Were you once a HAM, quit activity, let your license expire and never looked back?

[mmckenna]

@mmckenna wasn't ‘commtech’ the handle the ham that was just fined crazy money by the FCC was using to ‘inform’ the fire ground crews about where to drop suppression? I was attempting a (bad) joke. Definitely not a dig on actual technicians!!

Yeah, forgot about him. That's right, "CommTech".
Drones are an excellent tool. More and more agencies are getting them. Seems like amateur radio missed the proverbial boat on that.

 

[BMDaug]

I'm in a city of about 200K and the local club/members have all kinds of 2m, 70cm, 6m and 1.25m repeaters in the area but you can go hours and not hear anything. I guess it's no different than the rest of the country because, when I travel, I hear 99+% dead air there, too. I have a radio in the car but I seldom turn it on anymore locally simply because there's nothing to hear.

For me, this is the biggest argument for linked repeater systems. We have SkyHubLink and the Colorado Connection that are more than state-wide at this point and it’s SO great! There’s always someone to talk to and with excellent coverage, you can pretty much drive anywhere in the state and still get your local club members with an HT. Between those two networks and local unlinked repeaters, there’s at least a couple of nets a day! If the repeaters are silent, link ‘em up and boom! Way more traffic. It also helps uphold the code that @popnokick shared earlier because it doesn’t let a single repeater become an echo chamber for a certain opinion or ideology. I’ve supremely enjoyed our systems up here!

-B

 

[mmckenna]

I’m actually working out a plan for using DATV to get drone footage back to our IC during SAR missions. That way spotters could be on the ground and at IC and be equally helpful! There’s always a way to use our hobby for good while having fun and exploring a new aspect of the hobby!

-B

At one point amateur radio was popular for radio control hobbyists since there was some more spectrum as well as higher power. Seems like that would have been a great fit for drones. Seems like a missed opportunity.
Would be interested in hearing how your setup turns out.
The last few years at IWCE and APCO has shown quite a few drone companies are very interested in the public safety market. There's a company that sells a truck with a tethered drone for video/communications. Something on the order of several days worth of air time without refueling the diesel generator, not to mention a healthy battery backup. Had a pretty good payload capability, more than enough for a small repeater to fill in coverage. Cell carriers are playing around with this, also.

 

[alcahuete]

To be fair, however, most large EOC's already have HF capability. Recently the state I'm in released a lot of grant funds for smaller agencies to add HF capability to their EOC's. We were able to purchase 2 HF flypacks with encryption, ALE and slow speed data/file transfer capability.

At the federal level, we have pretty much decommissioned the HF network for emergencies. It's all satcomm. I remember going down to Puerto Rico after the hurricane and earthquakes, we had satcomm networks on the plane, and dozens of satcomm networks set up immediately when we landed. The hams showed up a couple days later looking to set up HF networks to the mainland, and we told them to go away. As a ham myself, I know they had good intentions, they just weren't needed.

Where amateur radio really stood out was working with the Red Cross and setting up local nets to locate family members between the various evacuation zones. They had no business on the front lines or wearing yellow vests, but it took a lot of load off the Red Cross folks.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of clubs out there who only focus on the "When all else fails" nonsense. I was a member of one of those very clubs (for a very short time) long ago. Somewhere, I still have the magnetic yellow light for the top of my car that they gave me, because everybody needed to have one. To this day, I have no idea why, but everybody needed to have one. LOL!

 

[mmckenna]

At the federal level, we have pretty much decommissioned the HF network for emergencies. It's all satcomm. I remember going down to Puerto Rico after the hurricane and earthquakes, we had satcomm networks on the plane, and dozens of satcomm networks set up immediately when we landed. The hams showed up a couple days later looking to set up HF networks to the mainland, and we told them to go away. As a ham myself, I know they had good intentions, they just weren't needed.

We have an MSat fly pack. Good for phone calls and we have a couple of talkgroups on it we can use. It's a good tool and it works.

