--- In [email protected], "john_ke5c" <k...@...> wrote:
> > couple of ISP NOCs (even though the building was flooded). If > > I can't find any data or verification of that claim; am I searching > incorrectly? For all of New Orleans and surrounding parishes? "In New Orleans, two major tech firms have managed to keep up and running from the upper floors of a skyscraper though supplies of diesel fuel for their generator are limited. Again as reported by Wired, New Orleans ISP and web hosting firm Zipa and a related firm, DirectNIC remained online throughout the hurricane and still continue to provide hosting services. Their Internet connection, a fiber line buried ten stories below the city, survived the disaster intact." == http://www.searchengineguide.com/jim-hedger/online-commun.php Other reference: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/10/26/zipa_gains_nearly_1_million_sites_as_it_weathers_katrina.html > > > Shoot, with that thinking I shouldn't bother having a car because > > bridges will probably go out during a major earthquake in my area. > > Yes, I think it would be pretty dumb to expect your car to be of any use > during a major earthquake in your area. If your goal is to have some form of > transportation in that emergency, get a bicycle. You miss the whole point. I am not going to avoid having a car, just because a bridge MIGHT be down and you would be amazed where you can get with a good 4 wheel drive, when you need to and if the bridge survives or I drive around it I have all the luxury of a car over a bicycle or walking. If I need to improvise, I might use a bicycle or boat or whatever. Having D-STAR would be analogous to having a 4WD vehicle that also is amphibious ... since it can do both traditional FM and digital. > I think it would be equally dumb to build an emergency communciation system > that depended on the internet. Isn't dumber to leave Internet out just because someone thinks it MIGHT not survive in an emergency? If the Internet goes down and the repeater is still up -- its still a repeater and can be used for that. >If your goal is to have emergency communications in that emergency, get an FM >(or better yet, HF) radio and a generator - I'm pretty sure that's what they >used during Katrina... > Yup, that's what they used - D-STAR was not nearly deployed as it is now. Much of the gulf coast has implemented D-STAR systems since Katrina, so heaven forbid another major storm, I'm sure you will see D-STAR, FM, HF SSB, semaphores, drums, whatever it takes to get the traffic to a point where it can be relayed by more prolific transport (e.g. phone, Internet, etc.) > > Hams can improvise under conditions that would bring public safety > > radio folks to their knees. You put a hotspot somewhere that has > > Internet connectivity (these events rarely take out every possible > > avenue to the Internet) et voila you are back on the D-STAR network. > > There are a lot of claims and promises for DStar as an Emcomm solution but no > real world success stories. Time will tell, but I'd take an a mutli-mode > HF/VHF rig like the FT-857D if I could have only one rig for an emergency... > > 73 -- John > The point is, most people don't have only one radio. The way you are talking perhaps we need a disaster in a D-STAR equipped area just to show you how it can work. There are certainly drills that have shown its effectiveness. We don't go and create disasters just to prove something to the naysayers. Yes, there is hyperbole about D-STAR for EMCOMM, heaven knows there is hyperbole about hams saving the world in a disaster. That shouldn't stop us from developing systems around digital technology, and specifically D-STAR to help where we can and to have some fun along the way as we learn about newer technology and create applications that use it. -- DE K7VE
