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-   -   Brief blurb in Fox News on ham emergency comms for New orleans (https://www.radiobanter.com/policy/77419-brief-blurb-fox-news-ham-emergency-comms-new-orleans.html)

Bob August 31st 05 07:11 PM

Brief blurb in Fox News on ham emergency comms for New orleans
 
Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


an_old_friend August 31st 05 07:19 PM


Bob wrote:
Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


indeed this the sort of thing that the ARS does well

I notice no mention of CW simply in passing


Frank Gilliland August 31st 05 07:56 PM

On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.



I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?






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Jerry August 31st 05 10:10 PM


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.



I guess that means CB radios aren't working either,

huh?

Yeah! They're "a-standin' by to pass that 'ere eee-mer-gen-cee traffic
thar". (Hmmm, I wonder why they aren't callin'?) LOL! ;) j/k


J






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K4YZ August 31st 05 11:01 PM


Frank Gilliland wrote:
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?


I am sure they work fine where they are not otherwise mechanically
damaged.

It's not the tool...It's how you use it...

Steve, K4YZ


Dee Flint August 31st 05 11:54 PM


"an_old_friend" wrote in message
ups.com...

Bob wrote:
Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


indeed this the sort of thing that the ARS does well

I notice no mention of CW simply in passing


Nor was there mention of SSB, RTTY, PSK, Amtor, and so on.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE



[email protected] September 1st 05 12:22 AM

Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


Jim Hampton September 1st 05 01:08 AM


wrote in message
oups.com...
Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


Of course not Len. Not everything survives; the portable and mobile stuff
will survive far better than the cellphone towers, police towers and even
amateur towers. The smaller towers (usually amateur), however, do have the
one advantage of a much smaller windload to carry.

The biggest difference might just lie in understanding how things work. A
friend of mine with a construction company told me what happened to another
construction firm owner. He had his guys working close to Lake Ontario at
the bottom of a hill. It ended up they would have to work very late to get
the job finished so he told his men to go ahead and use his cellphone to
call their wives and let them know they would be running late (this was some
years ago). Amateur radio would have run into the same problem except that
when you use amateur radio and can only connect to an Ontario repeater (in
Canada), you know it by the Morse id sent by the repeater and there is, of
course, no charge to connect to Canada.

The guy received a long distance phone bill the next month for nearly
$1,000.00!!! Cellphones simply connect to whatever they can. As far as the
telephone company was concerned, he was in Canada calling long-distance to
the U.S. It is up to the user to learn :))

I've been involved in exactly two emergency situations. One was on ssb with
Hans K0HB and the other was on 500 KHz. Yes, the cw is old, but the
situation involving Hans can happen at any time. Amazingly, that huge coast
guard tower did *not* survive the typhoon. An hf amateur rig could load a
chain link fence and provide reliable communications.

So, do tell us your experiences with emergency communications and why you
know that amateur radio will always (or never) float.


With all due regards,
Jim AA2QA





Jim Hampton September 1st 05 01:12 AM


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.



I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?




If a large area is devestated, one just might need a couple hundred mile
range 24/7. Even battery powered HTs through a repeater can get you 30 to
100 miles total between users. Hf rigs can supply you continuous coverage
24/7 from local to thousands of miles. You just select an appropriate
frequency (ranges of a few decades in frequency may be involved here).

There may be a lot more cbs, but if you can only get 10 or 20 miles and you
keep receiving skip from other stations far away running power ....


73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA




Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 02:50 AM

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:12:57 GMT, "Jim Hampton"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.



I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?




If a large area is devestated, one just might need a couple hundred mile
range 24/7. Even battery powered HTs through a repeater can get you 30 to
100 miles total between users. Hf rigs can supply you continuous coverage
24/7 from local to thousands of miles. You just select an appropriate
frequency (ranges of a few decades in frequency may be involved here).

There may be a lot more cbs, but if you can only get 10 or 20 miles and you
keep receiving skip from other stations far away running power ....



I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?








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Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 02:57 AM

On 31 Aug 2005 15:01:12 -0700, "K4YZ" wrote in
. com:


Frank Gilliland wrote:
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?


I am sure they work fine where they are not otherwise mechanically
damaged.

It's not the tool...It's how you use it...



Oddly enough, I couldn't agree with you more. But it seems there are
some 'people' that would take the opportunity to toot their own horn
in the midst of a huge and horrible natural disaster. I think some
'people' have their priorities a little screwed up.

You can bet that people are using -whatever- kind of communication is
at their disposal -- and from the way it looks on the news, even radio
is taking a backseat to cardboard signs and spray paint.







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Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 03:17 AM

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:11:48 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :

Bob wrote:
Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out,



No no, just can't be. There are those on this group that swear cell
phones are very reliable in emergencies. Much better than ham radio,
after all, almost everyone has a cell phone but not a ham radio. But if
the infrastructure that supports cell phones is out of operation........

as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


Yet there are those that claim with today's technology that kind of
thing just can't happen, thus there is no need for ham radio to play a
part in emergency comms anymore.

Yet official emergency plans include plans for the use of ham radio if
necessary. Cell phones and cb aren't.



Official emergency plans don't include cardboard signs and spray paint
but they are being used anyway.


This is just the kind of thing that makes folks like lennieboy cringe
with envy. They like to downplay the role of amateur radio in
emergencies, say it is outdated, modern technology can do much better
and is more reliable, all in an attempt to cover the fact they can't be
a part of it.



Yep, all those people holding up cardboard signs and spray-painting
"HELP" on their roofs are the hams doing what they do best -- using
low-tech communications!








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Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 03:22 AM

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:16:21 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :

Frank Gilliland wrote:

I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?


Doesn't matter, cb is limited in it's useful range,



And ham radio is limited in it's availability. What's your point?


not to mention all
the idiots screaming "ten fer thar" and "aaaaaauuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooo".



Oh, I'm sure that's happening quite a bit -- hundreds of thousands of
people taking time out from trying to find lost family members, food,
water, and a dry place to sleep, just to whoop it up on the CB.

