The reporter doesn't have a clue.
The Motorola guy should know better.

--------------------------------------------------------------



By *CHRISTOPHER RHOADS*
*Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL*
September 6, 2005; Page A19

MONROE, La. -- In a shelter here, 300 miles north of New Orleans, Theo=20
McDaniel took his plight to a young man fiddling with a clunky,=20
outdated-looking radio.

Mr. McDaniel, a 25-year-old barber, had evacuated New Orleans with his=20
wife and two small children more than a week ago and since then had had=20
no contact with his brother or his aunt. The last he heard, his 42-year-
old aunt was clinging to her roof.

"We've got to get a message down there to help them," he said. The man=20
at the radio sent the information to the emergency-operations center=20
across town, which relayed it to rescue units in New Orleans. Later in=20
the weekend, Mr. McDaniel learned that food and water were on the way to=20
his trapped brother and his brother's young family. He had heard nothing=20
about his aunt.

With Hurricane Katrina having knocked out nearly all the high-end=20
emergency communications gear, 911 centers, cellphone towers and normal=20
fixed phone lines in its path, ham-radio operators have begun to fill=20
the information vacuum. "Right now, 99.9% of normal communications in=20
the affected region is nonexistent," says David Gore, the man operating=20
the ham radio in the Monroe shelter. "That's where we come in."

In an age of high-tech, real-time gadgetry, it's the decidedly unsexy=20
ham radio -- whose technology has changed little since World War II --=20
that is in high demand in ravaged New Orleans and environs. The Red=20
Cross issued a request for about 500 amateur radio operators -- known as=20
"hams" -- for the 260 shelters it is erecting in the area. The American=20
Radio Relay League, a national association of ham-radio operators, has=20
been deluged with requests to find people in the region. The U.S. Coast=20
Guard is looking for hams to help with its relief efforts.

Ham radios, battery operated, work well when others don't in part=20
because they are simple. Each operator acts as his own base station,=20
requiring only his radio and about 50 feet of fence wire to transmit=20
messages thousands of miles. Ham radios can send messages on multiple=20
channels and in myriad ways, including Morse code, microwave frequencies=20
and even email.

Then there are the ham-radio operators themselves, a band of radio=20
enthusiasts who spend hours jabbering with each other even during normal=20
times. They are often the first to get messages in and out of disaster=20
areas, in part because they are everywhere. (The ARRL estimates there=20
are 250,000 licensed hams in the U.S.) Sometimes they are the only=20
source of information in the first hours following a disaster. "No=20
matter how good the homeland-security system is, it will be=20
overwhelmed," says Thomas Leggett, a retired mill worker manning a ham=20
radio in the operations center here. "You don't hear about us, but we=20
are there."

Slidell, a town 30 miles northeast of New Orleans, was directly hit by=20
the hurricane and remains virtually cut off from the outside world. One=20
of the few, if not the only, communications links is Michael King, a=20
retired Navy captain, operating a ham radio out of a Slidell hospital.

"How are you holding up, Mike?" asked Sharon Riviere into a ham-radio=20
microphone at Monroe's operations center. She and her husband, Ron, who=20
is the president of the Slidell ham-radio club, had evacuated before the=20
storm to the home of some fellow ham-radio enthusiasts in Monroe. She=20
said Mr. King had been working 20-hour days since the storm hit.

Crackling static and odd, garbled sounds followed her question to Mr.=20
King. Then he replied: "It's total devastation here. I've got 18 feet of=20
water at my house. Johnny's Caf=E9 down there has water up to its roof."

Ms. Riviere asked about her own home, which is not far from Mr. King's.=20
"It's full of mud," Mr. King replied. "Looks like someone's been=20
slugging it out in there."

Ham radios are often most effective as one link in a chain of=20
communication devices. Early last week, someone trapped with 15 people=20
on a roof of a New Orleans home tried unsuccessfully to get through to a=20
911 center on his cellphone. He was able to call a relative in Baton=20
Rouge, who in turn called another relative, Sybil Hayes, in Broken=20
Arrow, Okla. Ms. Hayes, whose 81-year-old aunt was among those stranded=20
on the New Orleans roof, then called the Red Cross in Broken Arrow,=20
which handed the message to its affiliated ham-radio operator, Ben=20
Joplin.

Via stations in Oregon, Idaho and Louisiana, Mr. Joplin got the message=20
to rescue workers who were able to save the 15 people on the roof,=20
according to the ARRL, based in Newington, Conn. "We are like the Pony=20
Express," says the 26-year-old Mr. Gore, wearing black cowboy boots.=20
"One way or the other, even by hand, we will get you the message."

Mr. Gore, who is in charge of the northeastern district of Louisiana for=20
the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, has spent a lot of time the past=20
week at the Monroe shelter, helping evacuees try to track missing=20
friends and relatives.

Last Monday, Danita Alexander of Violet, La., came to a ham operator in=20
the Monroe shelter asking about her 96-year-old grandfather, Willie=20
Bright, who had been in a nursing home in New Orleans. The next day, she=20
got word back from a ham operator that he had been safely transferred to=20
a shelter near New Orleans. "We can't do enough of these," says Mark=20
Ketchell, who runs the ARES branch in Monroe.

Nevertheless, the ham-radio community feels under threat. Telecom=20
companies want to deliver broadband Internet connections over power=20
lines, which ham-radio operators say distorts communications in the=20
surrounding area. Since hams are "amateurs," there is little lobbying=20
money to fight such changes, they add.

