[RVRC] a very pro Amateur Radio Articlein

[Drew Moore]

    Columbus Dispatch Amateur Radio Article
    <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/usve/message/3842;_ylc=X3oDMTJwM3Bia2o3BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzQ2MzQ0MwRncnBzcElkAzE3MDUwMzQ2OTAEbXNnSWQDMzg0MgRzZWMDZG1zZwRzbGsDdm1zZwRzdGltZQMxMjYyNjk4MDk5>



      Posted by: "WilliamN" ne1ll at arrl.net
      <mailto:ne1ll at arrl.net?Subject=%20Re%3AColumbus%20Dispatch%20Amateur%20Radio%20Article>
        ne1ll at ymail.com <http://profiles.yahoo.com/ne1ll@ymail.com>


        Mon Jan 4, 2010 11:54 am (PST)



There was a very pro Amateur Radio Articlein the 1/4/2010 Columbus 
Dispatch on page B-1.

The link to the story 
is;http://ee.dispatch.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Columbus&BaseHref=TCD/2010/01/04&PageLabel=B1&EntityId=Ar01304&ViewMode=HTML 
<http://ee.dispatch.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Columbus&BaseHref=TCD/2010/01/04&PageLabel=B1&EntityId=Ar01304&ViewMode=HTML>

I've also copied the story below in case there is a problem with the link.

When power is out, `hams' pipe up
By Mary Beth Lane
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

As surely as snow and ice storms will descend and knock out power, the 
Red Cross will provide emergency help again this year with a big hand 
from the radio "hams."
"Absolutely, yes," said Carol Freshour, emergency-services director at 
the Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross, which also 
serves Hocking County.
"Amateur-radio people are just the best."
The ham-radio operators relay messages and help when all else fails in 
our high-tech world.
Last January, members of the Hocking Valley Amateur Radio Club helped 
out in Hocking County when an ice storm knocked out power and nothing 
worked properly, including cell phones.
The group, which has about 25 members, set up its equipment at an 
emergency shelter the Red Cross opened at Logan-Hocking Middle School 
and relayed messages from the shelter to other ham-radio operators at 
the county's emergency operations center in downtown Logan.
The radio volunteers at the shelter also relayed information about 
shelter occupancy and food and bedding needs to Lancaster, where seven 
of the approximately 90 members of the Lancaster and Fairfield County 
Amateur Radio Club operated their radios and passed on the 
communications to the Red Cross office.
"They were a lifesaver," Freshour said. Without them, "we couldn't have 
talked to our volunteers in the shelter about what they needed, how they 
were doing."
Brian Mason, Richard Martin and other club members took turns at the radio.
For a ham, that was what it is all about, said Mason, who drills with 
other club members for such emergencies.
"It was really neat how it all worked," he said. "We used the radio, and 
it never failed us, not even for a minute. This is what hams do. If 
there's an emergency, we go all-out."
Of the state's 88 counties, 80 have amateur-radio clubs, said Kelli 
Blackwell, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. 
Franklin and Cuyahoga counties are among the larger counties with 
multiple clubs.
Hams must pass an exam to receive a Federal Communications Commission 
license to operate. There are more than 660,000 amateurradio operators 
in the United States.
"The amateur-radio operators are very, very helpful and always come in 
to help during emergencies,
" Blackwell said.
Nationwide, ham radio kept New York City agencies in touch on Sept. 11, 
2001, and provided vital communication during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, 
according to the American Radio Relay League, the national organization 
for amateur radio.
Like the Hocking County hams, members of the Lancaster and Fairfield 
County club are prepared to help again this winter.
"If we get another severe storm, we'll definitely have people involved 
to provide communications," said club President George Lambert. "We'll 
be ready."
mlane at dispatch.com <mailto:mlane%40dispatch.com>