[Elecraft] RE: Elecraft Rigs as Public Relations Tools

[Rick Hampton]

I don't want to discourage anyone, especially since I too show off my KX1, but
just be sure you don't oversell the technology.  Like everything else, amateur
radio, especially QRP HF rigs, do have their limitations.  "Reliable
communications" means different things to different people.  Do I carry my KX1
with me when I'm in the back country?  Yep, it's far more reliable than my cell
phone... when I have propagation with my compromise wire antenna and there is
little noise on the band so the guy on the other end can hear my QRP signal and
I'm the one who's not injured and ... well, you get the idea.

Frankly, I think Field Day should be graded solely on maintaining 24 hour
contact with one station at least 1000 miles away and passing traffic with them,
either direct or through a relay.  Maybe then people would understand that
setting up a dedicated circuit for emergency traffic is far more difficult than
throwing up a dipole, cranking up a generator and calling CQ until someone
answers you.

Amateur radio is fun and can make a difference, but it's only ONE of the tools
to be used in an emergency, not the only tool.

Rick, WD8KEL


Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> Eric, N0HHS wrote:
>
> I have to opportunity to mentor a group of Boy Scouts for their Radio Merit
> Badge starting Tues night, and I will bring the KX1 to show them the
> incredibly cool stuff you can do with ham radio in 2005.  I will make Ron's
> point that this mode of communication gets through when nothing else can
> (barring EMP, I guess...).
>
> ---------------------
>
> That's great Eric!
>
> I like the KX1 for it's "Gee Whiz" factor because it doesn't look like a
> typical two-way radio. Guess it's my marketing training, but when I
> demonstrate my KX1 and people say "Gee whiz! Look at that!", I know that the
> image and the message will stick in their minds.
>
> To me, Ham radio emergency communications is like a fire extinguisher. We
> hope we'll never need it, but one wants to know it's there just the same.
>
> I've had the experience of suddenly being without telephone communications
> or overland access of any kind in an emergency that isolated whole towns for
> days. People were injured and dying, yet we were less than 50 miles from San
> Jose and San Francisco, CA.
>
> Once a person has had that sort of experience, the value of having emergency
> communications is never forgotten.
>
> With the sort of emergencies and threats we face today, more and more people
> are wanting the comfort of knowing that reliable communications is there if
> it is needed.
>
> Ron AC7AC