*The hams also get little respect from telecommunications-equipment=20
companies, such as Motorola Inc. "Something is better than nothing,=20
that's right," says Jim Screeden, who runs all of Motorola's repair=20
teams in the field for its emergency-response business. "But ham radios=20
are pretty close to nothing." Mr. Screeden says ham radios can take a=20
long time to relay messages and work essentially as "party lines," with=20
multiple parties talking at once. Says Mr. Leggett at the Monroe=20
operations center: "We are the unwanted stepchild. But when the s- hits=20
the fan, who are you going to call?"*

*Write to *Christopher Rhoads at =20

Steve Stone wrote:


*The hams also get little respect from telecommunications-equipment
companies, such as Motorola Inc. "Something is better than nothing,
that's right," says Jim Screeden, who runs all of Motorola's repair
teams in the field for its emergency-response business. "But ham radios
are pretty close to nothing." Mr. Screeden says ham radios can take a
long time to relay messages and work essentially as "party lines," with
multiple parties talking at once. Says Mr. Leggett at the Monroe
operations center: "We are the unwanted stepchild. But when the s- hits
the fan, who are you going to call?"*

I sent an emil to Motorola about Mr. Screeden's comments about ham
radio. Here is the respondse.


Motorola apologizes for the way Mr. Screeden's comments appeared in
Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, Mr. Screeden was taken out
of context. (sure it was, it couldn't be any clearer of his thoughts
towards ham radio).

Motorola fully recognizes the incredible work that the amateur radio
operator community has put forth during the Hurricane Katrina response
efforts. In fact, Motorola has at least 100 of its own employees who are
amateur radio operators.We also understand the cooperation and
partnership that Motorola has developed with the amateur radio operator
community in introducing our Broadband Over Powerline solution.

We will continue to work to highlight the unique capabilities that
public safety communications and amateur radio operators both bring to
significant natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Once again, as
demonstrated by the recently publicized cooperation with amateur radio
for the Powerline LV test at ARRL headquarters, Motorola values it's
relationship with amateur radio and respects the critical and unique
work they are doing to help with the Katrina recovery efforts. The
recent WSJ article was taken out of context in comparing the simple
amateur radio communication capabilities with the very complex Public
Safety and Enterprise solutions.

We appreciate the work you and the amateur radio operator community is
putting forth. You may not know that Hurricane Katrina has become the
largest single disaster recovery effort in our company's history too. We
also hope we'll be able to establish a level of understanding and keep
our focus on the folks that need it most ... those impacted by Hurricane
Katrina.

Sincerely,

Jeff Madsen

Director, Communications & Public Affairs

Motorola, Inc.

Government & Enterprise Mobility Solutions

Email:

Office: (847)-538-7660

Cmdr Buzz Corey wrote:
Steve Stone wrote:


*The hams also get little respect from telecommunications-equipment
companies, such as Motorola Inc. "Something is better than nothing,
that's right," says Jim Screeden, who runs all of Motorola's repair
teams in the field for its emergency-response business. "But ham
radios are pretty close to nothing." Mr. Screeden says ham radios can
take a long time to relay messages and work essentially as "party
lines," with multiple parties talking at once. Says Mr. Leggett at the
Monroe operations center: "We are the unwanted stepchild. But when the
s- hits the fan, who are you going to call?"*


I sent an emil to Motorola about Mr. Screeden's comments about ham
radio. Here is the respondse.


Motorola apologizes for the way Mr. Screeden's comments appeared in
Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, Mr. Screeden was taken out
of context. (sure it was, it couldn't be any clearer of his thoughts
towards ham radio).

Hah! context indeed!

I sent off an email to them:

I read with great interest the story in the Wall Street Journal
regarding your employee Jim Screeden's attitude toward Amateur Radio and
our contribution to the relief and emergency efforts in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.
Quotes such as:
Something is better than nothing,that's right,But ham radios
are pretty close to nothing." are very, very disappointing, and I am
very sorry to see that Motorola holds such a low opinion of Amateurs and
their contribution. Other comments regarding the speed of amateur
communications are also seemingly uncalled for, and add to the
embarrassment of a public dressing down of the service.
I am sorry that Motorola holds Amateurs in such low esteem.

Michael J. Coslo KB3EIA

We'll see what their response is.

Motorola fully recognizes the incredible work that the amateur radio
operator community has put forth during the Hurricane Katrina response
efforts. In fact, Motorola has at least 100 of its own employees who are
amateur radio operators.We also understand the cooperation and
partnership that Motorola has developed with the amateur radio operator
community in introducing our Broadband Over Powerline solution.



We will continue to work to highlight the unique capabilities that
public safety communications and amateur radio operators both bring to
significant natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Once again, as
demonstrated by the recently publicized cooperation with amateur radio
for the Powerline LV test at ARRL headquarters, Motorola values it's
relationship with amateur radio and respects the critical and unique
work they are doing to help with the Katrina recovery efforts. The
recent WSJ article was taken out of context in comparing the simple
amateur radio communication capabilities with the very complex Public
Safety and Enterprise solutions.

We appreciate the work you and the amateur radio operator community is
putting forth. You may not know that Hurricane Katrina has become the
largest single disaster recovery effort in our company's history too. We
also hope we'll be able to establish a level of understanding and keep
our focus on the folks that need it most ... those impacted by Hurricane
Katrina.



Sincerely,

Jeff Madsen

Director, Communications & Public Affairs

Motorola, Inc.

Government & Enterprise Mobility Solutions

Email:

Office: (847)-538-7660