[K6BW] VU4 DXpedition Thailand news forwarded to HFpack group

[K6 BBQ]

Hi Hamilton hams,

We all have been reading about and seeing the aftermath of the massive
disaster.  Here is news from a ham that is part of the VU4 DXpedition 
in Thailand.
I didn't read this email that was posted in the HFpack group daily 
digest until this
morning and not sure if anyone of you got to see the interview on NBC's 
Today Show.

I hope this is informative from a ham's point of view.

-Rem
K6BBQ




Subject: VU4 DXpedition Earthquake update, Bangkok, Thialand

Just received this via NETXQRP, David KT5V and am passing it along re 
the VU4 DXpedition from Bangkok, Thailand.
This is their first hand account of the earthquake and will be aired 
tomorrow morning,  Dec.28th, by NBC on the Today Show.

----- Original Message ----- From: "George
To: <ntcc at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2004 7:37 PM
Subject: VU4

Below is an update from K4VUD, Charley, who is now in Bangkok, Thailand.
For those of you in the United States you will get an opportunity to see
and
hear a first hand account of Charley's story of the VU4 DXpedition 
Tuesday
December 28th between 7:00 and 8:00 AM EST.  Yes Charley will be
interviewed
by NBC and shown on the Today Show.  Once we have the exact times from
producer Sandy Rivera I will post them.  Feel free to pass this on to 
your
Amateur Radio friends.  This should be great exposure as to the 
benefits of
Amateur Radio!  Find a blank video tape and be ready.

73
Bernie, W3UR


Hello DXers...

Dec. 27 at 2300 Z

Hey, a whole lotta shakin' goin' on.  Sorry to be out of touch for a
while, but the phone service and thus email service went out with the
first quake on Andaman, VU4.  This is my first minute to get to a
reliable email service.

1.  Morning after Xmas, I was resting from sleep and thinking about what
to do that coming day when my bed started to quiver like a large train
was coming by.  Then, the room started to rock about when I stood up.
Walking and standing were difficult,bottles were faling off the shelves,
and my fifth floor room floor felt like rubber.  I got braced within the
bathroom door until things settled down.  Then, I found my pants and
shirt and ran, shoes in hand, down the stairs and joined everyone else
from the hotel in the open out front.  Bharathi was already safely
outside there.  She was on the air at the time, but quickly figured out
what was hapening and got out.

2.  There were extra holiday guests at the hotel.  Various groups
formed, and I sat with some English speakers at a table in the hotel
garden.  I noted to all who would listen that a BIG WAVE would come with
an ocean quake.  We were, by then, drinking tea and looking down on the
ocean from about 80 feet above high tide.  The sea rapidly turned brown
near us, but there was no real surge.  As the day went on and 8 to 10
more small tremors came and went, several of us took quick runs to our
rooms to get necessities.  The radios were left in the room.  The roof
antennas showed no signs of damage at all.

3.  As the other team members came to our hotel, we learned of the big
wave that hit the water front in Port Blair.  Saraha had taken some
videos there with the water still about a foot deep over the street that
fronted the ocean.  All team members were very OK.

4.  In the immediate Port Blair area, four people died (one from landing
on his head as he dove out his home window seeking escape), the local
newspaper reported.

5.  Port Blair and all but 4 of its citizens escaped serious damage.
Most of you have now seen the video of the real damage that occurred in
other places around the Indian Ocean rim... very bad for people and
property.

6.  By that afternoon, the team had set up one rig outside with a mobile
whip and tuner...powered by the Hotel generator... and Bharathi was
taking health and welfare messages from the people standing around
there.  Many wanted to tell relatives on the Indian mainland that they
were ok, and Bharathi established contact with many India ham stations
in various cities as needed.  Traffic was being passed.  She told my
wife in Thailand that I was ok via contact with an HS station who passed
the message by telephone in

Thailand.... very nice to be a ham !

7. The team got cots from the hotel and, along with most others, slept
out in the open that night.  I slept fitfully near the lobby door on a
couch inside, reasoning rightly this time, that the worst was over.

8.  I will have more reports later, but the main news for ham radio is
THE TEAM IS COMPLETELY OK AND SAFE.  They have suspended normal
DXpedition operations while helping out with health and welfare messages
and whatever other duties may have come to them after I departed Port
Blair vy early this morning (as I was originally scheduled to do).
I suspect they will go back to DXpedition work soon because Port Blair
escaped the worst damage and the after shocks apparantly have also 
stopped.

Thanks for all the good wishes.  73 for now,

Charles Harpole
k4vud at hotmail.com



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