Board Ramps Up Focus on EmComm Issues

I know what's coming. FEMA interoperability requirements WILL OBSOLETE the use of amateur radio. It simply will not cut the mustard for a hospital to have an amateur station for a backup comm system when FEMA expects them to interoperate with other public service agencies in the region using Part 90 frequencies and systems.

Governors like the one in Oregon that are wasting money installing amateur equipment as primary backup infrastructure instead of building out Part 90 systems are going to be caught holding the bag of wasted money within a few years.

This isn't specialized knowledge. *EVERYONE* I know that is involved in public safety communications know this is coming.

You can whine about it all you want. It won't change anything.

No, you haven't. Your last statement shows that you actually have very little to offer on this subject beyond the ARRL canard of "when all else fails".

Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

tim ab0wr

 

So you're saying that cell phone service did NOT go out?

Just want to make sure, because I think that is what you are saying. And that would contradict the news reports and the link you posted. But, I suppose that sitting there in Kansas makes you an expert on what happened in CA.

Joe

 

The cell phone *systems* were not out of service. Certain cell sites were. The instructions the authorities were providing were for the PUBLIC, not for public agencies. Public agency communications were apparently affected hardly at all. That's why police and ambulances were dispatched into the affected areas -- the dispatch center could still communicate with these responders via Part 90. It was the public accessing the 911 center that was having a problem.

That's why you need to take any propaganda playing up the role hams played with a grain of salt. Manning a ham station is a far different thing than actually being of any use.

tim ab0wr

 

Stop putting words in my mouth, Joe.

Instead of making up what I said why don't you just provide a direct quote of what I said and then ask about it?

I'm not falling for this tactic of yours any more. You are a troll, nothing more. Go back under your bridge.

tim ab0wr

 

OK, I'll quote again what you said:

To me that sounds as if you think the cell phones were fine. Later, you backtrack a little with this quote:

So, now you concede that there was "some" sites that were loss, but ATT was not affected.

But from this news source we read:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2344762,00.asp

And this one says something similar:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-04-10/news/17191717_1_cables-debit-cards-vandals

And this one is similar:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12106300?nclick_check=1

And this one:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/04/10/att-becomes-victim-of-sabotage-in-northern-california/

So, pretty sure cell phones couldn't be relied upon. Maybe next time those reporter guys in NorCal will call Kansas before they make such claims.

Joe

 

I figure this is what will happen:
1. MARS has already added a forth membership position, the "served agency".
2. With MARS being the holder of Winlink, and proven on it's frequencies WL2K does work well,
3. The DoD will do away with all the "volunteer" MARS members, and you will have served agencies using WL2K on those frequencies.
4. The DoD will "manage" those frequencies for all the served agencies, such as TSA, FEMA, and down to the State EMA levels.
5. If amateur radio has a role at all, it will be local VHF / UHF comms, and probably that will go away as soon as the Federal Government figures out that huge amounts of grant money have been wasted on systems that don't work, and they put in place a system that does.

de NA4IT

 

Thankfully, the Democratic Governor of Oregon isn't only installing Winlink equipment, he's supporting (as is their legislature) and spending over $400 Million to build out a statewide, 300-Site, 700 and 800 MHz, Project 25, trunked radio system called the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (OWIN), http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/OWIN/about_us.shtml.

Regarding OWIN, I just finished a year in Salem as one of two independent engineering consultants on this project. Reference my simplistic paper on OWIN:

OWIN System Architecture Primer

73.

 

I'll make another comment. What happened to the ham that could carry in a radio, battery, a little rope and wire, and communicate? Now, it is expected that you have DSTAR, WL2K, and a whole host of other digital goodies, which is not bad in itself, but we need to get back to the basics, plain ol communications. Even a recent news article mentioned amateur radio as "low tech". Now the "volunteer" ham is supposed to communicate, unload trucks, patch roofs, do first aid, etc, etc, etc.

 

There is a small logic problem. Most of the linked data services on ham radio also use the internet. SO if the internet is down they are down. If the internet is up their value is much less.

In my opinion our best emergency support is basic radio to radio and services that only use radio to radio for data. When everything else has failed, well only emergency powered ham radio might work.

 

Actually, part of police/fire etc duty IS talking on the radio and they do it better than most hams. This is because they speak the language of thier particular duty and understand service paticular jargon. Hams have NO business handling commercial communications. Esopecially those that actually involve the safety of life and property.

NI7I

 

and you missrepresebnt the truth

 

On the 11th of this month, I created a "one vote only" Poll on
Should Paid Hams be allowed to participate in drills?

It's a simple Yes or No Poll. So far I have made 2 ARRL divisions aware of this poll, and they are watching it. It is just a poll, but it is one way to collect numbers on both sides to be food for thought on the issue, and a sample of what the ham community wants.

Instructions for voting are at the top of the website. No private info is displayed, but in order to make the poll accurate, you must register with your call so I know you are a real ham. It does NOT put you on an email list either!

Please cast a vote! http://ArkansasAirwaves.net
Spread the word to your Division Directors so they can see the numbers. If they ever want me to back up the poll, I can provide them with the actual data for the counts, no problem.

73
Brian / W5AMI
"Keep the Amateur in Amateur Radio!"

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Unfortunately open polls have a way of being abused by one side or another of an issue and aren't really representative of what the majority thinks. Typically some vocal, aggressive minority with an agenda will tell all it's members and sympathizers to go flood the poll for the purpose of skewing it.

If the results agree with the position that ARRL has already taken, they'll cite the poll as support. If the results do not agree with what they want, they'll say that the poll was not scientific and doesn't count.

A random poll would be more meaningful since it can't be manipulated. ARRL is in the best position to conduct such a poll. But they won't. They are afraid of actually finding out what their members and hams in general want. They're afraid the answer won't be what they want.

 

Well, I agree to some extent. However if people are told about it, and vote one way or the other, I suspect that's the way they *really* feel, and so be it.

The board may not say a word about it, but don't think for one minute they don't think about it, and know the regular "Joe ham" sees it too.

The League doesn't provide the poll, so I did.

73
Brian / w5ami
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Joe, the *LANDLINE* telephone system was not lost. The *CELLULAR* telephone system was not lost.

If you will actually *READ* the news reports instead of just looking for "gotcha" support you will find statements like the following:

"But like Verizon Wireless, Sprint also uses AT&T's network to carry its so-called "backhaul" wireless traffic from its cell towers to its own national network."

WHAT WAS LOST WAS CELL SITES. Specifically those cell sites whose trunks were being carried over the fiber that was cut.

That was *NOT* all cell sites in the area.

The loss of cell sites does *NOT* make cellular telephone *unreliable* -- except in your "gotcha" world view. Cell sites are lost all the time, every day of every year. Backhoe fade, vandalism, just plain equipment failure cause this all the time!

Using *your* worldview that must mean that cell phone service is *unreliable* as a baseline.

What a joke!

Why do you think the authorities recommended to the citizens that they try to use their cell phones to contact emergency services as a first choice?

Amateur radio is NOT more reliable than cell service no matter what anyone says.

tim ab0wr