[ARRL-OK] Overpopulating Repeaters WAS Re: Amateur Power

[Lloyd Colston]

>
>
>amateur radio licenses and equipment.  I think something is
>fundementally wrong with large groups, such as firemen, taking the tech
>test just so they can have backup comms in their trucks, the test being a
>minor inconvenience.  While perfectly legal and a good thing to have
>  
>
There are five areas that the Federal Communications Commission 
recognizes as the fundamental reasons for the existence of the Amateur 
Radio Service.  Emergency Communications and supplying a pool of trained 
radio operators is two of the five.

In other words, there are different reasons why people join the ranks of 
amateur radio.

If EMCOM is the ONE reason why I join amateur radio, IMO, it is a 
legitimate reason and NOT fundamentally wrong.

>(backup), this could have the effect of overpopulating a particular
>repeater if a department is large enough.  This could put a ham
>in a position where his repeater is co-opted by a group of fire or police
>  
>

Not necessarily, if the repeater owner dots his eyes and crosses his 
Tees.  For years now, I have been calling on repeater owners to sign 
memorandums of understanding with their local Emergency Manager.  In 
other words, the repeater owner who does not want his repeater used for 
emergency communications has only to do nothing.  Those who want their 
repeater to be used as a resource would work with the local government.

The necessity of this comes to play in the disasters that call for a 
response from afar.  When it comes time to reprogram radios, I won't 
need to program EVERY repeater in a 30 mile radius of Ground Zero.  I 
only need to program those that have MOUs with your local government.

One other solution is to use simplex and Voice Over Internet Protocol.  
In Oklahoma, this is a plan to link all the Emergency Operation Centers 
in the State with the State Emergency Operations Center using Echolink 
and simplex channels.  This allows the user to only need one or two 
simplex channels in the radio to cover the entire State.

>men and basically puts the ham who got his ticket to be a ham out of
>business so to speak.  In other words, most people take their ham
>test to be a ham.  The article suggests taking the test to get free
>use of a privately owned repeater as a backup resource.  I guess what
>I am trying to say, it muddles or cheapens the reason one gets his
>ticket and puts up a privately funded repeater.  Its a strange situation for sure.
>
You assume that repeaters are the only item useful in a disaster, yet 
you posted this on a reflector that is dedicated to HF emergency 
communications.  In reality, only Emergency Communications Declarations 
from the FCC will be protecting these five HF channels and the UHF or 
VHF channels (not necessarily repeaters).  The ECD only comes from the 
request of the emergency manager or his designee. 

Locally, I will only ask for an ECD for those repeaters that have the 
MOU with my office and one or two of the 60 meter channels, if 
necessary.  Realistically, I doubt I'd be using 60 meters because there 
has been no rush to use it and MARS is a resource that is already in 
place as well as willing to serve.

As I pointed out above, simplex channels can be just as useful as a 
repeater.  HF channels were used in South Texas during the recent 
disaster because the VHF and UHF repeaters became silent because of 
power outages or damage.

Let me know how more I can help.

-- 


Lloyd Colston             Mayes County Emergency Management
Pryor, OK USA           http://www.mayescem.us

"The President can make you a general, but only communications 
can make you a commander."  General Curtis LeMay