HAM’S LIFE

Wednesday, 07/14/2010 the FCC released, in a Report and Order (R&O) release, their intent to change the restriction on government-sponsored disaster preparedness drill restrictions that required employees  from participating without a waver.  The new rule change will also affect employee participation in non-government drills and exercises.  

The FCC contends that the new ruling does not conflict with the non-commercial principles of Amateur Radio.  Basically it is a way to make it easier for such drills to involve all Amateur Radio operators whether employed by those conducting the drill or not.  There are some time restrictions so no one will be hired to run the ham radio station 40 hours a week and claim it is an emergency drill.  The rule will also reduce the paper work for the FCC but they didn’t mention that. 

The effective date has net yet been determined but new rules will not take effect until after it appears in the Federal Register.

No! NASA is not looking for hams willing to operate from the planet Mars.  The MARS referred here is the Military Auxiliary Radio System formally known as the Military Affiliate Radio System. 

The program behind MARS started back in November 1925 under the leadership of Captain Thomas C. Rives of the United States Army Signal Corps.  Captain Rives organized a group of amateur radio operators with the intent of utilizing their talents to train soldiers how to use the new technology of radio communications.  He would also use the organization, which was then called Auxiliary Amateur Radio System (AARS), to assist in research and development of radio equipment to be used by the US Army.  AARS members could also provide an instant pool of already trained radio operators for military operations if needed.

That pool of ready trained operators proved very useful when the United States of America was suddenly thrust into war on December 7, 1941.  Many of its members of AARS became military radio operators.  AARS operations along with all amateur radio operations were suspended during the war.  In 1946 AARS was reactivated.

November 1948 AARS changed its name to Military Amateur Radio System (MARS) and was split into two separate groups, the Army MARS, and the newly formed United States Air Force MARS.  (The USAF became a separate branch of the US military on September 18, 1947.  Formally it was known as the Army Air Corp.)

MARS kept its acronym but changed its name to Military Affiliate Radio System on September 2, 1952. The Navy-Marine Corps MARS program was established on August 17, 1962.

The MARS program became well known for its handling of messages and phone patches for military personnel serving overseas.  Modern email and cell phones has almost eliminated the need for MARS to handle personal messages for those serving in the military. 

December 23, 2009 MARS again changed its name while keeping it well known acronym.  The new name for MARS is the Military Auxiliary Radio System.  The Department of Defense give the following definition of a military auxiliary: “an organized body of volunteers prepared to supplement the uniformed services or any designated civilian authorities by provision of specialized autonomous services when called upon or when situations warrant.”  The Civil Air Patrol and the Coast Guard Auxiliary are two examples of Military Auxiliaries. 

With the name change came a modification of its primary mission.  MARS now will provide auxiliary emergency communications for US Military and other federal agencies such as FEMA and Homeland Security.  MARS may now assist state, local, and select private and public agencies with emergency communications. The new focus of the MARS’ mission is homeland security. 

Every ham knows about field day sponsored by the ARRL held on the last weekend of June.  Very few hams know about the winter field day on the last weekend of January sponsored by Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio (SPAR). 

One of the purposes of field day is to test readiness for emergency operation.  Emergencies and disasters are not limited to the summer months. Winter disasters can many times be more devastating then summer disasters.

To learn more about the Winter Field Day event go to http://www.spar-hams.org/ and click on Winter Field Day under Activities/Contests.   

October 6, 2009 U. S. Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a companion bill to HR 2160 which was introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18) in April 2009.  Senate bill is 1755 is also known as “The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009”. 

More complete information can be found on ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/10/07/11127/.  I highly recommend each of you with an interest in ham radio study the information on this bill and write your senator and encourage him or her to support this bill.   

I delete about 100 comments for each one I accept because most of the comments are just to advertise their site and has nothing to do with ham radio.  If you read through the comments you will see that many of the comments I have accepted are probably for the purpose of drawing people to a site unrelated to ham radio but at least the comment had some substance.  There are also a lot of good comments.

Today as I was monitoring the comments I found one by Mike G which really attracted my attention.  The comment can be found on my post “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAM RADIO AND CB” (http://hamslife.com/?p=24).  Mike’s comment or actually questions were: “Were HAM radios used by the French resistance during WWII? Have they been successfully used in modern times, in countries where tyrannical gov’ts have taken over? How can a HAM radio be utilized successfully today if the USA were to collapse?”

The subject Mike brings up deserves, in my estimation, a lot more then just a simple response in the comment section.  Actually the area of ham radio and government subversion could fill a book but I won’t be writing a book here. 

