Dave Heil wrote:
Frank Gilliland wrote:
On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 00:28:48 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote in
. net:

And to think this moron thinks anyone actually wished for a disaster that
has hit the Gulf Coast of the US is beyond stupid. He is braindead.


It's hardly inconceivable. Just go to any field day and listen to how
they talk. Those wannabe-hero hams practically wet their pants at the
thought of a disaster and the opportunity to "show their stuff" and
"step up to the plate". Just like you do, Dan.

I've participated in Field Day many times over the course of 40+ years,
from several geographic locations and with a number of different groups.
I have never heard anything like you've described from any participant.

Of course you haven't they don't talk about that in Morse Code



Dave K8MN

As Telecom Reels From Storm Damage, Ham Radios Hum

By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 6, 2005; Page A19

MONROE, La. -- In a shelter here, 300 miles north of New Orleans, Theo
McDaniel took his plight to a young man fiddling with a clunky, outdated-looking
radio.

Mr. McDaniel, a 25-year-old barber, had evacuated New Orleans with his wife
and two small children more than a week ago and since then had had no contact
with his brother or his aunt. The last he heard, his 42-year-old aunt was
clinging to her roof.

"We've got to get a message down there to help them," he said. The man at the
radio sent the information to the emergency-operations center across town,
which relayed it to rescue units in New Orleans. Later in the weekend, Mr.
McDaniel learned that food and water were on the way to his trapped brother and
his
brother's young family. He had heard nothing about his aunt.

With Hurricane Katrina having knocked out nearly all the high-end emergency
communications gear, 911 centers, cellphone towers and normal fixed phone lines
in its path, ham-radio operators have begun to fill the information vacuum.
"Right now, 99.9% of normal communications in the affected region is
nonexistent," says David Gore, the man operating the ham radio in the Monroe
shelter.
"That's where we come in."

In an age of high-tech, real-time gadgetry, it's the decidedly unsexy ham
radio -- whose technology has changed little since World War II -- that is in
high demand in ravaged New Orleans and environs. The Red Cross issued a request
for about 500 amateur radio operators -- known as "hams" -- for the 260
shelters it is erecting in the area. The American Radio Relay League, a national
association of ham-radio operators, has been deluged with requests to find
people
in the region. The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for hams to help with its
relief efforts.

Ham radios, battery operated, work well when others don't in part because
they are simple. Each operator acts as his own base station, requiring only his
radio and about 50 feet of fence wire to transmit messages thousands of miles.
Ham radios can send messages on multiple channels and in myriad ways,
including Morse code, microwave frequencies and even email.

Then there are the ham-radio operators themselves, a band of radio
enthusiasts who spend hours jabbering with each other even during normal times.
They are
often the first to get messages in and out of disaster areas, in part because
they are everywhere. (The ARRL estimates there are 250,000 active licensed hams
in
the U.S.) Sometimes they are the only source of information in the first hours
following a disaster. "No matter how good the homeland-security system is, it
will be overwhelmed," says Thomas Leggett, a retired mill worker manning a ham
radio in the operations center here. "You don't hear about us, but we are
there."

Slidell, a town 30 miles northeast of New Orleans, was directly hit by the
hurricane and remains virtually cut off from the outside world. One of the few,
if not the only, communications links is Michael King, a retired Navy captain,
operating a ham radio out of a Slidell hospital.

"How are you holding up, Mike?" asked Sharon Riviere into a ham-radio
microphone at Monroe's operations center. She and her husband, Ron, who is the
president of the Slidell ham-radio club, had evacuated before the storm to the
home
of some fellow ham-radio enthusiasts in Monroe. She said Mr. King had been
working 20-hour days since the storm hit.

Crackling static and odd, garbled sounds followed her question to Mr. King.
Then he replied: "It's total devastation here. I've got 18 feet of water at my
house. Johnny's Caf? down there has water up to its roof."

Ms. Riviere asked about her own home, which is not far from Mr. King's. "It's
full of mud," Mr. King replied. "Looks like someone's been slugging it out in
there."

Ham radios are often most effective as one link in a chain of communication
devices. Early last week, someone trapped with 15 people on a roof of a New
Orleans home tried unsuccessfully to get through to a 911 center on his
cellphone. He was able to call a relative in Baton Rouge, who in turn called
another
relative, Sybil Hayes, in Broken Arrow, Okla. Ms. Hayes, whose 81-year-old aunt
was among those stranded on the New Orleans roof, then called the Red Cross in
Broken Arrow, which handed the message to its affiliated ham-radio operator,
Ben Joplin.

Via stations in Oregon, Idaho and Louisiana, Mr. Joplin got the message to
rescue workers who were able to save the 15 people on the roof, according to the
ARRL, based in Newington, Conn. "We are like the Pony Express," says the
26-year-old Mr. Gore, wearing black cowboy boots. "One way or the other, even by
hand, we will get you the message."

