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 Previous: Surfin': Some Short Bits |  Next: President Harrison Names ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 28, 2006--When another disaster on the
scale of Hurricane Katrina comes along, the League will be able to deploy "ham gear
ready to go," thanks to manufacturers' donations of Amateur Radio gear, ARRL
members' generous monetary contributions and a federal grant. The ARRL Ham
Aid-sponsored "Go Kits" now being assembled at League Headquarters are the
third leg of a program that's already reimbursed certain out-of-pocket expenses
for ham radio hurricane zone volunteers and helped restore Amateur Radio backbone
infrastructure along the US Gulf Coast.
"To me, this is a first step in ramping up ARRL's ability
to support Amateur Radio volunteers in the field before the next big disaster
hits," says ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH. "It won't
replace or supplant anything that's already on the ground and working well, but
it will strengthen it and add flexibility to Amateur Radio's overall response
capabilities." The equipment and cash donations coupled with a grant from the
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will mean Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) field volunteers will never go without in terms of
equipment. Hobart notes that a lot of radio amateurs lost all their gear during
the devastating storms last summer.
 Harry Abery, AB1ER, spends his days at ARRL Headquarters literally surrounded by Amateur Radio gear that he's packing into Go Kits. These will be available on loan from ARRL to support Amateur Radio Emergency Service volunteers in the next big disaster zone. |
 Abery packs an Icom IC-718 transceiver into one of the HF Go Kits. |
ARRL continues to solicit Ham Aid donations to help maintain and sustain the League's ability to support Amateur Radio volunteers in the field. League members can contribute to Ham Aid via the secure ARRL Development Office donation Web site. Simply click "Ham Aid" and complete the on-line form. |
 A Ham Aid VHF-UHF Kit gets packed and ready to go. |
The Go Kits will make it possible for the League to loan necessary equipment where it's needed, literally on a moment's notice. For several weeks now, Emergency Communications Specialist Harry Abery, AB1ER--a retired police dispatcher--has been spending his days at ARRL Headquarters securely stowing various equipment complements in rugged, waterproof Pelican 1650 containers.
"The idea is that this makes it easy to ship," explains Abery, and since they're less than 50 pounds apiece, they'll be able to go by air if necessary." Flooding is not an issue either. "You can throw them in the water, and they'll float," he adds.
So far, Abery says, there's an HF Kit, a VHF/UHF Kit, a Handheld Transceiver Kit and a Support Kit--seven of each, and more on the way. He and other League staffers consulted with volunteers who had been in the field during Hurricane Katrina to find out what gear served them best or what they wished they'd had but didn't.
The HF Kit contains a 100-W HF transceiver, a microphone and a power supply. The VHF/UHF Kit includes a dualband mobile transceiver, power supply, headset, 10 handheld transceivers and a supply of alkaline batteries. In the Handheld Transceiver Kit are eight dualband handheld transceivers and antennas plus a stock of extra batteries. The Support Kit includes a length of BuryFlex 213 coaxial cable, rope, 15-foot jumper cables with battery clamps at one end and an Anderson Powerpole on the other. The kit includes various fittings and adapters to connect to the power distribution unit and to make RF feed line connections. All kits contain any necessary manuals. Packed in a separate container, appropriate antennas and antenna accessories will accompany a given kit.
More than two dozen members of the Amateur Radio industry and individual radio amateurs contributed equipment last year for use in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Hobart says $25,000 in Ham Aid funds have been set aside for the Go Kits, while nearly $39,500 has gone toward reimbursing volunteers' out-of-pocket expenses and an additional $29,000 or so will help to replace Amateur Radio communication infrastructure from the Gulf Coast to Florida damaged or destroyed by last year's three devastating storms.
Citing Amateur Radio's favorable treatment in recent US House Subcommittee and White House reports on the Hurricane Katrina response, Hobart said it's imperative to sustain and enhance ham radio's emergency communication capabilities for the future. "Disasters happen to be one place Amateur Radio can shine," she pointed out. "We need to maintain a high level of readiness to do those things that are second nature to ARES members but that the public is just coming to recognize."
Making the "Go Kits" available to ARES teams, Hobart says, is a small step toward cementing Amateur Radio's position as a community
resource. "We want to be able to ensure that we have the personnel and
the equipment," she said. "With a disaster of this magnitude we need to be
ready."
| Previous: Surfin': Some Short Bits | Next: President Harrison Names ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee |
