You won't laugh when the fire comes roaring down the hill and totally
destroys your home, all your belongings, your pets, and possibly you. Want
to see what it looked like --- URL:
http://www.karlgrobl.com/Photojournalism/Fire/page1.htm

http://www.scrippsranch.org/special/fire_gallery.asp

In California more than 743,000 acres burned by Monday 11/03/03, these
hellish fires caused 24 deaths & destroyed more than 3,570 homes. Read that
again --- 3,570 homes and 24 deaths.

I had friends die in that fire.

Hundreds were evacuated as the smoke was so bad breathing was difficult all
over the county.

The hospitals were loaded with COPD patients.
The smoke also carries metallic particles-- many suffered long after the
fires.

The football stadium and red cross shelters was filled with fire refugees.
Amateurs brought food and water to those areas.

Livestock was roasted in their tracks some were rescued by Amateurs.

One couple took the wrong turn and died. Amateur Radio could have told them
the right escape route.
Their cellphones were out, the telephone lines were toasted.

Amateurs were a valuable asset heralded by civil authorities and the press.

RACES and ARES was out in full force, a Repeater information net served
hundreds who needed information on road closures,
evacuations, shelters, health and welfare and much more.

We are proud to have served.
Hope you are as well prepared as you are stupid.
--
Lamont Cranston




Darling wrote in message
...
On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 06:33:37 -0800, "Senor Sombra"
The 500+ Amateurs who participated in....

another excuse to key up.

Señor Sombra wrote:

You won't laugh when the fire comes roaring down the hill and totally
destroys your home, all your belongings, your pets, and possibly you. Want
to see what it looked like --- URL:
http://www.karlgrobl.com/Photojournalism/Fire/page1.htm

http://www.scrippsranch.org/special/fire_gallery.asp

In California more than 743,000 acres burned by Monday 11/03/03, these
hellish fires caused 24 deaths & destroyed more than 3,570 homes. Read that
again --- 3,570 homes and 24 deaths.

I had friends die in that fire.

Hundreds were evacuated as the smoke was so bad breathing was difficult all
over the county.

The hospitals were loaded with COPD patients.
The smoke also carries metallic particles-- many suffered long after the
fires.

The football stadium and red cross shelters was filled with fire refugees.
Amateurs brought food and water to those areas.

Livestock was roasted in their tracks some were rescued by Amateurs.

One couple took the wrong turn and died. Amateur Radio could have told them
the right escape route.
Their cellphones were out, the telephone lines were toasted.

Amateurs were a valuable asset heralded by civil authorities and the press.

RACES and ARES was out in full force, a Repeater information net served
hundreds who needed information on road closures,
evacuations, shelters, health and welfare and much more.

We are proud to have served.
Hope you are as well prepared as you are stupid.


Any number of other radio services could have "told them the right
escape route". Back when I was a little kid, in the 1970s, every car
carried an emergency CB radio. This was for communicating to others in
the event of an emergency of any kind, or to be used like cell phones
and FRS walkie talkies are used now. They worked pretty well, but by the
mid 80s Emergency CB was dead, primarily because lack of interest in CB
after 1980 had lured all the weirdos to the medium, and the bands had
become useless. If you want to make the case for amateur radio
disseminating info to the public in an emergency, support the SW hobby
broadcasting movement. Radios could easily be made that cover any "hobby
broadcasting bands". Licensed hobbyists would be able to run emergency
info stations at a time like you recount, and people could contact them
through any way possible, including through traditional amateur radio,
to give them emergency info to broadcast. In everyday life, the hobby
broadcasters would be an important info source, sort of like an on air
blog. This would break the corporate conglomerate grip on the media.
What good is amateur radio if the only thing you're allowed to discuss
is CQ's and "my radio is better than yours"?


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

running dogg wrote:

Señor Sombra wrote:

You won't laugh when the fire comes roaring down the hill and totally
destroys your home, all your belongings, your pets, and possibly you. Want
to see what it looked like --- URL:
http://www.karlgrobl.com/Photojournalism/Fire/page1.htm

http://www.scrippsranch.org/special/fire_gallery.asp

In California more than 743,000 acres burned by Monday 11/03/03, these
hellish fires caused 24 deaths & destroyed more than 3,570 homes. Read that
again --- 3,570 homes and 24 deaths.

I had friends die in that fire.

Hundreds were evacuated as the smoke was so bad breathing was difficult all
over the county.

The hospitals were loaded with COPD patients.
The smoke also carries metallic particles-- many suffered long after the
fires.

