[Elecraft] NVIS HF vs VHF line-of-sight & CB in 9.0 quakes

[Don Wilhelm]

One important thing I forget to mention is that you should learn how to 
construct your own effective antennas.
To my mind, that skill may be critical in an emergency. and with the 
proliferation (and acceptance) of ready made manufactured antennas, I am 
afraid that skill is decreasing in ham radio circles.  Yes, it does take 
a bit of studying and experimenting, but is not really that difficult. 
If you can do simple multiplication and division, you can calculate the 
length of a halfwave antenna that can be used for effective 
communications - all it takes is some wire and a feedline.

73,
Don W3FPR

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Stan,

While you have made your motives clear, if such an emergency does arise, 
just powering up radios and transmitting can result in communications chaos.

I encourage you to get on the air not only to familiarize yourself with 
your equipment, but also to experiment with a variety of antennas that 
can be deployed easily - your home antennas will likely come down in 
such a disaster.

Get involved with local ECOM organizations, and if they do not exist for 
you, form one.
Ordered nets are the norm during emergencies, and someone has to act as 
net control - to whom all traffic is directed.  Establish standard 
frequencies and practice, practice, practice so that all participating 
know the format and the rules of proper operating.

You might want to consider taking an example (and perhaps some guidance) 
from the National Hurricane Net, which many of us are quite familiar 
with here on the East coast.

In the event of a disaster in your area, you will likely be forced to 
use low power to conserve battery power and depend on relays from 
individuals who can run higher power outside the disaster area.

You may have to learn to setup and use digital modes as well as voice in 
cooperation with your local and area Emergency Communications Center 
(ECO) which coordinate Police, Fire, Rescue, Hospitals and other 
emergency services during a disaster.
That is all very organized communications.  If you are concerned about a 
disaster, I recommend you become familiar with it and hold practice 
sessions communicating with other concerned hams.  Many EOCs hold 
simulated emergency drills that you might want to participate in.
ARRL Radio Amateur Field Day is a good exercise in setting up a 
functional station in a short order of time and operating on generators 
or other forms of emergency power.

Communication of Health and Welfare information can occur on 
non-emergency frequencies in the ham bands, but that still needs to be 
done in an orderly fashion since those in the disaster area can be 
expected to be operating at low power and depending on relays from 
outside the area.  There are formats for messages that operators should 
observe so the message gets to the intended recipient in an orderly 
fashion.  The ARRL information is quite helpful for the formats and 
relay net operating procedures.

What I am trying to say is that the formats and operating procedures for 
emergency communications is already in place, and you should become 
familiar with them and practice with your own local group and/or 
participate in national nets and exercises.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/30/2017 9:41 PM, KG7FYI wrote:
I'd like to say
> that radio is a hobby but the fact is that my only motive was that lives
> are at stake.  I'm learning.