|
Informationen über die Weltweite Hilfsbereitschaft der Funkamateure und den Amateurfunkverbänden.
Hinweis: Wenn Sie von Ihrer Seite auf diese Seite verlinken ist eine Zustimmung erforderlich genauso, wenn Sie den Inhalt kopieren und für eigene bzw. fremde Zwecke verwenden. Diese Seite darf nur unverändert in anderen Medien veröffentlicht werden. Bitte kontaktieren Sie mich per Mail - Adresse unter Kontakt.
Berichte aus verschiedenen Quellen. Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr.
28.12.2004
Die Präsidentin der RAST (Radio Amateur Society of Thailand) Frau Mayuree Chotikul, HS1YL, hat ein weltweites Hilfeersuchen an die Amateurfunkverbände gerichtet. Die Mittel werden von der RAST als Spende von Funkamateuren an die Regierung weitergereicht und nicht selbst verwendet: "Please help Thailand to help the victims of this natural disaster in any that way you can. The best way for anyone to transfer funds to RAST for this purpose would be by wire transfer to a RAST bank account at the Siam City Bank: Ratchawat Branch No 111, Account Type: Savings, Account Number: 111-2-22688-4, Account Name: RAST, (Full name: Radio Amateur Society of Thailand)". Informationen, wie mit Sachspenden geholfen werden kann, werden zur Zeit geprüft.
Quelle: http://www.darc.de
28.12.2004
Asian Radio Amateurs Bridging Communication Gap following Tsunami
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 28, 2004--Amateur Radio organizations and individual amateurs in several of the countries affected by the December 26 earthquake and consequent tsunamis in South Asia have begun emergency communication activities. The death toll from the disaster has been estimated at more than 50,000 lives, and health authorities now worry that thousands more may die from disease, due in part to a lack of potable water. Relief organizations and governments around the world have rallied to assist the victims, many of whom are homeless. DXer Charly Harpole, K4VUD/VU3CHE, was visiting the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) VU4RBI/VU4NRO DXpedition in Port Blair on Andaman Island when the earthquake struck. He said the team suspended DXpedition operation and shifted quickly to emergency mode.
"By that afternoon, the team had set up one rig outside with a mobile whip and tuner, powered by the hotel generator, and Bharathi [Prasad, VU2RBI--the DXpedition team leader] was taking health-and-welfare messages from the people standing around there," Harpole reported to ARRL. He is scheduled to relate his earthquake experience on US national television during an appearance on NBC's Today show Wednesday, December 29.
"Many wanted to tell relatives on the Indian mainland that they were OK," Harpole continued, "and Bharathi established contact with many India ham stations in various cities as needed." He said Bharathi was able to relay a message to his wife via a contact with a station in Thailand that he was all right.
Harpole, who returned to Thailand December 27 as scheduled, speculates the team may resume DXpedition operation since Port Blair escaped the worst damage, and the aftershocks have apparently ceased. Sandeep Baruah, VU2MUE, reports that VU4NRO is active on 20 meters, and two additional hams from the Indian mainland--VU2DVO and VU2JOS--have arrived in Port Blair to assist.
Calcutta VHF Amateur Radio Society Assistant Secretary Horey Majumdar, VU2HFR, relayed information from VU4RBI today that the situation in the Andamans has improved considerably with power and some telephone service being restored, although some aftershocks were occurring from time to time. He also says that VU4RBI and VU4NRO were having a lot of trouble copying signals from the Indian mainland, in part due to RF interference from local sources.
C. K. "Ram" Raman, VU3DJQ, in New Delhi reports that one member of the VU4RBI/VU4NRO DXpedition team, S. Ram Mohan, VU2MYH/VU4MYH, has established a station on Car Nicobar Island, one of the worst hit areas that had been totally cut off. Traffic has been noted on 14.190, 14.195 and 14.200 MHz. Raman has been operating at low power to avoid interfering with a nearby army communication site.
