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Ham Radio Operators Are Heroes In Oregon

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-first-responders dept.

An anonymous reader writes "We all know the impact that Ham radio can have in emergencies, but that often slips by the public and the authorities. Not so in Oregon, where a day after getting inundated with torrential rains and winds and suffering from the usual calamities those cause, Oregon's Governor called the local Ham radio operators heroes. When discussing how the storm affected communications, the governor stated: "I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from the very beginning of this...the ham radio operators." Kudos to the Oregon Ham operators for helping out in a bad situation, and getting the recognition they deserve."

18 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. Not Just In Oregon by gbulmash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A friend of mine (Randy Cassingham of This Is True ) is a HAM radio operator and he's helped provide communications for emergency responders during disasters near where he lives in Colorado. When the chips are down, it seems that radio hobbyists are ready, willing, and able to help out. It's nice to see that they're getting some positive press.

    Hopefully much of this thread will be kudos for Ham radio operators around the world. A lot of them use their powers for good more often than you might think.

    - Greg

    --
    Start a happiness pandemic
  2. Ham's day is over, probably by jimmyhat3939 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I got my first Ham license back in the 1980s. Back then you had to be able to do 20wpm morse code to get to the highest license.

    Nowadays they've watered it down so that it's extremely easy to get the licenses. In addition, with the Internet you can basically walk to your computer and email the person you just talked to halfway around the world.

    Anyway, in my experience the people left on the airwaves are all at least 60 years old.

    --
    Free Conference Call -- No Spam, High Quality
    1. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by GrendelT · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm not 60.
      A vast majority are, but ham radio was the "cool" thing when they were younger, now we have these new-fangled computers and Internets with it's tubes and everything. All the old-school hackers were hams. In the 70s and 80s they all moved toward computers. There's still a subset of younger hams (I'm 27 and almost always younger than anyone I meet on the air.).

      Also of note is the fact that Morse code was dropped from ham testing almost a year ago. The jury was out on whether licensing would pick up or not change. After monitoring and graphing the growth in a horribly ugly script, the number are in and - nothing changed really. There was a spike of "lazy" or tone-deaf hams upgrading, but that was about it.
      Here's my ugly graph: http://n5dux.com/ham/issued/

      73, de N5DUX (Extra with code)

    2. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Purist or Elitist? I've got a General license and I find that particularly on the internet, old hams are dickheads. They act as if we new hams are invading their private paradise, and instead of assisting and community building, they bitch and moan and howl about how ham radio is turning into CB, and how the sky is falling. Those old farts still on the air are just as crotchety as you'd expect, whining about how all the new hams are walking on their amateur band lawns.

      --
      by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
    3. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by thephydes · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Morse is king if you want effective communication over long distances and have only low power available to you. If you have a computer then psk31 is probably (possibly) next best. Good software can pick up psk signals that are so quiet that they are below the noise floor. Ham radio experimenters are responsible for the early development of many communication technologies that we now take for granted. Don't write us off yet, there's still life in the hobby believe me.

    4. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by AgentPaper · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Funny, that. My parents purchased a sat-phone for remote area travel (they do a lot of fishing and hunting in extremely remote locations, both in the US and internationally), with the understanding that the phone would work anywhere you could see the sky. Wrong - there also needs to be a ground uplink station somewhere within a thousand miles of your location. That little caveat came back to haunt them in northern Alaska, and then again in Labrador. Satellites all over the place, but they couldn't get a signal from the ground station, which rendered the sat-phone a $600 brick (and I do mean brick - the blasted thing weighs about a pound and comes in a bright yellow Pelican case that looks like it could hold a nuclear device).

      Sat-phones also don't work particularly well in storms or heavy cloud cover, nor do they work at sea (see above about ground stations). In short, they're fairly useless in just about every situation where you'd need them the most. Ham radio has no such restrictions - there's always a way to get a signal through. If I were going to the boonies and had the choice of a radio or a sat-phone, I'd take the radio every time.

      --
      First rule of trauma: Bleeding always stops.
    5. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by joseph.moore · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've been reading the comments about old hams being rude and failing to mentor new hams and I have to tell you, I don't see it. I've been licensed since 1982 and I still consider myself a new ham in many respects. With every new venture I seek the mentoring of those who came before me and I usually get good advise. When I get the chance, I share what I have learned in my quarter century of being a ham. That may classify me as one of the old farts you refer to, but remember all of those old farts were young hams once too.

      As for the bands turning into CB, well see that in some areas. Take a listen on 75 meters and tell me if you would like your family or friends to listen in! Personally it is disappointing to think that a person skilled enough to setup and operate an HF station would act the way some do. I was shocked at the vulgar language, blatant disregard for the rules or others. There are vulgar old farts and young pups alike ... plenty of blame to go around! Perception is important and it is true, a minority give a bad perception.

      Do I think that changing the testing requirements has ruined the hobby? Not by a long shot!

      For myself, I'll let you consider me an old fart, a young pup or something in the middle and I'll enjoy the hobby for what it is. When the time comes to help others as an Elmer or in an emergency I'll be there the best I can. Truly, isn't that we all strive for?

    6. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by plover · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Actually, it does! People who are expert at Morse code develop a distinctive keying rhythm or style, which an experienced receiver can identify. Hams refer to this as recognizing their "fist."

