Amateur radio operators are dedicated volunteers who serve as a vital communication resource during emergencies and disaster recovery. They engage in activities like storm spotting and search and rescue while also participating in community events. Hamvention, a major gathering, showcases the amateur radio community’s commitment and offers opportunities for learning and networking.
In the most recent edition of ARRL’s On the Air, C. Crane CEO Jessica Crotty underscores the importance of being fully familiar with your equipment long before a disaster occurs. She also highlights the essential role radio plays during emergencies, offering reliable communication when other systems fail and helping communities stay informed and prepared.
On Thursday, December 5th, 2024, just off the coast, our little area in the Pacific Northwest (of California), was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, along with hundreds of aftershocks. We’re beginning to associate December with earthquakes, as we had another large earthquake in December of 2022 that caused a tremendous amount of damage.
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There’s a special place in my heart for Maui, I just traveled there in May. Many of us here love Hawaii and frequent it as often as possible. Spending time in Hawaii changed my belief about time, hurry, and busyness. It gave me more respect for the ocean, waste, and all living creatures. It’s the first vacation I remember that actually felt like a vacation and the warmness of the people we met was so special. Our hearts are broken for everyone. Being in California, we’re all too familiar with the devastation of wildfire.
Continue ReadingThe Internet is about 20 years old, yet we depend on it as if it was an amendment under the Bill of Rights. It has given a quantum leap in knowledge to half of the world’s population. Probably each one of us is concerned about content, speed and how it changes all facets of our lives including our jobs. The pace of change seems to be accelerating.
I have taken very small excerpts from the well written articles listed below. They are probably the most frightening articles I have read in 10 years. We can safely presume many more hacks and viruses have made their way into our computers without becoming public knowledge. The full articles below are available on Wired Magazine and the Wall Street Journal online or mobile. Search the title and publisher for the full article (a subscription may be required to view the full articles).
Continue ReadingWhen logging into PG&E’s (Pacific Gas and Electric) website, the following message appears. WILDFIRE SAFETY – ACTION REQUIRED.
A quick Google search leads to the following information.
Customers were told to be “prepared” for when the alerts go into effect and the power could be abruptly cut off….
PG&E is talking about using these pre-emptive power outages specifically during the threat of wildfires like the ones that destroyed nearly a quarter of a million acres in the north bay last October.
PG&E has now been blamed for some of those fires. 90,000 people were evacuated and more than 40 people died.
Southern California Edison has a similar program in place…. Continue Reading
Millions of Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and Caribbean residents had an old friend help them get through the toughest days of a dangerous 2017 hurricane season: AM/FM radio. Many didn’t have a radio of their own, but instead would gather around a business with one or in someone’s car. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, every day at 3pm, the Governor would share over the radio what resources would be distributed, if any, as well as any new updates with the storms. Continue Reading
We all know a natural or man-made disaster could strike at any moment, yet most of us don’t do the things that are necessary to be prepared in the event something does happen. This past year has been chock-full of disasters that in many cases have resulted in areas that are still without basic services […]
Single Sideband is a comparatively unknown, interesting and important radio format that takes a special radio for listening and a little time to learn. If we start an hour after sunset, on a weekend, it is easier to pick up your first station. Attach and stretch out your portable shortwave antenna to the CC Skywave […]