"labtech_one" wrote in message
...
Ok so we argree that the chances are roughly ( give or take a few
percentages)
that a ham on a scene is about as good as finding an 'emergency' (
police/fire)
person.

And I never said there wasn't a 'place' for ham radio, as a hobby its
great,
if thats what you enjoy, ( same as me restoring 20 year old cars and
listening to my shortwave ( talk about a dying hobby ), or my scanners,
( also evolving, to digital and a pain in the butt )
I even own a couple Yeasu FT767 GX+ rigs, 1 with filtered
speaker, and the other with the phone patch speaker
Both have the 6m, 2m, 70cm modules ( both came that way),
They make FANTASTIC shortwave radios.

Don't get me wrong, I love radio, radios, and radio equipment
( I've spent thousands of dollars on radios ) The one I cherrish
the most, is probably my 1938 Zenith 9 tube Walton tombstone
tube radio.

Justifying HAM radio by its NEED in a emergercy, just isn't
as true as it was 30, 40 or 50 years ago. As a hobby, I say
go for it, but don't expect people to believe that ham radio is NEEDED.

What annoys me, is the jackass's that clung to CW like it was the
very heart of ham radio. Its outdated ( a relic from before the civil
war ) Had these people changed the rules 30 years ago and got
more and younger people interested, ham radio might not be where
it is today.

In a real catastrophe or disaster, it is unknown how a society's
infrastructure will be damaged. Who knows -- maybe transportation, maybe
communications, maybe government, maybe something else, will collapse.
That's part of why you have redundant backup systems (like HAM radio) in the
event of an emergency. True, HAM radio is not the most efficient available
today, but like in a situation like hurricane Katrina, when government,
communications, transportation, etc., have collapsed, it is a handy backup
system.
-Mindraker