NC HEARS is the North Carolina Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio System, a 7-site UHF amateur radio repeater network. The primary purpose of NC HEARS is to provide a secondary communications network, to facilitate the exchange of non-priority messages between the over twenty hospitals throughout the Charlotte UASI . The repeater network can also be utilized as a primary communications system in the event the local public-safety radio system is inoperable.

NC HEARS primarily includes six UHF amateur radio repeaters in each of the following localities: Albemarle, Charlotte, Concord, Dallas, Mint Hill and Mooresville. The Dallas repeater site, located at 800’ on a tall tower, blankets Gaston, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties and parts of several others. A “hub repeater” located high atop the Hearst Tower in Uptown, allows any of the six sites to be linked together. Any two repeaters can be linked through the hub repeater, or all six repeaters can be linked together to form one large multicast repeater network, providing radio coverage in all ten counties of the Charlotte UASI and beyond.

NC HEARS is designed to be used daily for amateur radio communications and to support hospital and local government emergency communications when needed, throughout the UASI region. Unlike other redundant communications systems that may be tested bi-monthly or yearly, NC HEARS would be tested almost daily. If there are issues or problems with a repeater in the network, it can be recognized and remedied before the network is needed in an emergency. Amateur radio operators familiar with the area and the radio network can ensure that the system will be ready in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Plans are already in the works to link NC HEARS with the Carolina 440 network, a UHF amateur repeater network with over twenty repeaters, covering the northern, central and coastal areas of North Carolina, including the Triad, Triangle and Wilmington areas (http://www.carolina440.net).

There is also future capability to link NC HEARS to the South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team SCHEART amateur repeater network which supports hospital communications in South Carolina.

NC HEARS will have the capability to connect to other amateur stations throughout North Carolina, the United States and the World using VoIP linking with Echolink, which allows two or more amateur stations to connect and converse using the internet (http://www.echolink.org). With EchoLink, users of NC HEARS can communicate with other hospitals along the east coast.

NC HEARS is the first step in bridging a gap in emergency communications preparedness by recognizing and collaborating with licensed amateur radio operators. The NC HEARS network provides solid redundant communications capabilities to the local hospitals throughout the ten county Charlotte UASI region, and in turn provides coordination for medical personnel, equipment and supplies for the treatment and transportation of patients involved in disaster or emergencies.