"mad amoeba" wrote in message
. net...
I was affected by the recent blackout in North East. That got me thinking
of
how would
one communicate during such an event. Electricity including phones were
out.

In our area (Detroit and suburbs), the phones are powered by the phone
companies and were not out. Apparently the phone companies do have some
type of backup power. However, if all a person had was a cordless phone,
then it did not do any good since those have to be plugged in to external
power to operate. The non-cordless variety doesn't need that. After
swapping my phone over, I was able to call my daughter to check to see if
she was OK since she was stuck at a friend's house until gasoline pumps were
operational.

Cell phone coverage here was erratic either because of overload or because
the cell sites lost power too without sufficient backup power.

My best means of tracking the situation was ham radio. I got a lot more
detail on exactly where and when power came became available and where and
when it would be possible to get gas for the car and generator. Commercial
radio broadcasting did not give very good or timely information on these
aspects of the situation. They would state that "power is back on in parts
of xxx" with no further detail. Via ham radio, I was able to find out what
parts were back up so I could assess whether to go try to find gasoline or
wait a bit longer.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 03:03:05 GMT, "mad amoeba" wrote:

i have both cordless phone and an old type phone in my house where the
handset is connected to the base station. Neiher one was working. If I had
to contact either cops or amublance i would have no way of doing that except
of standing on the street and waiting for the cop car to pass by. That's why
i asked the question of how one would keep a line of communications if the
regular ones were out.
snip

well,... I guess i can add this question. is your wired phone
attached to Cable? i understand that in alot of metro areas, the
cable companies are now offering phone service across their lines. I
don't know anything about the equipment but this could be a issue if
the power goes out.

My cordless phone has a place for a 2nd batter to be charged for the
handset. in the event of a power outage, I can still use my cordless
for upto 3-4 hours. and I have my cable connection on a UPS,.. plenty
of time for me to use my laptop (which i can make iNet calls on if
needed) to notify anyone of need..

being a Ham - I look for equipment i can run off of 12v. I have a 12v
drill that i can power my PDA from, charge my cell phone, and work
with if needed. Push comes to shove,.. got the battery in the truck
too.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 04:07:28 -0400, Bob Brock
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 07:51:40 GMT, erniegalts
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 06:54:36 GMT, Hagbard Celine
wrote:

Bob Brock wrote:

General Class license still requires a Morse Code test. Morse has not
been "wiped." It has however, been lowered for the two higher class
licenses from 13 and 20 wpm to 5 wpm for both licenses. Morse is not
required for the Technician license which give full priviliges on
VHF/UHF.

So, once again ernie, you are wrong.

Not required here for some years now, at least for what you are
calling a "Technician license" which covers 2 metres and is useful for
communication in that band.

Are you going to call me wrong on this issue???

Please advise.

Which issue do you want me to call you wrong on ernie? The first
piece of inaccurate information that you posted of this metamorphisis
of it?

On your initial statement, yes you were wrong. In case you forgot
this was your initial statement...

"Not difficult to get an amateur license these days now that the code
requirement has been wiped. Anyone who knows a bit about radio should
be able to study the regs and pass an exam allowing VHF operation on 2
metres, and the "general class" [ or "full call" ] exam is not that
much harder."



WRC 03 removed the international Morse requirement, If you need to do
morse in the US that's the FCC's fault. In the UK there's no Morse.

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message

You need a license if you want to transmit legally.

Would the FCC prosecute someone for using a ham rig without a license
if there were no other way to communicate that someone was injured or
other "emergency" help was needed? Seems like a mobile ham rig would
be a nice backup in such cases.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 15:32:40 GMT, Delphic
wrote:

well,... I guess i can add this question. is your wired phone
attached to Cable? i understand that in alot of metro areas, the
cable companies are now offering phone service across their lines. I
don't know anything about the equipment but this could be a issue if
the power goes out.

Cable has a small box for translation with very limited backup
battery. Once power goes to either the head end or the VOIP
translation box.. you are screwed.

