MTEARS (Middle Tennessee Emergency Amateur Repeater System) is a statewide linked UHF repeater system used during severe weather to pass critical information between local spotter groups and the National Weather Service (NWS).

### Why It Matters Here

Most severe weather affecting East Tennessee comes from the west. Because MTEARS spans West, Middle, and East Tennessee, monitoring the system can give Blount County ARES earlier awareness of approaching storms.

### Weekly MTEARS Net

The weekly MTEARS Net is primarily for training and system testing, not storm reporting.

When:* Mondays after the WCARES net
Time: 2100 (9:00 PM) Eastern*
Operators check in by county (or by state if out of Tennessee) and give the two-digit repeater ID* in use.

The net is called in three Tennessee divisions – East, Middle and West – with each division called in alphabetic county groups; out-of-state stations are called by state. During check-in, all operators are asked to give the two-digit ID number of the repeater they are using, from the list on the MTEARS website (https://mtears.org/).

## Bottom Line

The MTEARS repeater system improves severe weather situational awareness for Blount County ARES, and the weekly net helps ensure we know how to use it before it’s needed.