Majumdar says the VU4MYH station marks the very first Amateur Radio operation from Nicobar Island. "Mohan's signals were extremely weak, and he was in the skip zone of the Andaman stations on 20 meters," he said. "Improvisation was the name of the game. Hams had to switch to good old CW and switch frequencies from 14.190 and 14.160 MHz to 7.090 MHz." He said in the afternoon, signals were best on 15 meters (21.240 MHz) between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stations.
"The Amateur Radio station from Nicobar is perhaps playing the most vital part in what is turning out to be the world's largest disaster operation," Majumdar said. "Hams from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and even Israel are checking into the VU emergency nets and extending their fullest cooperation in the truest spirit of Amateur Radio."
Elsewhere, he reports, upward of three dozen stations on the Indian mainland are participating in an emergency net on 7.050 MHz. He said hams from South India have established stations in Tamil Nadu, the hardest hit area on the mainland where thousands died in fishing villages. Hams were handling both health-and-welfare and emergency and medical communications, he told ARRL.
Fragmented information continues to arrive from other areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. At this point, there have been no specific requests for communication assistance from outside the region.
Musa Suraatmadja, YB0MOS, the secretary-general of the Indonesia Amateur Radio Organization (ORARI) responded gratefully to an International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) request to assist. "So far we can still manage," he said. "Our ORARI members are amongst the first to go to the stricken areas doing emergency communication, rescue operations and other things." The 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX, vice president of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST) called the earthquake and tsunamis "truly a disaster of catastrophic proportions which has never before been experienced by Thailand--or by our neighbouring countries that share an Indian Ocean or Andaman Sea coastline." He said communication needs in Thailand are being met.
"The situation is now under control, with Thai hams helping to relay information between the affected areas along the west coast in the south to government agencies--mostly on VHF and 40 meters as well as by disseminating news and information over VHF frequencies in Bangkok." He said EchoLink also has been playing a role in enabling hams in Thailand to relay information to friends and relatives of those who had been on vacation in the stricken areas.
Waltham says what is needed most is help for the thousands of injured and homeless, and RAST now is accepting donations for that purpose to pass on to the Thai government. He said the best method to donate is by wire transfer.
Contributions are being accepted at Siam City Bank, Ratchawat Branch No 111, Account type: Saving; Account number: 111-2-22688-4; Account name: RAST (Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the Royal patronage of His Majesty the King).
He requests that donors send details of their support to RAST via e-mail dx@thai.com "for our records and so that we can acknowledge this and give full credit."
The ARRL and IARU have been sharing information with other agencies and organization.
Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN) National Director Pat McPherson, WW9E, reports Salvation Army personnel continue to offer emergency disaster services aid in southeastern Asia and costal India. "Salvation Army personnel are based in many of the devastated areas and have been on the forefront of offering aid and relief to the people struggling after this unexpected tragedy," he said. "Salvation Army volunteers fed more than 1200 people in the Kanyakumari and Muttom areas in India and many Salvation Army facilities are being used as feeding sites and emergency shelters in affected communities."
Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services teams are also assisting government and other agencies in assessing needs and trying to find ways to meet them. The Salvation Army's International Emergency Disasters Services Office located in London is coordinating the relief operation.
Quelle: http://www.arrl.com
01.01.2005
Let t me give some idea of what we are doing!
As President of the Amateur Radio Society in Sri Lanka it was wonderful even at a tragic time to tell you that the RSSL was able to link up Southof Sri Lanka with the Prime Minister who comes from the South and that is where his people are. So we went in and established this HF link with the town of Hambantota.. Our Amateur friends 4S7KE (Secretary RSSL),4S7 AK (Treasurer RSSL) and DZ went in a 4 wheel drive approaching the costal town of Hambantota from the interior as the main road along the cost was badly battered and full of debris and was impassable. So when all the cellular and all other means failed HF Radio stood bold and proud. It is so simple tec nically and although we didnt even have a TS 50 or such a small mobile HF set, we took an Icom IC7400 the best radio we have and two 12v batteries and dipoles some food and water and filled the rest of the vehicle with food for the displaced. I stood by in Colombo at the PM's along with 4S7VJ,4S7 KG and 4S7AB and 4S5BA to run the link in and coordinate. We also had two hams on a moble going along the coast of the South to asses and record damage.