There is also sutff like Vonage and the other voice over IP
"appliances" you attach to your broadband connection for phone
service, however VONAGE over something like DirecWay satellite would
be a good emergency backup, as long as you could provide your own
power.

With vonage, you can pick the 911 PSAP, so you can even dial 911, and
it ends up in the right jurisdiction.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 03:07:07 GMT, "mad amoeba" wrote:

I know that there are several providers and most of them were out. I might
be wrong about Verizon but most of the cellular phone were out of action
which was my point. Because if that's why most people have cellulars so that
no matter where they are or what happens they can contact their family etc.
But now as far as im concerned cellulars are not reliable.

Perhaps not reliable for the "average" person.

Verizon kept a percentage of capacity in reserve for public safety,
and the new public safety phones have priority, so will knock "no
priority" calls off the tower if they place a call.

My best means of tracking the situation was ham radio. I got a lot more
detail on exactly where and when power came became available and where and
when it would be possible to get gas for the car and generator.
Commercial
radio broadcasting did not give very good or timely information on these
aspects of the situation. They would state that "power is back on in
parts
of xxx" with no further detail. Via ham radio, I was able to find out
what
parts were back up so I could assess whether to go try to find gasoline or
wait a bit longer.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE


If this is the case then why doesn't one of the local amateur radio
operators make themselves available to the local news anchor, much like
cellular users report traffic problems on a normal day, and that way the
generalpublic could be better informed.

Bill Main

Bob Brock wrote:



Which issue do you want me to call you wrong on ernie? The first
piece of inaccurate information that you posted of this metamorphisis
of it?

On your initial statement, yes you were wrong. In case you forgot
this was your initial statement...

"Not difficult to get an amateur license these days now that the code
requirement has been wiped. Anyone who knows a bit about radio should
be able to study the regs and pass an exam allowing VHF operation on 2
metres, and the "general class" [ or "full call" ] exam is not that
much harder."

The code requirement for the Technician class license was removed a long
time ago. Ernie was right. Take your head out of your ass.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:53:28 -0400, "Ralph Mowery"
said:


Bob Brock wrote:

General Class license still requires a Morse Code test. Morse has not
been "wiped." It has however, been lowered for the two higher class
licenses from 13 and 20 wpm to 5 wpm for both licenses. Morse is not
required for the Technician license which give full priviliges on
VHF/UHF.

So, once again ernie, you are wrong.

Not required here for some years now, at least for what you are
calling a "Technician license" which covers 2 metres and is useful for
communication in that band.

Are you going to call me wrong on this issue???

I can't remember a time whem morse code was ever required fot the
*tech* class licence. I have some HAM study books from back in the
60's and even back then (in the U.S.) there was no code required for
the *tech* class. A few years ago the code requirment was lowered to
5wpm for *all* classes. IIRC, this was done in order to get more
people into HAM radio and to help uncrowd the 2m band. And IIRC, once
you pass the 5wpm code test for the *general* class licence you are no
longer required to take anymore code tests for the *extra* class
licence. They did away with the *advanced* class, IIRC.

Here's a question....Who these days gets the *novice* class licence ?
Why didn't they get rid of the *novice* class instead of the
*advanced* ?

YOu remember wrong. I was licened as a Tech in 1972 and there was a 5 wpm
test for that license. Not sure exectally when but it was in the late 80's
or eairly 90's that the code requirement was removed from the Tech class.

As far as your question , there are no new novice class licenses or advanced
class. Only the Technichian, General, and Extra are being issued now. It
is still possiable to renew the other classes.

All the above is for the US.


I'll accept that. My books must be wrong. I wasn't sure about the
novice class, my study books still has it listed as a class one can
still get.

"Markeau" wrote in message
...
"Frank Dresser" wrote in message

You need a license if you want to transmit legally.

Would the FCC prosecute someone for using a ham rig without a license
if there were no other way to communicate that someone was injured or
other "emergency" help was needed? Seems like a mobile ham rig would
be a nice backup in such cases.


You would have to be very certain that they would agree that it constitutes
an emergency serious enough to do so.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE