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  #1031   Report Post  
Old September 30th 06, 09:49 PM posted to alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.swap
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,027
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?

From: on Fri, Sep 29 2006 9:00 pm


Slow Code wrote:

Lenny, just to help you feel better about morse code, if I ever hear you
are dying and in need of help, I will use CW to get you help. Then you'll
know before you die a ham used morse code to save a life and you can rest
in peace over CW.


Slow, thats IMPOSSIBLE! If you use CW then how can Len die?


Blowcode can, in his small mind's imagination, do all sorts
of things.

Here's a "plain and simple fact" of possible probables in
case of anyone ACTUALLY dying or needing help:

1. By telephone, wired or cell: Dial 911, the universal,
manned 24/7 emergency number. In turn, the 911 operator
will communicate with the appropriate agency by wire
or radio (there are 3 basic radio bands for public
safety radio services in the USA, one more coming).
There is one cell phone for every three citizens in the
USA. Speed as fast as a 911 conversation.

2. By - gasp - Citizens Band Radio Service transceivers in
urban areas. CB radio users out-number amateurs by 4 to
5 to one. Considering that some radio amateurs have to
work for a living and are not AT their ham radios but
highway truckers are both working and with their CBs,
the virtual ratio is probably double 5:1. Probability
of return to first communication about help is high
considering that many CB transceivers have guard
receivers always tuned to the emergency channel. Speed
of that is variable, may take three times longer than a
conversation with a 911 operator.

3. If flying there are two basic ways to indicate help.
Overland airways routes will have ATCRBS running and a
transponder "77" prefix code will generate a flag on
the ATC beacon display. On civil airways, 121.5 MHz
is the international universal emergency frequency
(243 MHz for military radio). Speed of either is a bit
longer than with 911 operator calling but quite fast.

4. On the water, in inland waterways and harbors, there
is a VHF FM channel for emergencies but common in-use
frequencies would get attention for real calls for
help. GMDSS is available on ships over deep water
as well as an HF radio voice channel for international
maritime distress calls. Since maritmers are noted
for adherence to SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea), the
response would be fast.

5. On land, lacking cell coverage (rare now) but on or
near highways, there is high probability that any
motorist or trucker would have a CB or possibly a
business vehicle with a business radio would be
passing (PLMRS vehicular radios are quite common with
small and large businesses). Any passing public
safety agency vehicle would have a radio transceiver
capable of directly contacting appropriate help.
Farmers are increasing their use of private radios
and might be nearby. FRS and GMRS HTs are also
becoming more common for both private and business
use. Speed of help calling would be variable
depending on location, nearby vehicular traffic.

6. Lacking any of the above, one might look for a non-TV
or non-CB antenna on a house...high probability of
that belonging to a radio amateur. [such a search
could take many hours, though] If the date and time
corresponded to a ham contest time, the ham might not
respond quickly. Even if the ham responded and began
calling, there is no assurance that anyone would hear
or pay attention to some emergency plea; that would
violate the normal conversation that goes on in ham
bands and cause much on-air disputes, further clogging
calls for help. Speed of help calling is variable,
anything from several minutes to many hours. Not that
it matters since the victim already died after trying
to get through all the ragchewing, self-styled radio
police, and general cat-calling by other amateurs.

7. Blow Code is of NO help since he is not verified as a
valid (or invalid) licensed radio amateur.



  #1033   Report Post  
Old September 30th 06, 11:31 PM posted to alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.swap
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,554
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?


wrote:
From:
on Fri, Sep 29 2006 9:00 pm


Slow Code wrote:

Lenny, just to help you feel better about morse code, if I ever hear you
are dying and in need of help, I will use CW to get you help. Then you'll
know before you die a ham used morse code to save a life and you can rest
in peace over CW.


Slow, thats IMPOSSIBLE! If you use CW then how can Len die?


Blowcode can, in his small mind's imagination, do all sorts
of things.

Here's a "plain and simple fact" of possible probables in
case of anyone ACTUALLY dying or needing help:

1. By telephone, wired or cell: Dial 911, the universal,
manned 24/7 emergency number. In turn, the 911 operator
will communicate with the appropriate agency by wire
or radio (there are 3 basic radio bands for public
safety radio services in the USA, one more coming).
There is one cell phone for every three citizens in the
USA. Speed as fast as a 911 conversation.


Correction... that's "9 -dash- 1 -dash- 1." Robesin says so.

2. By - gasp - Citizens Band Radio Service transceivers in
urban areas. CB radio users out-number amateurs by 4 to
5 to one. Considering that some radio amateurs have to
work for a living and are not AT their ham radios but
highway truckers are both working and with their CBs,
the virtual ratio is probably double 5:1. Probability
of return to first communication about help is high
considering that many CB transceivers have guard
receivers always tuned to the emergency channel. Speed
of that is variable, may take three times longer than a
conversation with a 911 operator.

3. If flying there are two basic ways to indicate help.
Overland airways routes will have ATCRBS running and a
transponder "77" prefix code will generate a flag on
the ATC beacon display. On civil airways, 121.5 MHz
is the international universal emergency frequency
(243 MHz for military radio). Speed of either is a bit
longer than with 911 operator calling but quite fast.

4. On the water, in inland waterways and harbors, there
is a VHF FM channel for emergencies but common in-use
frequencies would get attention for real calls for
help. GMDSS is available on ships over deep water
as well as an HF radio voice channel for international
maritime distress calls. Since maritmers are noted
for adherence to SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea), the
response would be fast.

5. On land, lacking cell coverage (rare now) but on or
near highways, there is high probability that any
motorist or trucker would have a CB or possibly a
business vehicle with a business radio would be
passing (PLMRS vehicular radios are quite common with
small and large businesses). Any passing public
safety agency vehicle would have a radio transceiver
capable of directly contacting appropriate help.
Farmers are increasing their use of private radios
and might be nearby. FRS and GMRS HTs are also
becoming more common for both private and business
use. Speed of help calling would be variable
depending on location, nearby vehicular traffic.

6. Lacking any of the above, one might look for a non-TV
or non-CB antenna on a house...high probability of
that belonging to a radio amateur. [such a search
could take many hours, though] If the date and time
corresponded to a ham contest time, the ham might not
respond quickly. Even if the ham responded and began
calling, there is no assurance that anyone would hear
or pay attention to some emergency plea; that would
violate the normal conversation that goes on in ham
bands and cause much on-air disputes, further clogging
calls for help. Speed of help calling is variable,
anything from several minutes to many hours. Not that
it matters since the victim already died after trying
to get through all the ragchewing, self-styled radio
police, and general cat-calling by other amateurs.

7. Blow Code is of NO help since he is not verified as a
valid (or invalid) licensed radio amateur.



  #1034   Report Post  
Old October 1st 06, 02:30 AM posted to alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.swap
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 69
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?


wrote:
wrote:
From:
on Fri, Sep 29 2006 9:00 pm



Correction... that's "9 -dash- 1 -dash- 1." Robesin says so.

then it MUST be worng BB you should know that by now

  #1035   Report Post  
Old October 1st 06, 02:44 AM posted to alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.swap
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,554
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?


wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
From:
on Fri, Sep 29 2006 9:00 pm



Correction... that's "9 -dash- 1 -dash- 1." Robesin says so.

then it MUST be worng BB you should know that by now


It's come full circle. ;^)



  #1036   Report Post  
Old October 1st 06, 06:40 AM posted to alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.amateur.antenna,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.swap
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,027
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?


wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
From:
on Fri, Sep 29 2006 9:00 pm


Correction... that's "9 -dash- 1 -dash- 1." Robesin says so.

then it MUST be worng BB you should know that by now


It's come full circle. ;^)


Har! :-) The robeswine spawned the worm ouroborous! :-)

  #1039   Report Post  
Old October 2nd 06, 01:18 AM posted to rec.radio.swap,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.amateur.antenna
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 234
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?

