Radio communication still kicking

In a growing age of cell phones, radio seems like an outdated mode of communication, but Tauranga Emergency Communications Group president Brian Heywood says amateur radio is still very much alive and kicking.

Gordon Cooper explains the radios to Timi and Hamiria Tawa at Gate Pa shopping centre.

“It’s not outdated. We are used by the Police for search and rescue and civil defence when they need radio communication.”

Celebrating Amateur Radio Day on Saturday, shoppers at Gate Pa shopping centre can experience how to use amateur radio communication. Brian says they have been communicating with other amateur radio users across the country.

“We have set up a van here with various different types of radios, and have been talking to Hamilton and Napier this morning. Just before, we overheard a conversation between a chap in Arizona and a man in Hamilton.”

Using the frequency of 3.6MHz, Brian says “you would normally expect to be able to get all the way down New Zealand on that frequency. Using radio repeaters through the internet, you can talk to overseas as well”.

Amateur radio, or ham radio, is what Brian describes as a “multipurpose hobby”, where people use radio communication equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public services, recreation and self-training.

“We aren’t here to make money out of it. It is a great way to make international friendship. One of the men here went for a trip through the United States 10 years ago, and he stayed with hams all the way through. It just opens up a sphere of friendship”

The Tauranga Emergency Communications Group, or Branch 88, currently has 15 members. There is also a Tauranga District Amateur Radio Club and a branch in Te Puke. For more information call Brian on 543 3677.

Posted at 11:21am Saturday 15th Jan, 2011 | By Laura Weaser laura@thesun.co.nz

Source:http://www.sunlive.co.nz

MARES on RED Alert

Sila bersiap sedia peralatan dsb untuk sertai Operasi.

Pantau 9M4RES, laman web MARES, MyMARES Yahoo Group, dan semua saluran MARES
yang ada. Harap maklum, 73.http://infobanjir.water.gov.my/realtime.cfm

Source: 9W2FD

Amateur radio group praised in Brazil floods

Civil defence forces in Nova Friburgo praised the efforts of a local group of amateur radio enthusiasts who had helped them co-ordinate the rescue efforts in the first hours after the landslides, according to a report on the BBC News website.

"Without their help, we couldn't have done anything in those first two days," Lt Col Roberto Robadey said of the group, which took their radio equipment to key points across the town to provide a communication link between rescue groups.

The Brazilian Air Force said it was installing a communication centre in Itaipava, so people could make phone calls and access data in their attempts to track down missing relatives.

Read the full BBC News story at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12200299

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org

NASA seeks Amateur Radio operators' aid

The US Space Agency NASA has asked for the help of Amateur Radio operators to help in receiving the signal from NanoSail-D on 437.270MHz.

The NASA Press release says:

Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 11:30 a.m. EST, engineers at Marshall SpacemFlight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite ejected from Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite, FASTSAT. The ejection event occurred spontaneously and was identified this morning when engineers at the center analyzed onboard FASTSAT telemetry. The ejection of NanoSail-D also has been confirmed by ground-based satellite tracking assets.

Amateur radio operators are asked to listen for the signal to verify NanoSail-D is operating. This information should be sent to the NanoSail-D dashboard at:
http://nanosaild.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm .

The NanoSail-D beacon signal can be found at 437.270 MHz.

The NanoSail-D science team is hopeful the nanosatellite is healthy and can complete its solar sail mission.
After ejection, a timer within NanoSail-D begins a three-day countdown as the satellite orbits the Earth. Once the timer reaches zero, four booms will quickly deploy and the NanoSail-D sail will start to unfold to a 100-square-foot polymer sail. Within five seconds the sail fully unfurls.

Read the full NASA Press Release at
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/
releases/2011/11-009.html

Thanks to David Taylor W8AAS for spotting this item.

Source: http://www.southgatearc.org

NASA Amateur Radio Video from ISS

NASA Amateur Radio Video from ISS

Weather Service Honors Radio Operators

North Little Rock - The National Weather Service (NWS) holds an event to recognize amateur radio operators on Friday and Saturday.

According to the NWS amateur radio operators, known as HAMs, provide a vital public service by passing on emergency information during severe weather outbreaks.

The event, Skywarn Recognition Day, is held in cooperation with the Amateur Radio Relay League. HAM radio operators will operate at NWS in North Little Rock from 6 p.m. Friday, until 6 p.m. Saturday.

