Fall 2005 Issue

Some Thoughts on Being
Prepared for an Emergency

The recent natural disasters have taught us hams that we need to be prepared to render emergency communications—sometimes at a moment’s notice. Here WB2AMU discusses some preparations that can be made.

By Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU
 

 Having lived on Long Island, New York all of my life, on occasion we have had severe hurricanes that have caused extensive damage to the area with winds causing power loss as the result of blown-down power lines. One thing that I cannot stress enough is being thoroughly prepared for a natural disaster such as a hurricane, when typically one has at least two days to prepare.
One experience that I vividly remember occurred on the evening prior to Hurricane Belle’s arrival in August of 1976. As a young ham I helped another local ham set up an 80-meter amateur radio station at the local Red Cross headquarters in my town. Although Belle was only a Category 1 hurricane, at that point it was the most damaging hurricane to hit Long Island since Hurricane Carol in 1954.
It took about 30 minutes to set up the 80-meter antenna outside of the headquarters building in the rain and then set up the station inside the headquarters building. The 80-meter station was to be used to interface with other amateur radio groups in the Northeast region. In the meantime, I had a 2-meter setup in my car and I checked into the local 2-meter emergency group with a quick call. The ham I was helping was not particularly interested in 2 meters being another source of communication, as he was concentrating on the 80-meter station. However, as much as he thought that he had the situation under control, he made a number of rookie mistakes that eventually made the 80-meter station useless during the hurricane that came into the area later that night. These mistakes were:
1. He had not formally introduced himself to the local Red Cross group ahead of time to explain how ham radio would be of help during an emergency. The ham operation seemed like an intrusion to the group.
2. He had neglected to bring headphones, and thus the audio from the 80-meter station was causing interference to the Red Cross people, preventing them from listening to their radio and further adding to their annoyance.
 

Field Day is an ideal time for learning how to set up a radio station during emergency conditions. This photo shows the 6-meter antenna as one of the several VHF stations that were set up for the 2005 Field Day effort of the Peconic ARC on the north fork of eastern Long Island. In addition to Field Day, the club participates regularly in simulated emergency exercises such as the ARRL SET events to keep up the level of preparedness. (Photo by WB2AMU)

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