Subject: Ham-radio is a hobby not a service
From: (Len Over 21)
Date: 3/19/2004 7:21 PM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

In the WTC Attack during 11 Sep 01, the NYC Emergency
Communications Center (in an adjacent building) was largely
destroyed by falling debris, also severing many trunk lines
of the telephone system. NYC police and fire units did work-
arounds using their own radios in a relay system to several
centrals, calling in other agencies as well as special units to
help. Some cell phone service did work, regardless of myth to
the contrary and some wired phone service still worked, used
by almost anyone on the WTC Attack scene. Amateur radio
did not play any significant part (if any at all) during the few
hours after the Attack on the WTC.

However Amateur Radio DID play a "major role" in the following DAYS of
post-incident recovery.

Not even the most 'diehard' Amateur Radio supporter suggests that Amateur
Radio is the "primary" source of emergency communications unless a ham just
happens to be "in the middle" of it and uses a radio to "call it in".

That HAS happened and CONTINUES to happen on a fairly regular basis.,
especially wilderness areas that have more trees than cellsites.

Which one, I have several, what are the odds they are all down at the
same time? How many cell phones do you have?

Since neither you nor your equipment is identified and we don't
know the working status of your "several" radios, the above is
just a brag claim of no intrinsic value.

Just as are YOUR numerous claims of having some sort of "monitoring
station" set up at home. Beyond a cordless telephone, TV, and TV remote, I
seriously doubt you to have anything capable of converting RF to AF.

I am far more likely to accept JJ's claims than yours. Especially since
I've enver seen him post anything that can be called anything even close to
untrue.

YOU, on the otherhand, are a bit on the "prolific" side of
mistruthful.......

As far as using the cell network for official emergency comms, you can
consider it not working. In times of a major emergency it becomes
useless for anything but attempting to make a call.

That is a popular myth but it remains only a myth.

It is not a myth. It has happened.

Anything that HAS occured is NOT a myth.

The cellular telephone network is part of the telephone infrastructure
and is intimately connected with the local exchange's switching unit.
That switching unit is designed to handle only a fraction of installed
numbers, both wireline and cell phone. But the switch itself is also
backed up by battery supplies "riding on" the primary power; also
true for cell sites themselves.

And for those cellsites that were in the path of an oncoming tornado?
Where is all that electrical energy going to, Lennie...???

During any sudden event there WILL be a flurry of telephone calls
made and that MAY overtax the limited number-handling capability
of the switch. ...(SNIP)

There HAVE been and HAS overtaxed...

The onset of the 11 Sep 01 Attack by four hijacked airliners was not
only sudden but unprecedented, without any possible warning. The
subsequent crash of two airliners into the WTC towers did destroy a
portion of the lower Manhattan telephone system wiring but did NOT
destroy or disable the entire Manhattan telephone infrastructure.

Just a signifcant part of the commercial wireless network and an entire
OES center...Ya know...the SMALL stuff...

The onset of a fire storm, typically in dry open country, is not sudden
and may take literal days from ignition start to reaching fire storm
conditions. There is plenty of warning time using conventional
communications means to begin fighting that.

Then why, if it's so "gradual" in evolution, does the CDF still employ
Amateurs to help them out..?!?!

(For everyone else, "CDF" is the California Department of Forestry...since
Lennie likes to brag on how avante garde Kalifonication is, I always like to
feed it back to him when the opportunity arises!)

Hurricanes are known and predicted from NOAA tracking, allow days
for all in the path to prepare. Again, communications may be done
by conventional means. Tornados are more sudden but allow hours
of preparation from first sighting. Storm and flood conditions allow
hours to days of preparation, again using conventional
communications to effect that.

Two major points:

NOAA, despite tons and tons of technology, STILL depends on hundreds of
Amateur Radio volunteers in it's SKYWARN program to provide real-time reports
to it's centers...To the point of spending a LOT of money to train Amateur
volunteers and to deploy facilities cap[able of communicating with them, both
on HF, V/UHF, and digital modes.

There is no reported evidence of amateur radio ever stopping an
earthquake, hurricane, tornado, flood, storm, or aircraft hijacking.

No, there's not.

However there ARE tons of articles on how Amateur Radio has been
part-and-parcel of the recovery phases of ALL of those various senarios...

Steve, K4YZ