Idiot.


Name the range you want and ham radio can provide it by using the proper
band.



Name the range and try to find a ham radio.








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an_old_friend September 1st 05 04:02 AM


Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:12:57 GMT, "Jim Hampton"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?




If a large area is devestated, one just might need a couple hundred mile
range 24/7. Even battery powered HTs through a repeater can get you 30 =

to
100 miles total between users. Hf rigs can supply you continuous covera=

ge
24/7 from local to thousands of miles. You just select an appropriate
frequency (ranges of a few decades in frequency may be involved here).

There may be a lot more cbs, but if you can only get 10 or 20 miles and =

you
keep receiving skip from other stations far away running power ....



I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?


150 miles is the max legal CB range (a very stupid rule BTW) but in an
emergency anything goes that works









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Newsgroups
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=3D----


Cmdr Buzz corey September 1st 05 04:11 AM

Bob wrote:
Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out,



No no, just can't be. There are those on this group that swear cell
phones are very reliable in emergencies. Much better than ham radio,
after all, almost everyone has a cell phone but not a ham radio. But if
the infrastructure that supports cell phones is out of operation........

as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


Yet there are those that claim with today's technology that kind of
thing just can't happen, thus there is no need for ham radio to play a
part in emergency comms anymore.

Yet official emergency plans include plans for the use of ham radio if
necessary. Cell phones and cb aren't.

This is just the kind of thing that makes folks like lennieboy cringe
with envy. They like to downplay the role of amateur radio in
emergencies, say it is outdated, modern technology can do much better
and is more reliable, all in an attempt to cover the fact they can't be
a part of it.

Cmdr Buzz corey September 1st 05 04:13 AM

wrote:
Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


Looks like ham radio is doing just that right now.

Cmdr Buzz corey September 1st 05 04:16 AM

Frank Gilliland wrote:

I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?


Doesn't matter, cb is limited in it's useful range, not to mention all
the idiots screaming "ten fer thar" and "aaaaaauuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooo".
Name the range you want and ham radio can provide it by using the proper
band.

Dave Heil September 1st 05 04:25 AM

wrote:
Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


I recall your past statements about the commercial communications
infrastructure never totally failing in an emergency. Well, Leonard the
devastation of New Orleans reveals near total collapse of the commercial
communications infrastructure. Hams are there and are producing. The
Feds are rushing communications equipment into place but amateur radio
volunteers are already on the job:


AMATEUR HIGH-FREQUENCY GULF COAST HURRICANE NETS

03845.0 LSB Gulf Coast West Hurricane
03862.5 LSB Mississippi Section Traffic
03873.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
03873.0 LSB Louisiana ARES Emergency (night)
03873.0 LSB Texas ARES Emergency (night)
03873.0 LSB Mississippi ARES Emergency
03910.0 LSB Mississippi ARES
03910.0 LSB Louisiana Traffic
03923.0 LSB Mississippi ARES
03925.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
03925.0 LSB Louisiana Emergency (altn)
03935.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
03935.0 LSB Louisiana ARES (health & welfare)
03935.0 LSB Texas ARES (health & welfare)
03935.0 LSB Mississippi ARES (health & welfare)
03935.0 LSB Alabama Emergency
03940.0 LSB Southern Florida Emergency
03950.0 LSB Northern Florida Emergency
03955.0 LSB South Texas Emergency
03965.0 LSB Alabama Emergency (altn)
03967.0 LSB Gulf Coast (outgoing traffic)
03975.0 LSB Texas RACES
03993.5 LSB Gulf Coast (health & welfare)
03995.0 LSB Gulf Coast Wx

07225.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
07235.0 LSB Louisiana Emergency
07235.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
07235.0 LSB Louisiana Emergency
07240.0 LSB American Red Cross US Gulf Coast Disaster
07240.0 LSB Texas Emergency
07243.0 LSB Alabama Emergency
07245.0 LSB Southern Louisiana
07248.0 LSB Texas RACES
07250.0 LSB Texas Emergency
07260.0 LSB Gulf Coast West Hurricane
07264.0 LSB Gulf Coast (health & welfare)
07265.0 LSB Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio (SATERN) (altn)
07273.0 LSB Texas ARES (altn)
07280.0 LSB NTS Region 5
07280.0 LSB Louisiana Emergency (altn)
07283.0 LSB Gulf Coast (outgoing only)
07285.0 LSB West Gulf ARES Emergency (day)
07285.0 LSB Louisiana ARES Emergency (day)
07285.0 LSB Mississippi ARES Emergency
07285.0 LSB Texas ARES Emergency (day)
07290.0 LSB Central Gulf Coast Hurricane
07290.0 LSB Gulf Coast Wx
07290.0 LSB Texas ARES (health & welfare)
07290.0 LSB Louisiana ARES (health & welfare) (day)
07290.0 LSB Texas ARES (health & welfare)
07290.0 LSB Mississippi ARES (health & welfare)

14265.0 USB Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio (SATERN) (health &
welfare) 14300.0 USB Intercontinental Traffic
14300.0 USB Maritime Mobile Service
14303.0 USB International Assistance & Traffic
14313.0 USB Intercontinental Traffic (altn)
14313.0 USB Maritime Mobile Service (altn)
14316.0 USB Health & Welfare
14320.0 USB Health & Welfare
14325.0 USB Hurricane Watch (Amateur-to-National Hurricane Center)
14340.0 USB Louisiana (1900)

You'll find FEMA, other USG and NGO operations at:

Hurricane Katrina HF Response and Recovery Frequencies

02802.4 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-91) **

03171.4 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-92) **

05136.4 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-93) **
05141.4 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-94) **
05211.0 USB FEMA
05236.0 USB SHARES Coordination Network (nationwide HF voice coordination)

06859.5 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-95) **

07507.0 USB USN/USCG hurricane net (pri)

07550.5 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-96 - primary) **
07698.5 USB American Red Cross Disaster (F-97) **

09380.0 USB USN/USCG hurricane net (sec)

10493.0 USB FEMA

14396.5 USB SHARES Coordination Network (nationwide HF voice coordination)

** Type-accepted equipment and an issued US FCC license are required to
transmit on Red Cross frequencies

Dave K8MN



[email protected] September 1st 05 04:51 AM

From: Jim Hampton on Aug 31, 5:08 pm

wrote in message



Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


Of course not Len. Not everything survives; the portable and mobile stuff
will survive far better than the cellphone towers, police towers and even
amateur towers. The smaller towers (usually amateur), however, do have the
one advantage of a much smaller windload to carry.


