In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

N2EY wrote:

In article , Mike Coslo writes:


Even if the infrastructure is largely intact, it can be overwhelmed by the
unexpected demand.

Correct! Which makes it not a likely candidate for emergency services.
If it works to let people know you're still alive or need help or
whatever, of course you use it. But it is still very much a point to
point solution. Which is to say, not a solution for large scale disasters.


Or even for localized disasters in high density areas.

I recall the pictures from the wildfires in San Diego last year showing
people trying to use their cell phones without success. The look on many
faces was one of surprise that the things weren't working.



Because they'd never encountered that behavior before.


Indicative on not knowing how the little things work. No tower or
power, no cell.


Of course. It's also possible that the system was being overwhelmed.
Doesn't
really matter, if something is unavailable, the cause doesn't matter too
much
except as an an indicator of when service might return, and as a lesson in
what
to do different next time.

The ignorance of things technical is nothing new, of course. In some ways,
industries promote technical ignorance by using new terms (like "wireless"
and
"cordless" rather than "radio") which make the technology actually used
less
than clear.

I sometimes wonder what these people "do" spend their time thinking about.

Other things! Isn't modern life complex enough?

You might also enjoy this site:

http://www.fybush.com/site-021219.html

Interesting history of W2XMN, the past, present and future of a famous
site. Click on the links to see how far ignorance can go.

Cool! I just heard about the tower this past weekend, and here you come

along with a link to it Good timing, Jim.

bwaahaahaa

....ze barracuda knowz whean to sterike...

It's a little scary at first
sight, but a magnificent structure nonetheless.

I've seen it from a distance but never up close. It's on the list. (I've been
to W1AW and operated there. Also visited NIST in Boulder and the WWV/WWVB
transmitter site in Fort Collins.)

As for the concerned residents of Alpine, they might want to chuck
their cell phones if they are so worried about RF exposure - though of
course I'm sure they never use them! 8^)

"Inverse square law? What's that?"

But frankly, they strike mer as being less than smart.

Do not underestimate folks like that. Look at the BPL mess. Did you see the
Wall Street Journal article?

Remember that whenever someone describes ham radio as "a hobby", they are
giving the BPL folks an argument against us. If amateur radio is "just a
hobby", then why should it be any more important than anyone else's hobby, such
as downloading pr0n via BPL?

And I do like the term "McMansion"!

We have some of them around here. Big houses, big price, tossed up quickly by
cheap nonunion labor. CC&Rs out the ying-yang.

73 de Jim, N2EY