Recent disasters in the US and around the world have resulted in lost communications. Whether hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or terror attacks response to a disaster is made more difficult without effective communications. Cal OES has at least one answer to that in California - HAMS.
Good media report, although much of our technology is leading edge (digital modes) not "old". But I got what they meant.
Good video to the original OP. To you: please research your "leading edge" claim by looking at the underlying methodology and technology of our digital modes. It's by no means new, not that we don't love our digital modes. Have a great day sir!
Before moving to Oregon I served as the OES Communications Officer for Inland region (all CA counties from Sacramento to the Oregon Border east of Interstate 5 (with some overlap west of I 5 in Shasta and Siskiyou Counties). I agree with the need for amateur radio communications in some emergency situations however except in very rare circumstances amateur radio does not "save the day". During my years with OES/ACS we had one major incident (a large and destructive fire in Shasta County) where ACS was mobilized. However, the need was minimal as all "normal" communications remained operational. In that particular incident ACS provided the state EOC with some "updates" but, frankly, the same information was available to the EOC through normal Cal Fire and California Highway Patrol communications channels. Certainly ACS, like ARES and RACES, needs to be available for "worst case" which means they need to maintain their equipment and practice traffic handling. But to be perfectly honest except for health and welfare traffic for NGOs like the Salvation Army and Red Cross the need for amateur radio is less every day. Government radio systems are (or at least should be) target hardened and redundant thus eliminating the need for amateur radio assistance. Perhaps in impoverished countries, but if a state like CA truly relies on hams they have failed to properly construct and maintain their public safety radio systems. The day of amateur radio Emcomm "saving the day" is, in many places, in the past. Emcomm makes for good stories and as the ARRL has done you can capitalize on it as a recruitment tool----but with rare exception once recruited hams have no real, meaningful role in this day and age.
N7WR, the area you worked is by and large one of the LEAST likely areas in CA to have a natural disaster so devastating that amateur radio is needed. Basically the only issue they have there is wildfire, and most of those burn in areas that have sparse to no human populations. But along the coast, where earthquakes and tsunamis are a question of WHEN not if, and also where the bulk of the people are, I would think that amateur radio would have a place. Los Angeles in particular is filled with aging wood frame houses that were built cheaply by long gone real estate speculators for their maximum profit. The speculators simply didn't care about earthquakes or anything else, they simply wanted maximum profit for themselves. Today, Los Angeles is riddled with wood bungalows that are up to 80 years old, and many of which have been poorly maintained by absentee landlords. And that's not getting into all the soft story 1960s apartment buildings that are held up by thin concrete pillars, so that cars may be parked underneath. On top of all that, geologists generally agree that the last truly huge quake in the area was in 1812, when the basin was populated mainly by nomadic Indian tribes, with some scattered cattle ranches. After the next big one, it's likely that whatever comms infrastructure remains will be overloaded by frantic survivors. TV and radio stations will likely be largely unable to operate. FEMA may have its own radios, but everybody else will be on their own, and the feds will likely be unable to restore order to such a large, densely populated area for weeks if not months. Water and food will quickly run out, especially if the California Aqueduct, which crosses the San Andreas Fault, is cut. Interstate 5 and US 101 will likely be cut too, and all other freeways lead to the desert. In that case, the only real communication that 15 million + people will have with the outside world will be ham radio.
Having lived on the So Cal coastline since 1964, I am very happy to support the CARA repeater on Catalina Island. It runs on solar and at the highest elevation (airport) it is safe from tsunami and fire. Meanwhile on Santigao Peak, there are hundreds of antennas on several towers, surrounded by trees. If the power line burns, there are generators...until the fuel runs out. California is WAY PAST DUE for a serious earthquake. My parents house was built in the early 60's. It went like this: Build frame Wrap exterior walls with thick, black backing paper Wrap exterior walls with Chicken Wire Spray stucco on exterior walls. Add insulation and dry wall inside That house has been through many quakes, I have my doubts about these older homes are gonna make the 7.0+ ride. Catalina covers Southern Mexico to Santa Barbara and 50 miles inland. When the quake happens, we'll be ready.
