[Qcwa] The Blackout of 2003

[Gregory W. Moore]

GA Mike,
I would have responded to your posting about the blackout, if it hadn't=20
have been true to the point. When I saw the ARRL
letter praising the work of Amateur Radio I was laughing pretty hard=20
here, remembering your prediction.

I can tell you, you were 100 per cent on the money!!

73 de Greg WA3IVX /NNN0BVN
(Turning DC, 60Hz & 400Hz Into RF energy on land, at sea, in the air, in =

every corner of the world, and contributing to its emission in space for =

almost 40 years [coming soon])

ka2e@att.net wrote:

>Frankly, I=92m surprised my tongue-in-cheek posting about the blackout e=
licited=20
>the meager response it did.  I wonder if that is because we=92re finally=
=20
>getting the message or that the message is no longer relevant.  I=92ll e=
xplain.
>
>I am deeply concerned for the future of Amateur Radio in this new enviro=
nment=20
>where the proliferation of low-power wireless services is so rapid and w=
here=20
>worldwide communication is now available at the click of a computer mous=
e. =20
>What reason can I possibly give to a youngster to persuade him to invest=
 vast=20
>amounts of time studying for a ticket and building a station and vast am=
ounts=20
>of money on decent equipment =96 when a five hundred dollar computer and=
 20=20
>bucks a month puts him on the Internet?  Heck, how can I convince an ina=
ctive=20
>ham to log off the Internet and get back on the air?  Much more importan=
t,=20
>what arguments can we proffer to the public and public officials to give=
=20
>Amateur Radio priority and protection from incursions by wireless device=
s and=20
>technologies such as BPL?  Can our governmental leaders really be expect=
ed to=20
>protect Amateur Radio at the expense of new technologies that offer serv=
ices=20
>to millions and that will nurture new industries? =20
>
>Look at the age-old TVI/RFI problem =96 have we been able to convince th=
e=20
>Government to require manufacturers of home entertainment equipment to m=
ake=20
>them less prone to our signals?  Given our =93success=94 with TVI, does =
anyone=20
>really think that a technology like BPL will be denied to the public to =
keep=20
>a bunch of CB=92ers from having their chatter interfered with? =20
>
>Yes, I mean CB=92ers.  It is an undeniable fact that the vast majority o=
f the=20
>American public refers to Radio Amateurs as =93CB=92ers=94 and has no co=
ncept of=20
>what the Amateur Radio Service actually is.  That was the reason I made =
my=20
>blackout posting.
>
>I received only one answer to my posting and it contained the same old c=
lich=E9=20
>answers about =93service=94.   How will the future of Amateur Radio be g=
uaranteed=20
>by our public service when that service is largely unknown and unacknowl=
edged=20
>by the very public we profess to serve?  Furthermore, have we taken a ha=
rd=20
>look at exactly what our =93Public Service=94 is actually accomplishing =
for=20
>others outside the hobby.   Is there in fact, a genuine need for what we=
 can=20
>provide in this wireless phone and Internet age?
>
>In the first half of my thirty years of being a Ham, I volunteered for j=
ust=20
>about every type of event that needed communications assistance.  (I onl=
y=20
>regret that family and work took precedence in the second 15 years, I ho=
pe=20
>that when I retire, I can return to full enjoyment of the hobby.)  The=20
>important fact to note is that in the 70=92s, telephones that used radio=
 as a=20
>link were rare commercially, and such a service was mostly the domain of=
=20
>Radio Amateurs through Autopatch and HF Phone patches.  Thus our=20
>contributions were necessary and clearly justified our existence.  When =
I was=20
>deployed during the 1991 Gulf War, I sure didn=92t need MARS to get a me=
ssage=20
>home, the troops had banks of phones set up for them to call home and if=
 a=20
>landline wasn=92t available, I grabbed an INMARSAT terminal and got thro=
ugh=20
>that way. =20
>
>Perhaps even more important, after all the events I volunteered for, I a=
lways=20
>checked the nightly news afterward for coverage.  Rarely did I ever see =
any=20
>coverage for our efforts.  If any was given it seldom amounted to a few =

>seconds buried amongst all the =93important=94 news.   The only coverage=
 I heard=20
>about hams in the NYC blackout was a short piece on AM radio about =93Am=
ateur=20
>Radio operators using World War I technology to help people whose cell p=
hones=20
>didn=92t work=94.   A few days ago, the ARRL sent out its letter about A=
mateur=20
>Radio=92s =93service=94 during the blackout.   Will anyone outside of th=
e Amateur=20
>community even see that letter?   And what if they do?  Do you know what=
=20
>handling 500 pieces of traffic means to the public?  Absolutely nothing!=
  The=20
>only lesson the public learned from Blackout 2003 was that our cellular =

>networks need to be made more robust and more spectrum needs to be taken=
 away=20
>from the =93CB=92ers=94 to make sure there is enough wireless bandwidth =
for=20
>subscribers.
>
>You=92ll notice that this posting contains many questions and very few=20
>answers.  That=92s because I don=92t have the answers.  I=92m an ordinar=
y rank-and-
>file ham who=92s always looked to the leadership of such organizations a=
s the=20
>QCWA and the ARRL for these answers.  You=92ve had more experience as ha=
ms and=20
>more experience at life than I have but I believe that you are starting =
to=20
>lose sight of serious problems that are on the horizon.  I think you=92r=
e=20
>beginning to believe your own =93hype=94.  Instead of wasting time debat=
ing the=20
>utility of CW and such irrelevant issues, we must pose and debate the ba=
sic=20
>question, is Amateur Radio still relevant and will it survive.=20
>
>You and I both know the answer to that question, but can we make our cas=
e=20
>outside the Amateur community?  Unless we can prove our relevance to the=
=20
>public and their elected officials whose laws control our future, I do n=
ot=20
>believe that we have a chance of competing against encroachment and even=
tual=20
>extinction by other wireless services.  Amateur Radio spawned the age of=
=20
>electronic communications and later, spawned the original computer hobby=
ists=20
>like myself who built the information age =96 God help us.  I don=92t kn=
ow what=20
>future technologies will arise or from where they will come.  I=92m just=
 hoping=20
>that the Amateur Radio Service and Amateur Radio Operators will still be=
=20
>around toward the end of the decade when I can finally retire, get that =
HF=20
>antenna up and get back to my favorite Ham Radio activity =96 Rag Chewin=
g. =20
>
>73.
>
>
>--
>Mike Sturm, KA2E
>http://home.att.net/~ka2e		=09
>_______________________________________________
>QCWA mailing list
>QCWA@mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qcwa
>
> =20
>

--=20
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothin=
g."
                                                   --Edmund Burke

Greg Moore NNN0BVN PA
U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS)
Official Pennsylvania Area Website:
http://pages.prodigy.net/nnn0fbk/mars.htm
Official Northeast Area Website:=20
http://www.navymars.org/northeast/index.htm
Navy-Marine Corps MARS: Proudly Serving Those Who Serve."
E-Mail (MARS) nnn0bvn@navymars.org
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