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Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
from
Cincinnati.Com
on
September 9, 2006
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Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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by AI2IA on September 9, 2006
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"We're there when everything else fails. The only wireless communication system that stayed on the air after every other communication system was down was an amateur radio station."
Those who are tasked with preparing for emergencies should, for a moment, forget the complexities and focus on just this one, historical, and continuing fact. For amateur radio, it has been this way from the very beginning. Non-essentials come and they go, but this one quality of amateur radio remains a sure help in difficult times. Amateur radio was there, is there, and will be there. It and the amateur operators deserve respect and recognition for that profoundly stable quality. This should not be forgotten or set aside for some theoretical backup system.
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RE: Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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by W6EM on September 11, 2006
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We know what the amateur service can do. And, we've demonstrated that. But, the FCC continues to ignore us. Just read the Katrina Panel report and its conclusions. They are focused on what commercial radio vendor interests want, not the overall public good in post-disaster situations. Collections of convoluted plans to scrap good conventional public safety radio systems and roll out replacement two way trunked radio systems on 700MHz. A concept that has proved itself vulnerable to failure with its cellular-like design many times over.
It failed after 9/11, it failed in Port Charlotte Florida following Hurricane Charlie, and it failed big-time in New Orleans, following Katrina. And, in smaller scale situations such as the Dallas Texas metro area, and the whole southern half of the Florida Highway Patrol's radio system.
We have a strong sense of purpose, but, with an FCC that is unsympathetic to CC&R antenna restrictions and promoting BPL trash on the HF bands, will we as a service, be there in a decade?
73,
Lee
W6EM
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Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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by KS4UA on September 15, 2006
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Nice to see the good press given to the ham in the article.
Lee makes some good points in his reply above.I just read some comments from the FCC (in the recent issue of Monitoring Times) which focused almost solely on what they would like to see changed to the commercial services (e.g. the push for moving UHF broadcast out of the 700Mhz band) and seemed to give minimal recognition of the contribution that Hams made during the disaster.
One of the FCCs long-range "agendas" though, seems like a good idea - the adoption of inter-operable digital comm systems for public safey, fire, and federal services (APCO Project-25). It's ridiculous that they've allowed incompatible digital trunked systems to become the standard way of doing things. When something like Katrina comes along, the weakness of that folly becomes readily apparent.
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RE: Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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by W9WHE-II on September 18, 2006
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"......the FCC continues to ignore us. Just read the Katrina Panel report and its conclusions. They are focused on what commercial radio vendor interests want, not the overall public good in post-disaster situations".
Yes, Lee, so much better to focus and rely on a bunch of low-tech, weekend warrior types then a hardened, well engineered system. FCC ignores hams, in part, because arrl spread alarmist warnings of gloom and doom concerning BPL, which never materialized.
Be serrious. If you had the responsibillity for millions of lives, would you rather rely on a hardened, well engineered communications system, or a bunch of hams? COME ON NOW. BE SERRIOUS!
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RE: Katrina Gives Strong Purpose:
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by KG4RUL on September 20, 2006
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Please give us at least one example of a "hardened, well engineered system" that the manufacturere will GUARANTEE is serviceable through an event like Katrina? I prefer to rely on a well dispersed system without fixed infrastructure - Amateur Radio.
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