The football stadium and red cross shelters was filled with fire refugees.
Amateurs brought food and water to those areas.

Livestock was roasted in their tracks some were rescued by Amateurs.

One couple took the wrong turn and died. Amateur Radio could have told them
the right escape route.
Their cellphones were out, the telephone lines were toasted.

Amateurs were a valuable asset heralded by civil authorities and the press.

RACES and ARES was out in full force, a Repeater information net served
hundreds who needed information on road closures,
evacuations, shelters, health and welfare and much more.

We are proud to have served.
Hope you are as well prepared as you are stupid.


Any number of other radio services could have "told them the right
escape route". Back when I was a little kid, in the 1970s, every car
carried an emergency CB radio.

Where did you live? Hazzard County?

dxAce
Michigan
UA

Mostly true and I agree on the radio comms

But in several instances, we had info that the TV and radio didn't have.

How -- we had Amateurs on the scene in many instances. Many lived right in
the path of the fire and relayed what evac orders were in effect from
authorities. RACES was at several locations as well as ARES

As for your last statement: "What good is amateur radio if the only thing
you're allowed to discuss
is CQ's and "my radio is better than yours"?

It is raining here and I being under the weather spent the day inside,
playing radio.
Here is the topics discussed today on our repeater.

An F-14 pilot gave us a rundown on landing the beast. We discussed the
Academy awards and good movies. We discussed Steve Fossett remarkable feat.
A homebrewer gave us the rundown on his 160 meter MOBILE antenna. We
chattered about genealogy, the Civil War, Sherlock Holmes, So Cal's record
rains, Joe Rudi NK7U the baseball player will have a web cam on during the
contest. A Marine vet told us about the Chosin reservoir. An informative
round table on cross band repeating. Our antique car restorer came in about
his 1956 Chevy. PSK31 and PSK63 were discussed as well as the latest Digipan
program. Howard Huges XF-11 was looked up on Google for info. The movie Ray
was applauded. Our satellite expert gave us the rundown on the active birds.
A plea was entered to support the bill to protect the Ham bands. Some of the
TV court cases were discussed, love that Nancy Grace. DVD recorders were
talked about. Several computer problems were solved on the air. Digital
cameras and photo printers were compared. Some grousing about where our tax
money goes. And that is just a few topics we discussed.The Hikers net came
on at 2100 and I turned off the radio. Previous week night nets, ARES,
Microwave, Sailors, NTS traffic, Off road, Ham help, and Ham Trivia.

And do you know -- not one CQ or radio comparison was heard all day.

Are not you stereo typing just a wee bit ???

What did you talk about today ??

--
Lamont Cranston



"running dogg" wrote in message
...
Señor Sombra wrote:

You won't laugh when the fire comes roaring down the hill and totally
destroys your home, all your belongings, your pets, and possibly you.
Want
to see what it looked like --- URL:
http://www.karlgrobl.com/Photojournalism/Fire/page1.htm

http://www.scrippsranch.org/special/fire_gallery.asp

In California more than 743,000 acres burned by Monday 11/03/03, these
hellish fires caused 24 deaths & destroyed more than 3,570 homes. Read
that
again --- 3,570 homes and 24 deaths.

I had friends die in that fire.

Hundreds were evacuated as the smoke was so bad breathing was difficult
all
over the county.

The hospitals were loaded with COPD patients.
The smoke also carries metallic particles-- many suffered long after the
fires.

The football stadium and red cross shelters was filled with fire
refugees.
Amateurs brought food and water to those areas.

Livestock was roasted in their tracks some were rescued by Amateurs.

One couple took the wrong turn and died. Amateur Radio could have told
them
the right escape route.
Their cellphones were out, the telephone lines were toasted.

Amateurs were a valuable asset heralded by civil authorities and the
press.

RACES and ARES was out in full force, a Repeater information net served
hundreds who needed information on road closures,
evacuations, shelters, health and welfare and much more.

We are proud to have served.
Hope you are as well prepared as you are stupid.


Any number of other radio services could have "told them the right
escape route". Back when I was a little kid, in the 1970s, every car
carried an emergency CB radio. This was for communicating to others in
the event of an emergency of any kind, or to be used like cell phones
and FRS walkie talkies are used now. They worked pretty well, but by the
mid 80s Emergency CB was dead, primarily because lack of interest in CB
after 1980 had lured all the weirdos to the medium, and the bands had
become useless. If you want to make the case for amateur radio
disseminating info to the public in an emergency, support the SW hobby
broadcasting movement. Radios could easily be made that cover any "hobby
broadcasting bands". Licensed hobbyists would be able to run emergency
info stations at a time like you recount, and people could contact them
through any way possible, including through traditional amateur radio,
to give them emergency info to broadcast. In everyday life, the hobby
broadcasters would be an important info source, sort of like an on air
blog. This would break the corporate conglomerate grip on the media.
What good is amateur radio if the only thing you're allowed to discuss
is CQ's and "my radio is better than yours"?


