[PBARC] Amateur Community Asked to Give Katrina Emergency Nets Clear Freq uencies

[WOLF, EARNEST G]

Amateur Community Asked to Give Katrina Emergency Nets Clear Frequencies


NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 5, 2005--Several HF nets continue in operation to support Amateur Radio's response to the Hurricane Katrina emergency. ARRL asks all members of the Amateur Radio community who are not taking part in disaster relief or recovery operations to give these nets as much elbow room as possible--5 kHz or more on either side of the net frequency. Nets already are having to deal with less-than-ideal propagation, and any interference--even if it's unintentional--can make their job all the more difficult. Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau says the FCC has not issued an Emergency Communication Declaration (ECD) for any emergency net frequency. 

"Section 97.101(c) gives priority to emergency communications at all times," he points out, noting there have been very few problems with interference during the current emergency. Given the overall level of cooperation so far within the Amateur Radio community, Hollingsworth told ARRL that he does not anticipate the need for the FCC to issue an ECD. The FCC is aware of all emergency net frequencies, however. The primary nets and their frequencies are: 

*	The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net: 7.285 MHz days/3.873 MHz nights 

*	Health and Welfare traffic: 7.290 MHz days/3.935 nights 

*	Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN <http://www.satern.org/> ): 14.265 MHz and 7.265 MHz (as needed; reports indicate this frequency can vary somewhat, depending upon QRM) 

The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net--organized under an agreement among the ARRL Louisiana, Mississippi and South Texas sections--has been handling emergency and priority traffic only. The net has been operating around the clock. 

The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN <http://www.satern.org/> ) has been concentrating on emergency and priority traffic, although it has been handling health-and-welfare inquiries on the air and via its Web site. The 20-meter SATERN net has been activating daily at 1400 UTC and continuing until the band closes, with as many as 1000 stations are checking in each day. 

"Amateur Radio is absolutely critical in the operation," SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, told ARRL. "We do all of our emergency communication on it, and this past week we have done a lot of rescue assistance." 

Given the fickle propagation this past week, it's possible that active nets may be audible one minute and below noise level the next. Also, even active nets experience extended periods of relative calm in traffic flow and may appear to have secured operation. So, the best approach is to avoid operating on or near known net frequencies altogether. 

In his recent statement <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/09/01/1/>  to the amateur community on the Katrina crisis, ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, called on all stations who are active in Amateur Radio emergency nets to be professional and disciplined whenever checking in. "Net control is a difficult job at best, so be respectful. If you have traffic, fine, but if not, please stand by." 

McPherson says the thing that makes the SATERN net work is its interface with hams who are not traditionally part of the net but show up from all over just to help out. This holiday weekend, that included ARRL staffer Bill Moore, NC1L, at the helm of W1AW, who helped handled some emergency traffic on the SATERN net and took a couple of stints as net control. 

McPherson says the SATERN Net would not be successful without the support of the Amateur Radio community at large. "It seems in these crises that the entire ham world is on our frequency waiting to help, and that is why we have been blessed with success."