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San Augustine Amateur Radio Volunteers Stand Down in Debris Search
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 14, 2003--Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members in San Augustine, Texas, have wrapped up their support of the shuttle Columbia debris search-and-recovery effort. South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Bob Ehrhardt, W5ZX, announced that the emergency operations center was shut down February 12 and that there is no further need for Amateur Radio volunteers. Hams in Texas have been supporting communications for the search effort, led by federal agencies, since it began February 1.
"I must say the amateurs were very professional and very dedicated to assist in any manner," Ehrhardt said. "Even after a day in the bush, they would come back in to the ops center and say they were ready for another day."
Ehrhardt said the weather often was rainy and cold with some sleet. "The brambles and briars in the forest did not help," he added. "The agencies that they worked with were very surprised and pleased with Amateur Radio. I know that we changed several minds that we could get the job done."
Amateurs involved in the Nacogdoches County search-and-recovery effort also stood down February 12. Jim Lawyer, AA5QX--a Dallas-area amateur who helped organize the Nacogdoches County effort--said that US Forest Service personnel are taking over the support role hams had been filling. Hams had been using GPS and off-the-shelf computer mapping software to pin down and report the locations of debris items as they were sighted.
Lawyer says that preliminary numbers reported February 13 during a debriefing net in Nacogdoches indicated that 198 amateurs logged in at one time or another in Nacogdoches County. In San Augustine County, the number was 148 amateurs. Lawyer says an estimated 80 percent of the participating amateurs were from outside the two counties.
Alan Hayes, NE5AH, in Lufkin credited ARRL, the League's field organization and "all of our brother and sister Amateur Radio operators" for their participation. "What a tremendous group of caring people!" he said.
Lawyer echoed Hayes' sentiments. "It took all of us to make it happen, and without all of us, it wouldn't have been the success that it was," he said. "You have reason to be proud that you are 'amateurs'--those who do it for the love of it."
Page last modified: 02:35 PM, 14 Feb 2003 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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