Subj : Newsline Part 2
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Oct 28 2016 10:54 am
A PLAN TO TAKE SPACE WEATHER BY STORM
DON/ANCHOR: Hams deal with space weather regularly -- but what about
everyone else? Yes, there is a plan - or there will be one soon in the
U.S. Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Mike Askins, KE5CXP.
MIKE: Federal agencies now have until April to devise a comprehensive
plan to predict, detect, and deal with solar flares, and other so-called
space weather disturbances that could mess with the nation's technology,
everything from GPS systems to satellites to the power grid itself.
President Barack Obama's Oct. 13 Executive Order directed Homeland
Security, NASA, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the
Interior, among other offices, to find ways to be alert to such
occurrences, including geomagnetic storms. Obama ordered the agencies
to find ways to protect, or quickly repair the infrastructure, consistent
with the goal identified in the nation's 2015 National Space Weather
Action Plan.
The order outlines the implementation of the plan, as a coordinated
effort among agencies.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP.
(NBC NEWS, WHITEHOUSE.GOV)
**
PUMPKIN PATROL HELPS SQUASH HALLOWEEN MISCHIEF
DON/ANCHOR: It's THAT season -- and as spooky as Halloween can get
sometimes, hams in New York are partnering with State Troopers to make
sure this late October holiday doesn't turn into a real horror show --
as we hear in this report from Newsline's Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
AL: It's called Pumpkin Patrol because a lot of times there's a lot of
mischief around the 30th and 31st of October. It started in 1976, when
a young woman heard on her CB that someone had thrown a rock from a
bridge that crosses the Thruway. They decided they were going to park
near these bridges, and if they saw something suspicious, they would
call the authorities.
KENT: And, so was born, the New York Pumpkin Patrol. Al May, WA2KFV,
coordinates the ham volunteers for his county. It grew from CBers --
and later, Hams joined in to assist in the local police, and the New
York State patrol.
AL: It's become organized, and now covers the entire state. They work
with 32 local police agencies. Our group covers central NY near Syracuse,
covering 19 bridges. If we see something suspicious, we call net control
and they call the authorities to have them investigate. I think that
we're there that it prevents problems. For two or three years now, we've
not had any problems. I believe just our presence being there is a
deterrent.
KENT: May says there are several hundred amateur operators who volunteer
their time, being an extra set of eyes on the Thruway bridges.
AL: The troopers took over organizing all the people. There are hundreds
of bridges going over the New York State Thruway. It's a big job for them,
and we feel we are an important part in giving them a hand in this
successful program.
KENT: For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
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BREAK HERE
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Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association W1AEC repeater, on 147 MHz, in
Dartmouth, Massachusetts on Sundays at 8 pm.
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