In a large earthquake, many repeaters can lose power or get damaged, so always start with your local county ARES/RACES repeater, then fall back to wide-coverage machines and simplex. Top Priority Repeaters (Program These First)

Priority	Frequency / Offset	PL Tone	Location / Name	Why It’s Great for Emergencies	Best For
1	146.520 MHz (Simplex)	None	National Simplex	Universal calling frequency when repeaters fail	All SoCal
2	146.385 +	146.2	Keller Peak (KE6TZG)	Excellent wide-area coverage across Inland Empire, LA, Orange, parts of SD. Often used for EmComm nets.	Inland Empire / Wide SoCal
3	146.730 –	107.2	Palomar Mtn (W6NWG – PARC)	Very reliable high-site coverage for much of San Diego County	San Diego & North County
4	147.060 +	107.2	San Diego linked ARES system	Part of San Diego ARES EC Net linked system (also includes 449.260 – and 449.440 – PL 107.2)	San Diego County
5	446.000 MHz (Simplex)	None	National 70cm Simplex	Good backup when 2m is crowded	All SoCal

Additional Strong Emergency Repeaters by Area

San Diego & Imperial Counties

• 147.150 + PL 107.2 → Imperial Valley / Mt. Laguna (Imperial ARES net)
• 449.440 – PL 107.2 → Otay Mtn (part of SD ARES linked system)
• 224.900 – PL 107.2 → Convair / Palomar (220 MHz – good alternative band)

Orange County

• Check OC ARES linked system (often uses machines around 146.730 or coordinated through w6ze.org). Many link into wider SoCal systems.

Los Angeles County

• 145.300 – and 147.270 + PL 179.9 → LA County DCS / RACES nets
• DARN repeater system (widely used for LA ARES operations)

Inland Empire (Riverside & San Bernardino)

• 146.385 + PL 146.2 → Keller Peak (already listed – this is the standout wide-coverage repeater for the region)
• 146.760 – PL 107.2 → Coachella Valley (when in that area)

Regional / Wide-Area Linked Systems

• SoCalALERT linked repeaters (145.160 MHz and various UHF links) – used for broad coordination.
• Many county systems have backup power and are prioritized for emergency use.

Quick Programming RecommendationsPut these in your radio’s memory channels like this:

1. 146.520 Simplex (National Emergency)
2. 146.385 + PL 146.2 (Keller Peak – wide coverage)
3. 146.730 – PL 107.2 (Palomar – San Diego)
4. 147.060 + PL 107.2 (San Diego ARES)
5. 446.000 Simplex (70cm emergency)
6. Your closest local ARES/RACES repeater (add PL tone)

Emergency Use Tips for Earthquakes

• Listen first — After a quake, monitor the above frequencies before transmitting.
• Start local → Try your county ARES repeater first.
• If nothing heard → Switch to 146.520 simplex.
• Many repeaters have backup generators, but they won’t last forever.
• APRS on 144.390 MHz is excellent for sending your position and short messages.
• HF (if you have it) is best for long-distance coordination: 7.192 MHz LSB (day) or 3.992 MHz LSB (night) for California Emergency Services Net.

Best Practice: Join your local county ARES group and check into their weekly nets. They will tell you exactly which repeaters are primary for your specific area during real events.Would you like me to format this as a clean HTML table ready for your ke6mgb.com site, or tailor it more to one specific county (San Diego, LA, Inland Empire, etc.)? Just let me know your main operating area and I can refine it further.