The HF flypacks were fully funded by a state grant. The EOC was going to turn it down, but someone sent it to me and said "Do we need these?" I suggested it was a good "backup to the backup" and if someone else was paying 100%, we should have it as one of the tools in the tool box. They had someone willing to help me file the grant request and it was approved. Codan, so coming from Australia. The paperwork/approvals needed to get the AES256 out of Australia was pretty interesting.
I would have been happy with another MSat package, but that wasn't one of the options.

Somewhere, I still have the magnetic yellow light for the top of my car that they gave me, because everybody needed to have one. To this day, I have no idea why, but everybody needed to have one. LOL!

Oh, jeez. I wish states had stricter lighting laws (and enforced them). I have one on the work truck, and it usually causes more problems that it fixes. Seems like a flashing light or a backup alarm becomes an idiot attractant.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Seems like a flashing light or a backup alarm becomes an idiot attractant.

It gives DUI drivers something to fixate on and aim for.

 

[popnokick]

Wonder how long the satellite networks will last when the balloon goes up? Nah... no concern there really. Sats are forever.

 

[KK4JUG]

I remember the Echo balloon satellites back in the 60s. (Yeah, I'm old.) I believe they bounced microwave signals across the country with them. If I'm not mistaken, they fell out of the sky and burned up

 

[Flyham]

At the federal level, we have pretty much decommissioned the HF network for emergencies. It's all satcomm. I remember going down to Puerto Rico after the hurricane and earthquakes, we had satcomm networks on the plane, and dozens of satcomm networks set up immediately when we landed. The hams showed up a couple days later looking to set up HF networks to the mainland, and we told them to go away. As a ham myself, I know they had good intentions, they just weren't needed.

Where amateur radio really stood out was working with the Red Cross and setting up local nets to locate family members between the various evacuation zones. They had no business on the front lines or wearing yellow vests, but it took a lot of load off the Red Cross folks.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of clubs out there who only focus on the "When all else fails" nonsense. I was a member of one of those very clubs (for a very short time) long ago. Somewhere, I still have the magnetic yellow light for the top of my car that they gave me, because everybody needed to have one. To this day, I have no idea why, but everybody needed to have one. LOL!

Dang.......Really?

SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio Program | CISA

The SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio program provides another path for users with a national security and emergency preparedness mission to communicate when landline and cellular communications are down.

www.cisa.gov

" More than 3,290 HF radio stations—representing over 590 federal, state, and industry organizations located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia."

 

[alcahuete]

" More than 3,290 HF radio stations—representing over 590 federal, state, and industry organizations located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia."

Over 1,350 HF radio stations—representing 104 federal, state, and industry organizations, located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and overseas—participate in SHARES.

That's what it's down to now. Shrinking every day. It is never the primary means of communication. Pretty much used as a backup system in case China shoots our satellites down. We actually took our towers down completely along with the huge log periodics.

 

[mmckenna]

That's what it's down to now. Shrinking every day. It is never the primary means of communication. Pretty much used as a backup system in case China shoots our satellites down. We actually took our towers down completely along with the huge log periodics.

You miss the point. It wasn't that we scored 2 HF radios for our EOC. It's that I scored 2 HF radios that have the "free tune" option that I'll get to periodically play with, I mean "test", on various ham bands.

 

[alcahuete]

You miss the point. It wasn't that we scored 2 HF radios for our EOC. It's that I scored 2 HF radios that have the "free tune" option that I'll get to periodically play with, I mean "test", on various ham bands.

LOL!!! I love it!

 

[popnokick]

The first few minutes of a nuclear exchange would.... Oh, wait. Move along... nothing to see here. Somebody is thinking about this more than us here on RR - Collateral Damage to Satellites from an EMP Attack

 

[alcahuete]

The first few minutes of a nuclear exchange would.... Oh, wait. Move along... nothing to see here. Somebody is thinking about this more than us here on RR - Collateral Damage to Satellites from an EMP Attack

And all the HF radios are going to be just fine......

Again, the HF stuff is nothing more than backup. If you think the federal agencies are using HF stuff during disasters,.you're living in a fantasy land.

 

[BMDaug]

And all the HF radios are going to be just fine......

Again, the HF stuff is nothing more than backup. If you think the federal agencies are using HF stuff during disasters,.you're living in a fantasy land.

And in the case of an emp event, you can harden the electronics all you want, but the ionosphere will be a mess and bands will almost certainly be closed anyway!