I wish I could scream aloud and tell people in some high places that when all else is dead HF is alive. What do you do when your power goes out, telephones go dead and you can't even charge your batteries of your GTS or Mobile Phone? We had our Morse key handy if we had to operate with just 1 or 2 watts but the batteries held.
Well the Police Radio connected their links 12 or more hours later but the hams were there before anyone else. Most of the district is so badly battered it will take some time to restore utilities. We operated for 48 hours from the Prime Ministers disaster room and moved out and we are in fax contact now relaying traffic. We also have 4S7SW Sarath operating from another Southern Town "Matara" and two other stations 4S7WI, 4S6NM and others relaying and helping in the disaster traffic passing info to the coordinating centre. We have 3 stations out there and we are trying to connect lost people, pass info on displaced camps and people and the movement of food and essentials. We are trying to expand our coverage but our resourses are limited. Many other hams like 4S7DA, 7WN, 7EA 7CF, 7MM, and some more on HF and others on VHF are helping in the traffic.
Our roll has to change as the situation changes with Government links comming into operations, yet civilian communication lines and most damaged telecoms will take a long time.
I am here at my desk with my land phone and mobile, a VHF radio and HF radio constantly tuned to our disaster communications frequencies trying to coordinate as best as I can.The Sri Lankan hams are playing part under difficult conditions and will continue to do so.
P.S. The DW TRinco was unaffected and is in full operatioon as it is 3 miles inland and the Tidal waves didn't reach that far. However some local staff who live closer to the sea have been affected. The station was off the air for a few hours.
Quelle: http://www.darc.de/referate/ausland/aktuell/4s7vk.html
02.01.2005
Tsunami Disaster Relief Net
The Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL) mobilized it's members to provide vital communication links immediately in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. Most of the affected areas were not contactable with the land and mobile telecommunication infrastructure being damaged and the networks being congested with unprecedented number of call attempts. The RSSL stepped in and established a High Frequency communication centre at the Disaster Management Centre in the Prime Minister's office in "Temple trees". This was linked to communication points in Hambantota, Matara and Galle and also with Mobile units. The system was used to pass vital information needed for rescue and relief operations and was in operation till the normal telecommunication facilities were restored.
7.060 MHz on HF and the Yatiyantota Repeater on VHF was used for the relief operation net.
The RSSL is now working closely with the Ministry of Social Welfare in relief and rehabilitation work by providing the vital communication facilities needed.
The RSSL welcomes any assistance in the form of equipment, antennas etc.
Please do not send any amateur radio equipment to any private individual addresses or operators. All equipment should be sent to the RSSL at the following address. Clearly mark the items as disaster relief operation aid.
President - The Radio Society of Sri Lanka
C/O - Secretary - Ministry of Social WelfareSethsiripaya
Battaramulla
SRI LANKA
Please contact the President RSSL Victor - 4S7VK victorg@slt.lk or Secretary Kusal - 4S7KE kusal@ieee.org for any donation of equipment for providing communication links
Quelle: http://www.qsl.net/rssl/
02.01.2005
Wave of Destruction, Wave of Salvation
Ham Radio Operator on a Chance Visit to a Remote Indian Island Becomes a Lifeline
By Rama Lakshmi
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 2, 2005; Page D01
PORT BLAIR, India -- About one month ago, Bharathi Prasad and her team of six young ham radio operators landed in this remote island capital with a hobbyist's dream: Set up a station and establish a new world record for global ham radio contacts. In the world of ham slang, it was called a "Dxpedition."
"It is a big honor to come to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and operate. There is no ham activity here because it is considered a very sensitive area by the Indian government," said Prasad, a 46-year-old mother of two from New Delhi.
