Patricia (Elaine) Gibbons wrote: > It does amaze me to see some members of the amateur radio community > start whining after public and/or private agencies officially recognize > > ***and support*** the value of the amateur radio service during disaster > response and recovery operations Elaine, you are absolutely right. I've been biting my tongue on this.
The reason EOC's install ham equipment is not to replace other full time RF needs, it's to supplement it in times of disaster when hams respond. There is no other groups which fills this need. The govt could not afford to pay employees, buy commercial gear, and deploy the people, etc. It does not exist. If we don't do it, it will not get done. There simply are not enough Red Cross emergency communications vans, etc to go around. Period. And it's part of our charter. The very first item listed. (more below) I firsthand < http://www.pinztrek.com/katrina > saw the impact of total loss of normal communications and how ham radio was able to fill that gap. No, I did not save a life, handheld in my teeth. But we did do good, made a difference, and maybe prevented things from deteriorating. When there are no communications at all, even very simple 2m and HF nets are a quantum leap forward! And you know what? I'm proud that Amateur radio was able to repay some of what we have been granted over the years. I know of several hundred non-ham residents in coastal Miss I came in contact with who will be very unlikely to support any attack on ham privileges because of the exposure we had in Katrina. And that was just my small bit from a week onsite. To the point that I'm ashamed of all the whining, second guessing, "we should not allow emergency service on our bands", "it's a hobby, no public service", "they should buy their own freqs & radios" that goes around. I've never seen such a selfish, bitter attitude, and I ashamed for all of us. I'm going to go way back to 1928 and drag something out: *The Radio Amateur is* *CONSIDERATE...*never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others. *LOYAL...*offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs, and the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio in the United States is represented nationally and internationally. *PROGRESSIVE...*with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach. *FRIENDLY...*slow and patient operating when requested; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit. *BALANCED...*radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community. *PATRIOTIC...*station and skill always ready for service to country and community. How does all the whining reconcile with the amateur radio code? No, not morse. The operating code we should all try to follow. I've seen part 97 quoted dozens of times.... How bout reading starting at the beginning? PART 97 Subpart A--General Provisions ยง97.1 Basis and purpose. The rules and regulations in this Part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles: (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications. (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art. (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of the art. (d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill. Yep, the very first clause (97.1A) speaks very clearly about the role of amateur radio. How do all the arguments and rationalizations look when you read the purpose as defined by the FCC for amateur radio. Not the ARRL. But the folks who carved out and controls the resources we use. This is a bigger issue than winlink operating style, legal or not. We all get annoyed at times at other ops. Some are worse than others. But the idea that emergency/public service has no place in amateur radio is flawed. And to try to use that as an argument to get rid of an operating mode you do not like does us all a dis-service. Should winlinkers listen before initiating contact to a PMBO? Absolutely. I think most do. Some may not. Some do, and transmit anyway. So what's new, there are rude people all over the bands. Going to ban these modes as well?..... - DX Pileup working split. hundreds of ops stepping on each other, and their receiver is not even tuned to the freq they are transmitting on!!!!! - The SSB sked which "always" meets on .235, and cranks up even though they hear weaker sigs at .234 - The RTTY ops running legal limit, mindlessly sending CW contest for hours despite the weaker traffic - Or the equiv SSB op. So to present that the winlinkers, wide loaders, whatever are unique in their issues is disingenuous at best and ignorant at worst. I personally have seen non-emergency old fart nets on HF argue with relief traffic during Katrina as to their "timeslot" for that frequency. Our relief group was being dispatched to the next location to relieve 2 hams who had been manning an ad-hoc county EOC setup in an elementary school for 48 hours straight with no relief. No phones, no power, no repeaters. The official county EOC which was supposed to be running the public service was leveled. Did not exist. Gone. There was no communications in/out of the county that did not go via ham radio at that point. So support the petition if you don't like winlink. Myself, I think it's mis-directed, and will be ineffective. And I sure hope the supporters are as diligent policing all the other folks who inadvertently step on someone due to hidden terminal effect for other modes, or just because they are inconsiderate. But no matter what, quit whining about public service. It's part of amateur radio. Been there from the beginning. Think of someone other than yourself and your favorite mode. OK, rant over. We can return to the endless part 97 interpretation questions. :-) Thanks, Alan km4ba
