If you’re anywhere in the Philadelphia five-county area and haven’t run across the Jim Fisher Memorial Digital Network Association (JFMDNA) yet, it’s worth knowing about. JFMDNA is an unincorporated nonprofit built around a single, very concrete mission: expand the region’s existing AREDN mesh network, with the initial buildout concentrated in Montgomery County, into something that can genuinely back up commercial communications during a disaster.
What AREDN mesh actually gives you
AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) turns inexpensive hardware into a high-bandwidth IP mesh network running on amateur microwave allocations. Unlike a voice or narrowband digital net, a mesh link carries full IP traffic — email, chat, video, and even private voice telephony — which is exactly the service set JFMDNA is targeting as a parallel to commercial infrastructure when it’s down.
How JFMDNA is approaching it
- RF links over internet tunnels — the project’s stated goal is to replace internet-tunneled mesh connections with genuine RF relay links wherever possible, so the network doesn’t depend on the same internet it’s meant to back up
- ARES/RACES integration — JFMDNA members are also active in the relevant county ARES/RACES organizations, and the plan includes deploying a self-contained, solar/battery-powered portable mesh package on loan to each one
- Training built into existing events — deployments and practice runs are tied to ARRL Field Day and the ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) rather than invented as standalone drills
- Recruiting through STEM and community colleges — part of the mission is bringing in newer, more “digital native” hams through the regional college network, tying ham radio to the broader spectrum workforce conversation
Where to look
JFMDNA keeps a live map of the mesh network at worldmap.arednmesh.org, scoped to the five-county region, and posts events and webinars at jfmdna.org. Their tagline gets right to the point: When All Else Fails.