Yeup, you got it John, the best, early, detail we "the media" were able to get from the group in Newington was "providing support for emergency centers" uh-huh, like sitting around and drinking their coffee.
Actrually, we did an interview with the National Hurricane Center ham station head, and what we SAW was inbound message traffic being handled over computer terminals. A little earlier we had some storm tracking information, that was cool, but there was damn little radio traffic to monitor FROM the region on any and all known net frequencies.
Most of what we heard was volunteer Kilocycle Kops stepping up, anonymously of course, to chase others off the declared disaster zone, if you catch my drift.
No wonder the NGOs want their own comms network, secure, portable and agile. We saw that internet group put up Wi-Fi links to great effect, superceding the role "ham radio" used to enjoy. If we were collectively wise, we would recruit and train computer guys like that in the art of emergency installations. They shouldn't have to re-invent the wheel as to how to get an ad hoc system up and running. The only difference would be the frequencies and hardware, you know?
Instead, the group in Newington wants to turn ham radio into the internet, oh, I see now !
LISTENING IN VAIN
Unidentified television network staffer listens to "Katrina" emergency traffic frequencies for comms from the area that never were heard.
