I feel your frustration, but I also understand Pat’s caustic comment. Are you old enough to remember the floods of ’77 (or was it ’78?)? I was up in Hockley with only a Pocket Scanner to listen to. HFD was hopelessly overwhelmed, and many of HPD’s 460 MHz repeaters were flooded out. Guess who was handling essential communications. Yep, hams. Some of the rescue boats even had hams with HT’s. That’s not to mention the huge load of logistical traffic passed; I remember hours passing without the WR5AAA machine unkeying.
So yes, I do understand Pat's annoyance, because I can remember when Amateur Radio was far more relevant. I realize ARES is doing what the civil authorities task it to, but why isn’t Amateur Radio still capable of matching technology? Cellular communications left us face down in muddy water, guys. Yeah, cell sites can die in weather, but so do ham repeaters. (Yes, I’m thinking of the TranStar repeater.) We don’t have cute little pickups carrying complete emergency stations like the cellular carriers do. If Amateur Radio is relegated to administrative communications, why aren’t we at least doing that efficiently? Radios exist that can move megabytes of nonverbal information in a blink. I know this because I’m using one now. Civil authorities love to have as many pictures as possible, and local area computer networks are very short range. Not every ham could design a longer-range system, but I’m certain a few could. The rest of us could help by supporting the work. Of course, nothing will improve Amateur Radio because we’re too selfishly individualistic and nostalgic. We still have HF AM. Good grief! I think too many of us have wanted to participate in Amateur Radio as just a hobby, and that’s what we’re now relegated to by even our government, a bunch of hobbyists of marginal usefulness. From: BVARC [mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Davis via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 7:43 To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org> Cc: Jeffrey Davis <jwda...@mac.com> Subject: Re: [BVARC] 08/28/2017 BVARC 2M net will stand down They were told to call 911 because that's what they tell us to call people. We enter the information we get into the web EOC logs when someone calls over the radio and someone will get the info and respond but 911 will get a much quicker response, I believe. I'm told that there is approximately a 10 minute hold time on 911 and to not hang up. Calling back just puts you at the end of the queue again. I'm sorry if you feel we're a bunch of ambulance Chasers, what does that even mean? Applied to ARES? I mean if we were attorneys I'd get it? We get calls of road flooding, damage, and so on. We put it all into the computer and where it goes from there I don't know. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 29, 2017, at 7:28 AM, Pat Cameron via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > wrote: What good are they LOL ... Jeff said he heard someone requesting evacuation assistance and the NC told him to call 911... the guy called in because he could not get through to 911 ... all they are is bunch of ambulance chasers I guess Best Regards, Pat Cameron (832)885-2899 On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 4:12 PM, Robert Polinski via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > wrote: Note to all 146.940 repeater users. The repeater will be used for ARES- Transtar emergency traffic till the disaster is over. All nets and regular traffic shall refrain from using this machine. All calls should be directed to net control N5TRS. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. Robert Polinski KD5YVQ Trustee KG5EEO 146.94 repeater Houston. From: BVARC [mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> ] On Behalf Of Clint Davidson via BVARC Sent: Monday, August 28, 2017 3:46 PM To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > Cc: Clint Davidson <kf5...@gmail.com <mailto:kf5...@gmail.com> > Subject: [BVARC] 08/28/2017 BVARC 2M net will stand down All Stations: Be advised that KF5HDF has made an executive decision as NCO that the scheduled BVARC net for 28 AUG 2017 at 20:00 hours on 146.940 will stand down to keep the frequency and repeater open for emergency traffic. -- Clint Davidson KF5HDF 713-870-0195 <tel:(713)%20870-0195> kf5...@gmail.com <mailto:kf5...@gmail.com> _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org <mailto:BVARC@bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Message delivered to ctap...@gmail.com <mailto:ctap...@gmail.com> _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org <mailto:BVARC@bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Message delivered to jwda...@mac.com <mailto:jwda...@mac.com>
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