Use the November 17 National EAS Test as a Ham Club Readiness Drill

Turn a Public Alerting Test Into a Useful Club Exercise

The nationwide Emergency Alert System test scheduled for November 17, 2026, at 2:20 PM Eastern Time, with December 3, 2026 listed as the backup date, is more than a public alerting event. For an amateur radio club, ARES group, or neighborhood emergency communications team, it is an excellent opportunity to practice disciplined monitoring, accurate logging, net procedures, and after-action review without simulating a disaster or tying up public safety resources.

A well-run ham radio EAS test drill does not mean retransmitting the alert, playing EAS tones on a repeater, or pretending to be an official warning point. It means using the publicly announced test as a time marker and observation event. Members monitor assigned sources, note what they receive, report concise observations on an amateur net, and debrief what worked and what did not.

Before planning, read the official notices from FCC Public Notice DA-26-989A1 and FEMA’s National Test 2026 page. Those sources are the authoritative references for the test schedule and scope.

What Amateur Radio Should—and Should Not—Do

The Emergency Alert System is a broadcast, cable, satellite, and alerting infrastructure system. Amateur radio is not part of EAS origination. Hams should not inject, imitate, record-and-replay, or retransmit EAS tones or alert audio over amateur frequencies. That is both unnecessary and risky. The legal and practical objective is to observe, communicate observations, and improve readiness.

A club drill can stay on solid ground by following three simple rules:

Monitor only. Members listen to broadcast radio, television, cable, satellite radio where applicable, NOAA Weather Radio, or other public sources assigned in the plan.
Report facts, not alert audio. On the ham net, operators report whether they received the test, when they received it, on what source, and the general quality of the reception.
Do not create confusion. Avoid phrases that sound like an actual emergency activation unless your served agency or emergency coordinator has directed a formal exercise with clear language.

For the amateur side, use ordinary net discipline: call signs, directed net structure if appropriate, short transmissions, and accurate logs. The exercise is about readiness, not airtime.

Define the Drill Objective Before Test Day

A club gets the most value when it defines what it is trying to learn. “Everyone listen and check in” is better than nothing, but a written objective produces a better debrief.

Good objectives for this drill

Determine which members can receive the national EAS test at home, work, mobile, or portable locations.
Compare reception across AM, FM, TV, cable, satellite, and NOAA Weather Radio where available.
Practice a short directed net that collects structured reports in less than 30 minutes.
Test club logging forms, net control procedures, liaison roles, and backup net control.
Identify coverage gaps, power issues, antenna limitations, and operator training needs.

Keep the scope reasonable. A small club might assign 10 operators to monitor local FM broadcast stations and NOAA Weather Radio. A countywide ARES group might divide the county into sectors and collect observations from fixed, mobile, and portable stations. Either approach is valid if it is organized and legal.

Build a Simple Monitoring Plan

Start with a one-page assignment list. Each participant should know what to monitor, where to be, what time standard to use, and how to report.

Suggested monitor assignments

Broadcast FM: Assign common local stations that members can receive reliably.
AM broadcast: Include at least one strong local or regional AM station if available.
Television or cable: Assign one or two members who can observe a TV or cable source without disrupting work or school obligations.
NOAA Weather Radio: Include monitoring where coverage exists. NOAA Weather Radio is an all-hazards warning network, and the National Weather Service provides background at weather.gov/nwr.
Mobile or portable location: If safe and practical, assign one or two operators to public locations with weak or uncertain reception, but do not encourage distracted driving or unsafe parking.

Use a common time reference. A smartphone network clock, GPS clock, or computer synchronized to an internet time service is adequate for club-level logging. The official test time is 2:20 PM Eastern Time, so convert for Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian time zones in your written plan.

Use a Legal Amateur Radio Net Structure

The ham net should support the monitoring exercise, not become the alert system. Open the net before the scheduled test, keep it quiet during the expected alert window, then collect reports afterward.

Example timeline

30 minutes before: Net control opens an informational readiness net. Stations check in and confirm assignments.
10 minutes before: Net control reminds participants not to retransmit EAS tones or broadcast audio. Stations move to monitoring.
Test window: Members monitor assigned sources. The repeater or simplex frequency remains clear except for urgent technical issues.
5 minutes after expected test: Net control begins collecting structured reports by district, town, ZIP code, or assignment group.
After reports: Net control asks for late, mobile, or no-copy reports, then closes the net and announces the debrief method.

If your club uses ARES practices, align the exercise with local emergency communications leadership. ARRL’s ARES information page is a useful starting point for understanding the role of organized amateur emergency communications, but local procedures and served-agency expectations matter.

What to Log During the EAS Test

A good log is simple enough that operators will actually use it. Do not ask for ten fields when five will answer the operational question.