Really? :-)

Maybe you're right. Amateur radio towers are kept up by FAITH.
Busy gal that Faith...

Hmmm...looking at the terrible scenes in Louisiana and
Mississippi, I couldn't help but notice a few police officers
about (in New Orleans) with one talking on his police HT. Then,
on NBC news with Brian Williams, a video clip showed an antenna-
laden Humvee of the Mississippi National Guard. Oh, and the
USCG with all those helos and the hoister guy talking with the
loader-into-the-basket guy on some kind of radio. Presumably
the helo pilots can talk to their base of ops by radio. Oh,
and all the news commentators in shirt-sleeves doing their
video-audio reporting from on-scene...and various folks
telephoning in audio stories. Yup...the whole INFRASTRUCTURE
went totally kaput at the end of the Mississippi River!

The biggest difference might just lie in understanding how things work.


ESPECIALLY everyone's local INFRASTRUCTURE, communications-wise.


I've been involved in exactly two emergency situations. One was on ssb with
Hans K0HB and the other was on 500 KHz. Yes, the cw is old, but the
situation involving Hans can happen at any time. Amazingly, that huge coast
guard tower did *not* survive the typhoon. An hf amateur rig could load a
chain link fence and provide reliable communications.

So, do tell us your experiences with emergency communications and why you
know that amateur radio will always (or never) float.


1994 Northridge Earthquake. TOTAL loss of electrical power to about
10 MILLION a few minutes after 4:30 AM. [53 persons died as a
direct result of that quake] Some places had severe structural
damage, gas main in Northridge ruptured, caught fire, various
utility poles and their lines down in many places, a few
collapsed freeway overpasses.

LAFD and other professional FDs had leased lines that went straight
to stations, didn't go through the switching centers of telephone
offices. All of them followed the pre-existing emergency plan and
rolled out. A few answered radio calls to fires that had broken out
(FDs have back-up electrical power for their base stations). PDs
were in constant contact by radio, their bases also having backup
electrical power. The hospitals of course had their emergency
electrical generators going and most of the ambulance services not
a part of hospitals were able to communicate by their radios.
TOTAL street blackout except for headlights of vehicles, that way
until sun-up (late, it was January 17th). Utility companies had
the greatest workload of all, but they had their radios and could
communicate...just too many places to go to to fix things all at
once...but they managed to contact all able employees to get them
to work (some going direct to repair sites).

Electrical power restoration didn't come back until shortly before
noon, a sequential area-by-area turn-on necessary to keep the AC
frequency constant. Got my residence power back at 2 PM, could see
the TV scenes (TV broadcasters long ago had backup electric power).
FEMA was on the scene the next day, doing the first real trial of
their flyaway terminals...and set up VIDEO bulletin boards so that
folks here could post things for faraway family and friends. About
2:30 PM on the 17th I got a telephone call from my uncle and aunt
in Florida, worried call; we were okay and we talked at some length.
They had no problem getting through. I got a call about 10 AM (give
or take) wanting me to help out with a utility company the next day;
no problem getting through to my residence phone.

Was there any amateur radio activated here on that 17th of January?
I'm not sure. Haven't heard of any locally. All I know is what
I've seen of the Greater L.A. Emergency Communications System and
its periodic drilling, refining of procedures, etc. Amateurs were
not a part of that in 1994. That system worked just as it was
expected to, even if it was part of the INFRASTRUCTURE that "was
supposed to fail."

Ham equipment can "float?" Haven't seen any yet with floation
devices. I'm sure someone can jury rig something for them.
National HROs and Halliscratchers are all boat anchors and will
dutifully go to the bottom of the water. Larry Roll once
postulated a Ten-Tec that "floated ashore" to a hypothetical
desert island after a hypothetical ship sinking and he used
that to send hypothetical messages from that by hypothetical
morse code (which didn't require any hypothetical electric
power..."CW gets through when nothing else will" and stuff
like thet there). Larry had too many hypos perhaps and
departed the newsgroup on April 15 last year. My house
is 830 feet above mean sea level; am NOT worried about
flooding.

Now, I'm absolutely sure that amateur radio CAN be a definite
help in a big disasterous emergency. Sometime. Besides the
documentary film about invading space aliens, that is. I'm
just NOT convinced that the INFRASTRUCTURE is going to FAIL to
such as extent that amateur radio is "the only possible savior."

From what I've seen on the TV news of the terrible destruction
from hurricane Katrina, the average amateur radio station in
the average New Orleans residence is not only submerged to the
roof line, but the electric power to it is out and any emergency
generators that might have been at those stations are completely
under water. If the shingles of a roof can blow off completely
in the downwash of a USCG helo (as has been seen by millions of
viewers), you'll have a hard sell to me on saying "amateur radio
towers have less wind loading and will survive" because I ain't
gonna believe some rinky-dink wire antennas I've seen can hold
up under 100+ MPH winds. I WILL believe an NG Humvee with VRCs
can do their nevis thing (cloud-burning) and get through to the
horizon IN such winds.

With most kindest warmest kissy-poo regards,




Cmdr Buzz corey September 1st 05 05:18 AM

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:16:21 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :


Frank Gilliland wrote:


I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?


Doesn't matter, cb is limited in it's useful range,




And ham radio is limited in it's availability. What's your point?


So what does that have to do with communication range? Name the range
you want and there is a ham band that will provide it.


not to mention all
the idiots screaming "ten fer thar" and "aaaaaauuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooo".




