TOM wrote:


Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time.

Sure couldn't tell they blew it big time by this article from MSNBC, or
dozens of others like it.

Ham radio operators to the rescue after Katrina
Amateur radio networks help victims of the hurricane

With telephones down and wireless service disrupted, at least one group
of people did manage last week to use technology to come to the rescue
of those in need.

Often unsung, amateur radio operators regularly assist in emergency
situations. Hurricane Katrina was no exception. For the past week,
operators of amateur, or ham, radio have been instrumental in helping
residents in the hardest hit areas, including saving stranded flood
victims in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Public service has always been a large part of being an amateur radio
operator. All operators, who use two-way radios on special frequencies
set aside for amateur use, must be tested and licensed by the federal
government, which then issues them a unique call sign. (Mine is W2GSK.)

Ham operators communicate using voice, computers, televisions and Morse
code (the original digital communication mode.) Some hams bounce their
signals off the upper regions of the atmosphere, so they can talk with
hams on the other side of the world; others use satellites. Many use
short-range, handheld radios that fit in their pockets.

When disaster strikes, ham networks spring into action. The Amateur
Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have
voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for
communications duty in the public service.

In this disaster a number of ham emergency stations and networks have
been involved in providing information about this disaster – from
WX4NHC, the amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center to
the Hurricane Watch Net, the Waterway Net, Skywarn and the Salvation
Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN).

On Monday, Aug. 29, a call for help involving a combination of cell
telephone calls and amateur radio led to the rescue of 15 people
stranded by floodwaters on the roof of a house in New Orleans. Unable to
get through an overloaded 911 system, one of those stranded called a
relative in Baton Rouge. That person called another relative, who called
the local American Red Cross.

Using that Red Cross chapter’s amateur radio station, Ben Joplin,
WB5VST, was able to relay a request for help on the SATERN network via
Russ Fillinger, W7LXR, in Oregon, and Rick Cain, W7KB, in Utah back to
Louisiana, where emergency personnel were alerted. They rescued the 15
people and got them to a shelter.

Such rescues were repeated over and over again. Another ham was part of
the mix that same Monday when he heard over the same Salvation Army
emergency network of a family of five trapped in an attic in Diamond
Head, La. The family used a cell phone to call out. Bob Rathbone,
AG4ZG, in Tampa, says he checked the address on a map and determined it
was in an area struck by a storm surge.

He called the Coast Guard search-and-rescue station in Clearwater,
explained the situation and relayed the information. At this point, the
Coast Guard office in New Orleans was out of commission. An hour later
he received a return call from the South Haven Sheriff’s Department in
Louisiana, which informed him a rescue operation was under way.

Another search-and-rescue operation involved two adults and a child
stuck on a roof. The person was able to send a text message from a cell
phone to a family member in Michigan. Once again, the Coast Guard
handled the call.

Relief work is not just relegated to monitoring radios for distress
calls. The organization representing amateur radio operators, The
American Radio Relay League or ARRL, now is seeking emergency volunteers
to help supplement communication for American Red Cross feeding and
sheltering operations in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle
— as many as 200 locations in all.

Hams who wish to volunteer their time and services should contact the
Hurricane Katrina volunteer registration and message traffic database.

And, for the first time, the federal government will help hams help
others. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will
provide a $100,000 grant supplement to ARRL to support its emergency
communication operators in states affected by Hurricane Katrina. The
grant will help to fund what is being termed “Ham Aid,” a new program to
support amateur radio volunteers deployed in the field in
disaster-stricken areas.

One last note for ham operators in the stricken area: The FCC has
announced that it’s extending amateur license renewal deadlines until
October 31, 2005.