Home of KARO ECHO Ham radio ASSOCIATION

Welcome to the Home of    W6ECK   serving the El Cerrito and Kensington Communities

KARO ECHO is the acronym for the Kensington Amateur Radio Operators (KARO) and the El Cerrito Ham Operators (ECHO) mutual benefit association, an all-volunteer non-profit tax-deductible organization (501c3) of amateur radio operators providing auxiliary communications and related training for the cities of Kensington, El Cerrito, and adjacent areas in the event of a disaster. KARO ECHO works with CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams), but is not an official part of the CERT program. As a 501c3 corporation KARO-ECHO is available to provide radio communications to other local non-profits who operate in the public interest. KAROECHO coordinates with the neighborhood volunteer response teams, where present, facilitating radio communications for our residents between neighborhoods, to and from the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) at City Hall, to and from adjoining jurisdictions, as well as County and long haul communications via amateur radio gateways on Morse, voice, and digital means.  We are an Active ARRL Affiliated Amateur Radio Club. 

Although our focus is on Kensington, El Cerrito,  and surrounding areas, all are welcome to train with us. KARO ECHO provides hands-on practical training, education, and biannual Simulated Emergency Tests  (SETs) emphasizing best practices in preparation for the disruption or unavailability of conventional  means of communications.   

Weekly Radio Net

The KARO ECHO Training Net is every Thursday evening at 1900 (but not before the WCCC ARES/RACES net has ended) on 146.415 MHz Simplex.

The KARO-ECHO Net Training details.

Meetings on the Second Monday each Month

KARO ECHO  meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 1900 (7:00 PM) at the Kensington Community Center (KCC), 59 Arlington Ave., Kensington, CA 94707. The KCC is directly East of the Arlington Community Church and directly North of the Kensington Library --  See Map  Ample parking is available by turning (East) up Kensington Park Road (at the only traffic light in Kensington).  The meeting will be a hybrid meeting on both ZOOM and in-person.  Contact info at karoecho dot net for the zoom link. Guests are always welcome. (See the EVENTS page for further details).

KARO ECHO provides internet Zoom access to all meetings, thus, KARO ECHO member meetings will also simultaneously take place online using Zoom. Everyone on the KARO ECHO mailing list will receive an invitation link to the Zoom meeting by email. To get on our mailing list and receive our Newsletter, please JOIN HERE, or send an email to info at karoecho.net for questions. 

Meeting Minutes are archived at the bottom of our PAST EVENTS page 

Past Newsletters are available on our documents page.

To learn more about KARO ECHO, you can read our Constitution, our Disaster Communications Plan,  Past minutes,  or browse our newsletters.

Become a Member of KARO ECHO

Yearly dues are $30/year and $40 for a family membership.  We are a tax deductible 501(c)3 charitable organization . Use tax ID #  83-3114142. Your donation will help us serve our community. Use the donate button to donate or pay dues online (Paypal), and fill out the registration/signup form under Get Involved/Join. You can get on the mailing list by filling out the signup form without paying membership dues.

Mail and correspondence to:
KARO ECHO  -- 1519 Everett St,  El Cerrito, CA. 94530-2207

 "Neither snow nor rain, nor sleet, nor heat, nor fire bright, nor gloom of night, 

Even though the earth doth shake

Or sunspot flake 

Stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" 

~ Herodotus, 500 BCE (revised Karo-Echo version, 2020)

Executive Board Officers:

• Emergency Coordinator, Howdy, KE6BEE

• President, Howdy, KE6BEE

• Treasurer, Jim, KN6VTC

• Secretary/Recorder, Tom, AA6BY

• Vice President , Frans, KJ6IUV

• Net Manager, Howdy, KE6BEE

• Outreach/PR Manager: Open

• Newsletter Editor and  Board Member at Large: Annette, KJ6SWK

• Board Member at Large: Hal, KK6NDF

• Webmaestro:  Rob, K6RJM (e-mail to info@karoecho.net)