[K6BW] VU4 DXpedition Thailand news forwarded to HFpack group

[Bill Smith]

Yes, very interesting Rem.  Glad he and his wife were safely away from the damage.  Think the latest estimates are > 400,000 lost.  

:-(

Happy New Year!

Bill

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: K6 BBQ 
  To: k6bw at mailman.qth.net 
  Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 9:36 AM
  Subject: [K6BW] VU4 DXpedition Thailand news forwarded to HFpack group


  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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