During WWII there were commercially built ham radios on the market but nothing like the great number of units available today.  Many of the ham radios were home brew.  While I am sure many of these radios were converted to underground use by the French and other resistance groups and operated by licensed ham radio operators it needs to be understood that a radio station is only a ham radio when it is operated by a legally licensed amateur radio operator on an amateur radio frequency using amateur radio call signs.  If a licensed amateur radio operator uses his ham station under an encrypted call sign (call sign to reveal station identity to the station being called while concealing the station identity from others) to pass subversive information it technically is not a ham radio station at that time.  It may sound like I am splitting hairs but that is a hair that I believe needs to be split.

Radio transmitters and receivers which were constructed for amateur radio use have been used by many for good and bad.  Resistance groups such as the French Resistance have used them to combat tyranny and rebel armies have used them to provide communications.  Drug and other smugglers have used them to pass information.  Ham radios and ham operators have provided the world with instantly available operators and equipment to meet specific communications needs outside the normal amateur operations. 

The potential use of ham radio in event of a government collapse whether USA or another is certainly a difficult question to answer.  There was a television program series that illustrated this at least to some extent.  The program was “Jericho” and it can now be found on U Tube.  Jericho gave the title of that week’s program in Morse code. 

If the government collapse is do to an overthrow where nuclear weapons are used, such as in Jericho, most modern ham radios will become worthless.  Nuclear explosions produce huge EMF (Electro Magnetic Force) fields which will destroy all solid state devices.  Only those hams with vacuum tube equipment would still have working radios in event of a high level nuclear explosion.  Finding power to run these radios might prove to be interesting because most power plants use solid state devices in their monitoring equipment and the loss of these devices would cause a shutdown. 

I do believe that EMF is a serious threat to our world today. Thus we need to organize a group of ham radio operators with vacuum tube radios and means of providing power (generators must not have solid state devices necessary for operation) for those radios.  Transportation and communications are so dependant of the use of solid state equipment that in event of such an attack we would have our life line cut off and the organization I just described could be the saving force.  

It is a scary thought when you realize our very existence has become dependant on a very fragile silicone thread. With the right equipment  and organization we, ham radio operators, could become the safety line to catch our society incase someone should cut that thread with a nuclear weapon.

On February 28, 2009 from 0800 to 1300 EST amateur radio operators participated in a simulated emergency event called Virginia’s Operation Deep Freeze.  The event simulated a 28 mile section of highway I-77 being closed due to winter storm and heavy snow trapping motorist on that section of road.

Several amateur radio operators did an exceptional job of helping authorities study a potential distress situation.  These hams are to be commended for their willingness to help.  Complete information can be learned at: http://www.w4ghs.org/Deep_Freeze.html .

It should be noted that the value of ham radio in emergency operation is still prized by those who have to risk their lives doing life saving activities.  Participating in such simulations helps sharpen our ability to be ready when the real emergency happens.  It also shows the public and the authorities our willingness and ability to participate when lives are in danger. 

Ham radio is not an inalienable right!  The privileges of ham radio have been suspended in United States of America during war and those privileges can be permanently taken away in the future if we do not continue to prove our value.  Part 97.1 of the Federal Communications Commission describes the basis and purpose of Amateur Radio within its jurisdiction (USA).  Other countries would most likely have a similar statement in their Amateur Radio service rules and regulations. 

FCC 97.1 tells us that (I summaries) the purposes amateur radio is to provide noncommercial communications, particularly emergency communications. To advance radio art, advance skills in communications and technical phases of radio, provide an existing reservoir of trained radio operators, technicians, and electronics experts, and to enhance international goodwill.  Though personal enjoyment is not prohibited it is not included in the purpose.

In times past it was fairly easy to prove the importance of ham radio to society but today with cell phones, advanced electronics, and internet service it is harder for non-hams to see the importance.  Politicians are fed by the public so it is the public that must be convinced that we provide an important service to society.  We know the value of our service but how can we show the public our importance?

To prove our importance to the public we must be in front of the public doing what we do best, communicating.  One of the best ways of doing this is by finding local activities that can be enhanced by our presence.  Parades provide an excellent chance to do this by helping keep all the groups coordinated through ham radio.  Many other communities can also provide opportunity such as bike rides, trail hikes, street fairs, and any other activity where there may be the need of medical help, break down assistance, or coordination between people located in different areas of the activity. 

Such activities not only helps us to be in the public eye but it also enhances our abilities and hone our skills so when the real emergency comes we ill be ready.  Remember ham radio is sometimes the only communication system that remains viable [the word system is not totally accurate because ham radio is not technically a system and that is why it remains viable].  It is when we provide reliable communications during an emergency that we really shine and people see our value and we can only provide reliable communications during the stress and confusion of an emergency if we practice during nonemergency times.