On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:17:13 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:


"TOM" wrote in message
...
The future of the National Traffic System
http://www.eham.net/articles/12198

[snip]
For those of you who may not know, the National Traffic System (NTS)
consists of a carefully choreographed collection of section, region, and
area nets designed to relay messages throughout the US. In a sense it's
the
second "R" in ARRL. NTS has a long and honorable history and has some of
the
best operators in the world as its membership.

The recent hurricane season has raised serious doubts for me about the
role
that NTS plays in the current ham-radio environment. I did not hear a
single
health-and-welfare message during the disasters. In bygone times, NTS
would
have been buzzing with activity.
[snip]


Tom,

I hate to break your ham hating crusade but the NTS can't run any traffic,
if none is sent to it.

meaning you are greing with me and Tom

why is it ham hating if you say and ham hating if I do

you also make my point no vital traffic can be passed by ham radio if
it was not sent to ham radio

I had the exact same complaint. I did manage to
handle a few messages, but NOTHING like I was expecting.

which brings you to stating the same thing I was

I have since found that the American Red Cross, for WHATEVER REASON decided
that ham radio was not good enough to use. Other than for a VHF Telephone
network between shelters that is.

which is a dangerous state of affairs for one of the supports that we
use in our spectrum battles

but you were unwilling to even discuss such things


Not our bad Tom. We were there, ready, willing, and able.

maybe we were maybe we were not, but it seems whatever the truth were
not seen as ready willing and able, and the preception of the served
agencies is more important than the reality

Dan/W4NTI


_________________________________________
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More than 140,000 groups
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I don't talk with brain damaged idiots. I just comment about their dumb ass
comments.

Dan/W4NTI

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:17:13 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:


"TOM" wrote in message
...
The future of the National Traffic System
http://www.eham.net/articles/12198

[snip]
For those of you who may not know, the National Traffic System (NTS)
consists of a carefully choreographed collection of section, region, and
area nets designed to relay messages throughout the US. In a sense it's
the
second "R" in ARRL. NTS has a long and honorable history and has some of
the
best operators in the world as its membership.

The recent hurricane season has raised serious doubts for me about the
role
that NTS plays in the current ham-radio environment. I did not hear a
single
health-and-welfare message during the disasters. In bygone times, NTS
would
have been buzzing with activity.
[snip]


Tom,

I hate to break your ham hating crusade but the NTS can't run any traffic,
if none is sent to it.

meaning you are greing with me and Tom

why is it ham hating if you say and ham hating if I do

you also make my point no vital traffic can be passed by ham radio if
it was not sent to ham radio

I had the exact same complaint. I did manage to
handle a few messages, but NOTHING like I was expecting.

which brings you to stating the same thing I was

I have since found that the American Red Cross, for WHATEVER REASON
decided
that ham radio was not good enough to use. Other than for a VHF Telephone
network between shelters that is.

which is a dangerous state of affairs for one of the supports that we
use in our spectrum battles

but you were unwilling to even discuss such things


Not our bad Tom. We were there, ready, willing, and able.

maybe we were maybe we were not, but it seems whatever the truth were
not seen as ready willing and able, and the preception of the served
agencies is more important than the reality

Dan/W4NTI


_________________________________________
Usenet Zone Free Binaries Usenet Server
More than 140,000 groups
Unlimited download
http://www.usenetzone.com to open account

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 01:41:53 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:

I don't talk with brain damaged idiots. I just comment about their dumb ass
comments.

Dan/W4NTI

just brunign up with hate tonight I see Dan
_________________________________________
Usenet Zone Free Binaries Usenet Server
More than 140,000 groups
Unlimited download
http://www.usenetzone.com to open account

Mark = Dame Braimaged .
LOL
Ace - WH2T


wrote in message
...
On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 01:41:53 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:

I don't talk with brain damaged idiots. I just comment about their dumb
ass
comments.

Dan/W4NTI

just brunign up with hate tonight I see Dan
_________________________________________

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:17:13 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:
Tom,

I hate to break your ham hating crusade but the NTS can't run any
traffic,
if none is sent to it.

meaning you are greing with me and Tom

why is it ham hating if you say and ham hating if I do

you also make my point no vital traffic can be passed by ham radio if
it was not sent to ham radio

I had the exact same complaint. I did manage to
handle a few messages, but NOTHING like I was expecting.

which brings you to stating the same thing I was

I have since found that the American Red Cross, for WHATEVER REASON
decided
that ham radio was not good enough to use. Other than for a VHF
Telephone
network between shelters that is.

which is a dangerous state of affairs for one of the supports that we
use in our spectrum battles

but you were unwilling to even discuss such things


Not our bad Tom. We were there, ready, willing, and able.

maybe we were maybe we were not, but it seems whatever the truth were
not seen as ready willing and able, and the preception of the served
agencies is more important than the reality.

Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time. Probably not so much from lack
of interest by individual amateurs but from lack of leadership from the
ARRL. Now it is seen the ARRL is trying to re-make the amateur service
after the fact. The truth is the ARRL is more interested in running a
business than promoting a service. For giggles... I'll say the shift in
interest by the ARRL started when they changed the format of QST back in the
1970's. Remember how many of us remarked that QST didn't seem anything more
that a radio catalog---and many of us dropped our subscription? Seriously,
the ARRL hasn't done anything in recent times other than to publish which,
in many cases, are nothing more that collections of QST articles. I do
have a copy of, 'The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook'---it should
contain twice the present content.

Nevertheless, I am happy to see discussion on the topic
continue---especially if they are constructive comments.

"TOM" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:17:13 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:
Tom,

I hate to break your ham hating crusade but the NTS can't run any
traffic,
if none is sent to it.

meaning you are greing with me and Tom

why is it ham hating if you say and ham hating if I do

you also make my point no vital traffic can be passed by ham radio if
it was not sent to ham radio

I had the exact same complaint. I did manage to
handle a few messages, but NOTHING like I was expecting.

which brings you to stating the same thing I was

I have since found that the American Red Cross, for WHATEVER REASON
decided
that ham radio was not good enough to use. Other than for a VHF
Telephone
network between shelters that is.

which is a dangerous state of affairs for one of the supports that we
use in our spectrum battles

but you were unwilling to even discuss such things


Not our bad Tom. We were there, ready, willing, and able.

maybe we were maybe we were not, but it seems whatever the truth were
not seen as ready willing and able, and the preception of the served
agencies is more important than the reality.

Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time. Probably not so much from
lack
of interest by individual amateurs but from lack of leadership from the
ARRL. Now it is seen the ARRL is trying to re-make the amateur service
after the fact. The truth is the ARRL is more interested in running a
business than promoting a service. For giggles... I'll say the shift in
interest by the ARRL started when they changed the format of QST back in
the
1970's. Remember how many of us remarked that QST didn't seem anything
more
that a radio catalog---and many of us dropped our subscription?
Seriously,
the ARRL hasn't done anything in recent times other than to publish which,
in many cases, are nothing more that collections of QST articles. I do
have a copy of, 'The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook'---it should
contain twice the present content.

Nevertheless, I am happy to see discussion on the topic
continue---especially if they are constructive comments.


\

I don't agree that it is/was a failure with or from the ARRL. The ARRL
National Traffic System was and is STILL running. I operate it every single
day and evening. I know what it does or doesn't do.

I believe it is the RED CROSS that is behind this non use of a resource. I
personally delivered several immediate notifications to families that their
people were alive. Nothing more. At my expense on the phone. I was just a
small cog in a large wheel. And these DID NOT COME FROM THE RED CROSS.
They came from the BAPTIST Church group that was in Biloxi feeding thousands
per day. And in between were able to send out some messages. I can't
describe how grateful these people were. Can you imagine what publicity Ham
Radio COULD HAVE RECEIVED if the RED CROSS would have allowed the MOSTLY
IDLE operators at the shelters to send out HW traffic? Don't tell me the
ARRL dropped the ball. It was the RED CROSS.

Dan/W4NTI

"Dan/W4NTI" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"TOM" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:17:13 GMT, "Dan/W4NTI"
wrote:
Tom,

I hate to break your ham hating crusade but the NTS can't run any
traffic,
if none is sent to it.

meaning you are greing with me and Tom

why is it ham hating if you say and ham hating if I do

you also make my point no vital traffic can be passed by ham radio if
it was not sent to ham radio

I had the exact same complaint. I did manage to
handle a few messages, but NOTHING like I was expecting.

which brings you to stating the same thing I was

I have since found that the American Red Cross, for WHATEVER REASON
decided
that ham radio was not good enough to use. Other than for a VHF
Telephone
network between shelters that is.

which is a dangerous state of affairs for one of the supports that we
use in our spectrum battles

but you were unwilling to even discuss such things


Not our bad Tom. We were there, ready, willing, and able.

maybe we were maybe we were not, but it seems whatever the truth were
not seen as ready willing and able, and the preception of the served
agencies is more important than the reality.

Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity
for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time. Probably not so much from
lack
of interest by individual amateurs but from lack of leadership from the
ARRL. Now it is seen the ARRL is trying to re-make the amateur service
after the fact. The truth is the ARRL is more interested in running a
business than promoting a service. For giggles... I'll say the shift in
interest by the ARRL started when they changed the format of QST back in
the
1970's. Remember how many of us remarked that QST didn't seem anything
more
that a radio catalog---and many of us dropped our subscription?
Seriously,
the ARRL hasn't done anything in recent times other than to publish
which,
in many cases, are nothing more that collections of QST articles. I do
have a copy of, 'The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook'---it should
contain twice the present content.

Nevertheless, I am happy to see discussion on the topic
continue---especially if they are constructive comments.


