Demetre SV1UY wrote: > What about the Radio Hams that do not have the luxury of 100 meg > Internet that YOU ENJOY, or don't even have a 56k dial-up connection? > What about the ones who travel the world in a boat, in an RV, the ones > that are on holiday away from home? What about the ones who travel in > places where not even a mobile phone can operate? Are these not Radio > Hams?
Well I do travel in remote portions of our South West. I carry an IC 7000 and a VX-7. But I also have a satellite phone and an emergency locater in addition to my normal cell phone. It is important to separate business from a hobby. In such a situation there are not that many scenarios where ham radio would be a better emergency solution than those systems designed for the task. The reason I say this is that VHF and UHF are only occasionally viable. If there is a situation where one has a personal emergency, accident or injury, it is not really practical to set up an HF rig. There is also the question will there be the appropriate band conditions for the necessary communications. On a ship there HF gear would already be installed and would be great as a last resort, but I for one would start out with a system where I knew there was 24 hour monitoring. For those who do not have an Internet connection, I have two comments - 1 - They would be better served with a UHF link that offers decent band width. 2- I would question the legality of such a data link in the first place. > > Not to mention emergency situations where these "Extremely Wide" HF > Networking Digital Modes like PACTOR 3 might assist. (2.2 KHZ wide, > less than a voice channel, hmm some width, don't you think?) . 'Might assist' is the operative word. I don't know about you, but I have lived through a few emergencies both here in New York and elsewhere. On 9-11 we lost virtually all communications in the city. The digital radios failed our fire fighters and cost lives. Repeater systems Amateur, Public safety, cell phone and ENG were all lost when the towers fell. Regular telephone and cell phone systems were jammed. The city's emergency management office was destroyed. Things that worked then were the basic things. Same goes for the black outs we have had. We learned not to depend on any installed infrastructure. Our club is in the process of building a repeater that should remain functional under all but the very worst of situations. > > Helping in Emergencies is number ONE PRIORITY in every Amateur Service > all around the World!!! From what I have read it is also number ONE in > USA. Very true, but the modes should be reliable and usable under primitive conditions > > QSL card collection (although I do not dislike it) is not number ONE. > It is number TWO in Amateur Radio. Actually experimentation is my number two and it includes a number of digital modes. > > Are you trying to tell us that number ONE priority is worthless??? No, I am telling you that the number one priority should be given more serious consideration. Anyone can use almost any situation as a straw man and claim that it supports emergency communications. > > Everyone has the right to exercise their hobby in the Ham Radio Bands > OM. And don't tell me that PACTOR 3 operators do not listen before > they transmit. They always listen because they want their transmitters > to stay cool, especially if this HF radio they are using is their only > means of communication. Makes sense doesn't it? At least I hope it > does to you!!! That is not what other PACTOR operators have stated as recently as today in this thread. PACTOR stations listen for other PACTOR stations but not stations operating in other modes.
