Amateur Radio Operators Removing Their Equipment From ARC Vehicles

[ARCDATMAN]

I heard a rumor that amateur radio operators affiliated with American Red Cross operations have been removing or already have removed their communications equipment from American Red Cross vehicles, I asked my DAT supervisor & he said "no comment", I sent an e-mail to the regional IT man & he also said "No comment", anybody here care to comment? I would appreciate it since I am studying for my amateur exam & want to transition from DAT field work to disaster communications, thanks in advance.

American Red Cross | Help Those Affected by Disasters

 

[W8RMH]

It depends on the chapter. In my area the ARC has access to state and county public safety systems so the use of amateur isn't as popular as it used to be however amateur systems may be the only systems available during a disaster, such as HF. Most vehicles only have the PS systems and/or the ARC low band radios but their communications truck has numerous systems, both PS and amateur.

 

[kd7kdc]

Personal radios can not be installed in any National Red Cross vehicles only local chapter supplied vehicles.

 

[W8RMH]

Personal radios can not be installed in any National Red Cross vehicles only local chapter supplied vehicles.

These amateur radios are not personal radios they belong to the ARC, installed, maintained, and operated by the American Red Cross Amateur Radio Club, unless by "National" you are referring to the ERVs which are deployed to national disaster areas, which only have the low band radios.

 

[N5TWB]

I'm the ARES volunteer coordinator assigned to bring a team to work with the ARC. The local ARC called me two years ago to tell me they were selling their disaster response trailer which had multiple radios in it, one of them being an amateur dual-band. I went over to their office and removed the radio and bracket. The radio had been supplied by ARES under the national MOU between ARC and ARRL. They also had multiple PS radios to remove, including one for the TRS where they conduct local operations with their own talkgroups. The low-band radios have been abandoned in place, one at the local ARC operations center and one at a high site which used a UHF link back to operations. The high site is also one where a local amateur radio group I'm in has a UHF repeater.

 

[SpectrumAnalyzer]

Actually It Was The Other Way Around

What really happened was ARC HQ got tired of complaints from regular ARC volunteers wishing to upgrade to regional DAT Comms positions & ECRV DVR/OP training for duty rosters were being harassed by the already in-place ARC hams who felt that only "they" could approve who they felt fit the mold which of course were other hams, the hams didn't even know they were shown the door until they bore sad witness to wires hanging out of firewalls & wall plates & when they laid complaint to the local IT men they were told to take their radios (The ones that ARC didn't already own) out of the closets where they were thrown & get lost.

BTW: Of course things wouldn't have come to such a nasty way except for the well documented fact that the hams wouldn't even honor the basic required one month per annum commitment to man those same chariots of ham radiodom to answer the cry for aid from the very same disaster victims they laid claim on those radios to have sworn to man in the event, one thing to take your ball from the playground in a huff but it's far more telling when your own ball gets tossed right over your head

Here is a rather interesting article that sugar coats some issues coming back to haunt the self indulgent.

The Inevitable Death of Ham Radio