Standing room only at 2005 amateur radio hurricane conference

ARRL Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, represented the League at the 10th annual Amateur Radio Hurricane Conference February 5 at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

He reports upward of 75 visitors--nearly all of them radio amateurs--turned out for the event. Scheduled in conjunction with the Miami Tropical Hamboree, which Miller also attended, the conference provided an opportunity to review the busy 2004 hurricane season and to discuss Amateur Radio's role to support emergency communication.

"This was a phenomenal meeting," commented Miller, who delivered a presentation at the conference on ham radio's hurricane and tsunami-related activities. "Because 2004 was one for the record books, comments, reports and pictures from the people who live in the islands and in the affected
areas of Florida, were that much more meaningful."

Miller said the consensus at the gathering was that despite the best efforts to prepare, no one imagined the onslaught witnessed last year. Among featured speakers was Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. The HWN and the center's WX4NHC work hand-in-hand to
funnel real-time weather data to NHC forecasters via Amateur Radio. The HWN Web site recorded more than 55 million hits during September alone!

The conference agenda also included reports from many areas affected by the 2004 hurricanes, including the Cayman Islands; Grenada; Marsh Harbour, Abacos, and, of course, Florida. NHC Hurricane Specialist Stacy Stewart told the gathering how each storm presented varied characteristics and explained how computer modeling is not always right on the money in projecting a hurricane's path.

Newly appointed Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff Beals, WA4AW, spoke about the Holiday Hams video, which chronicled the overwhelmingly successful ARRL Holiday Toy Drive to benefit youngsters affected by the Florida hurricanes.

NHC Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh, K4AG, and Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, served as conference hosts.

Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The American Radio Relay League

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