Mr. Gore, who is in charge of the northeastern district of Louisiana for the
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, has spent a lot of time the past week at the
Monroe shelter, helping evacuees try to track missing friends and relatives.

Last Monday, Danita Alexander of Violet, La., came to a ham operator in the
Monroe shelter asking about her 96-year-old grandfather, Willie Bright, who had
been in a nursing home in New Orleans. The next day, she got word back from a
ham operator that he had been safely transferred to a shelter near New
Orleans. "We can't do enough of these," says Mark Ketchell, who runs the ARES
branch
in Monroe.

Nevertheless, the ham-radio community feels under threat. Telecom companies
want to deliver broadband Internet connections over power lines, which
ham-radio operators say distorts communications in the surrounding area. Since
hams
are "amateurs," there is little lobbying money to fight such changes, they add.

The hams also get little respect from telecommunications-equipment companies,
such as Motorola Inc. "Something is better than nothing, that's right," says
Jim Screeden, who runs all of Motorola's repair teams in the field for its
emergency-response business. "But ham radios are pretty close to nothing." Mr.
Screeden says ham radios can take a long time to relay messages and work
essentially as "party lines," with multiple parties talking at once. Says Mr.
Leggett
at the Monroe operations center: "We are the unwanted stepchild. But when the
s--- hits the fan, who are you going to call?"

a much better peice Hans than Dans show us properly warts and merits
both

"Cmdr Buzz Corey" wrote in message
...
Jerry wrote:

This is from the Sunday Pensacola News Journal:

Ham-radio operators

assist in rescue fforts

Tallahassee ham-radio operators guided emergency workers through daring
helicopter rescue :, Friday of 1 ,500 patients and staff from two New
Orleans hospitals besieged by darkness and gunfire.

Urged by rapidly rising water 8 feet deep in places and the growing
reality
that New Orleans had become a drowning pool, the operators fashioned a
satellite receptor atop an 8-story building in downtown Tallahassee.

Three of them - Theo Titus, Gene Floyd and Bill Schmidt - boarded a
helicopter in Tallahassee on Wednesday and headed for New Orleans.

Atop the garage at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, they set up a
generator-powered .. ham radio with a satellite uplink.

The men used that communication to direct pilots through the near-war
zone
as they evacuated decimated hospitals. "There were a lot of heroes in
this
operation," said operator Chuck Hall. Hall said the rescue was a small
victory, but bigger obstacles remain. Hospitals have to be rebuilt.
Patients
have to get well, and New Orleans still faces months of recovery. "We had
to
overcome some small hurdles today, but the big hurdles are in front of
us.".


If THAT isn't in the thick of it, I really don't know WHAT you really
want. I recall a thread recently where you insisted that Amateur Radio
had no "real" part in emergency operations and that most such
communications was handled withOUT the help of Amateur Radio. Yada Yada,
Yada. Much will be done by MANY agencies and groups-even people lending
backs and hands or a mere handkerchief to the effort. *Some* may be by
Morse; much of it not. Some will handled by satellite and other data
links as can be established like the gentlemen in the article. I am
seeing PLENTY of articles on TV and radio about hams in the thick of the
action--Even Larry King Live mentioned! The crux of your angst was not
the Morse issue, but the viability of Amateur Radio itself as a vital
part of our nation's communications infrastructure, which it is HAS been
since the beginning. Nothing puts the lie to your
ham-radio-is-not-vital-to-emergency-communications diatribe than this
horrific tragedy. NO! It is NOT the onlyone--no one's saying it is--but
it is certainly doing what it does best; serving the community and nation
in anyway it can. And there are thousands staying out of the way until
the phone rings, "Can YOU come and do......................."? Or
relaying messages into and out of NO and other stricken area. MOST
amateurs that respond, whether it be some heroic effort or merely letting
a daughter know that her Daddy is safe via HF radio will do so without
expecting or receiving so much as a quick "Thanks, man". They wouldn't
have it any other way!

J



Jerry:

What we have here are three individuals that: (1) two of them are either
too dumb or too lazy to have every gotten a ham license, thus they are on
the outside looking in, and they see what ham radio can do in assisting in
emergencies and they can't be a part of it so it really chaps their butt,
and (2) the other, who claims to be a ham is nothing more than a
do-nothing baby, who just crys and whines about what others are doing
because he is either too stupid or too lazy to do something himself.

an_old_friend wrote:
Dave Heil wrote:

Frank Gilliland wrote:

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 00:28:48 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote in
nk.net:

And to think this moron thinks anyone actually wished for a disaster that
has hit the Gulf Coast of the US is beyond stupid. He is braindead.


It's hardly inconceivable. Just go to any field day and listen to how
they talk. Those wannabe-hero hams practically wet their pants at the
thought of a disaster and the opportunity to "show their stuff" and
"step up to the plate". Just like you do, Dan.

