Preserving ham radio's role for posterity

With Huricanes Katrina and Rita now in the record books the work of ham radio is being lauded nationwide. But there is one thing missing. These are the pictures that show ham radio in action during the storms.

Alan Kaul, W6RCL, has that part of the story and an idea for the future:

Did you see the hams on teleivision .. Second responders, aiding police and fire communication at Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?

You didn't?

What about the hams handling health and welfare messages for the Red Cross and Salvation Army after Katrina and Rita?

You didn't see that either?

Come to think of it, neither did I.
With what seems to be over 1000 amateurs volunteering to help out following the hurricane of the century - Katrina - or its weaker tag-along Rita, why didn't we ever see any of those volunteers on network or cable television?

I mean NBC Nightly News did a piece on September 23rd interviewing Senator John McCain .. who wondered what happened to all the money congress appropriated to make a block of frequencies available for inter-agency
communications during emergencies.

HAM RADIO in that piece would have been a natural ... but instead the story was about the National Assoc of Broadcasters not wanting to give up their 6mhz wide television channel assignments to make frequencies available.

I think someone got snowed - you and I know that one single megahertz - reserved nationwide - for emergency communications during disasters like Katrina is all that is really needed. And if it was 169-to-170 mHz for example, you know that the radio makers would be including that in all the new models because if they didn't the competition would.

Back to the original question, though . Why no video of hams helping out?

Because it appears that no body shot any. Or if they did, they're making it the best kept secret of the hurricane season.

The ARRL reportedly had cameras for two-or-three days in Alabama . but the last I heard, what was shot will make a great Public Service announcement several weeks or perhaps months down the road. Unfortunately, PSAs - you might know - most often run in the middle of the night when a TV
station can't sell commercials. But no matter when it runs, a public service announcement does not have the impact of news video.

For years, a few of us have been talking about the creation of a HAM RADIO VIDEO CORPS.. Just average folks, like you and me, who live in every state so that when there is an emergency like Katrina in their front yard, they can get video of hams responding.

Then, the next time we want to get Congress's attention, there's the video ready to show them NOT WHAT WE CAN DO IN A DRILL, BUT WHAT WE HAVE DONE AND
CONTINUE TO DO IN ANY AND EVERY EMERGENCY THAT COMES ALONG.

The time for a VIDEO CORPS is now .. Unfortunately, no nationwide ham organization seems interested enough in making it happen ... so it's up to you and me.

I've got my camera . do you have yours?

Alan Kaul, W6RCL. Amateur Radio Newsline

• So what do you think of the idea of a Ham Radio Video News Corps?

Please let us know by e-mail to newsline@arnewsline.org and we will pass along your ideas to the powers that be.

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