I have to toss in my two cents here. I was a member of ARES for many years. We provided communications for search and rescue in the mountains of New Mexico back in the '70s. We also provided communications for the Forest Service during forest fires. We had a ham RTTY station in the Forest Service office. I have not lived there for many years but am betting the ARES group in NM still provides valuable emergency services.
In Texas and many other states the Skywarn organization provides valuable services. I believe this is also ARES. Hams were valuable to the US military in WWII because they had communication skills. This type of skill is still valuable to the military. Hams have always been the source for MARS operations. Much of the old customary Marsgram traffic is not needed by the military but that traffic was always valued as a training tool. MARS has a workable WL2K system. There are assigned frequencies that are wide enough to accomodate Pactor 3. If a station there transmits when another station is transmitting, it is interfering only with it's own network (I don't hear this at all). In short, hams still can justify their frequency assignments. Personally, I do not operate WL2K on the ham bands. I don't have an SCS TNC and I don't want to be part of the problem. If we all transmit without listening, the bands will be just like CB. No thanks. 73, Howard K5HB ----- Original Message ---- From: Andrew O'Brien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2008 9:20:24 PM Subject: Re: [digitalradio] Emergency agencies/ ham equipment/ hams in emcomm But Alan, I deal with medical emergencies several times per week! As I pointed out in my original post, I don't question that we have many ham's that provide emergency communications. I do question the integrity of amateur radio claims, and feel that it's capabilities are vastly overstated. Yes, I have demonstrated that a sound card , a piece of wire, and a transceiver can outperform the zillion dollar hospital equipment when hospital communication equipment is operated by plug and play dispatchers. I do not accept that hams exist to provide emergency communication, we exists to tinker and twiddle and every now and again help others. Radio amateur advocacy groups such as the USA's ARRL have very little "clout" without the spurious claim that amateur radio is an emergency communication system. The emcomm card is played in a manner similar to TV Networks claiming to serve a vital civic role by providing "news". TV network provide entertainment that sell advertising, the news gets thrown in because it looks good. Emcomms in amateur radio looks good, and IS good at times, but it does not represent the hobby as a whole. Digital communication for ham emcomms is similarly a farce. ALE is underused and grossly misunderstood by hams. Winlink appears effective but out of the reach of most hams (on HF) , and other modes without ARQ are just not going to cut it. NBEMS is too new to evaluate, PSK Mail has promise but does not have enough users. Andy K3UK > > > > > > Andrew O'Brien wrote: > > I think that much of the "hams in emcomms" is a scam , or a way for > > hams to "play" firefighter/ cop/medic without actually having to be > > one. The "scam" is the spreading of the concept that us hams sit > > around all days looking for that ship's SOS or waiting for Skywarn to > > be activated. Ham radio is a communications hobby that has a SMALL > > amount of it;s constituency that play emcomm,. The vast majority DX, > > talk about recent surgery on 75M, contest, and decode strange > > squealing noises on 14077. > > > > > So this is something to be proud of? > > I've personally gone on site for two hurricanes. Not because I'm a cop > wanna-be. No, I did it at significant personal cost and discomfort > because thousands of folks needed help. And were asked, somewhat > desperately, to help. And we were uniquely positioned to help, and did so. > > I'd do the same if it was filling sand bags. > > So until you've seen firsthand the impact of disasters like hurricanes & > floods, and done your bit to help, then you are simply not qualified to > pass judgment. > > Andy, I know you were not saying that emergency service is a scam, just > the idea that most hams do emergency service is overstated. And that's > probably true. But it's part of how we justify our existence. 