Recommended log fields

Operator name and call sign
Monitoring location, such as city, neighborhood, grid square, or ZIP code
Source monitored, such as FM station, AM station, TV channel, cable provider, NOAA Weather Radio, or satellite source
Time the test was first observed, including time zone
Result: received clearly, received with poor quality, partial copy, not received, or not monitored
Notes: audio quality, delay compared with other sources, power condition, antenna used, or receiver issue

For amateur net reporting, compress that into a short format. Example: “Net control, K1ABC, Springfield north side, monitored FM broadcast 101.1 and NOAA Weather Radio. FM received at 1422 Eastern, clear audio. NWR not heard. Commercial power, fixed station.”

That report tells the club what it needs to know without playing tones, rebroadcasting content, or turning the net into a long conversation.

Include Off-Grid Communications Lessons

Because this topic sits at the intersection of alerting and resilience, use the event to test small off-grid assumptions. Do not create unnecessary complexity, but do capture useful information.

Could the operator receive the assigned source on battery power?
Did the handheld, mobile, or base station reach the club repeater or simplex net?
Was the operator’s written frequency plan available without internet access?
Did anyone discover that a weather radio battery was dead or that a portable receiver had poor antenna performance indoors?
Could backup net control hear enough stations to take over?

These findings are often more valuable than the alert reception itself. A national test is scheduled, calm, and brief, which makes it ideal for finding small failures before a real outage, storm, wildfire, or infrastructure disruption.

Safety and Regulatory Caveats

Keep the drill safe and compliant. Amateur radio operators must follow FCC Part 97 rules, license privileges, RF exposure requirements, and local repeater policies. Do not transmit outside your privileges. Do not use encryption on amateur frequencies. Do not use amateur radio for business communications. Do not transmit music, broadcast programming, or EAS audio.

Also avoid unsafe field practices. Do not climb towers, deploy masts near power lines, park illegally, operate while driving distracted, or run generators indoors or near open windows. If a member wants to test portable power, batteries, or antennas, that setup should be completed before the alert window, not improvised in a rush.

Finally, do not assume every public warning path will behave the same way. EAS, Wireless Emergency Alerts, NOAA Weather Radio, local sirens, social media, and agency notification systems are different tools. Unless FEMA or the FCC announces otherwise, plan this exercise around the EAS test as described by the official sources.

Debrief While the Details Are Fresh

The debrief is where the drill becomes useful. Hold it the same evening if possible, or within a few days. Keep the tone factual and improvement-focused.

Debrief questions that produce action

Which sources were received reliably across the club’s area?
Where did members report no copy or poor reception?
Did the net start and end on time?
Were reports concise enough for net control to manage?
Did the logging format capture the right information?
Did any operators lack printed frequency lists, power adapters, spare batteries, or updated contact information?
What should be changed before the next club drill?

Assign action items, not blame. For example: “Create a one-page monitoring report form,” “Identify an alternate repeater for the east side,” “Encourage members to program the local NOAA Weather Radio frequency into receivers,” or “Train two more operators as net control.”

Mini Template: Club Drill Plan

Here is a compact framework your club can adapt:

Drill name: November 17 National EAS Monitoring Drill
Purpose: Practice legal monitoring, amateur net reporting, logging, and debriefing during a scheduled national alerting test.
Date/time: November 17, 2026, 2:20 PM Eastern Time; December 3 backup date if used by authorities.
Net frequency: Local repeater or simplex frequency selected under club policy.
Net control: Primary and backup assigned in advance.
Monitoring sources: Broadcast FM, AM, TV/cable, NOAA Weather Radio, and other public sources as assigned.
Reporting format: Call sign, location, source, time received, quality, and notes.
Prohibited actions: No retransmission of EAS tones, alert audio, broadcast programming, or unofficial emergency claims.
Debrief: Same day or within one week, with written action items.

FAQs

Can hams transmit the EAS tones over a repeater as part of the drill?

No. Do not transmit, imitate, or replay EAS tones or alert audio on amateur frequencies. The club exercise should use verbal observation reports only.

Should the club activate an emergency net?

Usually, call it a readiness, training, or monitoring net unless your local emergency communications leadership has directed a formal exercise. Clear naming helps avoid public confusion.

What if a member does not receive the test?

Log it as “not received” with the source, location, receiver, antenna, and power condition. A no-copy report may reveal a coverage gap, equipment problem, or assignment issue.

Can Technician licensees participate?

Yes, within their license privileges. Most club reporting nets use local VHF/UHF repeaters or simplex channels where Technician licensees commonly have privileges. Always follow current FCC rules and local band plans.

Key Takeaways

The November 17, 2026 national EAS test can become a practical club readiness exercise if you keep it observational and legal.
Do not retransmit EAS tones or alert audio on amateur radio.
Assign monitoring sources, use a common time reference, and collect concise reports after the test window.
Log reception results, power conditions, and communications performance.
Debrief quickly and turn findings into specific improvements for the next drill.