In fact, the last ham activity in these scattered islands in the Bay of Bengal, 900 miles east of the Indian mainland, occurred in 1987, when Prasad set up a station in Port Blair and made 15,500 calls. "I had always wanted to come back and break that record," she said.
This time, Prasad set up an antenna in her hotel and turned Room 501 into a radio station. She made more than 1,000 contacts every day and said she operated "almost all day and all night, with just three hours of sleep."
In the early hours of Dec. 26, while the other hotel guests were fast asleep, Prasad's room was crackling with the usual squawks and beeps. At 6:29 a.m., she felt the first tremors of an earthquake. The tables in her room started shaking violently. She jumped up and shouted, "Tremors!" into her microphone. Then the radio went dead. She ran out and alerted the hotel staff and other guests.
But with that one word, she had alerted the world of radio hams, too.
Within a few hours, the extent of the damage was clear to everyone in Port Blair. But the tsunami had knocked out the power supply and telephone service of the entire archipelago of 500 islands, leaving the capital virtually cut off from the rest of India.
Undaunted, Prasad set up a temporary station on the hotel lawn with the help of a generator -- and put the city back on the ham radio map.
"I contacted Indian hams in other states and told them about what had happened. The whole world of radio hams were looking for us, because they had not heard from us after the tremors," she said later. "But I also knew this was going to be a big disaster. I immediately abandoned my expedition and told all radio operators to stop disturbing me. I was only on emergency communication from then on."
While news of the death and devastation caused by the tsunami in other parts of India was quickly transmitted around the world, the fate of the Andamans and Nicobars was slow to unfold.
Prasad kept broadcasting information about the situation to anyone who could hear her radio. Over and over, she repeated that there was no power, no water, no phone lines.
On Monday morning, she marched into the district commissioner's office and offered her services. "What is a ham?" he asked her. After she explained, he let her set up a radio station in his office, and a second one on Car Nicobar, the island hit hardest.
For the next two days, as the government grappled with the collapsed communication infrastructure, Prasad's ham call sign, VU2RBI, was the only link for thousands of Indians who were worried about their friends and families in the islands. She also became the hub for relief communications among officials.
"Survivors in Car Nicobar were communicating with their relatives in Port Blair through us," she said. When the phone lines were restored on Tuesday, Prasad's team in Car Nicobar radioed information about survivors to her team in Port Blair, whose members then called anxious relatives on the mainland to tell them that their loved ones were alive and well.
Prasad also helped 15 foreign tourists, including several from the United States, send news to their families. Offers of relief aid poured in from around the world through her radio, and she directed them to government officials. She also arranged for volunteer doctors to be sent from other Indian states.
Now she has become so popular in the islands, and in the ham world, that she said she has been affectionately nicknamed the "Teresa of the Bay of Bengal."
When the earthquake occurred, Prasad's worried husband called her from New Delhi and asked her to return home immediately.
"He reminded me that I have two children to look after back home," she said, laughing. "I told him that as a ham radio operator, I have a duty in times of disaster."
Under India's strict communications laws, a ham cannot leave home with his or her radio without going through an elaborate bureaucratic process to obtain permission from various ministries.
Prasad said that after her first expedition to Port Blair, she spent 17 years begging and badgering officials before she was allowed to return.
Now she hopes her work in the aftermath of the tsunami will ease the path for other hams in India.
"She looked like a simple housewife when she checked in," recalled Ravi Singh, the hotel manager in Port Blair. "But now I marvel at the courage she has shown."
Quelle: http://www.washingtonpost.com
03.01.2005
Katastropheneinsatz der Amateurfunker
Funkamateure stellten Verbindung zu Katastrophenstäben in Sri Lanka und Thailand her | Funk-Expedition auf die Andamanen | Weltweite Sammlung für ein Kurzwellen-Frühwarnsystem
"Alles war tot hier", schreibt Victor Goonetilleke, Präsident des Srilankesischen Funkamateurverbands und einer der bekannsten Operators [4S7VK] weltweit, "nur die Kurzwelle hat funktioniert."
