[South Florida DX Association] (no subject)

[william greeson]

Ham radio operators step into the breach when technology failed


By STEPHEN SINGER
Associated Press Writer

August 18, 2003, 5:45 PM EDT


HARTFORD, Conn. -- When technology failed on a massive scale last week, =
some old-fashioned broadcasting stepped into the breach as ham radio =
operators took to the airwaves to reach emergency workers.=20

For millions of people in the Northeast and Midwest last week's massive =
blackout took access to e-mail and the Internet with it. Landline and =
cellular telephones were jammed by a crush of calls.=20

But the ham radio, which came into being in the World War I era, =
connected firefighters and police departments, Red Cross workers and =
other emergency personnel during the most extensive blackout in the =
Northeast since 1977.=20

Ham operators are not dependent on a server or cell tower, and with =
battery backup can operate when grids fail.=20

"When everything else fails, the ham radio is still there," said Allen =
Pitts, a ham operator in New Britain. "You can't knock out that system." =


The radios are operated by a network of volunteers organized by the =
Newington-based American Radio Relay League.=20

Ham radio's importance won renewed recognition after the terrorist =
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The organization won a federal Homeland =
Security grant of nearly $182,000 to train amateur radio operators in =
emergency operations to help during terrorist attacks.=20

"It's incredible the differences you're seeing, the large cadre of =
people who know what they're doing," Pitts said. "It's making a major =
difference."=20

Tom Carrubba, a coordinator for ARRL in New York City's five boroughs =
and Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, said volunteers went to =
work immediately after power went down Thursday afternoon.=20

"In five minutes guys were on the air with the Red Cross and Office of =
Emergency Management," he said.=20

During other disasters, such as severe weather, ARRL volunteers and =
coordinators activate telephone trees, Carrubba said. On Thursday they =
instead hit their assigned frequency or staffed an emergency operations =
center.=20

It didn't take an army. In the New York-Long Island region, with a =
population of nearly 10 million, about 100 ham radio operators handled =
the situation, Carrubba said.=20

Some volunteers headed to a Red Cross headquarters or shelter, fire =
department, or hospital, he said. One hospital was temporarily out of =
power and ARRL volunteers provided communications to ambulances until =
electricity was restored.=20

In Connecticut, which did not experience a communications emergency, ham =
operators were on standby.=20

The ARRL report on ham radio's response to the blackout was not =
completed by Monday. But Carrubba estimated that operators handled =
between 800 and 1,000 communications from Thursday afternoon until early =
Friday morning. Typically the operators _ largely supplanted by the =
Internet and e-mail _ respond to about five communications a week, he =
said.=20

"A lot of our traffic is a trickle now," Carrubba said. "It's just a =
routine hello, a happy birthday or happy anniversary."=20


Copyright =A9 2003, The Associated Press=20





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