Subj : Newsline Part 1
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Sun Apr 16 2017 03:24 pm
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2059 for Friday, April 14, 2017
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2059, with a release date of Friday,
April 14, 2017 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A young amateur reports back from his first
DXpedition. Hams get busy with Marconi Day, and the anniversary of Samuel
Morse's birthday -- and we give you a preview of contesting at Hamvention!
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2059, comes your way,
right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
IN INDIA, A REUNION BY RADIO
DON/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the story of ham radio at its best:
It's the tale of a dramatic and emotional reunion, played out in India
after a local amateur radio club helped a lost and injured young man find
his way back home to his worried family a good distance away. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has that report.
GRAHAM: It took a month of searching, but a 25-year-old man who had been
separated from his family during a religious fair in India, was reunited
with them with the help of an amateur radio club.
The young man had been hospitalized with head injuries, when Ambarish Nag
Biswas, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club, heard about his situation
from Kolkata's health officer. Biswas told The Hindu newspaper that the
man was hardly able to speak. With the help of an interpreter, they
learned his name, and that his family is from Vellore district. They also
learned he ended up in Kolata by mistake. He was lost.
The amateur radio club put word out about him, and distributed his photo
on social media, and in videos. Kolkata police helped in the search and,
one month later, the man and his family were reunited - first by phone and
then by bringing the family to Kolkata.
Biswas told the newspaper: "The idea is to put this radio into best use."
And what better purpose than this?
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(THE HINDU)
**
GOOD PROGNOSIS FOR HOSPITAL RADIOS
DON/ANCHOR: Hospitals exist to help us -- but who's out there helping the
hospitals? Hams, of course! Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun,
WD9GCO, with the story of one such special effort.
PAUL: Emergency communications are a big part of what amateur radio is,
and why it remains relevant in today's connected world. And, one critical
area is emergency healthcare, where many providers are turning to amateur
radio as a backup.
Andy Finnick, W9FXT, has been involved in setting up amateur radio backup
systems for hospitals in Northwest Indiana for almost twenty years.
ANDY: Yeah, I got involved in 1998, when St. Margaret's Hospital in
Hammond, Indiana wanted some emergency communications, so I put a repeater
up there. And, ever since then, it grew. I put another repeater up there,
and they were real helpful - they gave me a nice climate room to put it in,
they put a cage, put in emergency power, put a phone line. And then about
2007, they hired a man who was the bio-terrorism director, and by then
things were starting to happen.
We started out with about ten or twelve people - some local law
enforcement, the Schererville police chief, and other agencies - there
was just a small group of us. And, it grew and grew, until the point where
it became District One. There are ten districts in the State of Indiana.
PAUL: Eventually, the system involved more than just on-site repeaters:
ANDY: What I was told was that the State and Federal government mandated
amateur radio for backup and emergency communications. So, we start
installing radio stations in there besides repeaters. One reason we install
them at the hospital, is so that any licensed amateur can walk in there,
and operate that station.
PAUL: I asked Finnick if there were any special requirements to volunteer
for his group:
ANDY: We don't refuse any help, but we would like them to join RACES, so
that we have a structure to it. But anyone that wants to help out, please
do.
PAUL: If you are in the Northwest Indiana area, and want to get involved,
or if you want more information on how you can start a similar program in
your area, you can contact Andy via email at w9fxt at sbcglobal dot net.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