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet
News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
=----

Running Dawg not many cars are equipped with CB anymore.
And the range of CB can't be compared to Ham repeaters.

Let me give you a little insight to Amateur Radio Emergency Services
In our county, we have 35 repeaters on 2 meters alone.
Between 440 MHz and 220 MHz there are about 50 more repeaters
Most of these are on mountain tops.

There are probably 5,000 Hams in the county, many familiar with emergency
nets and proper procedures. And many have HF capability on 10 bands. This
gives us communications to all over the world. Don't tell me about the
internet - it will fall apart when a national disaster hits. Ask the guys in
Florida about that one. Cell phones were kaput also.

In our club alone we have 4 repeaters on a 5600 foot mountain.
They cover 2000 square miles of the county very reliably even to 1 Watt
HT's.

During the early part of the Calif fires, the repeaters operated on
commercial power. The fire swept up the Mountain and toasted the power
lines. The repeaters went on battery power for several hours, then started
to die. A crew went up the mountain, put gas generators in place and a
mountain resident refueled them periodically as required. All of our
repeaters were on the air for the full period of the fires 24 hours a day
for about 4 days.

On one repeater alone -- 300 Hams checked in, over 1000 messages were
passed.

This is a lot of communication power and has been invaluable during
earthquakes, fires, and other disasters. RACES assists civil entities with
supplemental communications and ARES works with the Red Cross. They were
extensively used during the Calif fires.

Now this is just one county. Extrapolate that to all 50 states with 675,000
licensed Amateur Radio Operators.

If you want to know what Hams did during the hurricanes or 9/11,
use Google.

Walter Cronkite stated "Amateur Radio is probably the only fail-safe
communications system in the world"

I agree as I charge my deep cycle batteries.

--
Lamont Cranston



"running dogg" wrote in message
...
Any number of other radio services could have "told them the right
escape route". Back when I was a little kid, in the 1970s, every car
carried an emergency CB radio. SNIP

I don't know for sure,but learning the basic fundementals of useing a
computer (or even my stupid webtv box) couldn't be much harder than
learing to be a Ham Radio Operator.
cuhulin

I Agree too.When things get really bad,only Ham Radio and Ham Radio
Operators can save the day concerning communications.
cuhulin

wrote in news:15999-42295EC9-646@storefull-
3253.bay.webtv.net:

I read an article the other day of a couple (man/woman thing, you know, a
couple), that had been fined and threatened with equipment confiscation
since they weren't complying with FCC regulations. The couple's equipment
consisted of a battery charger or two for the charging of the couple's
electric scooters. You see, the couple did not have an FCC License, they
possessed no equipment requiring them to posses a license, yet they have
been fined and have been threatened with equipment confiscation since
their equipment is causing RFI.

Can you learn to press buttons on Handie Talkies (HT), Walkie Talkies,
Base Stations, to turn knobs, enter frequencies with the keypad, etc.
Sure. Can you learn to do it legally? Therein lies the rub.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/01/06/2/?nc=1

Modern people think that simple operation of equipment is all that is
required for them to be a professional. But to be a good HAM, you need to
understand much more (I'm not saying that I am a good HAM).

I also have an interest in telescopes. Years ago, anyone with any pride
labored to grind and figure the mirror for their telescopes, assembling
the entire unit, understanding something about optics in the process.
They went outside, learned the sky, found the objects of their desire,
and observed them. Today, you open the box, remove the wrapper, put in
the batteries, enter the coordinates from a chart, and viola!, the scope
slews to the desired star. In return they know little of the optics and
even less of the sky. Yet that call themselves amateur astronomers. I
realize that the cost is low enough for most people to buy decent
telescopes today, something that wasn't the case years ago, therefore
they built them, but they still learned about them in the process.

You see, we don't have the time to do the work building them, nor
learning the sky, we have such busy lives. But subtract the amount of
time that we spend perusing porn on the internet and watching endless
hours of televised movies, reality shows, and sports, and I think that
you would see that we do indeed have the time, but we waste it on
superficial things, things that in the long run produce no edification.

