[ARRL-OK] Fw: Amateur Radio gets full page in Tulsa World 12-NOV-2002

Wed, 13 Nov 2002 08:42:47 -0600

For those who lack web access, I have pasted the article, which I
retrieved by email only, below Charlie's message.  It's all the way at
the end.

Let me know how more I can help.

Lloyd Colston             Mayes County Emergency Management
Pryor, OK USA           http://www.geocities.com/mccem
        Don't let Yesterday take up too much of Today.

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "ARRL Web site" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Cc: Subscribed ARRL Members: ;
Date: 13 Nov 2002 13:15:41 -0000
Subject: Amateur Radio gets full page in Tulsa World 12-NOV-2002
Message-ID: <[email protected]>

Read the article online at
http://members.cox.net/arrl-ok/HamRadio-12-NOV-2002.htm  This article's
co-author, Joe Iverson, Tulsa World Staff writer is KD5KKZ and Chair of
the Engineering committee of the Tulsa Repeater Organization.  Tim
Diehl, KB5ZVC, is the Trustee for the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club.  The
picture of Tim and his family occupied 1/3 of a page in the printed
version.

73
Charlie Calhoun, K5TTT
ARRL Section Manager,
OK Section

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Oklahoma Section
Section Manager: Charlie Calhoun, K5TTT
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Amateur Radio: 'Hamming' it up can sometimes save lives By JOE IVERSON
   and GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writers
   11/12/2002

   [IMAGE] Amateur radio enthusiasts Tim Diehl, his wife, Sarah, and
   their 12-year-old daughter, Lauren, are shown with some of their gear.
   All three have ham radio licenses.

   Second from top: During severe weather, amateur radio operators assist
   employees of the National Weather Service in Tulsa. The ham operators,
   working from the weather service office, take weather information and
   radar data and send all of the information to spotters in the field.

   Third from top: Mark Thrash (left) and Tom Hance go over a list of
   entrants in the Tulsa State Fair parade on Sept. 28. The amateur radio
   operators provide communications at a dozen or so events such as
   parades and runs in northeastern Oklahoma each year.

   Bottom: Bud Blust watches monitors of the amateur television signal he
   is transmitting, which is being retransmitted by amateur repeaters to
   other hams around Tulsa. 
   Photos by JOE IVERSON / Tulsa World 

     _________________________________________________________________

  Amateur radio users love what they do, especially helping out in times
of
  crisis.

   The use of a ham can be a lifesaver in wacky weather, help events run
   smoothly or serve as a shared hobby for families.

   Amateur radio, known as "ham" radio by many, is regulated by the
   Federal Communications Commission and has a consistent legion of fans.

   Mike McCool, the director of Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency,
   said amateur radio has been the most important tool when local
   communication systems are knocked out during emergencies.

   "Amateurs provide us with communications during and after a storm,"
   McCool said.

   [IMAGE] "They are also an alternate means of communications in case
   the city's 800-megahertz (emergency services) system goes down. And
   they can man the emergency rooms in the area's six hospitals during a
   medical emergency."

   Operators are also included in emergency exercises in Tulsa. In April,
   ham operators broadcast live television images from the airport to
   downtown.

   Ham operators have been sought in exercises at Camp Gruber and alerted
   state officials to a telephone outage in 1998.

   Jay Davis, Tulsa Regional Medical Center's safety officer and
   Hillcrest Healthcare System safety coordinator, said the operators
   aided hospitals during the telephone outage.

   Davis, a licensed ham operator since 1979, said all area hospitals
   bought amateur radios to address the Y2K concerns. The radios were on
   hand in case the computer and electronic systems jammed as the clocks
   switched from the year 1999 to 2000.

   "Ham radio is the easiest, most reliable, most affordable backup
   communication we can have," Davis said. "And I'm not just saying that
   because I'm a ham."

   George Mathews, warning coordinator meteorologist for the Tulsa office
   of the National Weather Service, said amateur radio operators are used
   by the weather service through the Skywarn program.

   Ham operators are one of the few volunteer groups used in-house, he
   said.

   During severe weather events, there are usually two radio operators
   and one person logging radio contacts at the Tulsa office.

   The operators take the information the weather officials are
   reporting, combine that with the radar data then send all the
   information to spotters in the field.

   It also is the responsibility of ham operators to warn spotters of any
   dangers near them, Mathews said.

   [IMAGE] Mathews said cellular phones are limited to direct
   communications between two people. Amateur radio can be heard by
   anyone monitoring the radio traffic on the frequencies.

   The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services was established as a formal
   organization between community civil defense entities and amateur
   radio operators.

   When an emergency arises requiring the need for ham operators, the FCC
   will declare a general communication emergency.

   The FCC will set aside certain frequencies to be used only by amateurs
   handling emergency traffic. The FCC monitors those frequencies for any
   violations.

   This year, the FCC has declared communication emergencies on three
   occasions -- June 24 for wildfires in Arizona, July 8 during flooding
   in Texas and Sept. 24 for five states after Tropical Storm Isidore
   made landfall.

   In cases where a formal emergency is not declared, operators may still
   be used for communication by activating the Amateur Radio Emergency
   Service.

   This year, the service was used while firefighters battled wildfires
   in New Mexico and Colorado.

   Communication during special events can be handled by amateur radio.
   Officials at the Superbowl and the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
   asked ham operators for assistance to oversee the crowds.

   Locally, ham operators have been involved in more than 12 events each
   year in northeast Oklahoma, including the Tulsa Run and Maple Ridge
   Run.

   As a hobby, families can use amateur radio as a source of
   entertainment and shared interest.

   Tulsan Tim Diehl enjoys his passion for ham radio with his wife and
   daughter.

   Diehl gained his amateur license in 1993 and works for a local radio
   communication company. He got the electronics bug as a child, with an
   early memory of taking a flashlight apart at age 4.

   [IMAGE] "At the age of 10, I was fixing things for neighbors up and
   down the street," Diehl said.

   Now, with 1,080 hours in electronic classes at Tulsa Technology
   Center, Diehl better understands how electrons flow.

   His wife, Sarah, got her license in 1995, mainly to stay in touch with
   her husband when he travels.

   "It helps to cut down on cell time," she said. "I also think it is a
   good thing to have."

   His wife said she enjoys the socialization aspect of ham radio.

   "It is something we can do as a family," she said. "I'm not as
   involved as I could be, but it is hard with three kids."

   Diehl's 12-year-old daughter, Lauren, has been licensed to use a ham
   radio since she was 10.

   Lauren said she especially likes to send images back and forth to her
   friend, Hanna Huffstetler, who is another ham operator.

   While the Diehl family has used the ham radio as a hobby, they have
   also jumped in to help in emergencies.

   Diehl joined other operators -- Gregg Wonderly, Dave Smith and Dan
   Lamoreaux -- in restoring Collinville's dispatch equipment when it was
   destroyed in a fire in December 2001.

   The operators donated time and commercial-grade radio equipment to
   re-program the city's frequencies to re-establish radio contact.

   Web site: [31]http://www.arrl.net/

   Joe Iverson, World staff photographer, can be reached at 605-4180, or
   via e-mail at [32][email protected].
   Ginnie Graham, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8376 or via
   e-mail at [33][email protected].

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