Oh, I'm sure that's happening quite a bit -- hundreds of thousands of
people taking time out from trying to find lost family members, food,
water, and a dry place to sleep, just to whoop it up on the CB.


On a band full of screaming idiots yelling "ten fer thar", "git off my
channel", and "aaaaaaauuuuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooooo".

Idiot.


Yes they are.



Name the range you want and ham radio can provide it by using the proper
band.




Name the range and try to find a ham radio.


There are hams right now using HF/VHF/UHF frequencies to cover just
about any distance for emergency communications, so you point is?

I will use your term...idiot.

Cmdr Buzz corey September 1st 05 05:19 AM

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:11:48 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :


Bob wrote:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out,



No no, just can't be. There are those on this group that swear cell
phones are very reliable in emergencies. Much better than ham radio,
after all, almost everyone has a cell phone but not a ham radio. But if
the infrastructure that supports cell phones is out of operation........


as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


Yet there are those that claim with today's technology that kind of
thing just can't happen, thus there is no need for ham radio to play a
part in emergency comms anymore.

Yet official emergency plans include plans for the use of ham radio if
necessary. Cell phones and cb aren't.




Official emergency plans don't include cardboard signs and spray paint
but they are being used anyway.



This is just the kind of thing that makes folks like lennieboy cringe
with envy. They like to downplay the role of amateur radio in
emergencies, say it is outdated, modern technology can do much better
and is more reliable, all in an attempt to cover the fact they can't be
a part of it.




Yep, all those people holding up cardboard signs and spray-painting
"HELP" on their roofs are the hams doing what they do best -- using
low-tech communications!


You can't be that stupid...Opps sorry, you just proved you are.

[email protected] September 1st 05 06:04 AM

From: Dave Heil on Aug 31, 8:25 pm


wrote:


Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


I recall your past statements about the commercial communications
infrastructure never totally failing in an emergency.


...and you are still mad as heil and can't take it anymore. :-)

Well, Leonard the
devastation of New Orleans reveals near total collapse of the commercial
communications infrastructure.


...and you are there, reporting for ARRL Eyewitless News?

Of course you are, and nearly totally collapsed yourself in
this mighty Herculean Effort to TELL ME OFF! :-)

Hams are there and are producing.


They've set up a factory?!? What are they making? Floating
Ten-Tecs?

The
Feds are rushing communications equipment into place but amateur radio
volunteers are already on the job:


...and so has NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox News teams, duly reporting
LIVE from the scene. Ahem, millions of us viewers around the
country have seen those news broadcasts. Was amateur radio
handling their LIVE feeds from the disaster areas? Was amateur
radio manning those antenna-laden Humvees of the NG?

Lissen-up Davie-boy: PARTS of New Orleans are TOTALLY under
water. That INCLUDES ham residences and probably some ham
equipped vehicles (hard to tell when the tops are under water).
EVERYTHING went under in some of that flooding...but NOT
everywhere, obviously from the news reports on TV.

Davie-boy, I didn't say anything "against" amateur radio as a
service, or anything nasty to the CITIZEN volunteers (ham or
not) who are busy "producing" on-the-scene.

I'm tossing stuff at INDIVIDUAL "commentators" in here. If you
got somebody else's ripe tomato, TS for you. You throw them
at me all time...I'll save some extra-ripe ones for you, OK?

I have nothing but PRAISE for INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS WHO
VOLUNTEER TO HELP fellow citizens in a disaster. Been there
myself in this part of the country and don't want to see
another.

Now, get on with YOUR on-the-spot "aid" by tossing nastygrams
at all who don't accept the myths and morsemyths about amateur
radio. You seem to be obsessed with nastygramming all who
disagree with you. Are you a Dudly-the-Pretender Wannabe?

Meanwhile, NPRM 05-143 was before the FCC and the public
before Katrina had grown to acquire a NOAA name for it.
That NPRM might cause the utter destruction of Ham Radio
As You Know It! Don't worry. The newcomers will get a Heil
Help Net working just for you...someday...and ease your
obvious Pain and Discomfort of whatever ails your psyche.




Cmdr Buzz Corey September 1st 05 06:30 AM

wrote:

Really? :-)

Maybe you're right. Amateur radio towers are kept up by FAITH.
Busy gal that Faith...

Hmmm...looking at the terrible scenes in Louisiana and
Mississippi, I couldn't help but notice a few police officers
about (in New Orleans) with one talking on his police HT. Then,
on NBC news with Brian Williams, a video clip showed an antenna-
laden Humvee of the Mississippi National Guard. Oh, and the
USCG with all those helos and the hoister guy talking with the
loader-into-the-basket guy on some kind of radio. Presumably
the helo pilots can talk to their base of ops by radio. Oh,
and all the news commentators in shirt-sleeves doing their
video-audio reporting from on-scene...and various folks
telephoning in audio stories. Yup...the whole INFRASTRUCTURE
went totally kaput at the end of the Mississippi River!


And I guess you think they are all passing health and welfare traffic.





1994 Northridge Earthquake. TOTAL loss of electrical power to about
10 MILLION a few minutes after 4:30 AM. [53 persons died as a
direct result of that quake] Some places had severe structural
damage, gas main in Northridge ruptured, caught fire, various
utility poles and their lines down in many places, a few
collapsed freeway overpasses.


Blah, blah, blah,

Face it lennyboy, ham radio has and is right now playing an important
part in emergency communications in a major disaster. Too bad you can't
be a part of it....no, I take that back, with your attitude you would
only be a hindrance.

Dave Heil September 1st 05 06:37 AM

wrote:
From: Dave Heil on Aug 31, 8:25 pm



wrote:



Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


I recall your past statements about the commercial communications
infrastructure never totally failing in an emergency.



...and you are still mad as heil and can't take it anymore. :-)


I can see where a guy who operates like you do would come to that
erroneous conclusion. It'd be sort of like the ARRL conspiracy to keep
things from being published in the Federal Register. :-) :-)


Well, Leonard the
devastation of New Orleans reveals near total collapse of the commercial
communications infrastructure.