-B

 

[GlobalNorth]

Unless you have thousands of acres and a VLF/ELF antenna array or a mature SHF/EHF capacity. But then again, who are you going to talk to?

 

[popnokick]

The report I linked was declassified and released for publication 12 years ago. Wonder if anything has changed since then?

 

[k6cpo]

That's good. I think the time that I went to the few club meetings was a bad time in amateur radio. There were a lot of people that seemed to be there not for the hobby, but for trying to make themselves a fill-in for public safety. Too many people in yellow vests for me. Probably didn't help that the club meeting was held at the local volunteer fire station. I think that gave a few of them some bad ideas….
I get wanting to help, but there's more to being a helper than having a radio. Too many people with the 'single tool in the tool box' attitude.

My club, (of which I am President) has an excellent working arrangement with the fire department in our city and a good relationship with the city's Emergency Coordinator. We achieved this by assisting the department in the construction of a communications trailer years ago and by NOT displaying any "aberrant behavior" on the part of the members. This has paid off in that we have a place to meet at their training fire station and we have access to an unused city antenna tower and building for our repeaters.

I'd narrow that down farther and say "misguided ham with a radio".

You said it. I'm troubled by the attitude that buying a radio suddenly makes someone a public safety professional. Whackerism at its finest.
While this has been around for quite a while, I put part of the blame on the ARRL with their stupid "when all else fails" crap. Showed they knew zero about public safety communication systems.

There is one group that comes to mind when talking about the "misguided ham with a radio" and that's REACT. I'm also an officer in one of their groups and I'm finding it hard to dispel the notion that "I've got a radio and a license. I should be able to assist in an emergency." I've been trying to educate them about ICS and NIMS, but a lot of them don't want to listen. REACT serves a purpose in a lot of areas in that they now specialize in event communications such as marathons and bicycle rides. They're still using the idea that this prepares them for when the SHTF but they are ignoring the fact that without the proper training, they will be turned away at the door.

I'm in a city of about 200K and the local club/members have all kinds of 2m, 70cm, 6m and 1.25m repeaters in the area but you can go hours and not hear anything. I guess it's no different than the rest of the country because, when I travel, I hear 99+% dead air there, too. I have a radio in the car but I seldom turn it on anymore locally simply because there's nothing to hear.

I'm in a SoCal county of 3 million plus population. I keep my home radio on scan and I can always hear activity on the local repeaters, some more than others. There are a couple of linked systems that cater to the new hams, but I have some misgivings about these systems for emergency purposes.

Yeah, forgot about him. That's right, "CommTech".
Drones are an excellent tool. More and more agencies are getting them. Seems like amateur radio missed the proverbial boat on that.

The police in my club's city uses them for first response purposes. The city is small enough, they can launch one from the police station and have it on scene within minutes.

For me, this is the biggest argument for linked repeater systems. We have SkyHubLink and the Colorado Connection that are more than state-wide at this point and it’s SO great! There’s always someone to talk to and with excellent coverage, you can pretty much drive anywhere in the state and still get your local club members with an HT. Between those two networks and local unlinked repeaters, there’s at least a couple of nets a day! If the repeaters are silent, link ‘em up and boom! Way more traffic. It also helps uphold the code that @popnokick shared earlier because it doesn’t let a single repeater become an echo chamber for a certain opinion or ideology. I’ve supremely enjoyed our systems up here!

-B

There are pros and cons with linked repeater systems. The new hams love the ones with wide coverage because they can talk over longer distances with their inexpensive radios purchased from Amazon. That's fine, but my experience with using them for events and emergency purposes has been less than ideal. There's a bit of latency in them and that slows down communications. The other issue—and this applies to stand-alone repeaters as well—is that sometimes the word doesn't get out that the repeater is being used for an event or a drill and some self-appointed "Guardian of The Airwaves" will get on and start demanding that the operator ID properly or shouldn't be on "his" repeater at all.

It's not a perfect world out there, kiddies.

