Dave wrote in message
news

"TOM" wrote in message
...
I thought I might share a couple of observations I've made regarding the
Amateur Service; the situation in other locations may differ.

Based upon my adventures last year in Florida when we got pounded by
three
hurricanes I was interested in finding out the utility of my Ham two
meter
transceiver by taking advantage of Field Day (simulated emergency test)
in
June. I raised a collinear with an advertised gain of 7 dB to thirty
feet
and powered my transceiver with a deep cycle battery. Operating on the
'National Simplex Calling Frequency' 146.52 MHz with 75 watts output
power
I

ok, so you don't know about the modern field day. today field day is not
about emergency communications, its a time to get out in the woods, drink
some beers, tell war stories, and maybe make some contacts... since vhf
isn't a place to make lots of contacts most field day operations are on
hf.

yea... your are right---poor leadership and vision. The simulated emergency
is not a simulated emergency test but more of a sales opportunity for ARRL
pins and tee-shirts. HOW ABOUT AN FD IN WINTER?



As the FCC
recently granted amateurs five channels in the HF (60 meter) band: 5332,
5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz
every time I check them, remain unused.

ok, so you aren't checking them at the right time. they are used, though
lightly since many radios need modifications, lots of people don't have
antennas for them, and the channelized requirements are rather odd so lots
of people aren't really interested in them... especially since there are
no
operating events, contests, awards, or other reason to be there if you
aren't interested in propagation exploration.

A citation from the ARRL's Petition for Rule Making to the FCC
concluded, in part, "An Amateur Allocation in this band (60 meters)
would
improve the Amateur Service's already exemplary record of providing
emergency

yeah, yeah, what else did you expect them to say? thats probably
boilerplate they put on every memo they send to washington or gettysburg.

Yea... that's why I provided the cite


Additionally, its odd about the amateur service that proclaims itself to
be
devoted to emergency service but dropped its distress frequencies.
Until

this might be nice to have, but then again there are so many frequencies
claimed by so many different nets and organizations that finding some
place
to do this would be a real pain. then it would end up being a constant
battle between those who want to keep it clear and those who want to use
any
clear frequency they can find. emergency frequencies are easily
proclaimed
for short periods by the fcc and as seen in recent hurricane operations
they
are relatively well respected world wide and very well utilized.

yea... a screwed up mess---amateur radio. If I needed to pass distress I'd
go military/commercial instead of trying to convince a bunch of knob
twisters that I am legit traffic.


out why the ARRL dropped them. Its beyon my comprehension that a
communications service, world wide in extent, that doesn't assign
frequencies,

the arrl is not a communications service. they are a membership body, if
the members aren't interested it won't get done. world wide allocation of
frequencies would have to be done via the iaru and then would only have
the
force of a recommendation on each of the member countries since each one
has
its own regulatory body like the fcc who may or maynot add the force of
law
to such recommendations.

yea... how many decades of proclaimed emergency service---CFR Title 47,
Part 97 Amateur Radio Service


transceiver so I could access the, FCC authorized, 5167.5 kHz amateur
service Alaskan Emergency Frequency. It was only through the force of
my

i thought you were in florida? anyway, mods for most radios can be found
easily on-line these days. and for radios like the ft-1000mp its just a
matter of pressing a few secret button combinations and you can transmit
anywhere, right out of the box you could receive anywhere anyway so you
could monitor those frequencies.


yea... besides hobby lobby radio I worked global communications for numerous
military/commercial telecommunications circuits at locations thoughout the
world. Yea... no internet back then, picked up new rig and headed
overseas---needed info not BS.


Although the amateur service has
played a significant role in handling emergency communications in the
past,
the changing face of technology has relegated the amateur service to
a position of little consequence---possibility, with better leadership,
the amateur service can regain its former stature.

then why are they now recruiting for relief operators to go in to the
katrina and rita areas to continue operating with fema and other agencies?
if we were of so little use why do they still want our help? and
apparently
will want it for a while yet in just that area??

yea... last I heard FEMA was phasing them out and besides, what took the
ARRL so long to respond (many comments). Furthermore, what was the state of
affairs of comms in NO---hams said practically everything was down.




I sincerely think, that with the devastation of Charley, Frances and
Jeanne
last year, and Katrina this year, the ARRL really needs to get off their
ass
and come up with a serious emergency communications plan.

have you talked to your section emergency coordinator recently, that is
the
starting place? he/she should be able to provide you with the local
plans
and links to training courses and all the other stuff you want to know.

I'm trying to raise and interest outside of 'normal' channels---SEC's
haven't shown any initiative---can't get out of their wheelchairs.


Isn't this a poor way of responding to a post? Thanks Dave for your
comments though.