The Midwest Amateur Radio Service, Inc., more commonly known as MIDCARS,
is an all volunteer public service primarily designed to assist amateur
radio operators who operate mobile while traveling around the country. The Midwest Amateur Radio Service, Inc. operates on a frequency of 7258 KHz from 7:30 AM Eastern Time until 2:00 PM Eastern Time 365 days a
year, depending on propagation and availability of volunteer Service Control
Operators (SCO) who control the service as a Net Control station would. This
assistance provided by MidCARS includes maintaining a monitored and easily
accessible frequency for contacting fixed stations as well as relays between
mobile stations to pass traffic thus providing reliable communications,
especially in the event of an emergency or severe weather conditions. The
basic operation of MIDCARS needs to follow these guidelines as presently
adopted and listed below, and of course, the Rules and Regulations as
specified by the Federal Communications Commission in Part 97.
MIDCARS is also used an alternate contact frequency during simulated emergency tests or field
exercises to check access to various areas in maintaining certain disaster
preparedness and relief net operations. Therefore, it is often monitored by
many stations that are involved with the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, ARES
and RACES. MIDCARS does not handle formal traffic, although we will assist
in finding a station to move off frequency with you to handle traffic
Many fixed stations from across the eastern half of the U.S.
and Canada use MIDCARS as a meeting place to make initial contacts for daily
or weekly schedules before moving them to another frequency to continue
their QSOs.
Those participants who enjoy and take advantage of the service
that MIDCARS has to offer are encouraged to return the favor occasionally.
Perhaps they could help contribute by running the service for a few minutes
to give the SCO a break if needed. Besides being a good experience for
those wishing to step into a regular SCO position, it will help the
effectiveness and the continuity of MIDCARS by keeping the service in
continuous operation throughout the day. Again, it is not that difficult
and the experience can be beneficial to your participation in other types of
net operations.
