Re: [Swprograms] Katrina

["Scott Royall" <royall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill,

Considering your probable age, I have no expectation of changing your mind.
Even if HF handled ten times the traffic you believe, it would still be a
dismal failure in light of the amount of high priority traffic that needed
to be moved. That's the point really, hams just don't seem to grasp the
amount of even truly urgent traffic that must be cleared in a large
emergency.

-----Original Message-----
From: swprograms-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:swprograms-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bill B
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 5:38 PM
To: Shortwave programming discussion
Subject: Re: [Swprograms] Katrina

Scott Royall wrote:

>Bingo! Guys (and gal), this is exactly what I've been saying! Katrina had
>nothing to do with evil Republicans like me trying to kill off the poor,
>down-trodden Democratic voters. It was the text-book example of a complete
>communications melt-down. Anyone with even modest equipment on HF (Kirsten,
>that's the formal term for shortwave), VHF, and UHF could witness the total
>failure to communicate effectively (hell, most of the chaos was even
>available on the Web)! Politicians were using the media to talk AT each
>other instead of communicating. The official Louisiana Office of Emergency
>Preparedness evacuation plan for SE Louisiana is available online.
>Considering that it was written by bureaucrats, it is an amazingly succinct
>document that, among other things, states clearly that evacuation
>coordination is a local job. FEMA is basically a huge fire hose of
>resources; fire hoses flop around until someone down at the business end
>stands up and starts directing the flow. 
>
>Katrina is also a stark case of what I've been riding local Amateur Radio
>Operators about lately. Their sacred cow, 100+-old Morse Code technology,
>was rendered largely moot by solar conditions (and we're STILL enduring a
>major flare). If "hams" want their hobby to retain its federally-protected
>status, they urgently need to step up with robust modern communication
>modes. A modern ham should be prepared to pass along terabytes of radio
>traffic while dog-paddling through 20 feet of water and braving 200-mph
>winds. Yes, I'm exaggerating, but just modestly. Most of the required
>technology already exists, but our laws heavily restrict what the military
>can do within local jurisdictions. Hams need to remember that Congress
>specifically created their "service" to maintain a pool of skilled radio
>operators ready to dive into disasters on their own and set up emergency
>communications. This is something hams used to do reasonably well, 
>
>(Kirsten, please show the web page below to Justin. Perhaps it will make
him
>rethink his rant. :) )
>
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I must of missed the post Scott replied to. Howver Scott I STRONGLY 
disagree that hams need to step up with a more modern method than CW; 
during the first few hours after the storm roared ashore I passed a few 
health and welfare messages  via CW. Voice communications were rendered 
useless as was psk31; and lets face it, in the south east BPL is 
probably a moot point for some time. (I am chuckling of late hearing 
news reports of the internet carrying health and welfare traffic, which 
the media calls 'safety messages' into and out of New Orleans.)  I know 
this is sorta off topic for this list- but trust me, when all else 
fails, CW will still do its job!

73s

Bill
KA2EMZ


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