On 10/25/2011 8:18 PM, Bill Horne wrote:

In the past, long-distance disaster communications meant you had to have
ham operators. Those days are gone:

As I see how Amateurs are currently looked at by public safety people:

The cost, both in materials and in time for public safety spectrum
is very high. The amateur bands are a ready pool of "FREE spectrum"
if it's approached correctly.

The same holds true for full time employees for "just in case."
And Amateurs are a ready pool of "FREE employees" as the need
arises.

Now, here's where the problem lies.

ESPECIALLY in the event of an emergency. The health and law
enforcement types do NOT want some fool running around thinking
he's a cop. (Or a paramedic). Nor do they want to deal with some
buffoon that's really proud of the "kit" he's thrown together
out of cobbled swap meet leftovers. And they most certainly do
NOT want people with ego problems.

What they want are people that follow instructions, that have
RELIABLE equipment and if it's a group of people, that
they can all work together as a team.

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi

--
"Everything from Crackers to Coffins"