Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu May 02 2019 10:34 pm
Amateur Radio Newsline 2166, for Friday, May 3, 2019
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2166, with a release date of
Friday, May 3, 2019 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Radio provides a lifeline in a Southeast
Asian inferno. A DX Hall of Famer becomes a Silent Key -- and hams
respond when an earthquake hits the Philippines. All this and more,
as Amateur Radio Newsline Number 2166, comes your way right now.
**
BILLBOARD CART
**
QUICK POST-QUAKE ACTION FOR PHILIPPINE HAM NET
JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is the earthquake that shook
the Philippines in late April. Members of the Ham Emergency Radio
Operations net were more than ready. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has that
story.
GRAHAM: When a 6.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Luzon Island, and
its surroundings in the Philippines on Monday, April 22nd, barely
two minutes elapsed before emergency ham radio operations were on
the air. Coordination began immediately between Jojo, DU1VHY,
Thelma, DU1IVT, and Panny, DU1EQ - all with the Ham Emergency Radio
Operations, or HERO, network of the Philippine Amateur Radio
Association. HERO began handling traffic on 7.095 MHz, which someone
is always monitoring, according to Jojo, the National Traffic System
chairman, and the chief operating officer of PARA. He told Newsline
in an email that Amboy, DV2AWN, started to run the net, until others
could join him on the air. The 40 meter frequency was utilised in
parallel with 144.740 MHz. Jojo said that as soon as health and
welfare and other relevant information was received by HERO net
control, details were posted in the HERO thread on the Facebook group
PARA2019.
The quake was measured at a depth of 21 kilometres, but could be felt
in Metro Manila, most of Central Luzon, and as far as some parts of
the Ilocos Regions. CNN reported that nearly 30 structures were damaged
by the first quake, and some regions had power outages.
To hear a portion of the net asking DU2 and DU3 stations to report in,
see the printed version of this script on our website, where we provide
a link.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(PARA, CNN, JOJO VICENCIO DU1VHY)
**
RADIO PROVIDES A LIFELINE IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN INTERNO
JIM/ANCHOR: When flames consumed the landscape where Brunei and Malayasia
meet, hams provided firefighters with a lifeline. Here's Robert Broomhead,
VK3DN.
ROBERT: With tenacious peat fires breaking out near the border of Malaysia
and Brunei in late April, fire and rescue personnel had more than just
overwhelming flames to deal with: they battled poor radio coverage within
the government's integrated radio network they utilise. The Miri Amateur
Radio Club, however, was able to rescue the rescuers with use of their
communications equipment. According to a report in the Borneo Post, the
ham radio links gave the firefighters what they needed to get in touch
with their operations centre. The firefighters created a fire break
around an area of about 120 acres. Fire officials told the newspaper
that the wind direction was also creating intense smoke, that crossed
the border into Brunei.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Robert Broomhead, VK3DN.
(SOUTHGATE, BORNEO POST)
**
INDIAN HAMS HELP WOMAN DISPLACED FOR DECADE
JIM/ANCHOR: Imagine being displaced from your home for a decade or more:
Hams in India helped a woman in just those circumstances, and Jim
Meachen, ZL2BHF, has the details.
JIM MEACHEN: A tribal woman in India was reunited with the family she'd
not seen in more than a decade, after ham radio operators were asked to
step in. Members of the West Bengal Radio Club, assisted the woman after
a state hospital where she'd been treated more than a month earlier
asked club members to intervene. Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the club's
secretary, told local media that hospital management informed the hams
that they could not determine her identity, because they did not
understand her language. They were hoping to send her home, but did not
know where home was. The hams circulated a recording of her speech, and
with the help of one ham, located villagers whose language was similar.
The villagers reported that the woman had been missing for as many as 12
years. On Sunday the 21st of April, she departed for home to the village,
where residents had said they would welcome her, and look after her.
According to the Millennium Post newspaper, some family members there had
long since died. Subir Datta, VU3ZSD, the radio club's president, said
that police accompanied her on her journey home at last.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF.
