Phil Kane wrote:
On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:51:57 EDT, Steve Bonine wrote:

"I don't
have time to attend your class on emergency communication or participate
in your exercise, but I'll be around when there's a real emergency"

Yes, there's always one more place in what we call the Resource Pool
Net where untrained and un credentialed hams can sit around and wait
to be called - if ever. The days of a random appearance, HT in hand,
are over in this era of Emergency Comm Centers and Incident Command
Systems. They can't even get in the door of the comm centers today,
and there are no resources available to train them to assist properly
during a "real emergency". Knowing how to rag chew or work a contest
doesn't quite cut it.

I think that amateur radio is changing in a way that those rag chewers
and contesters won't be wanted at all.

What I have been seeing recently is that people who are already working
in emergency operations have been getting Technician licenses, and
intend to commandeer repeaters as needed during emergencies.

Even in our area, whole groups of folk have been getting licensed in
this reverse manner. We have ambulance drivers, paramedics, comm center
staff. I suspect in the near far term, we won't be getting in the door
period, unless we become some kind of semi professional unpaid volunteer.

I would surmise that regular hams probably won't need to concern
themselves much longer, as once this happens their services will not be
needed. I think a new class of Ham is inadvertently coming about - that
of the quasi-professional ham - one who is employed in a field that
occasionally calls on them to use their amateur radio license in pursuit
of their work. Note that the FCC has upheld this as legal IIRC.

In some respects, it will be much better for the agencies involved. They
will be able to require things that Hams have balked at, such as
investigation of our lifestyles and financial info. All of this can take
place in the work environment, where it is a condition of employment.
Mandatory training sessions are another item in the same line.

The major downside of all this is that as Emergency ops move toward this
mode, the question arises of why they would be using amateur radio to
perform the function at all - they might as well have their own system
on their own frequencies, that they alone use.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -