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Ham Radio Fills Communication Gaps In Nepal Rescue Effort

Posted by Soulskill on from the doing-good-work dept.

itwbennett writes: Amateur radio has stepped in to fill communication gaps in Nepal, which is struggling with power outages and a flaky Internet after a devastating earthquake on Saturday killed over 5,000 people. Though 99 persons have ham licenses in Kathmandu, about eight use high-frequency (HF) radios that can transmit long distances, while another 30 have very high frequency and ultra high frequency sets for local traffic, said Satish Kharel, a lawyer in Kathmandu, who uses the ham call signal 9N1AA. The hobbyist radio operators are working round-the-clock to help people get in touch with relatives, pass on information and alert about developing crises.

5 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Mesh networking by havana9 · · Score: 5, Informative
    When a disaster happen, that disrupts communications, the amatueur radio operators give help even in 2015 when cellphones are ubiquitous. This runs down on some peculiar aspect of the hobby:
    • amateur radio operators are traind and know how they gear works so they can repairo or adapt the system to work, for instance a spool of wire, a fishrod and and some coax cable could be use to make a temporary antenna
    • old, proven, patent free analogue and digital transmission modes: old tube radios could interoperate with new and shiny software defined radios
    • reliability: some ham radios are built like a tank, because were designed to be used in a tank
    • almost standardized power suppy permits to power the radio with flexibility even with a bunch of D cells or a lead-acid battery
    • mesh networking: no central control system: all communications are set up freely an could reconfigure on the fly
  2. Re:Again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ahhh....an egocentric comment by a confirmed cellular addict.

    I spent two years on a sailboat in the canals and fjords of Chilean Patagonia and Argentina. I have been south of every automobile, paved road and street light in the world. Most of the time we were 100 miles or more from the nearest cell phone tower (and road). Sat phones are unreliable at these latitudes (about 55 degrees south) because the satellites are in more or less equatorial orbits. And the Chilean navy wants to hear from you twice a day when you are in Chilean waters. The only tool that will work is a single side band HF radio. When connected to A PC via a specialized modem, this setup can send and receive emails from anywhere in the world. My transmitter is only rated at 100 watts and yet it routinely communicates with stations that are more than 3000 miles away. I have contacted Europe from the Pacific Ocean. "Hobby"?!? For those of us who are really out there, amateur HF radio is the communications lifeline.

    P.S. Could the submitter of "Again?" make an attempt to explain to me what "official radio communication" means?

    73's

    KR6AS

  3. Re:Again? by chilenexus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Back when McVeigh bombed the Federal building in Oklahoma City, so many emergency personnel rushed into the area from so many jurisdictions that it brought all of their radio communications down due to saturation and intermod - the only thing that worked reliably was ham radio, and there were hams assigned to work with the fire crews and police to get their traffic passed.

    Also, when a disaster strikes the cell networks are usually the first to go down. The older towers can't handle the sudden massive spike in the number of people trying to make calls at once, and would actually explode from the power demand and resultant overheating. The newer towers protect themselves by shutting down when they get spiked like that.

  4. Re:Again? by TrentTheThief · · Score: 3, Informative

    You may think so, but I assure you that your impression of amateur radio's place in the scheme of things is sadly wrong. Think of them more like rabid Maker's hooked on radios instead of Arduinos and 3D printers. They aren't random people yelling breaker, breaker into a CB. It's a very technical hobby. Some might have just a transceiver and an antenna. But others have setups that look more like a satellite comm center. The people who dive into emergency comms do so with as much seriousness dedication as any EMT, fireman, or policeman. They're more like the guys who chase tornadoes. They go _to_ the trouble.

    But don't misunderstand their purpose. They don't do this just for emergencies. Radio is a way of life for many of them.

    Sure, "the communicate by any means" is still there. However, amateur radio operators provide vital communications to coordinate rescue and relief efforts all over the world, way more than just providing "I'm alive" messages. They've been doing it for over 1000 years. Ham operators happen to be sprinkled around all over the world, so they might already be there when bad shit happens. The operators have networks, procedures, and contact in place for emergency situations.

    Ham radio's activity in this regard is officially recognized in the US and most other countries.

    In the US, MARS (DoD program), ARES (civilian org, "ARRL"), and RACES (DHS program). All three deal deal with the use of amateur radio to provide emergency/disaster services.

  5. Re:Again? by pr0fessor · · Score: 4, Informative

    In the mid-west storm spotters, ham operators, and other volunteers coordinate with sheriff's departments to get relevant information to the national weather service and out to the pubic during times of severe weather. Tornado season is a particularly busy time for them and they are appreciated.