Aye, you can learn the fundamentals, but can you do it legally,
effectively, can you diagnose problems when they occur, or will you
simply throw out the item and buy another. Will you simply add a bigger
AMP (like the CB linear AMPs), or will you cunningly design your antenna
system so that you get the performance that you want with less power and
therefore less liklihood that you would produce interference.

Soliloquy.



I don't know for sure,but learning the basic fundementals of useing a
computer (or even my stupid webtv box) couldn't be much harder than
learing to be a Ham Radio Operator.
cuhulin

wrote in news:1110116536.435944.59680
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:


Actually i've read numerous articles in the last 10 years about
backyard astonomers who have built their own reflector including the
mirror. Several guys have built their own binoculars (parallel
telescopes), designed parallelogram mounts for smaller bins, etc.
Optical instruments are cheaper now than they have ever been, so it is
indeed easy to call Orion and place an order.

What country were the individuals in that the articles were about? Oft
times the articles are indeed about such activities, just not Americans
doing it.

But DIY is still alive in backyard astronomy.

Well, it isn't here, in this area.

http://3ap.org/
http://extragalacticsystems.com/3ap....cilities.shtml
http://extragalacticsystems.com/3ap....s/brashear.jpg


It's one of the bigger clubs in the country, yet the interest in
construction and optics is nil. The facility is tremendous, and the
interest in improving it is significant, yet the work is always done by a
small group of dedicated individuals. Otherwise, open the box, unwrap,
install batteries, enter the number, look.


And the real issue with that couple was not that they caused the
interference, but that they ignored several formal complaints from the
FCC.

Well, no kidding. My point was that simple operation is not what HAM is
about, understanding and controlling interference is part of it. The post
was in response to an individual's comment that operating HAM equipment
wasn't that difficult.

And the FCC could have used a little more common sense once they
got the attention of that elderly couple. Culpability on both sides.

Not really, the couple should have complied. The HAM had even provided
them with the toroids to correct the problem, they threw them in his
garden when they heard that he was talking negatively about them. How
many HAM are being forced by zoning regulations into removing their
antenna systems (or at least spending considerable time and money
fighting the ordinances). How gleeful the neighbors are when they win in
these type of disagreements. The neighbors were properly warned, they
just didn't believe that the FCC had the authority to fine them since
they weren't operating equipment per se.



Regards.

Dr. Artaud

Actually i've read numerous articles in the last 10 years about
backyard astonomers who have built their own reflector including the
mirror. Several guys have built their own binoculars (parallel
telescopes), designed parallelogram mounts for smaller bins, etc.
Optical instruments are cheaper now than they have ever been, so it
is
indeed easy to call Orion and place an order.


What country were the individuals in that the articles were about? Oft
times the articles are indeed about such activities, just not Americans

doing it.

hjs S&T mostly and Astronomy and to my recollection some were
international, but most in the US. And I'd hear guys talking about
building a reflector at the local astronomy club meetings.

But DIY is still alive in backyard astronomy.


Well, it isn't here, in this area.
hjs That's unfortunate because an understanding of how it works at
some level helps in the use of almost any instrument.


http://3ap.org/
http://extragalacticsystems.co=ADm/3...cilities.shtml
http://extragalacticsystems.co=ADm/3...s/brashear.jpg


It's one of the bigger clubs in the country, yet the interest in
construction and optics is nil. The facility is tremendous, and the
interest in improving it is significant, yet the work is always done by
a
small group of dedicated individuals. Otherwise, open the box, unwrap,
install batteries, enter the number, look.



And the real issue with that couple was not that they caused the
interference, but that they ignored several formal complaints from
the
FCC.


Well, no kidding. My point was that simple operation is not what HAM is

about, understanding and controlling interference is part of it. The
post
was in response to an individual's comment that operating HAM equipment

wasn't that difficult.

hjs Well, I'm glad that you agree. Yes, understanding how the
components interact and the principles of safe and efficient operation
are very important. It is too bad that prospective ham's are not
subject to practical testing covering such aspects.

And the FCC could have used a little more common sense once they
got the attention of that elderly couple. Culpability on both sides.



Not really, the couple should have complied. The HAM had even provided
them with the toroids to correct the problem, they threw them in his
garden when they heard that he was talking negatively about them. How
many HAM are being forced by zoning regulations into removing their
antenna systems (or at least spending considerable time and money
fighting the ordinances). How gleeful the neighbors are when they win
in
these type of disagreements. The neighbors were properly warned, they
just didn't believe that the FCC had the authority to fine them since
they weren't operating equipment per se.

hjs Well, sure the couple should have complied.

Regards.=20


Dr. Artaud