest in public service, we would like to hear from you. A background in radio communications and an amateur radio license are desired, but not necessary. And for those who want to learn, but not necessarily join right away, you can also sign up to volunteer.
Thank you for your interest in Dallas County REACT. To learn more about REACT and how it helps people all over the world, please visit the REACT International website. Thanks again for visiting us.
Consider joining or supporting our organization to further its mission with a donation. It will be most appreciated!
Our Officers
Gerald W. (Jerry) Jones
President
Robert D. Hitch
Executive Vice-President
Bernard J. Parker,
VP Communication, Acting Secretary
Vaughn McCauley
Treasurer
Our Board
About Us
Dallas County REACT, Inc., a chartered team of REACT INTERNATIONAL, INC., has grown in many ways since its inception in 1967. For many years, we monitored CB channel 9 from high atop the former Southland Life building in downtown Dallas. With our base station and Super Scanner antenna, we had solid coverage of nearly all Dallas County. For many years motorists knew that if they needed assistance, all they had to do was to call on channel 9 and REACT would be there, loud and clear, to help.
Several factors, including the decline in popularity of CB radio, spurred a change in direction and operating procedures of our group. With the strength and unity of our team, we began to focus on our role as a mutual aid organization. We abandoned our fixed downtown location in favor of a “mobile command center.” No longer tied to a particular location, we could now establish our central point of operations wherever we were needed. Our membership began pursuing amateur radio as a communications resource in addition to the public frequencies we had always used. We also formed relationships with local government agencies and let them know we were capable and ready to assist during times of disaster.
Today, most of our team’s routine operations are conducted on GMRS. We are capable of operating on almost all HF, VHF and UHF amateur radio, public safety, and business bands.
While we discontinued regular monitoring of CB channel 9 several years ago; we do continue to support the use of CB radio and include it among our array of communications options.
Our current responsibilities can be summed up in the following four categories.
Local Emergencies:
Dallas County REACT is prepared and available to assist in local emergencies in and around Dallas County. We have a good volunteer base ready to serve on short notice. We have a well configured mobile command center. Once set up on site, we can operate self sufficiently for extended periods.
Community Service:
We maintain our skills and equipment through regular community service events. Often this entails deploying our command center to the event site, setting up our equipment, providing communications assistance during the event, then dismantling the system and returning the equipment to standby condition.
Support for the American Red Cross:
Perhaps our greatest responsibility is to the Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. We have a close relationship with them and can help support staffing their radio command center in time of need.
Public Communications:
We maintain an open 2-meter analog and digital (W5DCR) amateur repeater, a 70cm (W5DCR) amateur repeater, along with two digipeaters (W5DCR-3 VHF and -2 UHF) for relaying APRS traffic. We also maintain two fixed GMRS repeaters that are used by REACT team members. In times of need, the public may use our GMRS repeaters to contact a team member for assistance or to relay requests for emergency assistance to the proper authorities.