" wrote in
ups.com:

Dave Oldridge wrote:
Slow Code wrote in news:SPYSg.4010$o71.3724
@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

" wrote in
oups.com:

Please, don't all jump in at once with all the unproven
bragging and dozens of local weekly newspaper clippings.

Let's hear it for the mode that saved the Titanic survivors
in 1912...


Don't know about whether it saved any lives or not, but I once took a
very important NOTAM (Notice to Airman) on CW from a guy in the
Aleutians in the days following the 1964 quake and put it on the
proper teletype circuits for him.

His airport's altitude was changing so that charts and other info
were inaccurate.


Dave, that sounds very suspicious considering my ground school
instructor's 1962 display of a then-old Santa Barbara, CA,
half-hour TTY Wx report (then required by Commerce Dept.).
SBA (ID of Santa Barbara), like all other weather stations at
airports, were required to post their local Wx and airport
conditions every half hour. SBA is on the Pacific coast and
subject to rapid variations of weather. If weather changes more
rapidly than that, weather stations were required to post extra
in-between-scheduled-times reports.

One day, after having fog entering and leaving SBA often, the
operator of the TTY sent: "THE FOG SHE COMES IN THE FOG
SHE GOES OUT." :-)

The ground school class at VNY was presented with a
glassine-protected TTY copy of the Wx message that must
have been old at that time (the cheap TTY paper was
already turning yellow). Got a good laugh from the class.


This was NOT weather. This was seismic. The runway was rising in spurts
sometimes as much as 3 feet in an hour. And, in that era all the comms
were microwave and had been knocked out by the big quake. 80m was all he
had.

In 1964 (which is 42 years ago), the weather stations had their
own network over leased telephone lines. At least in the 48
contiguous states. Whether or not Alaska was tied in with
manual telegraphy (radio or wirelines) I can't confirm...nor do I
think it important since I know it was NOT via amateur bands.


At that time Alaska was tied into the networks by microwave. When the
quake shifted towers, we lost it all.

NOTAMs take many shapes but back 40+ years ago, the
FAA handled them and saw to their distribution at airports.
Most were press-printed but some current ones were sent
by TTY. That was in times before NOAA.


Yes, I know. I was working at Kimberly Aeradio in BC at the time of the
quake. It was violent enough to leave a small mark on my barograph, even
at that distance. The guys in Edmonton lost all circuits to Alaska and
in short order we knew that we had a HUGE communications emergency on our
hands (not to mention a real disaster).

At least I was in a position to put the information on the proper
teletype circuits addressed to the proper authorities.


--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667
  #1040   Report Post  
Old October 2nd 06, 01:23 AM posted to rec.radio.swap,rec.radio.amateur.policy,rec.radio.amateur.antenna
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 234
Default So, Which reader has actually saved a life or lives using "CW" on Ham Bands?

wrote in
oups.com:


Dave Oldridge wrote:
Slow Code wrote in news:SPYSg.4010$o71.3724
@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

" wrote in
oups.com:

Please, don't all jump in at once with all the unproven
bragging and dozens of local weekly newspaper clippings.

Let's hear it for the mode that saved the Titanic survivors
in 1912...


Don't know about whether it saved any lives or not, but I once took a
very important NOTAM (Notice to Airman) on CW from a guy in the
Aleutians in the days following the 1964 quake and put it on the
proper teletype circuits for him.

His airport's altitude was changing so that charts and other info
were inaccurate.

--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667


PADK?


I don't remember now. Those were interesting days. And that kind of
emergency, while it can still happen, would be mitigated today by the
fact of satellite telephones, GPS and so forth that don't depend on local
power or microwave comms. Indeed, cell phones would probably have held
up in most areas if the towers were halfway decently designed and
powered....

It was all the microwave dishes on towers that moved a tad that made it a
real communications emergency. If I were to have to deal with one like
that today, I'd probably vote for using some digital mode, such as PSK31
or Olivia to move the traffic. But all we had back then was 850 shift
RTTY and not very much of that. It was another two years before I got
mine going (170 shift by then already!).

--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667
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