HAMNET SARL EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION DIVISION 
Page down for weekly update and the February 2010 SARL HAMNNET BULLETIN
STOP PRESS: Report by Bruce Hepburn ZR6BDH
just returned from Haiti as part of the SA Rescue Team
HAMNET
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION NETWORK
WHEN ALL FAILS AMATEUR RADIO SUCCEEDS
Something has gone terribly wrong. Normal ways of doing things are not working. The fastest way to turn an emergency into a full disaster is to lose communications.
Radio Amateurs understand emergencies. For over 70 years they have provided emergency communications for organisations. When normal ways of communication fail or get overloaded Radio Amateurs will be there.
HAMNET, the National Emergency Communications division of the South African Radio League (SARL), provides communications for emergencies and can mobilise experienced communicators who with their own radio equipment will back up official channels or take over when all else fails.
Listen to the weekly Hamnet report transmitted on Amateur Radio Mirror International 7 February 2010 |
Listen to monthly Hamnet bulletin
February 2010 |
The SARL represents all Radio Amateurs in South Africa at all levels of Government and through the IARU at the International telecommunications Union.
Radio Amateurs or "Hams" use two-way radio communication to make contact with other radio amateurs all over the world. They are even able to use satellites and on occasion speak with astronauts. Radio Hams can do this from home or while mobile in cars, boats or on foot.
Radio Hams have a full range or communication modes at their disposal. These include plain voice, Morse code, numerous digital computer modes and even graphical modes like television. A licensed radio amateur is able to join in experiments using all these modes.
HAMNET REPORT 7 February 2010
Occasionally one should sit back and take cognisance of what is going on around us. With all the hype of Haiti and preparations for the Soccer World Cup, it is time to reflect on who we are, what we are trying to achieve and the way forward. My reason for this is quite simple.
Technologically, so much has changed over the past few years. The introduction of cell phone technology, Satellite phones, digital technology, the home computer and Internet, made me think. How is Hamnet adapting to all this? What has changed! No more sitting around listening to static, no more duty spells – except maybe over long weekends and school holidays.
So, where do we go from here in this new technological era! Well, the need for alternative communication will always be there. It is now a case of adaptation! Yes, gone are the days when we had many monitors sitting patiently waiting for that “emergency traffic” call. Our role has changed, but our expertise to supply alternative communication prevails!
Mr. Riley Hollingsworth, who represented Amateur Radio at the FCC as well as the late Walter Kronkite, both suggested that amateur radio is your only “fail safe” emergency network on the planet! That fact, no matter how advanced alternative technology may become, will always remain! It is just that situations have changed.
The cell phone now advises us of that serious traffic accidents or it can be phoned directly to the authorities. The satellite phone – albeit rather expense to use can now be used to phone internationally. The internet with Echolink can now communicate effectively anywhere in the world and again proved how successful it was during the Haiti disaster. However, amateur radio still has the benefit of versatility – it can go anywhere at any time and is not reliant on electricity for power.
The need for emergency communication has also changed when it comes to major disasters. Going into an area where communication is needed is relatively easy to achieve when all else around you is in a chaotic situation, when cell phone communication fails, when power fails. A radio, a length of wire, battery or generator power, a little bit of imagination, one or two other items and – you have instant communication!
Scenarios may present themselves in different ways, but when the chips are down, amateur radio, can still supply that desperate bit of information to the outside world which under normal circumstances would not have been possible.
The tsunami in 2004 and a DX team on the Andaman Islands is a classic example of being in the right place at the right time.
Hamnet is adapting to changed circumstances to ensure that we will always be ready to fill that communications gap and get the message through!
Reporting on Hamnet, this is Francois Botha – ZS6BUU.