97.1.A. So > maybe the few who do respond are carrying the rest? > > I came back from my Katrina experience with these convictions: > > - Like it or not, I would implement mobile/portable winlink capability > since it is the defacto standard and most functional digital transport > infrastructure we have. Warts and all. (I've made Steve W's blood boil a > few times by trying to influence winlink philosophy) > > - I'd work to come up with a non-proprietary, open standards based HF > email system to parallel as well as interoperate with winlink since it's > the defacto standard > > I've done both of these. Not changed the world, but done my bit, in my > way. Using skills I have. I approach all the new developments like APRS > on HF, pskmail, NBEMS, whatever with the idea that we need to > interoperate for the better good. > > So I'll ask the folks on this list what have you contributed to amateur > radio at all, much less public service? Besides help us understand every > possible interpretations of various part 97? :-) > > Are you proud of your accomplishments in the radio hobby? Did you use > your hobby to make a difference in any one's life? Or just play nerd and > fiddle with radios in your basement? > > I know we have some major contributors on the list...... and that I'm > painting with a very broad brush. Dave, Patrick, and other similar > coders contribute in their way. > > This kind of boils down to "contributors" and "consumers". I find the > whiniest segment of our hobby to be the ones who consume the most, yet > contribute the least. Selfish. > > I've never met anyone who went onsite for a major disaster (Hugo, > Andrew, Katrina, earthquakes, etc) who came back and said "Boy was that > a waste of time". There's a big difference in serving that way VS the > orange vest wearing ARES meeting at the waffle house stereotype. :-) > (though they are important as well for localized issues) > > So I'll say it: Unless someone has gone on site and participated in > amateur radio related relief, you are not qualified to say what is or is > not allowed/appropriate /useful. > > Again, not directed at you Andy, just the overall tone of the last 2-3 > weeks. > > Have fun! > > Alan > km4ba > > -- Andy K3UK www.obriensweb. com (QSL via N2RJ) <!-- #ygrp-mkp{ border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:14px 0px;padding:0px 14px;} #ygrp-mkp hr{ border:1px solid #d8d8d8;} #ygrp-mkp #hd{ color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:bold;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0px;} #ygrp-mkp #ads{ margin-bottom:10px;} #ygrp-mkp .ad{ padding:0 0;} #ygrp-mkp .ad a{ color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;} --> <!-- #ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc{ font-family:Arial;} #ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc #hd{ margin:10px 0px;font-weight:bold;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;} #ygrp-sponsor #ygrp-lc .ad{ margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;} --> <!-- #ygrp-mlmsg {font-size:13px;font-family:arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} #ygrp-mlmsg table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;} #ygrp-mlmsg select, input, textarea {font:99% arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} #ygrp-mlmsg pre, code {font:115% monospace;} #ygrp-mlmsg * {line-height:1.22em;} #ygrp-text{ font-family:Georgia; } #ygrp-text p{ margin:0 0 1em 0;} #ygrp-tpmsgs{ font-family:Arial; clear:both;} #ygrp-vitnav{ padding-top:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-size:77%;margin:0;} #ygrp-vitnav a{ padding:0 1px;} #ygrp-actbar{ clear:both;margin:25px 0;white-space:nowrap;color:#666;text-align:right;} #ygrp-actbar .left{ float:left;white-space:nowrap;} .bld{font-weight:bold;} #ygrp-grft{ font-family:Verdana;font-size:77%;padding:15px 0;} #ygrp-ft{ font-family:verdana;font-size:77%;border-top:1px solid #666; padding:5px 0; } #ygrp-mlmsg #logo{ padding-bottom:10px;} #ygrp-vital{ background-color:#e0ecee;margin-bottom:20px;padding:2px 0 8px 8px;} #ygrp-vital #vithd{ font-size:77%;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold;color:#333;text-transform:uppercase;} #ygrp-vital ul{ padding:0;margin:2px 0;} #ygrp-vital ul li{ list-style-type:none;clear:both;border:1px solid #e0ecee; } #ygrp-vital ul li .ct{ font-weight:bold;color:#ff7900;float:right;width:2em;text-align:right;padding-right:.5em;} #ygrp-vital ul li .cat{ font-weight:bold;} #ygrp-vital a{ text-decoration:none;} #ygrp-vital a:hover{ text-decoration:underline;} #ygrp-sponsor #hd{ color:#999;font-size:77%;} #ygrp-sponsor #ov{ padding:6px 13px;background-color:#e0ecee;margin-bottom:20px;} #ygrp-sponsor #ov ul{ padding:0 0 0 8px;margin:0;} #ygrp-sponsor #ov li{ list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;font-size:77%;} #ygrp-sponsor #ov li a{ text-decoration:none;font-size:130%;} #ygrp-sponsor #nc{ background-color:#eee;margin-bottom:20px;padding:0 8px;} #ygrp-sponsor .ad{ padding:8px 0;} #ygrp-sponsor .ad #hd1{ font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;color:#628c2a;font-size:100%;line-height:122%;} #ygrp-sponsor .ad a{ text-decoration:none;} #ygrp-sponsor .ad a:hover{ text-decoration:underline;} #ygrp-sponsor .ad p{ margin:0;} o{font-size:0;} .MsoNormal{ margin:0 0 0 0;} #ygrp-text tt{ font-size:120%;} blockquote{margin:0 0 0 4px;} .replbq{margin:4;} -->
