[GreenKeys] OT: emergency communications

[dmm at lemur.com]

My thanks to all of you, on-list and offlist, for your help.
I now have several paths of inquiry that I didn't know about
yesterday.

By way of a bit of further background (which I should have included
in the original posting) and followup...

I am not presently a ham, although 30+ years ago I did get my
novice license.  But I was really just tagging along with a friend
back then, and didn't actually do anything with it.  So KB6MPN lapsed
after 10 years.  But getting a license again is not something that
would present an issue for me.  I should probably do it anyway.

On the other hand, that "Dr." in my signature indicates a Ph.D. in
English and American Literature.  This would have rendered me unfit
for any serious technical work were it not that I'm also a second-
generation computer programmer (my dad started in 1958 with an IBM 650).
And I can work my way around most *mechanical* and electromechanical
things if I'm careful.

But I have no currency at all with practical electronics or radio.
So it's best to take a "for dummies" approach with me and call out
specific equipment rather than general principles.  If you assume
I don't know something, you're probably right.

I did just take a look at amateur radio clubs in Wisconsin.  (I'm
in the southwest corner of the state, near Mineral Point and Dodgeville.
42.9 north long., 90.26 west lat., or halfway between Madison WI
and Dubuque IA.)  And, wouldn't you know it, there IS a club just
25 miles away, in Platteville, WI.  http://www.kc9kq.net/ or
"Hidden Valleys Amatuer Radio Club of Southwest Wisconsin".
They have a focus on emergency services, and their next meeting is
tomorrow night!

(Given their name, "Hidden Valleys," it would seem that I'm not the
only one with a terrain issue.  It is, however, a very beautiful
part of the world.)

Again, thanks for all of your thoughts and information.

Regards,
David M.
===
Dr. David M. MacMillan  -  dmm at lemur.com

"Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. 
The conditions are always impossible."   - Doris Lessing

www.CircuitousRoot.com   *  www.Lemur.com