Unsung Heroes

[hollyking]

I found a nice writeup of some amateur radio operators down in Oregon helping out during the flooding. Having participated in simulated emergency reponses I know that the article doesn't give us the full sense of how much work was required to keep communications going. I was exhausted at the end of the SET which was scheduled for an afternoon and didn't have to deal with the stress and chaos of a real emergency. So I say thanks to those who helped out!

Jeff Davis, KE9V, also blogged about this story. I wanted to mention his post because he brought up the point that the public service agencies have spent millions in upgrading their communications systems. Yet we still read about "amateur" operators who can deploy and communicate during an emergency when the "professionals" have lost their ability to communicate.

As you might know I've struggled a bit with how to be an active amateur radio operator while living in an apartment. I think I might have found a project that will make it easier. I want to build an ARES Boom Box. One box with radio, batteries, power supplies and charger. Plug it into the wall and you can operate while it charges the batteries. Pull the plug and carry it to an operation location and you're back on the air after a quick antenna setup. I have the radio which is the most expensive single part. Once I put together the final list of components I'll know how big of a box I need to put it all together.