[CW] Subbands

[Alan W. N5LF]

Scott McMullen asked:
>does anyone know if any of the ares section
> nets have experimented with "holistic" nets,
> which allow participants to check in using
> whatever mode or facility is available to
> them?

I don't know of any ARES HF nets that drill this way.  However, I have
experienced it in real like several times during real emergencies.

Once during a hurricane a FL station checked into the Gulf Coast Hurricane
net on CW running off of batteries.

Another time, during a geomagnetic radio blackout we had trouble on the TX
Emergency Net hearing each other on SSB across TX & surrounding states.  I
was manning the HF station at the State EOC, and I & another station
switched to CW to see if we could be heard better -- and of course everyone
heard us MUCH better.

I also know of someone who received an urgent message while using CW from a
ham in a small village in Cuba during a hurricane who needed medicine for
his wife.  He kept the station on frequency for an hour or more while he
tried using the landline to get the Red Cross (even speaking to Havana at
one point) and other organizations to set something up for assitance.

All these examples occurred in the last 5 or 6 years.

Alan W. N5LF