Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Nov 30 2018 11:36 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2144 for Friday, November 30, 2018
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2144, with a release date of
Friday, November 30, 2018 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Australian politicians promise shortwave
will return. Amateurs in India honor a pioneer in wireless
technology -- and a behind-the-scenes look at mesh camera video
hams used during California's wildfires. All this and more, as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2144 comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
A CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO RESTORE SHORTWAVE
PAUL/ANCHOR: We open this week's report with promising news for
shortwave radio's return to Australia. It's election season,
and campaign promises are being made, as we hear from Graham
Kemp, VK4BB.
GRAHAM: The end of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's
shortwave services in January 2017 hit hard in Australia,
especially among remote communities and in the Northern Territory
(VK8). Pressure was put on the federal government to restore what
was, for many, a lifeline. Now with an election looming in 2019,
a Labor Government under Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, has vowed
to provide the $2 million in funds the independent national
broadcaster needs to bring services back. At the time the government
silenced the service, citing budget issues, Senator Nigel Scullion,
minister for indigenous affairs, declared shortwave to be vital,
particularly during cyclones, floods and other emergencies. He said
[quote] "This is a really poor decision by the ABC Board, which is
supposed to ensure the broadcaster provides services, such as the
shortwave radio service, not provided by other organisations."
[end quote]
In late November, Shadow Minister for Regional Communications,
Stephen Jones, vowed along with Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and
Warren Snowdon, that victory in the elections would bring a revival
of ABC shortwave. Advocates for the return of service applauded the
announcement. They included Chris Nott, president of the NT Cattlemen's
Association, who said that HF shortwave radio transmitters are a
necessity in the bush, where mobile and data coverage doesn't exist
for FM and AM radio.
I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(RADIOINFO.COM)
**
HAMS PROVIDE MESH CAMERA VIDEO AT CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
PAUL/ANCHOR: Public service and innovation are the backbone of amateur
radio, and nowhere was this more evident, than during the recent deadly
wildfires that swept through California. Hams responded, as always,
with the help of repeaters - but one amateur-built high-speed data
network, stretching nearly 200 miles, became the picture - quite
literally - of the peril faced throughout the state. Andy Morrison,
K9AWM, tells us how hams used mesh camera video to put people on the
scene in realtime - and he spoke to one ham who was part of the process.
BEN: "If you are in the middle of a wildfire, people only hear evacuation
notices. They don't know where the fire is, how far it is from their
house. The public only hears evacuation notices, they don't know where
the fire is, is it a block away? A mile away? And people make a lot of
life and death decisions based on that. By having the video, you can
actually say 'here', and you can share that by social media, or
describe it - A video, a picture can tell a thousand words, a picture
does tell you a lot."
ANDY: That was Ben Kuo, AI6YR, of the Pleasant Valley Amateur Radio
Club, which helps manage the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network,
operating on amateur radio allocations on the microwave bands at 900MHz,
2.4GHz and 5GHz. Ben says the system behaves just like the internet,
and uses similar protocols to compress video, and send it over the
packet network. To transmit, hams use commercial radios adapted for
amateur frequencies. In one instance, he said, the AREDN even
"out-Internetted" the Internet itself during the crisis.
BEN: "One of the big Internet providers here is Spectrum Communications
and they went down. Due to the fire, they lost all phone, they lost TV,
and they lost internet, broadband connections. We were able to provide
the people who were on our network with access to some of the key info
they couldn't get. They had no internet, but they did have us -- and we
could actually forward information to them digitally that they couldn't
get anywhere else."
ANDY: The ham-built network has been so successful, that the hams hope
to help the state build a wide-reaching network of its own to make their
own videos available to public safety agencies throughout California.
Meanwhile, Ben said, there is always fine-tuning to be done by the hams
themselves.
BEN: "We are now working on lessons we learned from this fire, and
enhancing some of the capabilities we have, so it is even better next
time."
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison, K9AWM.
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