Nachdem Festnetz wie Mobilfunk in den Katastrophengebieten augenblicklich zusammengebrochen waren, packten die Funker ihren stärksten Transceiver [Icom IC7400] zwei 12-Volt-Batterien, Dipol-Antennen und Lebensmittel in einen Geländewagen. Dann fuhr man nach Süden, ins Katastrophengebiet.
Goonetilleke richtete die Gegenstation im Katastrophenstab des Premierministers ein, der selbst aus dem betroffenen Gebiet im Süden stammt. "Wir hatten unsere Morsetasten griffbereit, falls es nicht gelingen sollte, eine Sprachverbindung aufzubauen", schreibt Goonetilleke, der die ersten 48 Stunden nach dem Seebeben im Katastrophenstab verbrachte. Der Funkkontakt gelang im 80- und 40-Meterband jedoch sofort.
Sogar einige Mitglieder hätten gelacht, als der Verband erst kürzlich wieder ein allgemeines Notfall-Informationssystem für Sri Lanka gefordert haben, so Goonetilleke weiter. Und erst vor zwei Monaten habe das Verteidigungsministerum über den Telekom-Regulator verhindert, dass Rotes Kreuz und eine Privatfirma den Amateurfunkern gebrauchtes Equipment zukommen ließen.
Thailand und die Andamanen
Auch in Thailand haben Funkamateure sofort nach der Katastrophe begonnen, den Kontakt zwischen den betroffenen Küstengebieten im Westen mit den Behörden in Bangkok herzustellen.
Der Funkverkehr vor Ort werde vor allem im den Amateuren zugewiesenen VHF-Bereichen sowie auf Kurzwelle im 40-Meterband [7000-7300 KHz] abgewickelt, schreibt Mayuree Chotikul [HS1YL], Präsident der Radio Amateur Society of Thailand.
Schon kurz nach der Katastrophe ist eine Dx-Expedition [d=distance, x=unknown] zu den Andamanen aufgebrochen. Unter dem Rufzeichen VU4RBI ist die Station seitdem von dort aktiv.
Quelle: http://futurezone.orf.at/futurezone.orf?read=detail&id=260299&tmp=11266
04.01.2005
Der QSL-Manager des schwedischen Amateurfunkverbandes SSA, Janne - SM5DJZ - ist in Verbindung mit seinem Job bei der SAS und der schwedischen Luftfahrtbehörde "Luftfartsverket" an das "Räddningsverket" ausgeliehen worden. Im Auftrag dieser Rettungsorganisation ist Janne nun für die Nothilfe in der Ache-Provinz im Norden Sumatras als Flugzeugaufklärer unterwegs. Diese Arbeit wird bis April d.J. dauern.
Tony HS0ZDX, Sekretär der RAST berichtet:
Die RAST untersucht, einen einfacheren Weg für Spenden.Tony berichtet, vom Einsatz der thailändischen Funkamateure auf Phuket und in Khao Lak im Süden von Thailand hauptsächlich auf VHF mittels Relais und auch mit Echolink.
Funkgerätespenden sind für Thailand zur Zeit nicht erforderlich.
Quelle: http://www.darc.de
07.01.2005
Amateur Radio Praised as Lifeline in South Asia
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 7, 2005--As the tsunami relief and recovery effort continues in South Asia, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has joined those paying tribute to Amateur Radio's ongoing emergency communication role. Director and Executive Vice Chairman S. Suri, VU2MY, of India's National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), noted January 5 that the PM "was all praise for hams in India and the entire world who helped us in this hour of need." Suri said the administrator of hard-hit Car Nicobar Island has asked NIAR to keep on duty Rama Mohan, VU2MYH, and five other radio amateurs who have been providing communication with the island since shortly after the December 26 disaster.
