We came across a story this month that reminded us of the importance of being educated in radio communication and a reminder of what a resourceful, knowledgeable, and helpful community amateur radio operators are.
On September 7, 2022, a boat named SV Nereida traveling from Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point of the USA to San Francisco, California became disabled after 2 days of 35 knot winds and storms.
81 year old Jan Socrates, an experienced sailor who has sailed around the world without assistance, and in fact has been the oldest person to do so, found herself very low on power and her onboard radio equipment marginally operational. But her knowledge of amateur meant she knew how to get her message out to a community who could help!
Amateur operators in New Mexico, California, and Canada, and members of Group 7.155 heard her requests for assistance.
One such person who heard her request and in fact was able to contact Socrates on 40 metres was Gil Gray, N2GG. “Her power was extremely low, and she was unable to communicate on 14.300 MHz to notify the monitoring group on that frequency,” said Gray. “She needed help with wind and sea conditions, and tidal data for San Francisco Bay,” he added.
Q5 copy was almost impossible due to the low-power output on the HF radio which would typically be Q2 or Q3. Thankfully several software-defined radio (SDR) operators were on hand in California, Utah, and Maui, Hawaii, who were able to glean enough copy to understand her situation and answer questions for her navigation.
Another stroke of luck was that several of these radio operators were also experienced sailors and helped guide Socrates through periodic contact with weather and wind reports.
Their last contact was on Monday, September 12, at 11:00 AM (MSDT). By this time, Socrates was sailing with only the forward sail on her 38-foot sloop. Thankfully, a “following wind” kept her moving without a mainsail.
As the Golden Gate Bridge appeared within sight, Socrates was able to use the tidal information passed on by amateur radio operators to make it safely to Berkeley Marina in San Francisco Bay.
“I wouldn’t call it a rescue,” said Socrates, “just good amateur radio assistance — and I’m grateful for their help.”
This is actually one of 3 events in September in which amateur radio was able to provide emergency assistance.
If you would like to learn more about Jan Socrates’ travels, take a look at her Facebook page.
Do you know somebody who loves to travel and who would benefit from knowledge of shortwave? Send them this article, and indeed a link to this website as we have lots in interesting shortwave news, links, and resources, as well as the best range of shortwave radios available in Australia.
Adapted from the original article that can be found on https://www.arrl.org/news/
Image via AAP: Jason O’Brien ( abc.net.au)
As the Bureau Of Meteorology declares another La Niña, increasing flood risk for the third year in a row, we reflect on those affected by this weather pattern last year.
Something those in eastern Australia have been all too familiar with over the last two soaking La Niña summers.
According to Dr Margaret Cook, environmental historian and lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and researcher at Griffith University. “The problem with a triple La Niña is that the ground is very wet already, our rivers are quite high, our creeks are full and our dams are quite full,””So we have less capacity to absorb this enormous amount of rain.”
It does not necessarily follow that this summer will definitely bring biblical floods.
But it doesn’t rule out the possibility of floods this summer.
During a La Niña, the atmospheric circulation across the tropical Pacific is set up so that warm waters to Australia’s north-east and strong trade winds pump moisture into the atmosphere along Australia’s east coast. When the right systems come along they can then tap into that moisture, bringing about heavy rains and flooding.
A situation all too familiar for those situated on the east coast of Australia.
Like many Australians, we wanted to find a useful way to help those that were affected by the floods.
Lismore resident Christine Porter created a fantastic initiative to distribute Emergency radios to the flood stricken Lismore and surrounding community.
Aptly named EMERGENCY RADIO Project Lismore Floods 2022.
Christine found the BEST Emergency Radio by Tecsun Radios, Sydney. She realised that, as well as it being a great AM/FM radio, its primary function for emergencies matched the emergency we’d just had. It’s a torch, lightweight, stable, not too small. Its lithium battery is charged by USB, an inbuilt solar panel, or its own crank handle. It can be used as a power-bank, will pick-up shortwave, but most importantly: it has a siren and flashing beacon.
After long discussions with the principal at Tecsun, and testing one herself, she believes something like this would have made a very real difference the night of the flood. Next time there may not be a bloke in a tinny going past at just the right time.
Her aim is to put one of these radios into as many single-person households returning to the flood zone as she can – especially for older or less-abled people. The river rose 2.4 metres (8 feet) higher than the highest flood on record, so the flood zone has spread into parts of suburban Lismore it never had before. Christine has ordered 50 radios, with an option for another 50 later in the year. Her plan is to contact groups or individuals outside the North Coast region to fundraise for the purchase of the radios, in order to spread the volunteer load, and give people a specific way to help. Tecsun has kindly offered a discount to support Christine.
Lismore is still broken; there is so much still to do. If you, or your organisation would like to contribute, Christine has set up a bank account to receive donations for the radios. She’ll send you a receipt and follow up info about how the project is going. If you’d like to send a card, or message to the recipient of your radio/s she’ll pass that on. It’s the small things as well as the grand gestures that we see making a difference. That night, in the rain and the noise, no-one would have imagined we’d all be still here knee-deep (waist, chest and chin deep) in worry so far into the future. Christine believes that the radio will save lives should an event like this happen again, but it will also reassure the traumatised that this time, if need be, someone will be able to hear them call out in the night.
If you would like to donate a radio to Christine, please contact us at: hello@tecsunradios.com.au for special pricing
In recent and welcome news, RNZ (Radio New Zealand) shortwave radio broadcasts have resumed from the hours of 5am to 9am ( NZ time) to the Pacific region. A service that ceased back in 2016.
As a result of this decision, listeners in the remote areas of the Pacific will now have 24-hour access to these broadcasts instead of it turning off early in the morning every day.
We have previously reported just how important these broadcasts are for many remote communities who regularly endure unexpected weather patterns and can lose contact with the mainland and emergency services. Emergencies don’t stop between the hours of 5am and 9am, therefore access to emergency broadcasts shouldn’t either.
We applaud the decision by the NZ Government to contribute extra funding for shortwave services. We hope the Australian Government is taking notes!
One of the most widely listened to broadcasts is the RNZ Pacific’s flagship daily current affairs programme Pacific Waves which is also broadcast by the BBC Pacific Service.
So, what will be broadcast ? At various times RNZ will run 3 different frequencies, at 5am NZT tune in on 7425 kilohertz, at 6am NZT listen on 9700 kilohertz, and at 8am NZT change the dial to 11725 kilohertz
This information and image is courtesy of the RNZ website.
For the full schedule of shortwave frequencies check out the RNZ Pacific website.