Dan/W4NTI wrote:

"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
...


Steve Robeson K4CAP wrote:


Hello Everyone,

I picked this up off of my listserver group "CitizenSoldiers" on
YahooGroups. I find it interesting that Cingular
actually went to the effort of acknowledging thier limitations. I wish

they'd

actually said something to the effect of
"if ya ain't bleeding or drowning, stay off the phone"......


I had to chuckle that you are supposed to stay off the phone, but are
supposed to buy more cell phones!!!

- Mike KB3EIA -


I am ready. I got rid of my cell phones 3 years ago. And now have two
pieces of wire connected to tacks on a plywood base. These are all hooked
to a ham CW transmitter.

Oh no...that won't work either. No one knows the code anymore.

The way I look at it is that there are levels of disasters. Small scale
stuff will work with cell phones.

Big disasters need hf comms. If a really big one comes along, that CW is
going to start looking pretty good. For all the ops that might think
that phone is the way to go - and if the conditions support it, then
that's great.

But if you are the station trying to get communications going from a
devastated area, you might be trying to nurse a station along on a weak
battery, or working with a jury rigged antenna of questionable
performance, that CW operation may just be critical.

I am marginal at Morse CW, (by comparison with most) but I can do it
acceptably when I need to.

And that is why I support the continued testing for it. We *don't*
know who is going to end up being the point man in a big disaster, but
whoever it is should know how to communicate with whatever they can
communicate with.

And that is what I think a lot of people DON'T UNDERSTAND. It isn't
about the person sitting in comfort taking info from the disaster area.
It is about the random ham that is at ground zero. Is he or she going to
be able to do the job?

Of course I am one of those nerds that takes all the Red Cross courses
in first aid and CPR and defib etc. Hopefully I'll never need to use
this training beyond the first aid part, but I suspect the person that I
am called upon to help in extremis might find that training of interest!





Technology....ain't it wonderful?


Sometimes!


- Mike KB3EIA -