An update on the situation coming out of Tonga. A very large volcano has erupted disrupting satellite, communications and telephone networks. Electricity has also been affected. In this video I share the latest update on the ham radio communication efforts for disaster relief.
Thank you for the report. I haven't seen much of what's going on in Tonga, now I know a bit more. Mahalo!
It wasnt shown here in the media what really happend in the near of Tonga. And it shows again that nature got always the last word without a warning. Thanks for the report.
TL: DR . No active hams on Tonga. HF disrupted anyway due to lightning from ash cloud. Satcom suffers similar issue. Some short range relay links via vhf and marine vhf to boats So, no you won’t hear emcom Hf traffic from Tonga. Amateur radio is irrelevant in this situation.
Thanks for the report. Maybe this will be a wake up call for the islands. On the other side of the planet several locations are working to improve comms now. Have a few stations in PR and VI that are now active on JS8 call which has a better chance of getting through when SSB fails and there is always CW. They are finding they work when Vara and winlink/pactor will not.
It is tragic that ham radio is not being used as backup. This is not a universal problem with the Pacific islands--SOME have ham stations such as VP6MW. Antoine is a great guy and those folks should listen to him.
Surprised we haven't heard from cruising sailors in the area...might be propogation problems. Most cruisers have HF SSB on their boats and many are hams.
Our thoughts are with our Pacific Brothers in the ' Friendly Isles ' of Tonga. A pressure wave was recorded in Hawaii ( It's on Youtube ) at the Gemini Observatories atop Mauna Kea but the Tsunami ' waves ' were essentially ' Ankle snappers ' of 2 - 3 ft here. However the Tsunami in Tonga has been reported in various locations as around 40 ft. G3SEA/KH6
Thanks for the report. There won't be many, if any, cruising yachts in Tonga right now, not least because it's the middle of the South Pacific cyclone season, and any sensible sailor will have headed out of the tropics months ago. And, of course, Covid has severely disrupted the whole ocean-cruising community's plans. So don't expect too much HF noise from A35*** /MM. There was a report a few days ago in the media here in ZL that the Tongan Deputy Prime Minister (IIRC) was asking for donations of ham radio equipment. I guess the poor bloke didn't realise that a certain amount of training is required. In a crisis one may use any method at one's disposal to get help, so the legality of non-hams using ham gear in Tonga in their present circumstances is not a problem. The Royal New Zealand Navy has sent two ships to Tonga with drinking water and other supplies, and an RNZAF C130 has made an airlift. Mike ZL2AUA, ex G4CLS/MM.
That is exactly right, Chip. These situations and the response can create opportunity for amateur radio. But it has to be done through logic, influence, and lobbying and that becomes difficult. Puerto Rico was another recent example -- ham radio in PR today is more alive and established than the past 75 years due to hurricane maria in 2017. The hurricane and comms response was hardly perfect but in the end it helped the folks on PR to see the value of ham radio. Today, many locals affectionately call us hams not as ham radio operators, or hams, or amateur radio operators but rather as "Kah-Pay-Quatro's" .. (KP4's..). They saw hams in action, helping out in a good way.
Regarding activity- A few pics I posted on Jan 15,16. HamSpots A3 digi search/Jan16- Cluster A3 search/Marine Tfc Net Region 3 (+1,2).. DxWorld- I didn't see any bulletins here. There might be updates. A cluster search of neighboring entities might yield some info.
