Northland Amateur Communications Group is seeking Tax-Deductible Donations!

NACG is an official 501c3 Organization.
We can provide a copy of our Letter Indicating our 501c3 Status upon request.

Our club covers many radio modes, Amateur Radio, CB Radio, GMRS Radio, & more!  Radio Hobbyists come from All walks of life. The radio hobby is popular with Students, Kids, Politicians, Truck Drivers, Movie Stars, Missionaries, RVers & Campers, Off-Roading Clubs, Hikers, Adventurers, Teachers, Scientists, and more. Radio Hobbyists are of all ages, sexes, income levels and nationalities. Our radios can be used to relay Traffic Information, Road Conditions or Accidents, they are vital for reporting an emergency or injury, when in areas that do not have reliable cell phone coverage, and they allow travelers a way to get local information about the area. Our Northland Amateur Comms Group members can provide service to those from “outside of our area”, just by being active within their hobby. This is a simple but effective way to help make North Central Iowa be that much more welcoming of an area to travelers, boosting the overall appearance of our community, and hopefully helping to further support a few local Iowa Businesses along the way too!

Our group promotes the legal and proper use of all radio modes.  We actively look for opportunities to educate people about each of these radio modes and what benefits they can bring.  Promoting Emergency Preparedness and Weather Safety, encourage individuals to get involved in the many Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and even Math related opportunities that Radio can offer.  Promoting the Benefits of Amateur Radio in the Classroom. Taking advantage of opportunities to promote good-will to visitors of our area. Our group is pleased to host many local Gatherings, ranging from a weekly breakfast group, Weekly Radio Nets (or “on the air” radio “gatherings”), monthly supper gatherings, opportunities for folks to get together and “tinker”, and so much more! Plus, hopefully soon we will be adding a yearly Electronics Expo / Hobbies Fair that can benefit the entire community.

Amateur Radio is not just a Hobby. It is also a vital backup communications option when other forms of communications fail. The response area for our Amateur Radio Emergency Service Team covers many square miles.  Communication towers with a piece of radio equipment called a repeater, allows us to have a strong, consistent signal, which is vital in emergency situations.  NACG is currently working on an ongoing project to add and maintain several new repeaters across the entire nine county area, to help further accomplish this goal. There are multiple Repeater sites online now, with new sites being added regularly to complete the project.  This repeater network is full-time linked together. Meaning a club member, ARES or Skywarn Member, or any Licensed Emergency Responder can pick up a handheld radio on “one end” of the system and be heard on a repeater tower clear on the “other end” of the system. Upkeep of this equipment comes from club members personal donations, from vital funds raised during   fundraisers, grant opportunities, or through other donations.

We give back to the North Iowa area in many ways such as providing communications at public events, including various walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, parades, and other festivals.  We have regularly provided Health and Safety related duties at events like the Mason City Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Providing light traffic management at busy crossings and Utilizing Volunteer members of our ARES of NI Team to provide coverage along the walking trail, so that we can ensure the safety of all those involved with the charity event.

Many North Iowa ARES members are also North Iowa CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members.  Our local CERT Team relies on our ARES Team, and our radio communications in a variety of ways, ranging from search and rescues, flooding events, and severe weather outbreaks.  We also may provide traffic control during police & fire emergencies if called on to do so. Severe weather Spotting through the Skywarn program is another service our Group provides through our North Iowa Skywarn team.  Many of our members work together with the National Weather Service when storm spotting is needed in the North Iowa area.   Amateur radio operators provide invaluable service by using our unique communications capabilities to share critical information between the National Weather Service, local emergency management officials, and storm spotter networks such as ours here locally.

Donations also allow us to work towards future projects. One example of a future project would be purchasing or building a “tower trailer”. This is essentially a Trailer equipped with a telescoping tower on it, that can be transported to -and quickly set up- at emergencies or highly populated events or festivals. It could also be used to “temporarily replace” a tower that is damaged during a storm. The ARES Team sometimes goes into very rural, “off the main road” locations when we are called out on an emergency.  This telescoping tower trailer would give us the needed signal strength required when we are deployed, even on the “outer limits” of our full-time linked repeater network’s coverage area. This trailer would also be vital to cover areas within the nine-county area that do not YET have a full-time repeater installed, IF a large emergency situation were to arise in that location..