Posts Tagged ‘Operators’

Amateur Radio Operators - Heroes?

Article by Sintilia Miecevole

Amateur radio is a hobby and has over 600,000 radio operators in the USA alone. The hobby is about communications and various ways of communicating via radio waves.

What most people do not know about the hobby and the people that are operators is that they are one of the most used groups in a disaster situation.

The amateur radio community has networks set up all over the world that can be activated quickly if there is a disaster anywhere in the world. Amateurs worked weeks at the site of 9-1-1 in New York side by side with rescue crews supplying communications.

When there is a disaster such a hurricanes or tornadoes or the likes of 9-1-1 then one of the first things to go away is the local communications. Phones go down and electricity and the only thing left is amateur radio operators that can operate from a battery and a piece of wire for an antenna.

Many operators were involved this last year in all the hurricanes that we had. The amateurs had hurricane watch nets up all over the world just watching and reporting the advance of these storms. Once these storm passed the radio operators set up nets to pass traffic for rescue groups as well as passing health and welfare traffic to people trying the get in touch with relatives in the stricken area. It is always great to get a message out to someone that says we are ok and we are alive.

Amateur radio operators are the eyes of the National Weather Service. If you do not believe that then just ask someone that works for the weather service. Every National Weather Service office in the USA has amateur radio operators on duty any time that there are storms in the area. The weather service does have a great radar but the radar cannot see the storms like human eyes can.

Some where in this country there are amateur operators watching storms and reporting what they see to the National Weather Service almost any time of the day and night. These radio operators have been trained in storm watching so that they will be able to send reports that the weather service that can used immediately. From that point all the reported storm data goes out to weather radio and local radio and TV stations for broadcast to the public.

These amateur radio operators may or may not be heroes but they are always there when needed to warn the public of danger. The kicker to all this is that the operators buy all their own radio equipment and give their time to keep the public safe.

Always doing the job in the background at no cost to the public. Usually this service gets no recognition for saving lives. Heroes? You decide.

Understanding The Importance Of Radio Operators
In the time of an emergency, everyone is called on to help out where ever and however they can. One of the major things that needs to get back up quickly is communications.

During a real emergency, communications often go down because terrestrial communications fail and cellular networks are overloaded or destroyed. Too many people want to contact family members to let them know that they are alright and the network gets over loaded.

Fortunately, there are many people who take up amateur radio operation as a hobby and can help get communications back up. Amateur radios are constantly changing and becoming more advanced, but they have saved lives in many emergency situations.

These amateur radio operators are often referred to as 'ham' operators. These people can communicate things locally and around the world. Ham operators are supposed to get a FCC license and pass certain tests to make sure that they are qualified to operate these types of radios.

If they are qualified, they are awarded a station permit. As with many other things, there are different areas of emphasis that one can focus on within ham radio operation.

This hobby has become one of the most popular technological pastimes. When it is a time of no emergencies in the area, ham radio operators often enjoy talking to each other about normal everyday things.

This kind of conversation on the radio is called rag chewing. However, when an emergency occurs, rag chewing immediately ceases.

Even amateurs know to stop talking when an emergency starts. This is critical to communications during the time of emergency.

The discipline associated with these radios is amazing. However, the pride of earning the right to operate one of these radios, which is not easily done, may play a role in this.

There are many different types of groups who specialize in different types and ranges of communication that can be called upon in an emergency. Emergency communication procedures can be activated under severe storm warnings, but it can be used at time where communication is vital.

Practice sessions are held among the various groups during good times to ensue effectiveness during an emergency. One of the many radio groups is the ARES, which stands for Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

This group is part of the American Radio Relay League and Radio Amateurs of Canada. This group was critical to medical communications following Hurricane Katrina.

They were also very helpful during a series of blackouts and throughout other emergencies. Within the ARES, there are several different levels of operators.

For example, the Emergency Coordinators or ECs are responsible for local communications and for becoming leaders during an emergency. Assistant Emergency Coordinators or AECs are each assigned a different geographical area to provide communication to and are contacts during Skywarn operations.

District Emergency Coordinators or DECs, responsibilities include anything within a certain county or cities. Lastly, the Section Manager is the person in charge of all of the operations.

In the United States there are seventy one geographic administrative areas. Another group is the RACES, which stands for Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

This group began in 1952 and is considered to be the standby communications service for wartimes. During war, this group is considered to have more authority than the other groups.

It is under the United State's Army's Office of Civil Defense and the American Radio Relay League. If there is a threat to civilians, all those who are not part of this authorized groups are commanded to be silent.

Their services may be called upon during natural events, technological accidents, nuclear attacks, terrorist incidents and bomb threats. The Military Auxiliary Radio Service, or MARS, is also underneath the United States Department of Defense.

It is owned and operated by the Army, Navy and Air Force. Some of the radio operators are on active duty, reserve or National Guard units.

This group is one that deals with worldwide emergency communications. With 5,000 radio operators stationed strategically over the world, their motto is "Proudly Serving Those Who Serve."

This service is completely voluntary. MARS mainly reports to military, federal, civil and disaster officials during emergencies.

They can also help out with normal communications between service personnel on active duty, reserve, guard, or retired and federal employees when necessary as well. This group was heavily depended on following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11,2001 for a long period of time and were critical to the United State operations at that time.

Amateur Radio Operators - Heroes?

Amateur radio is a hobby and has over 600,000 radio operators in the USA alone. The hobby is about communications and various ways of communicating via radio waves.

What most people do not know about the hobby and the people that are operators is that they are one of the most used groups in a disaster situation.

The amateur radio community has networks set up all over the world that can be activated quickly if there is a disaster anywhere in the world. Amateurs worked weeks at the site of 9-1-1 in New York side by side with rescue crews supplying communications.

When there is a disaster such a hurricanes or tornadoes or the likes of 9-1-1 then one of the first things to go away is the local communications. Phones go down and electricity and the only thing left is amateur radio operators that can operate from a battery and a piece of wire for an antenna.

Many operators were involved this last year in all the hurricanes that we had. The amateurs had hurricane watch nets up all over the world just watching and reporting the advance of these storms. Once these storm passed the radio operators set up nets to pass traffic for rescue groups as well as passing health and welfare traffic to people trying the get in touch with relatives in the stricken area. It is always great to get a message out to someone that says we are ok and we are alive.

Amateur radio operators are the eyes of the National Weather Service. If you do not believe that then just ask someone that works for the weather service. Every National Weather Service office in the USA has amateur radio operators on duty any time that there are storms in the area. The weather service does have a great radar but the radar cannot see the storms like human eyes can.

Some where in this country there are amateur operators watching storms and reporting what they see to the National Weather Service almost any time of the day and night. These radio operators have been trained in storm watching so that they will be able to send reports that the weather service that can used immediately. From that point all the reported storm data goes out to weather radio and local radio and TV stations for broadcast to the public.

These amateur radio operators may or may not be heroes but they are always there when needed to warn the public of danger. The kicker to all this is that the operators buy all their own radio equipment and give their time to keep the public safe.

Always doing the job in the background at no cost to the public. Usually this service gets no recognition for saving lives. Heroes? You decide.

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