Congratulations to all involved. Nice to have good news!
I agree that a video would be good. I've had many requests for emergency ops videos.
73, Art K0AIZ
Dear Officers, Directors and Vice Directors,
Today, in coordination with a high-level meeting of American Red Cross and FEMA executives at Red Cross HQ in Baltimore, Maryland, ARRL was able to demonstrate Amateur Radio’s ability to communicate when normal infrastructure is not available. Dozens of Amateur Radio operators along the East Coast (in ten states from Maine and Rhode Island to the Carolinas) provided a demonstration of Amateur Radio’s ability to deliver messages -- without commercial power, infrastructure or permanently established stations -- to officials of the American Red Cross and FEMA.
As part of this demonstration -- a response to a major hurricane with mass casualties and major property damage striking the East Coast -- amateur radio operators at portable operating stations delivered messages to W1AW, ARRL’s permanent station in Newington, Connecticut, which served as the net control station. W1AW then delivered the messages to officials attending the joint FEMA- Red Cross meeting in Baltimore.
The message transmission by amateur radio operators was be done via digital modes, which allowed for the transmission of data that was delivered to computer screens in Baltimore, thereby showcasing for the full range of capabilities of modern amateur radio technology.
At 1400 UTC (10 AM EST) W1AW acted as NCS calling up stations on 20, 40 and 80m SSB. All stations in the field were operating Field Day style using portable antennas and non-commercial power. Once all stations were checked in by NCS they were each directed to switch to the digital sub-band and send their traffic using MT-63 1K. All traffic was received completely by NCS.
At 1500 UTC (11:00 EST) W1AW then called the station at Red Cross Baltimore where MDC SM Marty Pittinger KB3MXM and his team were set up to receive the messages. Even though this was rehearsed last week, propagation was the only variable in the equation. The ionosphere cooperated and signals from Baltimore were perfectly readable and the blast of traffic was printing on their screen. The Red Cross execs were quite pleased and thanked W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia NJ1Q over the air on 40m SSB.
ARRL Communications Manager David Isgur N1RSN arranged for two TV news crews to be on hand at W1AW for video and interviews, and we were able to generate coverage on the local Fox, ABC and CBS networks, and on NPR radio.
PIOs at many of the sites involved, including western PA and northern NJ, were able to generate local media coverage of the demonstration as part of stories that highlighted agency preparations for the 2019 Hurricane Season. There was also local media coverage at the Baltimore meeting site.
Red Cross officials at the sites in Newington, CT, and Baltimore, MD, expressed their expressed their admiration for the speed and quality of the transmissions.
This was a very successful day for ARRL in its effort to let the media and general public know about the value that Amateur Radio can deliver during a public service emergency.
While all ARRL staff was invited to join in support at W1AW, which many did, I’d like to personally thank all the staff and volunteers who made this great event possible, especially Norm W3IZ, Dave N1RSN, and Joe NJ1Q who put in many hours coordinating the many details needed so this activity worked smoothly!
-- Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX Chief Executive Officer ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio® 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA Telephone: +1 860-594-0404 email: hmichel@arrl.org
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