[K6BW] VU4 DXpedition Thailand news forwarded to HFpack group
Richard Young
ryoung at sonic.net
Thu Dec 30 21:24:16 EST 2004
Hi All,
There is also a DX group in the Maldives that have changed their operating
status from DXpedition to handling emergency traffic for the disaster. I
dont have their call sign, frequency, or specific location.
According to the BBC, the confirmed count is now at 127,500. My guess is
that it will hit 140k by Sat. Not the kind of New Years anyone wants to
experience.
Maybe there is a silver lining with this situation. Apparently, the civil
war going on in north Malaysia near Banda Cereh (sp?) has stopped. Their
militaries have put down their weapons and picked up shovels to help with
the recovery effort.
Also, a bay area search and rescue group has purchased many 2 meter HT's,
probably in advance of their journey to that region.
Hope you all have a safe and prosperous new year.
Rich W6GHZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Smith" <billsmith at ispwest.com>
To: "Members of the Hamilton Wireless Assn." <k6bw at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [K6BW] VU4 DXpedition Thailand news forwarded to HFpack group
> 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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