[TNham] RE: [Fwd: Amateur Radio on TV this evening]

[Greg Williams]

WBIR TV 10 in Knoxville
http://wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=28854


ET ham radio operators listen as Rita hits 
 
Jeff Yawn has a hobby one minute. The next, he has a life saving mission.

"When everything stops working, we're still there," Yawn says. He is the
President of the Oak Ridge Amateur Radio Club. 

Friday night he stayed up late. Saturday morning he got up early. He
listened to ham radio operators across the world as they relayed information
about Hurricane Rita.

At one point, a radio operator from Canada is heard broadcasting a tornado
warning for a county in Texas. An operator collecting information for the
West Gulf Coast Emergency Net is heard telling people the state of Texas
wants to get word to residents returning to Houston they should not have to
worry about gasoline shortages on their trip home.

"It's been kinda quiet, which is actually a good thing," Yawn says. 

He says the airwaves were crazy during Katrina.

"I sat down here for hours," he says from his basement, where he has
multiple computers and radios turned in to channels and websites dedicated
to hurricane responders.

"It was continuous, one message after another of people that needed to be
rescued, people that needed fuel," he recalls.

>From Clinton, Tennessee Yawn took directions from emergency crews in
Mississippi and gave them to pilots in Louisiana. Two Katrina survivors were
saved.

With Rita there have been no rescues to help out with, yet. But Yawn says
he, and thousands of other ham radio ops are ready.

"We do this to serve the public. Amateur radio was founded to serve the
public and to be a part of that is really cool."

Gregory S. Williams
k4hsm at knology.net
________________________________________
From: Jeff Yawn [mailto:kf4uvt at comcast.net] 
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 8:29 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: [Fwd: Amateur Radio on TV this evening]

The Presidents Cup Golf Tournament ran over so this should be on at 11:00pm
this evening. 

Jeff

-------- Original Message -------- 
Subject: 
Amateur Radio on TV this evening
Date: 
Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:12:02 -0400
From: 
Jeff Yawn <kf4uvt at comcast.net>
To: 
undisclosed-recipients:;

Hi everyone.

Teresa Woodard with WBIR Channel 10 news just left my shack. She called 
me and wanted to do an interview about how Hams help out during 
disasters. It will air this evening at 6:00pm. I noticed a few other 
names on her notepad of hams in east TN so be sure to watch.

Jeff Yawn
KF4UVT