Oregon's ham radio operators stand by to help

In a world filled with electronic wonder-gizmos like the iPhone, instant communication through IMs and email, and 24-hour news on TV, ham radio seems like an anachronism.

But when disaster strikes, we are all quickly reminded of the fragility of our technological cocoon.

Cell phone towers can fall, making handsets into expensive flashlights. Power outages can wipe out Internet access and make the TV go dark. Most people no longer even have wired home phones. No juice usually means your cordless is worthless.

It’s at those moments that amateur short-wave radio, better known as ham radio, comes to the rescue.

Portable, self-contained and capable of sending and receiving signals from most anywhere on Earth, ham radio has become a major player in many urban disaster plans after test or real disasters exposed the weakness of wired and cellular phone sytems.

Read the full story from KATU.com

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