In natural or man-made disasters, ham-radio enthusiasts put their hobby to work.
There’s a sense of urgency in the air at a Virginia nuclear power plant. Everything within at least a five-mile radius is at immediate risk due to a critical meltdown. One of the emergency responders opens the envelope she’s holding, scans its contents, and announces the bad news: “We just lost 911 and the cell towers are overloaded.”
There are some groans, but the team of amateur radio operators knew this was a possibility, and they’re prepared. They have their radios at the ready to coordinate evacuations, making sure that no shelters are overwhelmed and that evacuees arrive at the right locations. Two detach themselves from the rest and make their way over to the lead coordinator. They’re acting as the points of contact for all emergency services, which means they’re responsible for relaying information about everything from fires to urgent medical care to illegal activities.
It’s no small task, especially when there’s a nuclear meltdown in the background, but this isn’t the first time these radio operators have tackled a problem of this scale: Similar disasters happen every two years, after all. This time, it’s an earthquake that caused a cooling tower to fail. Sometimes it’s a terrorist attack, or perhaps a hurricane. Fortunately, none of these are real disasters: They’re Simulated Emergency Tests (SET), mock disasters that radio-operator groups use to show the typical emergency players—police, the Red Cross, FEMA—that when the worst happens, these hobbyists can be an essential part of the response…READ MORE
Specifically built for the new Icom IC-705, the mAT-705 is the latest compact and fully portable Micro-ATU owered by an internal 9V dry battery! The a... Read more
The team from Belarus dominated the 16th High-Speed Telegraphy (HST) World Championship in mid-September, sponsored by the International Amateur Radio... Read more
Introducing the NEW DXBm™. The Fantom Dynamics team would like to present the new DXBm. Formerly known as the Alianza DxB, our team analyzed all th... Read more
Photo by Sid Hastings “ Ever since Marconi tinkered with wireless transmissions in the early 1900s, people have been fascinated wi... Read more
During the Northern Hemisphere Summer Es season the use of 50.313 MHz for FT8 contacts has become very congested, and stations are now using 50.323 MH... Read more
The Knacksat 1U CubeSat launched on December 3 by a SpaceX vehicle may be in safe mode. The Knacksat project team at King Mongkut’s University of Tech... Read more
The FCC has denied a Petition for Rule Making to amend Part 97 station identification rules to better accommodate and simplify station identification... Read more
HPA-8000B-54 1kW Out Linear Amplifier 1.8 … 54 MHz Amateur Radio Bands 160 / 80 / 40 / 30 / 20 17 / 15 / 12 / 10 / 6 m All-Mode AM / FM / SSB /... Read more
TYT MD-2017 Features 3000 Channels 400-480MHz UHF Frequencies 136-174MHz VHF Frequencies Built-in CTCSS/DCS (Analog Mode) 5W/1W Output Power Repeater... Read more
IOTA Directory – 50th Anniversary Edition New Edited by Roger Balister, G3KMA Now celebrating 50 years the Island on the Air (IOTA) prog... Read more
On this episode, Star Wars! Just kidding. On this episode, we talk amplifiers and Christian makes plans for a new Hex Beam! Read more
FT8 HEAVYWEIGHTS is an unofficial FT8 Special Event which… can be consideredsimply an FT8 Sked meet, it was first conceptualized in December 201... Read more
The University Wuerzburg Experimental Satellite 4 (UWE-4) successfully used its propulsion system in order to conduct orbit control. The 1U CubeSat, d... Read more
“You’ve seen these printed on QSO cards, but what do they mean. I’m talking about grid squares, a unique method of geolocation that is popular w... Read more
Every year, the Geminid meteor shower peaks around the 14th of December and many VHF radio amateurs make contacts by bouncing signals off the meteor t... Read more
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The new mAT-705 Auto ATU for the Icom IC-705
Belarus Team Dominates 16th IARU High-Speed Telegraphy World Championship
Revolutionary two-way radio for smartphones set to launch in 2016
Radio operators vital in disaster response
FT8 Intercontinental DX Code of Practice 50.323 MHz
Reports of Knacksat CubeSat Reception Requested
FCC Turns Down Petition to Amend Amateur Radio Identification Rules
Hilberling HPA-8000B-54 Power Amplifier
TYT MD-2017 Dual Band DMR Digital Radio Unboxing
IOTA Directory – 50th Anniversary Edition
Christian’s Got Power and a new hex beam on the way!
FT8 HEAVYWEIGHTS by 9Z4Y & KC0BRA
UWE-4 News: Successful first demonstration of orbit control on a 1U CubeSat
Maidenhead Grid Square Locator System – Ham Radio Q&A
144 MHz signal from the Faroe Islands heard 3000kms away in Bulgaria during Geminid Meteor Shower – Dec 2020
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