      For a fairly well documented account, check out some of the histories of code breaking that was going on in WWII. The Allied radio operators who were intercepting German messages were able to recognize many individual German radio officers just by the pattern of their dits and dahs. This was especially helpful in identifying which ship was transmitting, as the same operators continued to work from the same boats. It also was reportedly used to recognize when a spy had been captured. The spy was forced to reveal their transmission frequencies, times, and code words, and the Germans kept up a phony conversation, trying to feed the Allies misinformation. But if anyone but the spy sent the message, the Allied radio operator might recognize the difference in the fist.

      --
      John
    7. Re:Ham's day is over, probably by plover · · Score: 2, Interesting

      For every great thing you can name about the code, I can name another mode that does it better.

      Only because you brought it up, I will point out that packet transmitters will likely not survive an EMP. Digital transmitters, receivers, and decoders will be useless from that moment forward. Even transistor-based analog radios will be destroyed. The induced current will cause semiconductors to fry themselves out in everything from mainframes to iPods, and cars to refrigerators, regardless of their power state at the time of the blast. But vacuum tube radios will continue to work, and I am unaware of any valve-based PSK decoders.

      And that's the kind of old-school reliability that old-school hams hang on to Morse for. Ask any 55-year-old if they remember classroom drills taking shelter under their desks from the fallout in case the Russkies "drop the big one". Terrorists with their wimpy box cutters are nothing but punks compared to the threat of armies of commies sending us real atom bombs. Whether or not you or I still consider nuclear war to be an actual threat isn't relevant. The lessons associated with that kind of fear stay with you forever.

      But that's not what the hobby is about.

      I totally agree. The spirit of hams is in the "can-do" attitude, and most of the hams I know savor their ability to communicate three different ways in otherwise impossible conditions.

      --
      John
  3. New form of file sharing! by calebt3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If one could account for signal distortion/degradation, ham radio sets could conceivably be used for broadcasting files. And I mean as a binary ogg/mp3/aac/flac/whatever, not as audio that can be played by any radio.

  4. Packet Radio by camperdave · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If one could account for signal distortion/degradation, ham radio sets could conceivably be used for broadcasting files. And I mean as a binary ogg/mp3/aac/flac/whatever, not as audio that can be played by any radio.

    It's called Packet Radio, and has been around about as long as the internet itself. In fact, one of the first demonstrations of TCP/IP's versatility was the connecting of a satellite network, a packet radio network, and the ARPANet. This happened back in 1977.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  5. Re:Peace of mind by Bl4ckJ3sus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If James Kim had a $100.00 handheld GPS with him, things would have been different.

  6. Not Just During Disasters by Comatose51 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've actually encountered Ham radio operators during my MS150 charity bike rides. The 150 stands for the distance (usually more) we ride over two days to raise money for research on multiple sclerosis. Along the way I remember seeing Ham radio operators at the various stops operating radios and coordinating the support for the riders. Most of the routes MS150 rides go through is just the country side far away from urban areas and when a rider needs help or is injured, you need a reliable form of communication. Imagine going down 80 miles from the nearest city with no cellphone reception. I am thankful to have them volunteer for the events.

    --
    EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
  7. Boy Scouts by SoyChemist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember participating in Scouting on the Air, a ham radio event for Boy Scouts, and hearing the leader tell us how Ham radio operators are so helpful in disasters. They tend to be great people. I strongly agree with him. The guys at Cal IT 2 in San Diego are amazing with using supercomputing to update maps of disaster areas.

  8. Thanks, guys! by EmagGeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I always like it when Ham Radio Opers get the credit they deserve. When Hurricane Bonnie rolled through the south east, I was working with the guys at W4AQL monitoring emergency comms. I also gave an interview for local TV about how Ham Radio operators are a crucial part of any disaster plan.

    I have never heard of it, and I realize it may be a false assumption that one does not exist, but I am wondering if FEMA has an official process for calling up Ham Radio Opers to help as part of their disaster plan....

    73
    N2JBE

  9. Proud to be part of the greatest hobby on earth. by GomezAdams · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I was near Detroit on a business trip when the grid went down in 2003. In under 8 hours the cell phone towers went dark and my 2 meter hand held made it possible for me to talk to local hams and get information.

    Another example of the use of amateur radio use in disasters is during the tsunami in 2004. Amateur radio was used to carry messages using low power battery operated equipment using morse code. Morse code uses far less power to put out a useful signal then voice and other modes. A lot of information was passed using 5 watts of power and code.

    Morse is still useful and Army MARS (Military Amateur Radio System) is going to start using morse again on their nets. I hope Navy MARS does too.

    A 'Know Code" HAM (www.fists.com) - Straight Key operator (www.skccgroup.com) - Navy MARS operator.

    --
    Too lazy to create a sig...
  10. There are various stories about the origin. by DigitalReverend · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One of them being that there were professional telegraph operators that still worked for the railroads. As amateur radio took off CW (morse code) was what those amateurs used to communicate. It was initially an insult as the professional telegraph operators thought that the amateurs operated their code keys as if they were ham fisted. Ham fisted radio operator later became ham radio operator.

    No one truly knows where the term originated.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio

    73 (yes only 73, not 73s)
    de KI8JC

    --
    I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
  11. Re:Oh Sure... by K0RGR · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I teach ham radio classes. The toughest part of the electronic theory required for the basic license IS taught in freshman science class in our local high schools!!! Memorize some rules and regulations, apply common sense to questions like "When is it permitted to send false and misleading transmisions", and you, too, can pass the test! Seriously, it will require some study, but it's not neurosurgery.