Re: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the OKsignal

[Tom Anderson <WW5L@gte.net>]

Reprinted from DallasNews.Com technology section.  A 5-column article 
ran Wednesday 9/23/04 in the Dallas Morning News's Business section. 
Photos of Brandenburg and some of the devastation from the Caymans ran 
with the story.  Tom Anderson, WW5L/7P8TA/V31EF

Link to the online story is below.  You may have to join DallasNews.com 
to see photos though.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ptech/generalstories2/092204ptechccjrhamradio.2cc9.html

Ham radio to the rescue

Dallas exec sets up in Caymans after Ivan

September 22, 2004

By VIKAS BAJAJ / The Dallas Morning News

It didn't take David Brandenburg long to make up his mind after he was 
unable to reach any of his friends on the Cayman Islands a day after 
Hurricane Ivan ravaged the British territory.
David Brandenburg
David Brandenburg snapped a photo of the hurricane devastation in the 
Grand Caymans. He rushed to the islands to check on friends and set up a 
ham radio station there.

With his wife's encouragement, the lifelong ham radio operator headed 
for the Caribbean islands equipped with gear to restore a communications 
link to the mainland after the hurricane struck Sept. 12. He flew to 
Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 13, switching to a friend's twin-engine propeller 
plane early the next morning to make the final hop to the Grand Caymans.

"We left kind of on a wing and prayer," said Mr. Brandenburg, chairman 
and chief executive of Dallas-based Intervoice Inc. "We had no idea 
whether we would be able to land, and in fact we were turned down for a 
few hours."

Within hours of arriving, he had set up a ham radio station at a 
friend's condo and was relaying messages to the mainland, reassuring 
worried relatives and giving an account of the devastation.

Before heading for the Gulf Coast last week, Ivan ravaged the Caymans, 
knocking out power, telephone and water utilities on the banking and 
tourism hub. The systems began coming back online late last week.

Ham radios have often served as the critical communications backup in 
the aftermath of natural disasters because they don't rely on a 
centralized infrastructure and can communicate over long distances. But 
the island's ham radio operators couldn't serve as a backstop because 
the hurricane's winds destroyed their antennas.

"That's one of the reasons I went down there," said Mr. Brandenburg, 59. 
"There are probably a dozen hams that are residents there. ... Everyone 
I talked to had lost their antenna."

Mr. Brandenburg, who started operating ham radios when he was 14, found 
his most important function on the island was dispelling mistaken 
Internet reports about Ivan's toll on life and property.

"One report on the Internet said that 40 people had died at a shelter, 
and that was not true," he said. "There were rumors that hotels had been 
blown off, and that wasn't true."

To be sure, Ivan did wreak much damage on the islands, and it will take 
months to clean up and restore the infrastructure.

When Mr. Brandenburg left on Friday, the islands' wireless-phone 
companies were just beginning to broadcast signals again. Commercial 
power was still not available in many places this week.

The power outage made it hard to keep the ham radios going. Mr. 
Brandenburg improvised with generators and batteries from the island's 
golf carts. "The generator would keep going out because we didn't have 
enough gas," he said.

Though supplies are now streaming onto the islands, Mr. Brandenburg and 
his friends breakfasted and lunched on dry roasted peanuts and water. 
For dinner, they grilled fresh food that his Tampa friend would fly in 
on supply runs to the mainland.

"The good news is that everyone was working very hard, and there are 
lots of supplies coming into the islands," he said. "And soon all the 
women and children will be off the island."

Mr. Brandenburg returned to Texas on Friday, leaving behind two sets of 
ham radios. Altogether, the trip and equipment cost him $8,000, a small 
price for checking on friends he has known for the 25 years he has 
visited the islands.

"It wasn't necessarily a lot of fun," he said, "But it was a great time."


















Keith Dutson wrote:
> Your assumption about future reduced need for hams at public functions is
> logical.  And yes, for those events with a big budget, they can hire
> professionals to do the communications.  However, the majority of public
> functions will need "free" ham radio assistance, especially those raising
> money for charity.
>
> OTOH, the need for good communications during an emergency is completely
> different.  No matter how much money and technology is available, working a
> disaster such as 9/11/2001 will ALWAYS rely on ham radio.  We are the only
> game in town, and this will likely continue in the future, due in part to
> public apathy in disaster planning.
>
> Keith NM5G
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lux
> Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 3:47 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the
> OKsignal
>
> At 07:07 PM 9/23/2004 +0000, Rob Atkinson, K5UJ wrote:
>
> > Further, it should be noted that Wheaton is the town where the late 
> > Grote Reber made history when he assembled, in his backyard, the 
> > world's first parabolic dish radio telescope, which is now on permanent 
> > display at the American National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  Reber, 
> > who may be turning over in his grave now, probably didn't have 
> > neighbors putting NO RADIO TOWER signs on their front lawns.
> >
> > Rob/K5UJ
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> > [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Bookwalter
> > Sent: Friday, 24 September 2004 5:39 a.m.
> > To: Rob Atkinson, K5UJ; towertalk@contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the 
> > OKsignal
>
>
>
> Rob makes an excellent point.  All this talking about emergency
> communications is fine and well, but, realistically, public safety folks are
> relying on hams less and less, because the technology available to them is
> getting better and cheaper, and because the folks with the money are more
> willing to spend it on comms.  I'd venture to say that public safety
> repeaters have battery backups, etc.  Certainly, the California OES (Office
> of Emerg Svcs) HF links have battery or generator backup. Not to mention
> that for long distance comm, satellite phones (which are in the few $K
> range) have a ground infrastucture that is not particularly vulnerable.
>
> As the wireless industry grows, and sees the advertising value of providing
> free services to public occasions (parades, etc.), the need for amateur
> radio in this situation will decrease. (The Rose Parade is a fine example...
> NEXTEL provides their walkie-talkie phones to all the staff, which they find
> much more convenient than having to relay through a pair of ham "shadows" on
> 2m HTs).  Amateur radio will probably always find a place in low budget
> activities without much public exposure (long distance foot races like the
> Angeles Crest 100, for instance).
>
> Amateur radio has many aspects, and emergency comms and public service is
> but one of the 5 enumerated in 97.1 . The "advancement of the radio art" 
> (97.1(b), (c))is equally (if not more) important, in my opinion.  An amateur
> radio licensee "serves the public good" as much by developing and testing
> new antenna technology and modulation schemes with that tower as by
> providing potential emergency comms.  Likewise, such work "expands the
> reservoir of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts". 
> (97.1(d))
>
> To hang all the arguments for towers on the emergency communications thing
> is doomed to eventual failure, because we won't be able to make a credible
> and believable case for its necessity.  It's especially hard because of
> basic optimism: that disaster won't happen here, so why would we need this
> capability to deal with it.
>
> On the other hand, the U.S. has a long and honored tradition of garage
> tinkering.  The Wright Bros are a century old example, as are other early
> automotive inventors. Hewlett and Packard are more recent, and more directly
> relevant to the electronics field. Bill Gates is even more recent. 
> What's important is not necessarily the shining stars that emerge from such
> tinkering, but that thousands have contributed as well. Some succeed, most
> don't, but the trial and error process lives.  
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________

See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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