902
Member
Timely article by Don Tuite, NR7X on amateur radio's role in disasters, even in today's IT-based technologies. Well worth a read.
Amateur-Radio Emergency Services and Disasters
Amateur-Radio Emergency Services and Disasters
I agree with some of your points and disagree on others. You bet, hams should NEVER self-deploy, but DHS' AUX-COMM program encourages partnerships between the responder community and their local amateur radio community. In other words, there would be a pre-established rapport where the locals know exactly what and who to expect from the amateur community and they will work together in a space that's carved out for hams. It's a little more hands-on than simply starting a net (which remains EXTREMELY important, but is only important if there is someone in the affected area getting messages into and out of it - a Hurricane Sandy net on non-linked repeater in Salt Lake City is ridiculous). Nothing I said should be construed as giving the amateur community a license to put lights on their cars, come up on frequencies they're not authorized for, or show up at some incident and just start talking on the radio.As Arte Johnson would say; verrry interesting, but shtupid. The author is living in the past, hams are NOT first responders and those who think they are we call whackers. With today's communications infrastructure hams have been pushed into the background but we still perform an essential public service handling health and welfare traffic. Think twice about getting a license to be Johnny on the spot, you'll only get in the way, those days are over. That's in no way a discouragement, we NEED persons who can handle non emergency traffic in an emergency situation, people to reach out and put people in touch with their loved ones.
You bet it is. There are amateurs, however, who earn the title. And the same can be said for firefighters, EMTs, and even police officers. For most people, it's a question of maturity. Some grow out of it. I did (or maybe more appropriately all of the toys out-priced me once my wife and I began to have children).The 'whacker' tag is unnecessary, demeaning and diminishes us all when it's used.
Having worked in a "served agency," you should hear what we each called ourselves. Or maybe not.Plus, what do the Served Agencies think when we call each other vaguely obscene names?
I respect that. Hopefully you are also taking the opportunity to guide others by example. 73!902, we're going to need to agree to disagree. I personally won't be shutting up on the subject until that word is driven from the lexicon with fire and sword. No place for it. No place for the opinion that breeds it.
I took one of those courses earlier this year. When the instructor got to the part about physical appearance and mentioned how we should show up, when deployed to an incident, wearing something along the lines of a plain polo shirt, we all looked at the one guy in the class who was wearing a white button-down uniform shirt with epaulets and patches....but DHS' AUX-COMM program encourages partnerships between the responder community and their local amateur radio community.
LOL, I'm an SG1 fan, too. That is Don Davis. Well, I'd have to imagine the Dr. Davis look-alike with more hair and maybe thinner since my MARS days were 3 decades ago. Then again, he'd have to imagine me with dark hair and thinner, too. I'm glad you're okay and I'm glad he was there to help.Just fine now that things a bit farther inland are back to normal. High is dry, a few feet make all the difference between water in the basement and wipeout.
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That's not all, her house surely was declared uninhabitable until the water damage and resulting health hazard from mold have been fixed. JCP&L will not restore power until electrical systems have been replaced and inspected, sorry to say she has a long way to go.
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By a strange coincidence he looks a bit like Don S. Davis who played General Hammond in Stargate SG-1.
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