R.E.A.C.T. in existance yet?

[stevedogan]

Is that Radio Emergency Associated Citizens Team thing that monitors Ch. 9 for emergencies and travel assistance still around anywhere in the U.S.A., or have they gone the way of the 8-Track tape player? Even 30 years ago I don't recall hearing them much when I would listen to the 23 channel radio we had as a kid. I heard so much about them, but never really heard any of those guys giving help on Ch. 9. About 12 or 13 years ago, a few of us in my area tried starting a group of them, but interest quickly died off. In retrospect, did they really ever accomplish much, or were they just kind of an unofficial self-proclaimed "good guy" group?

 

[dave3825]

Not sure if they still do cb or not but they are having a REACT International Board Meeting Sunday January 8th, 2012 Sunday Febrary 12th, 2012
Annual Meeting March 23rd-24th, 2012

Maybe the folks in the cb forum here would better assist you..

 

[bryan_herbert]

They're big here in Los Angeles. They use CB, FRS, GMRS and even have an internal UHF trunked radio system. They hold meetings once a month and are active in community events.

Los Angeles County REACT

 

[davidzimmerman]

i belong to great lakes react in the cleveland area we use gmrs repeaters for communications. their more in the ohio area like stark county and summit county.most use gmrs or bussness repeaters.some still have cb radios but you here most if not all calls on a scanner to assist police,fire,ems.

 

[stevedogan]

Forgot to mention, I'm in Wis. Are they more geared towards bigger or more densly populated areas or areas with more interstate hi-ways?

 

[bfperez]

In Las Vegas, they still operate. Aside from coordinating with LV Metro PD for traffic control near fatal car crash scenes, I don't know what else they do.

They have a GMRS license and at least one repeater in the area. I heard them crystal clear about 12 (line-of-sight) miles away working a scene.

 

[mgolden2]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

They seem to be very active in St Louis and surrounding areas. They are called Tri County React and their site is http://www.tricountyreact.org/

 

[sphipps]

REACT is certainly still around... but most of its chapters quit monitoring CB Ch 9 long, long ago. REACT today is mostly associated with GMRS and ham radio. Most chapters are located in larger metropolitan areas.

I've been monitoring the CB band for 40 years and I can't remember one time where I heard an emergency call placed on Ch 9. That channel is popular in Mexico and you hear quite a bit of Mexican skip on it when it's rolling.

 

[stevedogan]

REACT is certainly still around... but most of its chapters quit monitoring CB Ch 9 long, long ago. REACT today is mostly associated with GMRS and ham radio. Most chapters are located in larger metropolitan areas.

I never associated REACT with amateur radio. They have their own system: ARES (amateur radio emergency service). REACT would be too closely associated with CB which it seems most amateurs would like to see dismantled! ....Interesting.

I've been monitoring the CB band for 40 years and I can't remember one time where I heard an emergency call placed on Ch 9. That channel is popular in Mexico and you hear quite a bit of Mexican skip on it when it's rolling.

Strange how the FCC will come down on someone for messing with Ch. 9 and has regulations restricting its use, but no one uses it for that purpose. There was 1 time I actually heard someone who claimed to be a REACT guy answer a call on Ch. 9 I sent out because of an accident I witnessed. I believe that was in 1994. Even if there are next to no 10-33 calls on it, you'd think it would still be popular for travelers assistance.

 

[KC4RAF]

Look around and count the number

of 4 wheelers with CB antennas. Few and far between. CB for the most part is very low for the 4 wheelers. REACT use to be a great thing back in the days. It did help some travelers in dire straights, (not the rockers!).

 

[stevedogan]

of 4 wheelers with CB antennas. Few and far between. CB for the most part is very low for the 4 wheelers. REACT use to be a great thing back in the days. It did help some travelers in dire straights, (not the rockers!).

Not sure what the area is like where you are, but there are tons upon tons of CB'ers in my area. And this is no where near what would be considered a metropolitan area.

 

[donny612]

Way of the 4 track...

of 4 wheelers with CB antennas. Few and far between. CB for the most part is very low for the 4 wheelers. REACT use to be a great thing back in the days. It did help some travelers in dire straights, (not the rockers!).

With everybody having at least one cellphone in the family and with coverage as good as it is it seems like channel 9 monitoring has gone the way of the 4 track tape and the dodo. (Yeah, I'm old enough to remember those...not the dodos!)
I think that's why you don't seem to see many cb antennas much on anything but 18 wheelers. Once upon a time I belonged to a R.E.A.C.T. group in La Habra California. And yeah, we called in and assisted with quite a few traffic accidents. Cops back then didn't see us as wannabes and were thankful for the help.
Again that was back in the day... Oh how times have changed!!

 

[stevedogan]

But there are those of us who absolutely HATE HATE HATE cell phones. -Too long a story to get into.
4 track tapes? Were those before 8 tracks? Or did they only last half as long? I still have a bunch! I'm afraid to try to play them though after 32 years.

 

[UPMan]

I remember back in the early- to mid-'80s there was a "REACT" office in the basement of Tandy Tower 2 (Radio Shack's HQ) in Fort Worth. Never saw anyone around it, though.

 

[reedeb]

We have a REACT team here in Dallas. I think they monitor CB. BUT they also use repeaters on GMRS as well as have a 2 mtr rpeater. They are very quiet around here as most folks use cell phones [best thing ever invented]

 

[nd5y]

Back in the '70s Dallas React had a station on the top floor of one of the downtown skyscrapers. I think they had volunteers up there 24/7. I don't know how long it lasted.

 

[bezking]

Whoa. LA County REACT has an encrypted P25 SmartZone system!? Where did they get the money for that!?

 

[mrweather]

Back in the '70s Dallas React had a station on the top floor of one of the downtown skyscrapers. I think they had volunteers up there 24/7. I don't know how long it lasted.

Back in the day a group called "Michigan Emergency Patrol" operated out of the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. They monitored CB channel 9 and assisted motorists on the freeways in and around the city. I remember their call was KBW-5826.

If anyone knows the Ren-Cen you'll understand what kind of coverage MEP had. Probably the tallest building in SE lower Michigan.

 

[pjtnascar]

Back in the 90's, I remember calling a react station here in NJ, but as previously mentioned, cell phones kinda took away the need.

Stevedogan, don't worry, Wisconsin will eventually catch up with the rest of America and get into cell phones.

 

[stevedogan]

Oh they have, it's just that *I* haven't. ....ICK! I've got my 2 meter for in case of trouble, and that's good enough for me.