Ham Radio
[Many thanks to Bill Seidel of Revanche, a long-time ham operator, for his infinite patience in explaining ham and RF operations. We’re going to try to keep reporting on ham operations in, to, and from Haiti.]
KE2YK’s Random Oscillations reports on ham radio efforts in Haiti. From ARRL Sends Ham Aid To Haiti:
Even though the communications infrastructure in earthquake-ravaged Haiti is being rebuilt, there is still need for Amateur Radio communications. To assist in this effort, the ARRL’s Ham-Aid program is providing equipment for local amateurs to use.
On Friday, January 22, the League sent a programmed Yaesu VHF repeater with a microphone, as well as ICOM handheld transceivers, Yaesu mobile 2 meter rigs with power supplies and Kenwood mobile 2 meter rigs. Comet antennas, Larsen mobile antennas with magnet mounts, coax and batteries were also included in the package that was shipped to the home of the President of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) for distribution. All items were donated by their manufacturers.
Haiti
“In the horror of this tragedy, there still are stars and the cooperation between the ARRL, IARU Region 2 and the Radio Club Dominicano and has been bright,” said ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP .
“It was donations from our members and friends that began the Ham Aid program in Katrina’s aftermath. Now once again, that sharing between hams will provide help in another worst-case incident. ARRL members and donors need to know that their gifts will be used very well indeed.”
How You Can Help in Haiti
The ARRL Ham Aid Fund welcomes your contribution! In 2005, the ARRL established the Ham Aid Fund to accept contributions in support of Amateur Radio’s response to Hurricane Katrina and hams responded generously to help ARRL send equipment to the affected area.
“Now we are facing another devastating event in Haiti and Amateur Radio is ready to respond,” said ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH .
“With equipment contributed by our generous industry partners, the ARRL invites contributions to the Ham Aid Fund from hams who wish to help ARRL deploy equipment where it is needed most. Contributions from Amateur Radio clubs and individuals in any amount will go directly to supporting Amateur Radio’s response efforts in Haiti.”
Donations to the ARRL Ham Aid Fund can be made via
https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/basic/
Original Post – Southgate Amateur Radio News
We’ve been told by a reliable source that immediately after the earthquake, Haiti had only one ham in operation. Initial research suggests that prior to the earthquake, there may have been well under 100 ham operators in the entire country. Compare that to the two countries with the largest total numbers of ham operators, Japan and the United States:
Haiti, with a population of 9 million ((Source: CIA World Factbook.)) =The International Amateur Radio Union ((See alsoWikipedia Entry for IARU.)) (IARU) Status Summary by country for 2000 (latest available) has no listing at all for Haiti. It does list the Radio Club of Haiti as a member organization as of 2008, with three officers with call signs:
President: Victor Lemoine, HH2V
Secretary: Jean-Robert Gaillard, HH2JR
IARU liaison: Vice President Bernard Russo, HH2B
Japan 127 million ((Source: CIA World Factbook.)) IARU lists 129,600 operators. It’s about 1:979 population.
United States – 307 million ((Source: CIA World Factbook.)) 679,000 ham operators, according to IARU. a ratio of 1:452.
The Haiti total – if we’re to assume 100 – is 1:90,000. If we go further and assume 1,000 operators in Haiti – 1:9,000.
This doesn’t take into account how few operators had emergency power available.
UPDATE:Gary, a/k/a KE2YK, operates a ham e-commerce store at ehamstore.com.
2ND UPDATE: Nina Criscuolo, of KOAM-TV in Joplin Missouri, has published a list of eleven (11) ham operators known to have been on the air within the last year:
- HH2AW
- H2DMJ
- HH2DZ
- HH2GM
- HH2FJM
- HH2JR
- HH5HK
- HH3AR
- HH6JH
- HH2B
- HH2LX
See Ms. Criscuolo’s excellent piece 4-State amateur radio operators helping connect Haiti to the world on the KOAM-TV website, which includes links to organizations assisting in Haiti, and good coverage of how ham radio operators are helping in Haiti.