During the event, HAMs will attempt to contact as many NWS offices and radio stations as possible. In 2009, 35 offices were contacted as were 300 stations.

Hundreds of HAMs in Arkansas are certified storm spotters. In February of 2008, a HAM operator was the first person to provide information on a tornado that struck Mountain View. Electricity and telephone service was knocked out by the storm.

Again in October of this year, a HAM operator was the first to report tornado damage in the Crystal Valley area of Pulaski County.

During severe weather emergencies, HAMs operate a base station at the NWS office in North Little Rock.

Source: http://www.katv.com

MARES East Coast Visit

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

Dear MARES and Amateur Radio Members,

We would like to informed that, MARES has successfully secured the rights to host the 2012 SEANET Convention.

We look forward for this event and more news will be updated soon.

Thank you and 73.

de MARES Malaysia Team
Shanghai

Source: MARES website

BENGKEL FOTOGRAFI

Kenwood Announces Launch of the TS-590S HF/50MHz All Mode Transceiver

Kenwood Corporation has announced the October launch of the TS-590S, a new HF/50MHz all mode transceiver with remarkable RX performance designed to enable a wide range of users — from beginners to seasoned DX’ers — to enjoy a full range of ham radio pursuits. Link

Pakistani Amateurs Team Up to Provide Communications, Relief Support for Flood Victims

According to the Pakistan Amateur Radio Society (PARS) -- that country’s IARU Member-Society -- radio amateurs in Pakistan have teamed up with the Islamabad Jeep Club (IJC) and Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) to provide relief activities in those areas of Pakistan devastated by floods. The groups will supply food, tents and medical support to the northern flood affected areas of Nowshera, Charsadda and central Sargodha districts. “The cellular services are down and so is the landline,” the PARS Web site reports. “Last week, the joint team carried out a survey in the north and the center of the country, and to its dismay, the situation isn’t promising. Restoration of cellular services and landlines could take months.”

PARS already has a 2 meter repeater in these places and say a “weak signal can be heard in these areas, but [they] would need cross-band repeaters to further increase its strength and allow penetration into the remote areas. This would result in effective communication through handheld [transceivers], rather than relying on base stations where there is an issue with electricity.”

PARS has set aside the following frequencies for relief efforts: 145.700 MHz (receive 145.400 MHz, transmit 144.200 MHZ, CTCSS 88.5 MHz), 7.070 MHz, 14.200 MHZ and 14.300 MHz, 435.050 MHz (CTCSS 88.55 MHz)

In order to address the communication breakdown, PARS and the IJC created two teams: one for the northern cities, linking Islamabad with Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda, and the other to link cities in the center of the country, including Sargodha, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan.

In the past few weeks, monsoon rains have deluged Pakistan, followed by disastrous floods that PARS said “were never seen in the last eight decades in some regions. These floods have impacted millions of Pakistanis who need help from the international community with providing food, clean drinking water, shelter and medical aid.” In the second week of the disaster, floods are spreading to the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan Provinces, as well as the Kashmir region where thousands of villages have been destroyed and the situation is worsening.

PARS members, in partnership the IJC, has initiated a relief mission to help the suffering population, and are raising funds to provide essential relief supplies to the families affected by these floods. Until now, more than 1500 people have lost their lives, thousands of villages and towns are destroyed and more than 4.5 million people are left homeless or displaced in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest region of the country. PARS reports that due to “large scale destruction of roads and bridges, relief agencies are finding it difficult to reach the areas where people are still stranded. Once communication with those areas is established, authorities are expecting [to find] a high number of fatalities.”

PARS said they have targeted three areas that need a great deal of assistance:

• Pashtun Garhi and Pir Sabak in the Nowshera District: (34° 01’ 13.94”N, 71° 49’ 54.96”E) Approximately 14,000-16,000 affected/displaced; immediate requirements are tents; food and drinkable water
• Dharkhanawalla in the Sargodha District: (31° 50’ 10.90”, N 72° 19’ 33.36”E) According to PARS, the town itself is not affected, but many villages east of the town are under water; food is an immediate requirement
• Mera Prang in the Charsada District: (34° 7’ 36.51”, N 71°46’ 31.48”E) Approximately 300 families are without homes; tents are the most-need necessity here.

Source: http://www.arrl.org