Ham Radio Ping ListPlease Freepmail me if you want to be added to or deleted from the list.
Posted on 05/15/2006 12:37:43 AM PDT by Lurker
May 12, Gleaner News (KY)
Severe weather drill highlights the importance of ham radios.
In a severe weather drill Thursday, May 11, negative temperatures, freezing rain and sleet turned Henderson, KY, and its surrounding counties into a veritable ice kingdom.
The objective of this drill: For emergency responders within the seven counties of the Green River Area Development District to share information regarding disaster preparedness. The event comprised three hospitals and seven counties −− Henderson, Union, Webster, Daviess, Hancock, McLean and Ohio −− and each county had to communicate with each other.
Some problems involved written communications between the agencies involved. But one positive result −− emergency personnel rediscovered the benefits of ham radios as a form of communication when trying to reach other counties.
(Excerpt) Read more at courierpress.com ...
L
L
A bit off topic:
Don't forget hams, FIELD DAY is just around the corner.
http://www.arrl.org/
http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/
June 24-25, 2006: "FIELD DAY"
Nonhams always seem to be surprised at what we can do. We need to always be involved in drills like this so they're no longer surprised.
Ham Radio Ping ListPlease Freepmail me if you want to be added to or deleted from the list.
Some years ago, the local folks decided they didn't need hams to help them work the marathon. They had cell phones and they could handle it themselves.
What a fiasco.
Next year the hams were back.
(I think they eventually got commercial radios and learned how to do it on their own.)
Had the same thing happen on a 50-mile bike tour about, eh, 12 years ago. They decided they could use cellphones instead of hams--and didn't bother telling us until AFTER we all showed up. We insisted upon staying, and they reluctantly farmed us out to the rest stops and "sag wagons."
Three hours in, after all the cellphone batteries died, they were darn glad we were there. Especially when some poor guy had a heart attack while riding and we had to call in the ambulance.
They asked us back next year.
I love doing event work, I need to hook up with the clubs here in Richmond and see if I can get back into it.
}:-)4
Reminds me of the time I (poorly) rigged a gel cell up to my HT. I was helping on a triathlon bike course. Set the gel cell on the ground, ran the wires up to my HT. A bit later, I saw smoke coming out of my jacket pocket where I had tucked the poor connection. I melted my pocket and my pride.
Thanks for posting this. I hate to think what Boradband will do to our ability to transmit and receive, but, we are still needed and necessary.
We did something cool this year, we got a grant and linked two repeaters (330ft/230ft sticks). On our Tuesday night net you can reach all of southwest Florida from Clearwater to Naples with an HT. Both towers have diesel generators and are in Hurricane proof buildings. We also bought a 100ft portable tower to use for emergency communications and of course we are going to try it out on field day.
Did this article disappear already or is the link bad? I get a 404 trying to get to the source article.
}:-)4
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