 

[BMDaug]

My club, (of which I am President) has an excellent working arrangement with the fire department in our city and a good relationship with the city's Emergency Coordinator. We achieved this by assisting the department in the construction of a communications trailer years ago and by NOT displaying any "aberrant behavior" on the part of the members. This has paid off in that we have a place to meet at their training fire station and we have access to an unused city antenna tower and building for our repeaters.



There is one group that comes to mind when talking about the "misguided ham with a radio" and that's REACT. I'm also an officer in one of their groups and I'm finding it hard to dispel the notion that "I've got a radio and a license. I should be able to assist in an emergency." I've been trying to educate them about ICS and NIMS, but a lot of them don't want to listen. REACT serves a purpose in a lot of areas in that they now specialize in event communications such as marathons and bicycle rides. They're still using the idea that this prepares them for when the SHTF but they are ignoring the fact that without the proper training, they will be turned away at the door.



I'm in a SoCal county of 3 million plus population. I keep my home radio on scan and I can always hear activity on the local repeaters, some more than others. There are a couple of linked systems that cater to the new hams, but I have some misgivings about these systems for emergency purposes.



The police in my club's city uses them for first response purposes. The city is small enough, they can launch one from the police station and have it on scene within minutes.



There are pros and cons with linked repeater systems. The new hams love the ones with wide coverage because they can talk over longer distances with their inexpensive radios purchased from Amazon. That's fine, but my experience with using them for events and emergency purposes has been less than ideal. There's a bit of latency in them and that slows down communications. The other issue—and this applies to stand-alone repeaters as well—is that sometimes the word doesn't get out that the repeater is being used for an event or a drill and some self-appointed "Guardian of The Airwaves" will get on and start demanding that the operator ID properly or shouldn't be on "his" repeater at all.

It's not a perfect world out there, kiddies.

So for SAR, we have to have at the very least, basic first aid with cpr and members must complete FEMA IS-100.x and IS-700.x courses in addition to attending the SAR academy held annually. There are then additional courses that must be taken for things like lift tickets etc. Maybe REACT needs a higher barrier to entry!

We have other repeaters for SAR ops and events that aren’t linked, and it’s pretty easy to unlink if it’s really necessary. Also, IME, there’s no delay on a linked system when both parties are actually on the same local repeater. Across the state and between two internet linked repeaters, sure. My real point is that one way to cure totally unused repeaters is to link them. It’s way more fun than hearing silence all day and all night!

In some use cases it can also be good for emergency response because it allows one person to monitor for emergencies across the entire linked network, instead of having someone monitor each repeater regionally. The Colorado Connection has CERN, the Colorado Emergency Reporting Network. Being on a linked system, it’s much easier to monitor 24/7. All this said, being able to control the link and monitor it’s status is very important. SkyHubLink regularly unlinks a repeater or two for club meetings or other events when necessary and it’s just a mouse click away! Cool stuff.

https://co-cern.org/

-B

 

[mmckenna]

My club, (of which I am President) has an excellent working arrangement with the fire department in our city and a good relationship with the city's Emergency Coordinator. We achieved this by assisting the department in the construction of a communications trailer years ago and by NOT displaying any "aberrant behavior" on the part of the members.

Sounds like the right kind of club. People with blinky lights and orange vests should be turned away at the door.

There is one group that comes to mind when talking about the "misguided ham with a radio" and that's REACT. I'm also an officer in one of their groups and I'm finding it hard to dispel the notion that "I've got a radio and a license. I should be able to assist in an emergency." I've been trying to educate them about ICS and NIMS, but a lot of them don't want to listen. REACT serves a purpose in a lot of areas in that they now specialize in event communications such as marathons and bicycle rides. They're still using the idea that this prepares them for when the SHTF but they are ignoring the fact that without the proper training, they will be turned away at the door.

REACT was useful 40+ years ago. They had a very specific purpose and they did that well. Monitoring channel 9 was useful in the days before cell phones. We used to run into them at rest stops in the Pacific Northwest frequently where they'd offer coffee to drivers and have a coffee can out if you wanted to leave a donation.
Seems like they struggled to find their place after cell phones came along and CB dropped off. I know some are active on GMRS (675/141.3), and that was a good plan, but at the time GMRS was too much of a niche radio service. Maybe starting that up again now that GMRS is gaining some popularity.