"The district administration chief of Car Nicobar Island spoke to me this morning to say even now it is only the ham communication that is aiding them for relief and rehabilitation measures," Suri said in an e-mail to Jay Wilson, W0AIR, of the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association (DERA) and shared with ARRL. Mohan, who had received DERA training in the US, was part of NIAR's VU4NRO/VU4RBI DXpedition to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. When the earthquake and tsunami struck the region, DXpedition team leader Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, promptly shifted the operation to handle emergency traffic and health-and-welfare inquiries between the island and the Indian mainland. More than 20 Indian radio amateurs are said to be involved in providing emergency communication support in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands--a location from which the Indian government had not allowed Amateur Radio operation for 17 years until the recent NIAR DXpedition.
In the disaster's immediate aftermath, Suri said, Mohan and other DXpedition team members risked their lives to alert the chief of administration on Andaman Island, since tsunami waves later overran the road they had traveled. An NIAR staff member, Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, has provided emergency communication from another remote island, Hutbay. For the first nine days after the disaster, only the NIAR team was assisting, until other amateurs from the mainland were able to reach the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Bharathi Prasad reported via Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX, that the VU4NRO/VU4RBI logs are safe and at the NIAR headquarters in Hyderabad. QSLing will commence once the emergency operation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands concludes. DXer Charly Harpole, K4VUD/HS0ZCW, now near Bangkok, Thailand, told The Daily DX that QSL cards already are showing up at NIAR.
Harpole, who was visiting the DXpedition in Port Blair on Andaman Island when the earthquake and tsunami hit, has since been helping to handle emergency traffic from Thailand, where his wife's family lives. "The DXpedition and the emergency seem to have energized VU hams all over," he said in an e-mail made available by Carl Smith, N4AA, who edits QRZ DX. "I have been listening to the traffic from VU4 back to the India mainland, and by now it is smooth as silk with lots of H&W and some government messages running almost constantly."
Harpole advised amateurs worldwide to avoid the primary emergency traffic frequency of 14.190 MHz.
"The military and government are partners now with these hams," Harpole observed, noting that hams from India have been deployed throughout the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
In Thailand, he reports, hams have been using mostly 2 meters for their emergency traffic "and doing a huge job." Harpole said he's heard very little from Bangladesh, and nothing from Sumatra and Burma (Myanmar), "which may tell us something," he added. The earthquake's epicenter was some 100 miles off Sumatra, which is part of Indonesia.
Just three days after the calamitous tsunami, Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL) President Victor Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, declared that "uncomplicated short wave" radio had saved lives.
"Ham radio played an important part and will continue to do so," he said in an e-mail relayed to ARRL. Goonetilleke said Sri Lanka's prime minister had no contact with the outside world until Amateur Radio operators stepped in. "Our control center was inside the prime minister's official house in his operational room," he recounted. "[This] will show how they valued our services."
Ironically, Mohan's emergency operation marked the very first Amateur Radio operation from Nicobar Island. "Mohan's signals were extremely weak, and he was in the skip zone of the Andaman stations on 20 meters," said Horey Majumdar, VU2HFR, in Calcutta, shortly after the disaster. "Improvisation was the name of the game. Hams had to switch to good old CW and switch frequencies from 14.190 and 14.160 MHz to 7.090 MHz." Majumdar said hams from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Israel and elsewhere "have been checking into the VU emergency nets and extending their fullest cooperation in the truest spirit of Amateur Radio."
According to the latest estimate, more than 150,000 people died as a result of the tsunami, about one-third of them children. Many others are still unaccounted for, and health workers in the affected countries now fear disease will raise the toll substantially.
Although the US does not have third-party traffic agreements with any of the countries affected by the disaster, international emergency and disaster relief communications are permitted unless otherwise provided. While FCC Part 97 has not yet been updated to reflect revisions to third-party traffic rules at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003, ARRL understands from FCC staff that if the government agencies responsible for the Amateur Service in affected countries do not object to their amateur stations receiving messages from US amateur stations on behalf of third parties, the US has no objection to its amateur stations transmitting international communications in support of the disaster.Quelle: http://www.arrl.com
|
