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#21
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#22
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#24
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In article , "Jim Hampton"
writes: If you go back into the 50s and 60s, amateur radio served quite well for long-haul phone patches and in emergencies. Service in emergencies goes back much farther, of course. Very localized emergencies, such as an auto accident would largely be reported by normal telephone. Also by hams equipped with mobile rigs if telephone was not immediately available.. This is documented all the way back to the beginning of mobile operation by hams. Of course, the number of mobile-equipped hams limited the chances that there would be a ham in the area when such a localized emergency happened. In the 70s, the cb craze took hold and certainly I would expect that cb was sometimes used to report the accidents. The small number of amateurs would preclude them being involved very often in such a situation. I disagree on that last point. That same time period was the boom time for amateur repeaters and autopatching. At least in the areas I'm familiar with, such service by hams was very common. Voilla, cb is more important than ham radio. Certainly more numerous in those times. Questionable today, though. Fast-forward to today. Cell phones are likely the primary means of reporting those accidents. Who needs the hams? Some hams will say "who needs cb?" As long as the cell phones are avaialble, they are obviously the preferred method because anyone so equipped can push 911 and report directly. A lot of folks state that amateur radio isn't a service; it's just a hobby. That's a roundabout way of saying that a bunch of things. Few take into account how fragile that infrastructure of cell phones, telephones, and internet can be when a large area is affected. That nasty ice storm in the North East (was it 1997?) Yes affected areas for hundreds of miles. There were no cell phones as the cell phone towers went silent after power had been out for days. No electricty, no heat, no telephones for hundreds of miles. A relative of mine in Gouverneur, NY, had no heat, power, or telephone for two *weeks*!!! That storm also involved damage that close roads and made simple things like getting fuel for generators very difficult. One amateur repeater was pressed into service for the police. I do not know if the repeater was reprogrammed or they simply moved the police repeater to the amateur site. The amateur site withstood the ice and they had generator backup with a *lot* of fuel available. If it happens, it must be possible. I don't think it is as important "how" something is done as opposed to the fact that it gets done. If someone is assisting at a shelter cooking meals, that individual is *doing* something. That, to me, is more important than all of the useless crying that goes on around these parts from time to time I agree 100%! But some folks deny *any* significant contribution by amateurs. BTW, during that ice storm, the calls were going out for batteries, flashlights, generators, blankets, food, coffee, and mobile amateur operators with HF capabilities. If you have nothing working for well over 100 miles in the N.E. U.S. and Canada, you will likely not get it done on VHF/UHF or cb. And during that storm, significant traffic was passed by CW because it was the *only available mode* that would get through. Some more data points from this area (suburban Philadelphia): - A heavy snowstorm dumped about a foot of snow on the area one day. The weatherfolk simply messed up, and did not predict anything like what really happened. While there were no major problems involving loss of life or property, many vehicles and people were stuck or seriously delayed, including school buses full of kids. One of the first "casualties" of the storm was cell phones, which were simply overwhelmed by the enormous volume of calls. - Hurricane Isabel pounded through here some months ago and left hundreds of thousands without power, and in some cases telephone service. Some if us were out for days. The interesting thing about Isabel was that the outages were very local in nature - one side of the street had power, the other did not, etc. Some folks lost power *after* the storm because repair crews had to turn off the power to a larger area to fix downed poles and lines. Cell phone coverage was better than during the snow storm but unreliable. Again, no major problems involving loss of life or property, but the cell system capacity was overwhelmed at times. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
#25
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In article , Mike Coslo
writes: Were you ever at a party and trying to talk to the adults while some 5 year old was running around pestering people just to get attention? Sure. And such behavior is not limited to 5 year olds, either. Giving such behavior adult attention reeards it, and the result will be more of the same. That's true whether the behavior is by a 5 year old or someone 14.2 times 5 years old. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
#26
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Len Over 21 wrote:
My home is quite restful, thank you. My wife likes it, too. But, it is not a "resthome"...2000 square feet, 1/3 acre, worth at least $350K on the market. If that's all you can get for $350k no wonder you are in such a snit all the time. |
#27
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Steve Robeson, K4CAP wrote:
All phones I saw in the EOC, othr than the aforementioned "cordless" phones were hardline. Must come as quite a shock to lennyboy and willie, especially since Amateur Radio seems to occupy a prominent place. |
#28
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On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 14:04:25 -0700, JJ wrote:
Len Over 21 wrote: My home is quite restful, thank you. My wife likes it, too. But, it is not a "resthome"...2000 square feet, 1/3 acre, worth at least $350K on the market. If that's all you can get for $350k no wonder you are in such a snit all the time. In that part of L.A. one is lucky to get a two-hole outhouse for $350K. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon |
#29
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On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 14:06:00 -0700, JJ wrote:
Steve Robeson, K4CAP wrote: All phones I saw in the EOC, othr than the aforementioned "cordless" phones were hardline. Must come as quite a shock to lennyboy and willie, especially since Amateur Radio seems to occupy a prominent place. 'specially since in all the command post exercises that our area hospitals have run in the last few years both landline and regular commercial radio circuits are turned off for at least an hour and ham rado - voice, packet, and SSTV - carried the load. Very successfully, may I add. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon |
#30
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On 21 Mar 2004 20:58:48 GMT, N2EY wrote:
That storm also involved damage that close roads and made simple things like getting fuel for generators very difficult. Was the "Piped" natural gas delivery interrupted? I'm a huge fan of "piped gas" fueled gensets rather than stored propane, CNG, or diesel. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon |
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