...and you are there, reporting for ARRL Eyewitless News?


I am?

Of course you are, and nearly totally collapsed yourself in
this mighty Herculean Effort to TELL ME OFF! :-)


Telling you off is pretty easy. You invariably get things wrong. :-)

Hams are there and are producing.



They've set up a factory?!? What are they making? Floating
Ten-Tecs?


What are they making? They're making you look like you don't know what
you're talking about--again.

The
Feds are rushing communications equipment into place but amateur radio
volunteers are already on the job:



...and so has NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox News teams, duly reporting
LIVE from the scene. Ahem, millions of us viewers around the
country have seen those news broadcasts.


Thanks for another masterful statement of the obvious.

Was amateur radio
handling their LIVE feeds from the disaster areas?


I thought you knew all about amateur radio and what it is and does.
Do you mean that you think amateur radio is a commercial broadcasting
endeavor?

Was amateur
radio manning those antenna-laden Humvees of the NG?


Do you think that amateur radio is the military?

Lissen-up Davie-boy: PARTS of New Orleans are TOTALLY under
water.


No, you listen up, Lennie-old-boy: Better than 80% of New Orleans is
under water.

That INCLUDES ham residences and probably some ham
equipped vehicles (hard to tell when the tops are under water).
EVERYTHING went under in some of that flooding...but NOT
everywhere, obviously from the news reports on TV.


You must not be paying much attention to those live news reports from
the area. The telephone system and cellular phones are down. From your
past comments on emergencies, *that just can't happen*, but it did.

Davie-boy, I didn't say anything "against" amateur radio as a
service, or anything nasty to the CITIZEN volunteers (ham or
not) who are busy "producing" on-the-scene.


You've certainly done so a number of times in the past.

I'm tossing stuff at INDIVIDUAL "commentators" in here.


What else is new? :-) :-)

If you
got somebody else's ripe tomato, TS for you. You throw them
at me all time...I'll save some extra-ripe ones for you, OK?


I've corrected one of your frequent factual errors.

I have nothing but PRAISE for INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS WHO
VOLUNTEER TO HELP fellow citizens in a disaster. Been there
myself in this part of the country and don't want to see
another.


Well, Mister "Nothing-but-praise", you've commented on a number of
emergency situations and have discounted accounts of amateur radio
participation. Yet there the hams are. I've listened to a number of
nets this evening on 75m. There is emergency traffic being passed.
There is health and welfare traffic being passed. As time goes by,
we'll hear accounts of the local VHF operations and the parts they played.

Now, get on with YOUR on-the-spot "aid" by tossing nastygrams
at all who don't accept the myths and morsemyths about amateur
radio.


My direct assistance from here isn't needed at all. We've already
passed health and welfare traffic on the West Virginia Phone Net,
beginning last evening. NTS is working well. It isn't a myth. Neither
is the list of active nets which I posted here. What is a myth is that
you are somehow involved in amateur radio.


You seem to be obsessed with nastygramming all who
disagree with you. Are you a Dudly-the-Pretender Wannabe?


You and Frank haven't yet discovered how to spell "Dudley". That hasn't
stopped your usual name calling.

Fire up your trusty R-70, Len, and you may be able to listen to some of
what amateur radio ops are doing toward assisting the hurricane victims.

Dave K8MN

Dee Flint September 1st 05 11:24 AM


"an_old_friend" wrote in message
oups.com...

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:12:57 GMT, "Jim Hampton"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On 31 Aug 2005 11:11:52 -0700, "Bob" wrote in
.com:

Saw this morning a brief mention on Fox News about hams doing health
and welfare emergency traffic for New Orleans. "Only reliable
communications in the area". They showed a few ham transcievers, one
displaying a 70cm band frequency, another HF rig on 20 meters in the
phone subband.

This is the sort of disaster that ham radio handles well. Cell phones
are mostly out, as well as most any other comm system that needs
physical infrastructure to function.


I guess that means CB radios aren't working either, huh?




If a large area is devestated, one just might need a couple hundred mile
range 24/7. Even battery powered HTs through a repeater can get you 30
to
100 miles total between users. Hf rigs can supply you continuous
coverage
24/7 from local to thousands of miles. You just select an appropriate
frequency (ranges of a few decades in frequency may be involved here).

There may be a lot more cbs, but if you can only get 10 or 20 miles and
you
keep receiving skip from other stations far away running power ....



I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?


150 miles is the max legal CB range (a very stupid rule BTW) but in an
emergency anything goes that works

end quote
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In disasters, the real problem is not the rules but the nature of radio wave
propagation on the 11 meter band (as well as the similar 10m and 12m ham
bands). You can get close in (10 to 20 miles) via line of site or you get
skip out to thousands of miles via ionospheric propagation when the solar
flux is high enough. However the intermediate distances of a few hundred
miles just are not going to be covered unless you are lucky enough to get
some uncommon propagation modes like backscatter.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE



Dee Flint September 1st 05 11:33 AM


"Dave Heil" wrote in message
nk.net...

[snip]


My direct assistance from here isn't needed at all. We've already passed
health and welfare traffic on the West Virginia Phone Net, beginning last
evening. NTS is working well. It isn't a myth. Neither is the list of
active nets which I posted here. What is a myth is that you are somehow
involved in amateur radio.


Yes we've started to receive health and welfare traffic into our area. One
of the members of the net had the great satisfaction last night of being
able to deliver a message to let someone know that their relatives were OK.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE



Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 11:45 AM

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 21:18:13 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:16:21 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :


Frank Gilliland wrote:


I never knew there was a minimum range for emergency communications.
So how far does a radio wave have to go in order to get this
distinction? A couple hundred miles? More than 10 or 20 miles? Is
there some FCC rule that defines this distance?

Doesn't matter, cb is limited in it's useful range,




And ham radio is limited in it's availability. What's your point?


