From the Aftermath Comes Improvement

As many of you know, I recently relocated from Carrollton, Texas, a surburb of Dallas, to Huntsville, Alabama. Last Tuesday, Feb 5, as severe weather roll through the southeast, north Alabama got her share.

One of the first things I did when I got involved in Amateur Radio was to sign-up for ARES, RACES, and SkyWarn. Now for those of you that are unfamiliar with those organizations, let me take just a minute to explain.

ARES & RACES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service & Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services) are organizations dedicated to augmenting communications during emergencies. Although they have different origins and have historically existed as separate entities, they are now reaching a melding point such that they are essentially interchangeable. During hurricanes Katrina & Rita, Amateur Radio volunteers through their service with ARES and RACES passed thousands of messages into and out of the storm ravaged areas when no other form of communication worked. These are your radio amateurs serving their community!

SkyWarn is a National Weather Service sponsored organization created and operated to support the NWS' severe storms forecasting and reporting activities. While not limited to amateur radio operators, this program draws a significant amount of its value and information from hams in the field reporting on weather conditions and relaying damage reports.

So, as I moved to the Huntsville area, the first contacts I attempted were with the ARES/RACES & SkyWarn communities and have been working in those programs ever since. As we debriefed on last Tuesday's storms a couple of points of interest came out and I wanted to share those with every ham I know. I believe these are important!

Warnings Fail In the Last Mile
Across the southeast on February 5th, the NWS offices did a stellar job issuing warnings and alerting the public to the dangers at hand. In some cases, as much as a 30 minute waring of incoming tornados was possible. Yet despite such forecasting ability, many lives were still lost. As I discussed this topic with my friend Steve, KD5YPB, last night it became clear that the failure was in the "last mile" of communication.

In all fairness, the warnings in north Alabama came between 3 am and 5 am when most of the population was sleeping. But as we saw, severe weather know no clock. How do we warn people tucked away in their beds? The answer is simple...weather alert radios with SAME technology.

Each time the NWS issues a watch or warning, it is broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio. Those signals can be received with many different types of receivers including specially designed weather radios. The weather service also encodes special data in this signal to automatically turn on these radios and sound an alarm in the event of a watch or warning for a specific area! Having one of these by your bed during severe weather season should be a must!

Now, I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here because most hams already have one. But here's the $64,000 question for you Mr. Ham...how many of your neighbors have one? For the ones that do, is it setup correctly? You are the local radio expert in your neighborhood. Serve your community one neighborhood at a time!

Along the same lines, do you have phone numbers for all your neighbors? Could you call them to alert them to severe weather at 3 am?

We cannot look to warning sirens, TV alerts, and talk radio to warn our friends and family in the middle of the night! Take action today to make your neighborhood a safer place.

Remember, this is a hobby and your Federal Amateur License is granted in the interest of community service. You have an obligation to do everything you can to help your community so get out there and get after it...TODAY.

Thom, K5JTR

A Great Amateur Radio Story

Making a 12 hour drive can be hard. Good to know there are friendly hams out there to make it a little easier.

Yesterday I set out to drive from Dallas to Huntsville, Alabama, about a twelve hour drive. I've made the drive lots of times over the past 15 years, many times with a 2m rig in the vehicle, and only once have I ever found anyone to talk to beyond regular repeater traffic. The obvious drawback to repeater use when you're driving through town is by the time you get an answer and strike up a QSO, you're moving out of range!

Well yesterday that all changed. I was rockin down the interstate and passed a big rig...with a screwdriver antenna mounted on the cab! I picked-up the mic, tuned to 146.52 and threw my call out there. Immediately Allan, KA9EFD, came back. He was indeed the driver of the big rig. He saw me pass (with several antennas, ARES & RACES stickers in the back window, and amateur plates on the jeep) and turned his radio on too.

We talked for the next 5 or 6 hours as we drove through Little Rock to Memphis. Alan stopped in Memphis to spend the night and of course I kept driving through but it was a really great QSO! We talked about lots of things and nothing, the same kind of things you talk to any of your buddies about.

This is just one example of how ham radio can really come in handy, giving you a pleasant way to pass the time, help if you run into trouble, or giving you a way to connect even on the road. So get out that 2m rig, tune it up to 146.52 and see who's out there. You might be surprised!

Your First Radio

Congratulations! You are the holder of a freshly minted ham ticket! Uh, now what? Now it's time to get on the air!

As you will come to learn, there is a wide variety of radio equipment ranging from simple (and some not so simple) kits you can assemble yourself to elaborate all digital stuff. The trick here at this point is simply to get on the air. You have a lifetime to figure out the "best" equipment for helping you get the most out of ham radio. Right now you just need to start talking!

With that in mind, the simplest and least expensive method is to buy a used handheld transceiver, or HT. Without a doubt the best place to start your search for said used HT is in your local ham club (you did read this article about getting started, right?). There are lots of great reasons to buy from someone in your own club. First, they probably have equipment they need to unload. Second, you get to inspect and use (and get them to show you how to use) the equipment before you buy it. And finally, you can always go back to them later to ask questions if you need to. Not so easy to do via Ebay!

If you can't find anything through the local club, next check out eBay. Do a keyword search for "Icom HT" and see what you get (more on Icom and others below). At the time of this writing there are 7 Icom HT's listed and they are all less than $100. I advise caution using Ebay, make sure you are really comfortable with what you are getting and who you are getting it from. I tend to trust fellow hams more than retail outlets, but that's just me.

Now some may disagree with the wisdom of buying a HT first, so let me share with you some of my reasoning:

- Low price point for getting on the air. Some can be bought for less than $100!
- Ease of operation. Essentially turn it on, tune to the frequency, key the mic. No worries about power supplies, antenna systems, grounding, etc!
- Portability. You can use it from anywhere (car, home, park, etc).

And now which one to buy... well that's a bit more complicated! Seems everyone has their own "favorite". I personally like Icom but you wont go wrong with a Kenwood or Yeasu either.

Hope this helps you focus your search. Feel free to comment below and let us know how it goes.

73,

Thom, K5JTR