Simulated Emergency Test
| Simulated Emergency Test | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SET |
| Organized by | ARRL |
| Type | Nationwide emergency communications exercise |
| Held | Every year; national focal weekend in early October |
| 2026 | |
| Focal weekend | October 3–4, 2026 |
| Local exercises | Any time through the end of the fall season or calendar year |
| Maximum activity period | 48 hours |
| Groups | ARES, NTS, RACES, SKYWARN, CERT, SATERN |
| Taking part | |
| Partner agencies | American Red Cross, National Weather Service, FEMA, Salvation Army and others |
| Reports | Form A (Emergency Coordinator) and Form B (net manager) |
The Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is the ARRL's annual nationwide exercise for amateur radio emergency communications. Local groups respond to a made-up disaster as if it were real: they activate their nets, send operators to shelters, hospitals and emergency operations centers, and pass formal messages to and from the agencies they serve. The national focal weekend is in early October, and in 2026 it fell on October 3–4.[1] Groups that can't take part that weekend may hold their exercise on another date.[1]
Purpose
The ARRL gives the SET three aims:[1]
- to find the strengths and weaknesses of ARES, the National Traffic System (NTS), RACES and other groups in providing emergency communications;
- to show the value of amateur radio to served and partner agencies, such as the American Red Cross and emergency management offices, and to the public through the news media;
- to give hams experience with standard procedures and a range of modes under simulated emergency conditions.
The point is to find problems while nothing is at stake. A repeater that drops out under heavy use, a shelter with no place for an antenna or a net control operator who has never handled a long list of messages is far better discovered during an exercise than during a hurricane.
When and how it is held
The focal weekend is usually held in early October: October 2–3 in 2021, October 4–5 in 2025 and October 3–4 in 2026.[2][3][1] The date is a focus rather than a requirement. Local and section exercises may be held at other times, as long as they are finished by the end of the fall season or the calendar year, and a group's activity period should not exceed 48 hours.[1]
Each exercise is planned locally. The ARES Emergency Coordinator, working with the section's leaders and often with the local emergency management agency, writes a scenario suited to the area, such as a flood, an ice storm or a long power outage, and decides which stations, nets and served agencies will take part. Many groups run the exercise under the Incident Command System, as a real response would. Traffic nets of the NTS carry messages in and out of the affected area, and groups may also use Winlink and other digital modes, which the ARRL encourages for high-volume traffic and welfare reports.[1]
The guidelines also suggest that at least one net session, or a substantial part of one, be run on emergency power only, the situation hams would face after a real disaster.[1]
Who takes part
ARES groups are at the center of the exercise, but the SET is open to other public-service amateur groups as well, including NTS nets, RACES units, SKYWARN spotters, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN).[1] The ARRL has long-standing relationships with national organizations such as the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, FEMA and the Salvation Army,[1] and many local exercises involve hospitals, county emergency management offices and other served agencies.
Hams who are not in any of these groups can usually help too, by checking into a net, offering a station as a relay or volunteering for a shelter. The local Emergency Coordinator is the person to contact.
Messages and reporting
Every exercise message must be clearly marked so that no one mistakes it for a real emergency. The word TEST goes before the precedence in a radiogram ("Test Priority" on voice, "TEST P" on CW), and the text begins with the words "TEST MESSAGE."[1]
Afterward, groups report their results online. Emergency Coordinators file Form A, the EC SET Report, and net managers file Form B, the net manager's report.[3][1] Photos, after-action reports, summaries and press releases can be uploaded as supporting documents.[1] The ARRL compiles the reports and publishes the results in QST; the results of the 2025 SET appeared in the July 2026 issue.[1]