So what does that have to do with communication range? Name the range
you want and there is a ham band that will provide it.



What section of Part 47 declares the minimum range required for an
emergency radio communication? In fact, what section of Part 47
declares that -radio- is required for an emergency communication?


not to mention all
the idiots screaming "ten fer thar" and "aaaaaauuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooo".




Oh, I'm sure that's happening quite a bit -- hundreds of thousands of
people taking time out from trying to find lost family members, food,
water, and a dry place to sleep, just to whoop it up on the CB.


On a band full of screaming idiots yelling "ten fer thar", "git off my
channel", and "aaaaaaauuuuuuuudddddddiiiiiioooooo".



Gee, what a suprise -- you can't address the facts so you fill in the
blanks with what you -assume- to be happening. Show me what really
-is- happening and I might give your "argument" due consideration.


Idiot.


Yes they are.



Name the range you want and ham radio can provide it by using the proper
band.




Name the range and try to find a ham radio.


There are hams right now using HF/VHF/UHF frequencies to cover just
about any distance for emergency communications, so you point is?



The point is that you can't find a ham. CB radio covers local comm,
and LOCAL comm comprises the VAST MAJORITY of emergency communication.
There simply aren't enough hams to cover all the emergency comm they
claim to be able to cover. They might have the ability to play some
emergency-DX but they simply don't have the numbers..... NOR the
availability, NOR the ease of operation, NOR the licensing
requirements (or lack thereof), to handle what's required of a large
population in an emergency situation. Hammies might have gotten a warm
fuzzy from one news network, but -ALL- the news networks are showing
that things as simple as cardboard signs are -MORE EFFECTIVE- than ham
radio in such situations.


I will use your term...idiot.



The idiots are the hams manning their keys while people drown in their
own homes.








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Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 11:46 AM

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 21:19:55 -0700, Cmdr Buzz corey
wrote in :

snip
Yep, all those people holding up cardboard signs and spray-painting
"HELP" on their roofs are the hams doing what they do best -- using
low-tech communications!


You can't be that stupid...Opps sorry, you just proved you are.



You can't be that blind..... oops, sorry, I was thinking of Eric.







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[email protected] September 1st 05 11:49 AM

Dave Heil wrote:

the
devastation of New Orleans reveals near total collapse of the
commercial communications infrastructure.


Worse than that - most of the infrastructure of any kind has collapsed.
Power is off, water and sewage out of action, roads
blocked by water, bridges collapsed.

Mississippi appears to have gotten hit even worse, with some
communities simply wiped out completely. New Orleans is getting more
news coverage in part because it's a city, and in part
because it's still under water due to being below sea level.

The big picture is still incomplete because some areas are still
completely cut off.

Nobody really knows how many are dead, but estimates of 1000
or more are the current level. At least half a million people
were made homeless.

It will be weeks or months before survivors can be allowed
back into the New Orleans area - assuming the water can be pumped out.
Much of what is still standing will have been so damaged by long-term
immersion that it will have to be knocked down.

Hams are there and are producing. The
Feds are rushing communications equipment into place but
amateur radio volunteers are already on the job


Some organizations in need of support:

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org
800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,
800-257-7575 Spanish

Operation Blessing
www.ob.org
800-436-6348

America's Second Harvest
www.secondharvest.org
800-344-8070


Make a donation and volunteer at the following: (Use the phone to make
your
donation if the Web sites are deluged.)

Adventist Community Services
www.adventist.communityservices.org
800-381-7171

Catholic Charities USA
www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
800-919-9338

Christian Disaster Response
www.cdresponse.org
941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
www.crwrc.org
800-848-5818

Church World Service
www.churchworldservice.org
800-297-1516

Convoy of Hope
www.convoyofhope.org
417-823-8998

Lutheran Disaster Response
www.ldr.org
800-638-3522

Mennonite Disaster Service
www.mds.mennonite.net
717-859-2210

Nazarene Disaster Response
www.nazarenedisasterresponse.org
888-256-5886

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
www.pcusa.org
800-872-3283

Salvation Army
www.salvationarmyusa.org
800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief
www.namb.net
800-462-8657, ext. 6440

United Jewish Communities
www.ujc.org
877-277-2477

United Methodist Committee on Relief
www.gbgm-umc.org
800-554-8583

(Use the phone to make your donation if the Web sites are deluged.)

73 de Jim, N2EY


Frank Gilliland September 1st 05 11:53 AM

On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 06:24:17 -0400, "Dee Flint"
wrote in
:

snip

In disasters, the real problem is



What experience have you had with disaster communications that makes
you think you can draw any sort of conclusion as to what the problems
are or might be?


not the rules but the nature of radio wave
propagation on the 11 meter band (as well as the similar 10m and 12m ham
bands). You can get close in (10 to 20 miles) via line of site or you get
skip out to thousands of miles via ionospheric propagation when the solar
flux is high enough. However the intermediate distances of a few hundred
miles just are not going to be covered unless you are lucky enough to get
some uncommon propagation modes like backscatter.



What makes you think that DX radio comprises all -- or even a major
part of -- communications in a disaster or emergency situation?









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an_old_friend September 1st 05 03:40 PM


Dave Heil wrote:
wrote:
Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


I recall your past statements about the commercial communications
infrastructure never totally failing in an emergency. Well, Leonard the
devastation of New Orleans reveals near total collapse of the commercial
communications infrastructure. Hams are there and are producing. The
Feds are rushing communications equipment into place but amateur radio
volunteers are already on the job:


and indeed the article in the washington post (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...083102656.html
) prove Len correct

text messaging system are there plugging allong with the hams

remainder cut to save BW


Cmdr Buzz Corey September 1st 05 10:09 PM

Frank Gilliland wrote:



The point is that you can't find a ham. CB radio covers local comm,
and LOCAL comm comprises the VAST MAJORITY of emergency communication.


Which more than likely it won't be via cb, but ham radio UHF/VHF or
other services on UHF/VHF.

