[MarinTeams] More Wikipedia info on HAM in the USA

[Kate Danaher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_emergency_communications

HAM In the United States of America

In the United States, there are two major methods of organizing amateur
radio emergency communications: Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES),
sponsored by the ARRL, and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
(RACES), which requires registration with municipal or county governments,
to allow continued operation under Part 97.407 of the FCC regulations in the
event the Amateur Service is ever shut down by presidential order. ARES and
RACES involvement within the same area are usually intertwined, with many
governments requiring membership and service in that locale's ARES
organization as well. Many government Emergency Operating Centers, Red Cross
Chapters and National Weather Service facilities have permanent Amateur
Radio stations installed.

Radio clubs independent of the ARRL and ARES also participate in emergency
communications activities in some areas, like NYC-ARECS
(http://www.nyc-arecs.org). Additionally, the Department of Defense also
sponsors the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) program which also
utilizes Amateur Radio operators for emergency communication.
Emergency communications and disaster assistance is usually done in
conjunction with volunteer disaster relief organizations such as the
American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, local government emergency
management agencies, as well as volunteer fire departments and ambulance
corps.

The ARRL has a memorandum of understanding with numerous agencies including
the American Red Cross and Salvation Army and is a partner in the Citizen
Corps program of FEMA. The ARRL also is a member of the Voluntary
Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) and conducts emergency
communications certification courses for interested Amateur Radio operators.

***

From: Kate Danaher <katedanaher at comcast.net>
Reply-To: "Neighborhood Emergency Volunteers in Marin County,  CA."
<marinteams at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:15:45 -0700
To: "Neighborhood Emergency Volunteers in Marin County,  CA."
<marinteams at mailman.qth.net>
Conversation: Wikipedia info on HAM
Subject: [MarinTeams] Wikipedia info on HAM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_emergency_communications

[The link above provides additional links highlighting examples of use of
Ham in disasters.  Pf particular note is last paragraph/sentence below...]

Amateur radio emergency communications
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the New Zealand organization see Amateur Radio Emergency Communications.

In times of crisis and natural disasters, Amateur radio is often used as a
means of emergency communication when wireline, cell phones and other
conventional means of communications fail.

Unlike commercial systems, Amateur radio is not as dependent on terrestrial
facilities that can fail. It is dispersed throughout a community without
"choke points" such as cellular telephone sites that can be overloaded.
Amateur radio operators are experienced in improvising antennas and power
sources and most equipment today can be powered by an automobile battery.
Annual "Field Days" are held in many countries to practice these emergency
improvisational skills. Amateur radio operators can use hundreds of
frequencies and can quickly establish networks tying disparate agencies
together to enhance interoperability.

Recent examples include the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in
Manhattan, the 2003 North America blackout and Hurricane Katrina in
September, 2005, where amateur radio was used to coordinate disaster relief
activities when other systems failed.

On September 2, 2004, ham radio was used to inform weather forecasters with
information on Hurricane Frances live from the Bahamas. On December 26,
2004, an earthquake and resulting tsunami across the Indian Ocean wiped out
all communications with the Andaman Islands, except for a DX-pedition that
provided a means to coordinate relief efforts.

The largest disaster response by U.S. amateur radio operators was during
Hurricane Katrina which first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just
north of Miami, Florida on August 25, 2005, eventually strengthening to
Category 5. More than a thousand ham operators from all over the U.S.
converged on the Gulf Coast in an effort to provide emergency communications
assistance. Subsequent Congressional hearings highlighted the Amateur Radio
response as one of the few examples of what went right in the disaster
relief effort.
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