[HIham] House Bills 2773 and 2774 third reading on the House floor.

[Jim Reid]

Aloha,

I am a radio amateur in the Koloa/Lawai area of the island
of Kauai.  I have lived here 12 years now,  and was here
for Hurricane Iniki in the late Summer of 1992.

 My amateur radio station, KH7M, was able,  using emergency
generator power,  to provide vital communications from the
West Side of Kauai to the US mainland.  Perhaps the greatest
value of the station community wide,  was the necessary
re-provisioning of the West Side Kauai Veterans Memorial
Hospital which was running dangerously low on surgical
gloves,  various vaccines,  etc., in the first week following
the storm.  Through my station and antenna, which the 
neighbors up until Iniki were working to eliminate from the 
neighborhood, the hospital was re-supplied via the US Air Force 
at Travis Air Base in California.

This all occurred during the first week after Iniki,  well
before much other government supported communications
were set up,  though these eventually came to Kauai to
support our efforts.

Also,  all the neighbors were able to transmit health and
their own welfare situations to families and friends 
over on the mainland,  to Japan, to the Philippines and,  yes
even to Europe!  These messages also were from
visitors to Kauai who were staying in near by Bed and
Breakfast facilities/hotels;  they were extremely anxious to
send news of their situations to families and friends back
home!

An amateur radio station was so important then,  as all our
phones were out, there was no commercial electricity,  and
folks here on Kauai were of course very concerned to advise
those far away about their situations here.

All my neighbors immediately began to support the idea of
my continued presence with radio station and antenna here
after the storm!  And the Planning Commission voted immediate
approval for my zoning variance and use permit at their first 
meeting some several weeks later following the hurricane!

Every radio amateur in these islands must be permitted to
have an antenna of sufficient size to allow at least the
transmitting/receiving of signals to the various nations
around the Pacific rim and to the US mainland,  as those
are the places from where our residents have come,  and
to whom information input will be required when the next
emergency situation arrives in Hawaii.

An antenna of sufficient size need not have adverse 
visual impact to the immediate are/neighborhood. In fact,
it is possible to have a satisfactory amateur antenna
for such emergency situation consisting of just a wire going 
out a window and being strung out to a nearby tree;  need 
only be 60 or 70 feet in length. With such a wire,  an
amateur could operate satisfactorily about the entire state 
of Hawaii on the 40 meter band (probably the most useful 
shortwave band for communication among the islands during 
the day in the HF spectrum).  

With this same nearly invisible wire,  the operator could 
certainly also contact the US mainland and various other island
nations within the Pacific,  and nations around the Pacific
rim!  The visual impact of such a wire would probably not
even exist,  as it could be made with such small wire
(say 22/24 gauge wire) as to not be visible unless it should
catch the sunlight and glint.  All the nations above and US 
mainland could be contacted at some time during the day/night 
with the type of wire described.  The amateur could then transmit 
the  information output of import to his neighbors during whatever 
emergency had occurred at the time.

Please support and vote for the continued effort on these bills;
the coming hurricane season is fewer than 90 days away!!

Yes,  it is important that even radio amateurs living in CC&R
restricted developments and condominium situations be allowed
antennas!  A network of amateurs stations dispersed through
out Hawaii will be vital to the immediate area of each
neighborhood.  And,  these antenna bills should be passed 
soon so the stations can be set up,  and each operator's
emergency preparation/training be accomplished before
June 1st.!

For training and emergency preparation,  each day of the
year  a group of Hawaii radio amateurs gathers together on 
our radios to insure that we have daily communications among 
our islands.  It is just vital that radio amateurs have the 
equipment, antennas and necessary practice and processes 
in place,  and exercised, yes daily,  to be prepared to support 
the citizens of Hawaii when the next emergency comes.

I trust that based upon the obvious benefit to island residents
of amateur radio communications capabilities,  at many and
wide spread locations about each of our many islands,  you
will support the passage of these bills allowing these capabilities
to go forward through out our islands.

James Reid,  Amateur Station KH7M
3465 Lawailoa Lane
Koloa,  HI  96756