There simply aren't enough hams to cover all the emergency comm they
claim to be able to cover. They might have the ability to play some
emergency-DX but they simply don't have the numbers.


And 10,000 idiot cbers all shouting "ten fer thar", and
"aaaaaauuuuuudddddiiiiiooo" all over 11 meters is a large number of
idiots with radios, but of no help at all.


The idiots are the hams manning their keys while people drown in their
own homes.


At least they are helping in a way they are capable. So you want them to
paddle out on their radios to save someone? And what are you doing while
people drown? Anything? Didn't think so.

Cmdr Buzz Corey September 1st 05 10:11 PM

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 06:24:17 -0400, "Dee Flint"
wrote in
:

snip

In disasters, the real problem is




What experience have you had with disaster communications that makes
you think you can draw any sort of conclusion as to what the problems
are or might be?



not the rules but the nature of radio wave
propagation on the 11 meter band (as well as the similar 10m and 12m ham
bands). You can get close in (10 to 20 miles) via line of site or you get
skip out to thousands of miles via ionospheric propagation when the solar
flux is high enough. However the intermediate distances of a few hundred
miles just are not going to be covered unless you are lucky enough to get
some uncommon propagation modes like backscatter.




What makes you think that DX radio comprises all -- or even a major
part of -- communications in a disaster or emergency situation?


No one has said that is does frankie, do please try to keep up.

Cmdr Buzz Corey September 1st 05 10:19 PM

Frank Gilliland wrote:



The idiots are the hams manning their keys while people drown in their
own homes.


These "idiot" hams helped save more than a "dozen people". And please
notice that they weren't all in the local area either, as in Portland,
Ore., and Utah.

Washington Post:
Communications Networks Fail Disaster Area Residents

"But he spoke to a fellow ham in Portland, Ore., who found another
operator in Utah who was finally able to reach operators in Louisiana.
The radio operators in Louisiana got word to emergency personnel, who
rescued more than a dozen people in the house, including Hayes's
81-year-old aunt."


So how many people have you and your cb saved frankie?

Cmdr Buzz Corey September 1st 05 10:28 PM

an_old_friend wrote:
) prove Len correct

text messaging system are there plugging allong with the hams


You seem to indicate that text messages can magically access the system
when voice cannot. If you can't access the network for voice you can't
access it for text messages either. The only reason they are using text
messaging, where they can get a signal which is very spotty, is because
text is sent in small packets thus saving batteries and ties up the
network less.

"Mobile-phone providers said their service was *severely limited*, at
best, in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast, and they
encouraged people to use text messages instead of making voice calls.
Text messages are sent in small "packets" of data, using less bandwidth
to get through overloaded lines more easily."

If the cell network is down, so is text messaging.

Dee Flint September 1st 05 11:34 PM


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 06:24:17 -0400, "Dee Flint"
wrote in
:

snip

In disasters, the real problem is



What experience have you had with disaster communications that makes
you think you can draw any sort of conclusion as to what the problems
are or might be?


not the rules but the nature of radio wave
propagation on the 11 meter band (as well as the similar 10m and 12m ham
bands). You can get close in (10 to 20 miles) via line of site or you get
skip out to thousands of miles via ionospheric propagation when the solar
flux is high enough. However the intermediate distances of a few hundred
miles just are not going to be covered unless you are lucky enough to get
some uncommon propagation modes like backscatter.



What makes you think that DX radio comprises all -- or even a major
part of -- communications in a disaster or emergency situation?


I did not mention DX. But there is often a great need to communicate within
the surrounding couple of hundred miles.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE



Jerry September 1st 05 11:44 PM


"Cmdr Buzz Corey" wrote in message
...
Frank Gilliland wrote:



The idiots are the hams manning their keys while people drown in their
own homes.


These "idiot" hams helped save more than a "dozen people". And please
notice that they weren't all in the local area either, as in Portland,
Ore., and Utah.

Washington Post:
Communications Networks Fail Disaster Area Residents

"But he spoke to a fellow ham in Portland, Ore., who found another
operator in Utah who was finally able to reach operators in Louisiana. The
radio operators in Louisiana got word to emergency personnel, who rescued
more than a dozen people in the house, including Hayes's 81-year-old
aunt."


So how many people have you and your cb saved frankie?


Them CB fellers is "a-standin' fer that 'ee-mer--gen-cee'
traffic (that never comes! :) )

J



Jim Hampton September 2nd 05 02:56 AM


wrote in message
oups.com...
From: Jim Hampton on Aug 31, 5:08 pm

wrote in message



Doesn't matter about MODE...all good morsepersons know that
all amateur radio SURVIVES all possible emergencies, floats
on water while the hams walk on water...:-)


Of course not Len. Not everything survives; the portable and mobile

stuff
will survive far better than the cellphone towers, police towers and even
amateur towers. The smaller towers (usually amateur), however, do have

the
one advantage of a much smaller windload to carry.


Really? :-)

Maybe you're right. Amateur radio towers are kept up by FAITH.
Busy gal that Faith...

Hmmm...looking at the terrible scenes in Louisiana and
Mississippi, I couldn't help but notice a few police officers
about (in New Orleans) with one talking on his police HT. Then,
on NBC news with Brian Williams, a video clip showed an antenna-
laden Humvee of the Mississippi National Guard. Oh, and the
USCG with all those helos and the hoister guy talking with the
loader-into-the-basket guy on some kind of radio. Presumably
the helo pilots can talk to their base of ops by radio. Oh,
and all the news commentators in shirt-sleeves doing their
video-audio reporting from on-scene...and various folks
telephoning in audio stories. Yup...the whole INFRASTRUCTURE
went totally kaput at the end of the Mississippi River!

The biggest difference might just lie in understanding how things work.


ESPECIALLY everyone's local INFRASTRUCTURE, communications-wise.


I've been involved in exactly two emergency situations. One was on ssb

with
Hans K0HB and the other was on 500 KHz. Yes, the cw is old, but the
situation involving Hans can happen at any time. Amazingly, that huge

coast
guard tower did *not* survive the typhoon. An hf amateur rig could load

a
chain link fence and provide reliable communications.

