[600MRG] WAS Emergency Traffic on 630m NOW: I dunno - general complaining about the state of MF and LF???

[Ed Cole]

Roger (and all):

1957, huh.  I got my license in 1958 at age 14 so guess we are same age. 
  I remember the AM heterodynes on HF.

I have the same experience with short-range 600m ground-wave comms 
(always there).

Emergency response during Katrina Hurricane on the Gulf of Mexico was a 
shambles.  Nat'l Guard had one satellite phone (emcomms was a mess). 
Were lessons learned??

In March 1964 Alaska experienced a 9.2 earthquake.  Commercial & 
Military comms were down, power and phones dead, roads and railroads 
impassible.  Undersea cables to lower-48 severed.

Ham radio provided needed comms to the lower-48.  But if hams rely on 
the same infrastructure as commercial folks chances are they will not work.

But sometimes folks just have to learn the hard way.

73, Ed - KL7UW
former EMT, radio op during Exxon-Valdez oil spill, head of comms for an 
oil spill recovery organization (Cook Inlet).

Seen the same reaction to an emergency (repeatedly): grab the phone 
(dead), grab the cell (no connection), if they have radios they will not 
interconnect with other services.  Total lack of planning.

On 12/1/2021 9:49 AM, Roger Graves wrote:
> Hi Bill,
> 
> Interesting thread.
> 
> Your post was a nice reminder - my “Elmer” in 1957 (W1WCI, SK of course) who helped me get my novice license (KN1CZM) and get on the air did exactly that, 160 mobile AM for locals and 20m for DX. Remember what 20m AM sounded like when the band was open, wall to wall big sigs and heterodynes?
> 
> Re. local ecomms, my QTH is on a high earthquake prone island and if we get the big one there will be a major ecomm need for communication with the mainland city, 60m away. No HF band provides reliable communication over that distance. 160 and 80 drop out completely at times. The 160m contest coming up has shown that every year, the big guns on the mainland completely disappear as the evening goes on. I ran tests on 630m that showed the groundwave was 24/7 perfectly reliable between here to the guys in that mainland city. The local ecomm guys however showed no interest in our results, they are committed to their UHF links, which work fine, as long as their repeater towers stay up with power.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Roger
> 
> 
>> On Dec 1, 2021, at 4:58 AM, William Cromwell <wrcromwell at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Ken,
>>
>> In reading the exploits of *really* OLD timers and talking to a few of them in nursing homes (many moons ago) 160 meter mobile AM filled the role that VHF-FM repeaters somewhat fill now. I haven't been on VHF-FM repeaters for long time - partly because there are none in my immediate area and we have some hills. The traffic on VHF-FM has rather deteriorated too.
>>
>> **'really old timers' are ALL silent keys long ago. Otherwise not old enough to qualify:)
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Bill KU8H
>>
>> bark less - wag more
>>
>> On 12/1/21 12:36 AM, Kenneth G. Gordon wrote:
>>> On 30 Nov 2021 at 23:07, William Cromwell wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> QMN, The Michigan Traffic Net has occasionally moved to 160 meters as
>>>> propagation dictated. QMN claims to be the oldest CW traffic net still
>>>> on the air. 18:30 and 22:00 Eastern time weeknights on 3563 kHz +/- QRM.
>>>>
>>>> 73,
>>>>
>>>> Bill  KU8H
>>> I have tried for several years to get my CW net traffic-handling buddies to use 160 meters,
>>> and at one time had three of them, out of at least 50 hams, who did use it when 80 meters
>>> failed.
>>>
>>> When we did use it, in most cases, if we couldn't hear one another on 80, we were well over
>>> S-9 on 160 meters....not always, mind you, but very often.
>>>
>>> Many of the others told me that the antenna issues were their main stumbling block.
>>>
>>> I kept telling them that it wasn't all that hard. If they had an 80 meter antenna, then they also
>>> had an acceptable 160 meter one.....but most wouldn't even try.
>>>
>>> I still mention it whenever I have the opportunity.
>>>
>>> I still maintain that 600 meters would be ideal for EMCOMMS at particular times and
>>> conditions.
>>>
>>> Ken W7EKB
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