[IRCA] IRCA member on the Weather Channel

[Stephen Hawkins <ng0g@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gang,

I know I have been a little out of it in the past few months trying to deal 
with two surgeries from the fall at work last summer, and now the ruptured 
disk.  But has this been on the mailing list and I just missed it 
completely???

  
--------------------------------------------cut---------------------------

 The Weather Channel-Storm Stories-Postmark:Katrina
 Sunday, August 27, 2006-8PM ET/PT
 Monday, August 28, 2006-8PM ET/PT

 Description: "Postmark: Katrina" is a special one hour edition of the Weather 
Channel's award winning series, "Storm Stories". This program depicts the 
efforts of the US Postal Service to restore critical mail service to the
 battered Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane:Katrina. 
  
 Produced by amateur radio operator (my note: and famous member of the famous 
IRCA) Les Rayburn, N1LF, who owns Birmingham based production company Reel 
Cowboys (www.reelcowboys.tv).  Rayburn and his crew were fully embedded with 
federal law enforcement officers from the US Postal Inspection Service within 
hours of the storm's landfall, and he traveled on missions with them  
throughout the Gulf Coast for weeks following the storms.
  
 Rayburn, an extra class amateur and OES, along with his wife Abby, and a
 soundman alternated between filming the recovery efforts and actually
 assisting in them by providing critical HF communications for the
 National Communications System (NCS) SHARES program.
 
 "We really put our ARECC training and preparation to work," said the
 amateur. "We had an extensive jump kit already in my truck, complete
 with camping equipment, a backup generator, extra batteries, radios,
 inverters, even a GPS, all of which proved invaluable. All we had to do
 was add our camera and sound gear and go" he continued. 
  
 Working an average of 18 hours per day, often sleeping on post office
 floors or in the pickup truck, Rayburn was also able to undertake a
 variety of missions from NCS using his Yaesu FT-857D and Tarheel
 screwdriver antenna. "We were the first federal agency on the ground in
 Port Arthur, Texas, just hours after Hurricane Rita struck. NCS wanted
 us to check on the status of public service communications. We made our
 way down flooded streets to the washed out police station. After
 explaining who we were, we quickly found out that their repeater was
 down, and arranged for spare parts to be shipped immediately" was one
 example cited by Rayburn. 
  
 The team also was sent to Stennis NASA Station, near Waveland, MS to
 check on the status of an overdue technical support team, helped to
 relay messages from New Orleans overworked 911 system to the Coast
 Guard, and arrange for a Navy search helicopter for the mayor of
 Cameron, LA following Rita.   "Because of being embedded with the US Postal
 Inspectors, we were often the first people on the ground from the federal
 government and having HF radio support proved valuable over and over again"
 said Rayburn. In several instances, cellular and landline phones were
 inoperative and the HF radio was the only means of communicating with
 the outside world.   
 In addition to their work for NCS-SHARES, Rayburn and his wife helped to
 relay over 100 messages for ARES/SHARES/ and the Red Cross. "At one
 point, we were on the air for over 40 hours straight. But it was worth
 it to try and help those people" said Abby Rayburn. Though unlicensed,
 she participated by monitoring a spare receiver, logging messages, and
 making phone calls were possible.   The documentary includes brief portions 
of this amateur radio traffic, has a graphic explanation of how repeaters 
function, and even some Morse Code. It should be of interest to amateur radio
 operators and an opportunity to point out the value of this backup
 communications resource. 
  
 "We were honored to tell the story of how the Postal Service struggled
 to restore mail service and deliver critical FEMA checks," said Rayburn,
 "and honored to do our small part as well".
---------cut-----------------------------------------------------

Steve
-- 
73 49 111 01001001
Steve Hawkins NG0G
ng0g@xxxxxxxx
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