So, do tell us your experiences with emergency communications and why you
know that amateur radio will always (or never) float.


1994 Northridge Earthquake. TOTAL loss of electrical power to about
10 MILLION a few minutes after 4:30 AM. [53 persons died as a
direct result of that quake] Some places had severe structural
damage, gas main in Northridge ruptured, caught fire, various
utility poles and their lines down in many places, a few
collapsed freeway overpasses.

LAFD and other professional FDs had leased lines that went straight
to stations, didn't go through the switching centers of telephone
offices. All of them followed the pre-existing emergency plan and
rolled out. A few answered radio calls to fires that had broken out
(FDs have back-up electrical power for their base stations). PDs
were in constant contact by radio, their bases also having backup
electrical power. The hospitals of course had their emergency
electrical generators going and most of the ambulance services not
a part of hospitals were able to communicate by their radios.
TOTAL street blackout except for headlights of vehicles, that way
until sun-up (late, it was January 17th). Utility companies had
the greatest workload of all, but they had their radios and could
communicate...just too many places to go to to fix things all at
once...but they managed to contact all able employees to get them
to work (some going direct to repair sites).

Electrical power restoration didn't come back until shortly before
noon, a sequential area-by-area turn-on necessary to keep the AC
frequency constant. Got my residence power back at 2 PM, could see
the TV scenes (TV broadcasters long ago had backup electric power).
FEMA was on the scene the next day, doing the first real trial of
their flyaway terminals...and set up VIDEO bulletin boards so that
folks here could post things for faraway family and friends. About
2:30 PM on the 17th I got a telephone call from my uncle and aunt
in Florida, worried call; we were okay and we talked at some length.
They had no problem getting through. I got a call about 10 AM (give
or take) wanting me to help out with a utility company the next day;
no problem getting through to my residence phone.

Was there any amateur radio activated here on that 17th of January?
I'm not sure. Haven't heard of any locally. All I know is what
I've seen of the Greater L.A. Emergency Communications System and
its periodic drilling, refining of procedures, etc. Amateurs were
not a part of that in 1994. That system worked just as it was
expected to, even if it was part of the INFRASTRUCTURE that "was
supposed to fail."

Ham equipment can "float?" Haven't seen any yet with floation
devices. I'm sure someone can jury rig something for them.
National HROs and Halliscratchers are all boat anchors and will
dutifully go to the bottom of the water. Larry Roll once
postulated a Ten-Tec that "floated ashore" to a hypothetical
desert island after a hypothetical ship sinking and he used
that to send hypothetical messages from that by hypothetical
morse code (which didn't require any hypothetical electric
power..."CW gets through when nothing else will" and stuff
like thet there). Larry had too many hypos perhaps and
departed the newsgroup on April 15 last year. My house
is 830 feet above mean sea level; am NOT worried about
flooding.

Now, I'm absolutely sure that amateur radio CAN be a definite
help in a big disasterous emergency. Sometime. Besides the
documentary film about invading space aliens, that is. I'm
just NOT convinced that the INFRASTRUCTURE is going to FAIL to
such as extent that amateur radio is "the only possible savior."

From what I've seen on the TV news of the terrible destruction
from hurricane Katrina, the average amateur radio station in
the average New Orleans residence is not only submerged to the
roof line, but the electric power to it is out and any emergency
generators that might have been at those stations are completely
under water. If the shingles of a roof can blow off completely
in the downwash of a USCG helo (as has been seen by millions of
viewers), you'll have a hard sell to me on saying "amateur radio
towers have less wind loading and will survive" because I ain't
gonna believe some rinky-dink wire antennas I've seen can hold
up under 100+ MPH winds. I WILL believe an NG Humvee with VRCs
can do their nevis thing (cloud-burning) and get through to the
horizon IN such winds.

With most kindest warmest kissy-poo regards,





LOL, Hello, Len

Thanks, but I'll pass on the kissy-poo regards :))

You know, the few times we come close to arguing, I find that we are quite
close to agreeing. I think a lot of the problem is that many get
sidetracked over the great (if one can call it great) cw debate.

The answer, of course, is to use whatever resources are available should one
find themselves in such an unfortunate situation.

The size of the asset that amateur radio becomes is most likely decided by
the size of the area that is affected. That big NE ice storm a few years
back (late 90s) affected areas for hundreds of miles. They were asking for
mobile hf hams. I suspect that many hams in the affected area did loose
their towers, but, as I mentioned, the smaller towers have the advantage of
less wind loading (and less ice to support too).

Mobile ops supplied a lot of help during that mess as their rigs and
antennas came in from an unaffected area. HTs would not have helped (except
in very localized support) as they don't have the kind of coverage needed.
Many repeaters were off, some were still on, and at least one was pressed
into use by the police (plugged their radio into the repeater coax).

In closing, let me wish you best regards and pass on the kissy-poo :)


73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA





an_old_friend September 2nd 05 03:15 PM


Cmdr Buzz Corey wrote:
an_old_friend wrote:
) prove Len correct

text messaging system are there plugging allong with the hams


You seem to indicate that text messages can magically access the system
when voice cannot. If you can't access the network for voice you can't
access it for text messages either. The only reason they are using text
messaging, where they can get a signal which is very spotty, is because
text is sent in small packets thus saving batteries and ties up the
network less.


No I did not indicate it, the washington post reported it


"Mobile-phone providers said their service was *severely limited*, at
best, in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast, and they
encouraged people to use text messages instead of making voice calls.
Text messages are sent in small "packets" of data, using less bandwidth
to get through overloaded lines more easily."

If the cell network is down, so is text messaging.


but if text messaging is getting through then the system is not down


Bob September 2nd 05 09:41 PM

It's likely only a few lines are functioning, so a low bandwidth method
like text messaging would be perferred. So more users can make use of
the limited bandwidth.



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