I did not say that there was no role for amateur radio in an emergency and that includes CA. I am very familiar with the state and ALL of its potential hazards. My 50 plus years in public safety began as an amateur radio volunteer with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Disaster Communications Service. As a police chief I served in areas very susceptible to huge earthquakes and having served on the State's Governors Earthquake Task Force I am well aware that the state is over due for the "big one". While not the "big one" as a Deputy Sheriff I helped dig bodies out of the Sylmar Veterans Hospital following the 1971 quake. Having said that here are some realistic points: #1 Public safety radio systems throughout CA should, by now, be both target hardened and redundant since the various natural disaster threats have been well known for decades. Certainly with the billions of dollars of FEMA money available from 2003-2012 vulnerable systems should have been upgraded. Whether they have been or not there are NOT enough trained. equipped, able bodied hams in all of CA to provide substitute communications in the event of a public safety radio collapse in any of the major urban areas of the state. #2 I agree that Health and Welfare comms in and out of the area is an area where hams will most likely contribute IF they have a power source independent of the infrastructure. To think public safety will use hams for much more than that is a pipe dream though they may be used to provide comms from field command posts to the EOC IF public safety systems are down. #3. I am very familiar with OES/ACS and its fleet of MCU's which are often deployed around the state in major incidents. Unpaid, volunteer hams are relied on to set up and operate those MCUs....but the reality is that seldom is ham radio equipment utilized. The ham's efforts are focused on getting the state's microwave links up and its SATCOM equipment oprational. It is SATCOM rather than HF radio which is intended to link the "field" to OES Sacramento. My biggest concern has to do with the lack of physically fit, well trained, and well equipped hams in sufficient numbers to do much more than H & W traffic handling--which I grant you is important. H & W alone will be of minimal impact (drop in the bucket) given the large number of people likely to be in the effected area(s). To build expectations that in a major, regional disaster hams will save the day is to create false expectations.
Sir, I agree that hams are unlikely to be called on to assist govt agencies like FEMA and Cal OES. However, looking at it from another perspective, hams will have an important role in H&W traffic, as you acknowledge. Here the problem is, as you admit, the small number of hams who would be able to run their rigs off grid for a significant length of time. I currently run my Yaesu off a battery due to solar panel QRM, and I can say that the typical rig drains a battery VERY quickly, in addition to the natural tendency of lead-acid batteries to discharge over time even if not used. I plan on buying a solar powered battery charger. How many hams in LA have such a setup? Probably very few. In addition, LA has large numbers of immigrants from other nations, many of who speak little English and are unaware of the existence of ham radio. IMO we need to do serious outreach to people living in disaster prone areas and encourage minority communities such as Latinos and Afro-Americans to get into ham radio. The ARRL should be doing so instead of wasting resources on such things as the Parity Act.
I will respectfully but strongly disagree with N7WR, except that his point that State OES, County OES, and many cities have not and will not call on Amateur Radio ops in California for assistance, because the primary concerns of these agencies are primarly gathering information, providing long term logistical support, and security. Worthy as that may be, what is lacking with such an approach is providing TIMELY communications to those locally affected in our communities; i.e., American citizens, as to help facilitate immediate aid such as community based nurses, EMTs, doctors, rescue teams, first aid workers, tools, medicines, shelter, etc., during the first 24-48 hours as well as to perform damage assessment (windshield size-up reports). CERT was not a reality 20 years ago; but now can fill that gap; but FRS/GMRS radios are not enough in most areas; hence, the need for ham radio simple voice comms to aid our families, neighbors, and communities. Please do not look at ham radio only from the MACRO level (State, County OES or Law Enforcement needs) exclusively. Rather, a well trained ARES/RACES group (whatever you want to call it) fitted with emergency power radio systems including mobile, portable, and handheld radios can and will provide life saving communications for our fellow citizens during severe disasters, like it or not. To negate this ability does not serve us. Please look at our needs from a local/community level -- bottom up, rather than exclusively top down, if you sincerely want to help.
You know who those guys are going to be? These are the ones going on SOTA excursions with their KX2's and 817's. The hams who are in good physical shape. Many of whom are either former military, public service or search and rescue type's. They are the guys with the powerfilm roll up solar panels and LiFePo4 battery setups that don't go dead sitting around on the shelf in the shack. So no, the lead acid battery guys will not be there. They are quickly mobilized and can setup anywhere. They are also fully capable of operating off the grid indefinitely. I would even suggest there's way more than just a "few" of these kind of hams around.
It's funny that while I was reading this thread there was an announcement on the radio for storm spotter training. No mention of ham radio, CERT, REACT or anything else. Looks like a smart phone and training is the only requisite. Read whatever you wish into that but hamsters just aren't that important. anymore........useful but not important. I can hear the basher complaints gearing up already, put the reflective cape in the closet and add something useful for a change.
