US sets final emergency responder wireless pilot

ARRL = American Radio Relay League. It is an organization of ham radio operators that's been around since the 1930s or 40s, one of whose missions is (pretty sure they're still active) to provide emergency communication where all other means break down. Would have been good to have them recognized and included since they have already a robust network and both the old and new parts of a combined network would likely be better than the sum of the parts.

http://shipcom.com/SNP/Smart%20Network%20Platform%20Brochure-3.pdf

ARRL's been around a lot longer than that. It was founded in 1914. See http://arrl.org

It is ashamed that an Amateur Radio organization that already provides emergency communications was not enlisted. Some members of the Amateur Radio Club that I am in work with the local county to do such work in an official manner. The radios appear to cover at least two amateur bands (144-148 MHz and 420-450 MHz). The only obstacle for amateurs would be the cost of the units.

I agree, Ham Radio is the First Responder unit. As far as 'EMPs' or whatever, everone I know stores spare radios' in ammo-boxes (faraday cages) to protect them.

When the poo hits the fan, Hams will be the ones coordinating.

Eschewing my tin foil hat as much as possible...

One of the obstacles to the use of amateur radio in this context may well be the regulations against the use of these bands for monetary gain. It would possibly be a gray area to have public service personnel required to license.

In the event of an emergency, RACES and ARES would be activated, but there is a possibility that this would take enough time to blunt the response.

Further, some of the groups in the pilot program do not seem to fall into stipuation under which hams can operate on any frequency they can get their hands on: that the emergency directly relates to the safety of human life or property. Perhaps the emergencies they are envisioning fall outside of that scope?

That being said, I would take the tin foil off and posit that the DHS does not seem to be a trusting bunch. The groups they are coordinating here are less so, and its human nature for organized "professional" groups to resent the presence of what is perceived as a "weekend warrior" to do the job. From a purely bureaucratic standpoint, hams are an unknown quantity - no background checks to get your license, and ARES membership is purely voluntary.

Ultimately what is saddening here is that there's a lack of promotion of what HAMs do, and policy restrictions that DHS is addressing with technology rather than addressing the root concerns.

Ham Radio may provide support, but they are NOT first responders. Makes sense that they were not included.

Your definition of "first responders" could be called into question. I would think those who respond to an emergency first are those who first report it--the public citizens calling 911 for example. Notice this does not include any of the government agencies.

Some of these public citizens are, indeed, licensed amateur radio operators who have the necessary technical skill levels to assist with communication within a chaotic and atypical emergency. This may be on their radio, on their telephone (if lines are not already jammed), or on their computers relaying messages for the government agencies. They assist in communication with the other professionals who have other skill sets.

This communication assistance by the amateur radio operators is often when other government agencies simply can not communicate using their non-technical skill levels.

Granted, for the benefit of actual communication, it is important that ALL (government and citizens) respondents involved understand and follow defined procedures. Therefore, procedures should be DEFINED for amateur radio operators and allow them to be included in these decisions.

HAM radio has already been a huge part of this project. One of the key tenants and reasons for the Amateur service's continued existence is to 'advance the state of the art' (2008 ARRL Handbook, Ch. 1). The Software Defined Radio was developed in large part by the amateur community over the last decade and more. Now that this technology is becoming mature, it is natural that other commercial or public service entities will make use of it. This is not something to be ashamed of or jealous over, it is what we as HAMs are here to do.

In the early part of the 20th century, it was HAMs that first developed and used Phase Modulation (PM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) as viable means of transmitting high-fidelity audio. Likewise, it was HAMs that developed and expanded technologies relating to high-speed and reliable data transmission over RF. All of these technologies have long since been observed, utilized and improved upon by the larger lay and commercial community.

Amateurs will always be there to improve ,expand and develop new communication technologies. Likewise, we will also always be there to provide an independent auxiliary to normal communications platforms in the event of emergencies. The fact that we have done our jobs so well over the last century that our methods are regularly co-opted by the communications industry is a point we should be proud of, not something to sulk over.