Thanks Bill,
good luck and have a great FD on the sats. If I get my station up, we will talk.
73 Stefan VE4NSA
On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 8:10 PM, Bill Acito [email protected] wrote:
Yep, I was going to raise the same point and link. They list the following "benefits":
- providing Satellite based Amateur Radio Services/meet the long felt
need for the Amateur Radio Operators of South Asian region (especially a mode B bird)
- bring Satellite Services within the reach of the common man and
popularize Space Technology among the masses.
- stimulation of technical interest and awareness among the younger
generation by providing them with an opportunity to develop their technological projects
- providing a low cost readily accessible reliable means of communication
during emergencies and calamities like flood, earthquakes, etc.
I never said the last one is a "falsehood". I am suggesting it does not hold anywhere near the same weight as the first three.
I have never been in a tornado. But I would suggest that those hams in the impact zone no longer have access to any working equipment, which means hams in the surrounding areas are coming in to help, and have the choice. If I was going into the impact zone and had the choice of what communications I might bring, it would be
- a portable cell site
- mobile/HT VHF/UHF
- mobile HF
...in that order. A portable satellite station would be a distant fourth.
If you read the summaries in the aftermath of Joplin, amateur radio (VHF/UHF) played a critical role in the minutes leading up to, and the hours after the tornado tore through. Then mobile phone, mobile date, and social media took over when the mobile cell sites came on line.
Back to prepping my FD station,
Bill W1PA