\

I don't agree that it is/was a failure with or from the ARRL. The ARRL
National Traffic System was and is STILL running. I operate it every
single day and evening. I know what it does or doesn't do.

I believe it is the RED CROSS that is behind this non use of a resource.
I personally delivered several immediate notifications to families that
their people were alive. Nothing more. At my expense on the phone. I
was just a small cog in a large wheel. And these DID NOT COME FROM THE
RED CROSS.
They came from the BAPTIST Church group that was in Biloxi feeding
thousands per day. And in between were able to send out some messages. I
can't describe how grateful these people were. Can you imagine what
publicity Ham Radio COULD HAVE RECEIVED if the RED CROSS would have
allowed the MOSTLY IDLE operators at the shelters to send out HW traffic?
Don't tell me the ARRL dropped the ball. It was the RED CROSS.

Dan/W4NTI



Amen brother !
Ace - WH2T

TOM wrote:


Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time.

Sure couldn't tell they blew it big time by this article from MSNBC, or
dozens of others like it.

Ham radio operators to the rescue after Katrina
Amateur radio networks help victims of the hurricane

With telephones down and wireless service disrupted, at least one group
of people did manage last week to use technology to come to the rescue
of those in need.

Often unsung, amateur radio operators regularly assist in emergency
situations. Hurricane Katrina was no exception. For the past week,
operators of amateur, or ham, radio have been instrumental in helping
residents in the hardest hit areas, including saving stranded flood
victims in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Public service has always been a large part of being an amateur radio
operator. All operators, who use two-way radios on special frequencies
set aside for amateur use, must be tested and licensed by the federal
government, which then issues them a unique call sign. (Mine is W2GSK.)

Ham operators communicate using voice, computers, televisions and Morse
code (the original digital communication mode.) Some hams bounce their
signals off the upper regions of the atmosphere, so they can talk with
hams on the other side of the world; others use satellites. Many use
short-range, handheld radios that fit in their pockets.

When disaster strikes, ham networks spring into action. The Amateur
Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have
voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for
communications duty in the public service.

In this disaster a number of ham emergency stations and networks have
been involved in providing information about this disaster – from
WX4NHC, the amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center to
the Hurricane Watch Net, the Waterway Net, Skywarn and the Salvation
Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN).

On Monday, Aug. 29, a call for help involving a combination of cell
telephone calls and amateur radio led to the rescue of 15 people
stranded by floodwaters on the roof of a house in New Orleans. Unable to
get through an overloaded 911 system, one of those stranded called a
relative in Baton Rouge. That person called another relative, who called
the local American Red Cross.

Using that Red Cross chapter’s amateur radio station, Ben Joplin,
WB5VST, was able to relay a request for help on the SATERN network via
Russ Fillinger, W7LXR, in Oregon, and Rick Cain, W7KB, in Utah back to
Louisiana, where emergency personnel were alerted. They rescued the 15
people and got them to a shelter.

Such rescues were repeated over and over again. Another ham was part of
the mix that same Monday when he heard over the same Salvation Army
emergency network of a family of five trapped in an attic in Diamond
Head, La. The family used a cell phone to call out. Bob Rathbone,
AG4ZG, in Tampa, says he checked the address on a map and determined it
was in an area struck by a storm surge.

He called the Coast Guard search-and-rescue station in Clearwater,
explained the situation and relayed the information. At this point, the
Coast Guard office in New Orleans was out of commission. An hour later
he received a return call from the South Haven Sheriff’s Department in
Louisiana, which informed him a rescue operation was under way.

Another search-and-rescue operation involved two adults and a child
stuck on a roof. The person was able to send a text message from a cell
phone to a family member in Michigan. Once again, the Coast Guard
handled the call.

Relief work is not just relegated to monitoring radios for distress
calls. The organization representing amateur radio operators, The
American Radio Relay League or ARRL, now is seeking emergency volunteers
to help supplement communication for American Red Cross feeding and
sheltering operations in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle
— as many as 200 locations in all.

Hams who wish to volunteer their time and services should contact the
Hurricane Katrina volunteer registration and message traffic database.

And, for the first time, the federal government will help hams help
others. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will
provide a $100,000 grant supplement to ARRL to support its emergency
communication operators in states affected by Hurricane Katrina. The
grant will help to fund what is being termed “Ham Aid,” a new program to
support amateur radio volunteers deployed in the field in
disaster-stricken areas.

One last note for ham operators in the stricken area: The FCC has
announced that it’s extending amateur license renewal deadlines until
October 31, 2005.

Cmdr Buzz Corey wrote:
TOM wrote:


Exactly... the amateur service had an unprecedented golden opportunity
for
PR at New Orleans and they blew-it big time.


Sure couldn't tell they blew it big time by this article from MSNBC, or
dozens of others like it.

I've seen a lot of articles about Ham radio and Katrina, and far from
"Hams blowing it" they were one of the few groups who performed as
advertised. The only places they didn't was where they weren't allowed to.

- Mike KB3EIA -