Ham duo flying out to help in Sri Lanka

Two British radio amateurs are preparing to fly out to Sri Lanka in a bid to help in the aftermath of the tsunami earthquake disaster.

Malcolm Harwood, M0XAT and John Baker, G0MTQ will fly out from Manchester Airport on Monday evening.

Travelling at their own expense, the pair will be carrying vitally needed ham radio equipment to assist with Tsunami relief effort in Sri Lanka. They will also be carrying some urgently-needed medical supplies.

The medical supplies have been donated by staff at the British Cattle Movement Service, where Malcolm's wife Lily works. Staff there have been very generous - to the point where their medical aid package may well exceed Malcolm’s 50 kilo weight allowance by a further 100 kilos.

Malcolm is adamant that nothing will be left behind and will pay any extra baggage charges himself. However, we understand that Qatar Airlines have generously agreed to waive any excess baggage fees in this case.

John and Malcolm will be based in Colombo initially and will be assisting Victor 4S7VK, the President of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka and the rest of the RSSL team.

Operating from inside the prime minister's official house, Victor and his team are busy providing vital communications across the country. Sri Lanka's prime minister had no contact with the outside world until Victor and his team stepped in.

"Victor and the crew out there deserve some recognition for the work they are doing. I know that some of the team have been working 24/7" said Malcolm, who has been in constant contact with Victor since the disaster struck. "We will be out there for one week only, but we hope to put that time to good use".

With just 10 members, Malcolm's club - the Workington Amateur Radio & IT Club in Cumbria, may be a small club, but they certainly have a big heart. The club doesn't have sufficient funds to sponsor the trip directly, but that hasn't deterred their members, who have supported the effort in a big way. They've been hard at work collecting HF and VHF transceivers for use in the relief effort in Sri Lanka.

Brian Walker, their co-ordinator (known affectionately as 'the cadge') has obtained two radios. Joe Loy. M0DHV has donated a Yaesu FT747 GX plus tuner, with further equipment donations coming from Steve Topping G0MTD, Mark McSherry 2E0MAX, Tom Baggley 2E0OMT and Lily Harwood. Support has also come from outside of Cumbria with donations from the Isle of Man and Ireland.

"They have all contributed in one way or another" said Malcolm, adding: "I'd also like to thank Norman Williams, the RSGB deputy regional manager for the help, support and encouragement he has given us".

• In Sri Lanka, some 30,500 have died, and thousands more are missing. The number of homeless people is put at between 800,000 and one million. With the exception of Indonesia, more people have died in Sri Lanka as a result of the tsunami than anywhere else. Southern and eastern coastlines have been ravaged. Homes, crops and fishing boats have all been destroyed

Richard - g4tut

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