Ham Radio Beats Cell Phones Again
September 15th has been declared Amateur Radio Appreciation Day
Security experts say that, “Malicious hackers could take down cellular networks in large cities by inundating their popular text-messaging services with the equivalent of spam,” according to a New York Times report. The story goes on to say, ” all major cellular networks are vulnerable, and that a single computer with a cable modem could do the job.”
Fortunately, Amateur Radio will not be affected by this kind of attack. A Ham radio channel may be jammed, but Amateur Radio operators are prepared to go radio to radio to radio and still provide communications in an emergency.
It is for this reason that the US Department of Homeland Security has included Ham radio as part of its Nationwide emergency plan.
Amateur Radio During and After Disasters
Amateur Radio operators set up and operate organized communication networks locally for governmental and emergency officials, as well as non-commercial communication for private citizens affected by the disaster. Amateur Radio operators are most likely to be active after disasters that damage regular lines of communications due to power outages and destruction of telephone, cellular and other infrastructure-dependent systems.
Amateur Radio Operators Help Local Officials
Many radio amateurs are active as communications volunteers with local public safety organizations. In addition, in some disasters, radio frequencies are not coordinated among relief officials and Amateur Radio operators step in to coordinate communication when radio towers and other elements in the communications infrastructure are damaged.
Major Amateur Radio Emergency Organizations
Amateur Radio operators have informal and formal groups to coordinate communication during emergencies. At the local level, hams may participate in local emergency organizations, or organize local "traffic nets."At the state level, hams are often involved with state emergency management operations. In addition, hams operate at the national level through the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), which is coordinated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and through the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), which is coordinated through the American Radio Relay League and its field volunteers.
For more details www.emergency-radio.org.
Rod Kittleman, KØADI
Southwest Missouri ARRL Public Information Officer
Springfield, Missouri
k0adi@arrl.net
