2020-10-14, 10:13:30
I quote the following from the latest TCA:
"As a result of the global pandemic and the need to follow the health guidelines involving physical distancing, there continues to be few Amateur Radio Community Service and ARES EmComm group activities to report."
Whatever happened to "when all else fails there is amateur radio"?
The global pandemic should be just the kind of emergency that the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) stands by to assist.
But, ask yourself, if the RAC ARES organization were called up to provide a group of volunteers to grab their go-kits and sleep the next few nights on camp cots at the Grey County Emergency Operations Centre while sending and receiving emergency traffic, would you make yourself available?
Are you perfectly comfortable sending and receiving messages using one of the approved message forms used in the National Traffic System (NTS)?
Are you an accomplished Narrow Band Emergency Message System (NBEMS) operator?
Are you a registered Winlink operator?
Are you familiar with the ARRL FSD-3 Relief Emergency - Routine Messages (number coded emergency messages) and how to send them using NTS?
Can you copy Morse Code at 20wpm?
Let us imagine that the emergency was not Covid-19 but a computer virus that has taken down the power grid and power has been out for over a week. Cell tower backup generators are out of fuel, all ham repeaters are down. Gasoline pumps are unable to operate.
Your handheld radio is good for a range of a few kilometers at best. HF is the only way to get signals out. Now ask yourself:
Do you know how to reliably get a signal into the next county?
Maybe the answer is NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave). Operating NVIS requires distinct skills and knowledge. A lot of the available information is out-of-date and will cause communications failure. Can you setup an NVIS antenna? Do you know how to find out the critical frequency (foF2) for your location and time-of-day?
Do you know what band to operate on to reach a DX location?
Are you proficient in digital modes that will get a signal through even when the S/N ratio has a minus sign?
I cannot put a check mark down against all these questions and I doubt there are many hams who can. But the biggest question is probably the first one: "if the RAC ARES organization were called up to provide a group of volunteers to grab their go-kits and sleep the next few nights on camp cots at the Grey County Emergency Operations Centre while sending and receiving emergency traffic, would you make yourself available?"
I have had enough exposure to the RAC ARES organization to understand that it is a top heavy bureaucracy. It is a classic case of "too many chiefs, not enough Indians" - and I mean no disrespect to the First Nations community. ARES should have been built from the bottom up. When there are enough dedicated, thoroughly trained volunteers willing to interrupt their lives at a moment's notice, then - and only then - do they need an organization to manage them.
GBARC must address this issue if we are to make a meaningful contribution to EmComm (Emergency Communications) whether it is for the benefit of our community or just protecting our families and ourselves in an emergency.
When all else fails, there is amateur radio - really?
"As a result of the global pandemic and the need to follow the health guidelines involving physical distancing, there continues to be few Amateur Radio Community Service and ARES EmComm group activities to report."
Whatever happened to "when all else fails there is amateur radio"?
The global pandemic should be just the kind of emergency that the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) stands by to assist.
But, ask yourself, if the RAC ARES organization were called up to provide a group of volunteers to grab their go-kits and sleep the next few nights on camp cots at the Grey County Emergency Operations Centre while sending and receiving emergency traffic, would you make yourself available?
Are you perfectly comfortable sending and receiving messages using one of the approved message forms used in the National Traffic System (NTS)?
Are you an accomplished Narrow Band Emergency Message System (NBEMS) operator?
Are you a registered Winlink operator?
Are you familiar with the ARRL FSD-3 Relief Emergency - Routine Messages (number coded emergency messages) and how to send them using NTS?
Can you copy Morse Code at 20wpm?
Let us imagine that the emergency was not Covid-19 but a computer virus that has taken down the power grid and power has been out for over a week. Cell tower backup generators are out of fuel, all ham repeaters are down. Gasoline pumps are unable to operate.
Your handheld radio is good for a range of a few kilometers at best. HF is the only way to get signals out. Now ask yourself:
Do you know how to reliably get a signal into the next county?
Maybe the answer is NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave). Operating NVIS requires distinct skills and knowledge. A lot of the available information is out-of-date and will cause communications failure. Can you setup an NVIS antenna? Do you know how to find out the critical frequency (foF2) for your location and time-of-day?
Do you know what band to operate on to reach a DX location?
Are you proficient in digital modes that will get a signal through even when the S/N ratio has a minus sign?
I cannot put a check mark down against all these questions and I doubt there are many hams who can. But the biggest question is probably the first one: "if the RAC ARES organization were called up to provide a group of volunteers to grab their go-kits and sleep the next few nights on camp cots at the Grey County Emergency Operations Centre while sending and receiving emergency traffic, would you make yourself available?"
I have had enough exposure to the RAC ARES organization to understand that it is a top heavy bureaucracy. It is a classic case of "too many chiefs, not enough Indians" - and I mean no disrespect to the First Nations community. ARES should have been built from the bottom up. When there are enough dedicated, thoroughly trained volunteers willing to interrupt their lives at a moment's notice, then - and only then - do they need an organization to manage them.
GBARC must address this issue if we are to make a meaningful contribution to EmComm (Emergency Communications) whether it is for the benefit of our community or just protecting our families and ourselves in an emergency.
When all else fails, there is amateur radio - really?