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Ham Radio Fills Communication Gaps In Nepal Rescue Effort
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.
While you do have a good point, I think that any disaster that requires ham radio for communication would also likely have taken out the local power grid leaving consumer power line networking inoperable.
Do we really need a story about ham radio after every disaster?
Yes. Because it's great to hear about geeks helping people. And it's wonderful to see technology used in positive ways. I love seeing people being nice to one another. These are heroes: not the assholes shooting. Any asshole thug can pick up a gun or bomb, but it takes skill, kindness, and bravery to help people you don't know to contact others.
We need to see and hear more of this in the violent shitty World.
I think we do, but why? It's educational for the younger audience. I would have never known of ham radios and their usage during disasters if not for slashdot. We get new and young readers now and then. It's good for them, but maybe not for you.
Hey Sparky.. you don't like an article?? easy fix... Dont READ it... Some of us like to hear about ham radio being used for critical stuff... geez.. What a specail snowflake.. just because he doesn't like a story, nobody else here should be able to read it either.... .
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
No, but if you're trying to work on a relay in the US and there is broadband interference it is still an issue. That said, I don't thing consumer powerline networking is going to be very widespread, thanks in no small part to the ARRL's effort.
Further, this is why you do need to 'advertise' when amateur radio is used for public safety purposes. We are still fighting a rear guard battle and anytime the public (and our wonderful legislators) see the service as beneficial it slows down the attempts to limit amateur radio's spectrum and rights.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
I'm ham licensed as well, and this kind of news is a really important aspect of the hobby. There are lots of folks out there who would like to take our radio space and sell it off and it is important that we keep reminding folks that when things get ugly we keep working.
No, the real benefit from amateur radio operations is that they are trained to work as a team. The reality is that the vast majority of the gear used in emergency communications are modern, reliable, commercial rigs that the operators could no more fix internally than you can fix your computer. They don't train to McGuyver the radios, they train to set up command and control links and practice working with interfaces with the Internet and government systems.
That way, when the shit hits the fan they can plop down in their chair and do something useful. Yes, you can get a field station running with a length of wire and a car battery and there are lots of ham radio operators who delight in that sort of thing. But organization and teamwork is the real key to effectiveness and that is why amateur radio has been embraced by governments world wide.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Well it either takes money, or no money. You can't fit too much on a sail boat, so it's not like you have a lot of possessions. It really takes setting priorities.
Although everybody appreciates the amateur service's value in disasters, ham is slowly dying in the US because it is perceived by the public as falling behind compared to the more popular commercial communications technologies. What I would like to see is for ham to be assigned a legal commercial niche that it can occupy as an incentive to buy gear and revive the experimental edge that the service has long been renowned for.
How about Internet service in rural areas? Allow hams to offer commercial interconnect from fiber and other wired broadband to the scattered users who have difficulty getting ISP service any other way. HF radio would be a candidate technology. Let innovation romp and others may emerge and have unexpected applications.
The connectivity we would get from this type of commercialization is, furthermore, exactly what would help the most in time of disaster.