Bothell, WA - Ham-radio operators are the 'eyes and ears' of Bothell

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b7spectra

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I know that the amateur radio operators practice for this to happen, but in a real life scenario, do they really thing they will be doing to dispatching and riding along in the police cars? Highly doubtful.
 

redhelmet13

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During the tornado in Fort Worth 10 years ago, the TRS overloaded, One of the Batt Chiefs is a ham and utilized the RACES net to get in touch with the Fire Alarm Office. There are Ham radios in the Fire Alarm Office as a result of the the lessons learned.
 

newsphotog

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During the tornado in Fort Worth 10 years ago, the TRS overloaded, One of the Batt Chiefs is a ham and utilized the RACES net to get in touch with the Fire Alarm Office. There are Ham radios in the Fire Alarm Office as a result of the the lessons learned.

And I sincerely hope that the real lesson learned from that is that they need to bolster their system and increase redundancy.
 

kd8ati

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I know that the amateur radio operators practice for this to happen, but in a real life scenario, do they really thing they will be doing to dispatching and riding along in the police cars? Highly doubtful.

May I suggest you read the article I put the link to. Genesee County, MI has one of the most highly trained and active RACES groups in the state, and this article supports that.

Ham Operations and the Fenton Tornado | ARRL Michigan
 

wa8pyr

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I know that the amateur radio operators practice for this to happen, but in a real life scenario, do they really thing they will be doing to dispatching and riding along in the police cars? Highly doubtful.

We hams will do whatever we are asked to do. If agencies need health and welfare traffic passed from shelters to the command post, it will be done. If we have to ride in a police car or fire truck and pass traffic, we'll do that too.

Generally what we do is pass health and welfare traffic, as well as (as noted in the article) pass along emergency traffic and condition reports from areas first responders may not be able to reach right away.
 

redhelmet13

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And I sincerely hope that the real lesson learned from that is that they need to bolster their system and increase redundancy.

Still on an aging Moto analog TRS, there is a local govt system that has one site which they can switch to but provides far less coverage. Also all of the normal users were tying up that system also.

As far as additional redundancy... (imagine Bevis and Buttheads grunting and giggling sounds).

No current funds to do anything like that...
 

gdunagin

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As a former manager for the Magnolia Net for three years and having been involved in many instances of providing emergency communications, people should know that many HAMS do just that; provide communications and assistance communicating where needed. We have also provided power generators for power in the event of ice storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. And this is done free with hams providing all of their or the clubs time and equipment. To me this is one of the best examples of HAM radio, the willingness to do what is needed, for and by the authorities in charge, responding to the needs of the people for no recompense except the knowledge of helping, when needed. It is a team effort because as one can easily see from the headlines, a disaster, natural or otherwise, can at times, overcome the ability and resources of most any one group. By working together, each in their own area of expertise, people as a whole will benefit.
 
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