KC8DNE.com

While prowling the interweb looking for something else, this video caught my eye. It serves to graphically show that, with minimal preparation, Amateur Radio operators can be ready to assist in a disaster, or other situation that requires emergency communications after the existing infrastructure is damaged.

January, 2008. Assisting Red Cross and Jefferson Co.  DES/WMD. HF station setup in less than 10 minutes. Capabilities included HF, VHF, satellite and digital modes, completely self contained and off the grid.

I have not seen this product in use, but it seems to be worth checking out for EmComm applications. It appears to have a circuit that reduces ambient noise like the Bose headsets that were designed for aviation use. Handy for when you are standing next to a fire department pumper that is working at full song. Too bad their PR department doesn’t have access to a spell checker.

High-threat tactical whisper-mic headset - provides both hearing protection and situational awareness with hear-through communications.

The High Threat Headset incorporates a rugged active hearing protector in combination with hyper sensitive ambient noise amplification plus whisper mic communications and tactical press to talk.

An outstanding feature of the HTH headset is it’s capasity to provide both hearing protection and situational awareness with hear-through communications. The hear-through is provided by two separate, well-shielded mics which allow the user to have optimum stereo effect and location of sound direction. While the user’s hearing is protected from concussion damage, ambient sound can be amplified so that you will hear a faint whisper or sounds of movement.

The HTH also fits under tactical helmets and accommodates gas masks and goggles. The boom mic plugs into gas masks/SCBA voice emitter for improved comms when gas is deployed.

The HTH headset includes a noise canceling boom microphone, a tactical press to talk switch and a plug for all popular military and civil radios.

Military, Civil and Law Enforcement users may request samples for evaluation by visiting TEA’s web site – www.swatheadsets.com

SOURCE: Swatheadsets.com

Here is some more evidence of the recent attention being paid to Amateur Radio’s EmComm capabilities. This "tip" comes from the Homeland1 Newsletter.

First responder agencies never seem to have enough money for communications equipment. Tapping into radio amateurs is a good way to extend your reach and network capacity for free. Most radio amateurs are highly knowledgeable operators who are more than happy to offer their time and equipment.

Worth noting: Federal law prevents amateurs from turning their bands over to first responders. To use their capacity, you need to work with them and through them.

SOURCE: Homeland1.com

The following by Rick Cousins appeared in the Galveston Daily News.

One elderly lady endured Hurricane Ike’s wrath. She was sitting in her modest home located near the San Luis hotel ­ alone in the dark. Her husband was hundreds of miles away in Utah, worried and unable to reach her as landline and cell phone links went offline one by one. Ike ruthlessly destroyed telephone lines and damaged numerous cell towers, and left many others without operating power. The result: a nearly complete communications blackout rarely experienced by 21st century America.

Who could she call? It turned about that her neighbors, Kevin and Sharon Briscoe, solved her problem in just three minutes. Thanks to their “secret identities” as amateur radio operators with the call signs KE5CDE and KE5CFF, respectively.

Despite Hurricane Ike javelining with a tree through their porch roof, 7 inches of water in their garage, and a complete lack of power, gas or phones, the Briscoes were ready and eager to help.

(Read more)

Richard Garriott’s father, Owen Garriott, W5LFL made history as the first ham radio operator to communicate with radio amateurs from space on the STS-9 Space Shuttle mission almost twenty-five years ago. Richard is the programmer/developer of the Ultima series of computer games.

Through multiple agreements with NASA, the Russian Space Agency, RSC Energia, Space Adventures Ltd, and ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), Richard Garriott will fly to ISS and will communicate with students, ham radio operators, friends, and family world-wide using the ARISS amateur radio station on-board the ISS.

Richard Garriott, with the amateur radio callsign, W5KWQ is the sixth private citizen to be flown by the Russian space agency to the ISS.  A legendary video game programmer and designer, Garriott will be traveling to orbit this October and will speak with hundreds of students while thousands more listen in during a series of ten-minute ham radio contacts.  His on-orbit stay on Soyuz and ISS is planned for October 12 – 22, 2008.

(Read more)

As Hurricane Kyle brushed its way across Eastern New England region on its way to the Canadian Maritimes, hams in the area were prepared for impact. Heavy rain associated with a stalled out boundary, as well as some influence from Kyle, caused heavy rainfall and flooding in the region.

  "We were lucky to have a 12-18 hour lull in rainfall between the rain on Friday and what came on Saturday," said Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net and SKYWARN Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "We were also lucky that most of the direct influence from Kyle remained offshore, or this situation would’ve been much worse." Over the 3 day period, 3 to 6 inches of rain fell over much of Eastern New England, Connecticut and parts of Central Massachusetts and Eastern New Hampshire. Some areas, Macedo said, received more than 8 inches, resulting in pockets of flooding with a few brooks going out of their banks.

(Read more)

Here is the first in what I hope to be a series of pictures of extraordinary ham shacks. This one is SKØTM, the Amateur Radio station at the Science Museum in Stockholm. It is the first posted because of my admiration of rackmounted equipment. Also, any ham club with studded jackets is OK by me.

This Plymoth, Massachusetts ham radio club got a video posted along with an article about them. I love the line about “…a bunch of crazy old men in cellars”.

With the availability of cell phones, the Internet and instant messaging, fewer and fewer young people are intrigued by the possibility of communicating via radio waves. Amateur radio operators, often derogatorily called “ham” radio operators, have long been the subjects of criticism by radio professionals.

Once thought of as just a bunch of crazy old men in cellars communicating with each other, the “ham” label was attached to them with the idea that they were just “hamming up” the airwaves.

Members of the Genesis Amateur Radio Society (GARS), based in Plymouth, are working to change that attitude. Read mote)

SOURCE: Wickedlocal.com

Kelly Martin’s blog Nonbovine Ruminations recently discussed the spike in interest in the relationship between John McCain and Amateur Radio.

I’ve noticed recently, on my Google Webmaster Tools reports, that the third most common search that actually reaches my blog is "McCain ham radio". Now, I haven’t blogged about this, and frankly I don’t see what McCain has to do with ham radio, so I’m quite curious about this phenomenon.

(Read more)

This is quite a well thought out treatise on potential interference problems between digital D-STAR repeaters and analog repeaters. It was written.by Ray “Abe” Abraczinskas, W8HVG. Abe is one of the founders and a Director of the Independent Repeater Association.

Digital communications activity utilizing ham radio repeaters keeps expanding. The lure of the many capabilities in connecting repeaters through the Internet keeps growing. Modes such as Echo Link?, IRLP?, VOIP, Wires?, and D-STAR, etc. are all present day technology means of connecting radios and repeaters to the Internet allowing talking with hams all over the world. Some people say that it isn’t really ham radio, but truly it is, and it will continue to grow and affect every amateur radio operator’s future both for the good and bad. (Read more)