I've participated in Field Day many times over the course of 40+ years,
from several geographic locations and with a number of different groups.
I have never heard anything like you've described from any participant.


Of course you haven't they don't talk about that in Morse Code

During FD 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, none of the ops present sat about
chatting in morse code. I use any number of modes in my amateur radio
operation, Mark.

You do as you can; I'll do as I choose.

Dave K8MN

Dave Heil wrote:
Frank Gilliland wrote:

It's hardly inconceivable. Just go to any field day and listen to how
they talk. Those wannabe-hero hams practically wet their pants at the
thought of a disaster and the opportunity to "show their stuff" and
"step up to the plate". Just like you do, Dan.


I've participated in Field Day many times over the course of 40+ years,
from several geographic locations and with a number of different groups.
I have never heard anything like you've described from any participant.


Dave K8MN

And the frankieboy the cb king hasn't either. Just something he makes up
to make him feel good because he can't get a ham license.

an Old friend wrote:
Cmdr Buzz Corey wrote:

Dan/W4NTI wrote:

cut

Dan/W4NTI



old_friend doesn't want to go to the trouble to help, he just wants to
whine and cry about others that do. He is part of the crowd we see that
only complain about what is wrong in this disaster, but do nothing to help.


more lies Cmdr

I done my part to help may do if needed



No lies, and you have to be the dumbest person I have ever run across on
this newsgroup, with lennieboy and frankie the cb king running a close
second.

an_old_friend wrote:
a much better peice Hans than Dans show us properly warts and merits
both


Whatever the hell that sentence is supposed to mean.

KØHB wrote:


In an age of high-tech, real-time gadgetry, it's the decidedly unsexy ham
radio -- whose technology has changed little since World War II -- that is in
high demand in ravaged New Orleans and environs. The Red Cross issued a request
for about 500 amateur radio operators -- known as "hams" -- for the 260
shelters it is erecting in the area.

Wonder why they didn't just issue a request for frankieboy and all his
cb "good buddies" to show up? Do you think it could have anything to do
with the fact that they would only add to the confusion of the disaster?

The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for hams to help with its
relief efforts.

Not looking for the "ten fer thar" cb boys to help? For shame.


With Hurricane Katrina having knocked out nearly all the high-end emergency
communications gear, 911 centers, cellphone towers and normal fixed phone lines
in its path, ham-radio operators have begun to fill the information vacuum.
"Right now, 99.9% of normal communications in the affected region is
nonexistent," says David Gore, the man operating the ham radio in the Monroe
shelter.
"That's where we come in."

More bad news for lennieboy, frankieboy the cb king, and an_old_halfwit.


Ham radios, battery operated, work well when others don't in part because
they are simple. Each operator acts as his own base station, requiring only his
radio and about 50 feet of fence wire to transmit messages thousands of miles.
Ham radios can send messages on multiple channels and in myriad ways,
including Morse code, microwave frequencies and even email.

Heavens!! Hams using an outdated mode such as Morse code, what is the
world of ham radio coming to?

Then there are the ham-radio operators themselves, a band of radio
enthusiasts who spend hours jabbering with each other even during normal times.
They are
often the first to get messages in and out of disaster areas, in part because
they are everywhere. (The ARRL estimates there are 250,000 active licensed hams
in
the U.S.) Sometimes they are the only source of information in the first hours
following a disaster. "No matter how good the homeland-security system is, it
will be overwhelmed," says Thomas Leggett, a retired mill worker manning a ham
radio in the operations center here. "You don't hear about us, but we are
there."

Gee, wonder where all that cell phone cabability went to that some claim
make ham radio obselete in times of disaster?


Ham radios are often most effective as one link in a chain of communication
devices. Early last week, someone trapped with 15 people on a roof of a New
Orleans home tried unsuccessfully to get through to a 911 center on his
cellphone.

Oh no, you mean the very system that would make ham radio obselete in
times of a disaster wouldn't work?


The hams also get little respect from telecommunications-equipment companies,
such as Motorola Inc. "Something is better than nothing, that's right," says
Jim Screeden, who runs all of Motorola's repair teams in the field for its
emergency-response business. "But ham radios are pretty close to nothing." Mr.
Screeden says ham radios can take a long time to relay messages and work
essentially as "party lines," with multiple parties talking at once.

And a Motorola system that isn't working, such as the ones in NO, can't
deleiver a message at all.

Dave Heil wrote:
an_old_friend wrote:
Dave Heil wrote:

cut
Of course you haven't they don't talk about that in Morse Code

During FD 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, none of the ops present sat about
chatting in morse code. I use any number of modes in my amateur radio
operation, Mark.

You do as you can; I'll do as I choose.

I can use any mode I want Dave we have had that dicussion before even
CW if I like

but of course you have no sense of humor either

Dave K8MN