Buddy:
You don't have to go so far as India... How about
something closer to home... like San Diego
The 2003 San Diego Cedar Fires
Most people are unaware that during the
recent 2003 Cedar Fires which so devastated San Diego that Land Lines Telephones
failed due to downed wires, Cellular Systems failed due to overloading, downed
towers, failed links and signal refraction from smoke and most seriously the 800
MHz trunked emergency radio network which was used by all the fire fighters,
police and other emergency workers failed due to overloading and severe signal
refraction from the smoke. The only group that was able to provide consistent reliable communications was a group of 180+ volunteer amateur radio operators operating under the auspices of ARESŪ, CERO, ARC, CDF and CARES. This, of course, is not surprising as in most civil emergencies, such as 9/11; Amateur Radio Operators are usually the only ones that continue to communicate reliably when all other means of communications fail. Why do government communications systems always fail in true emergencies and our ham systems continue to work? The simple answer is bio diversity. We have many more frequencies, many more modes and many more highly qualified trained operators than the government does. In the rush for funds, Congress sold off much of the government emergency spectrum to the private sector. This sale which forced government emergency services into a single tiny band of frequencies coupled with totally inadequate funding, leaves the public totally unprotected every time a major emergency hits us. The government communications systems which work OK during normal times, they just can't handle the volume or diversity of real emergencies So much for Ham Radio becoming a joke! __________________________________________________________
Howard S. White Ph.D. P. Eng., VE3GFW/K6 ex-AE6SM KY6LA "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" Formerly "Awfully Extremely Six Sado Masochist" "Krazy Yankee Six Loves America" Website: www.ky6la.com ----- Original Message -----
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- [digitalradio] Emergency Communications: was Win L... Dr. Howard S. White
- Re: [digitalradio] Emergency Communications: w... gdadx2
- Re: [digitalradio] Emergency Communications... Dr. Howard S. White
- [digitalradio] unsubscribe Rick Scott
- Re: [digitalradio] Emergency Communicat... gdadx2
- [digitalradio] Re: Emergency Communications... Steve Waterman, k4cjx
- Re: [digitalradio] Emergency Communications: w... Dean Gibson AE7Q
- Re: [digitalradio] Emergency Communications... Dr. Howard S. White
- RE: [digitalradio] Emergency Communication ... Rick Williams