Swiss Air Crash - Radio Amateurs Respond Within approximately 2 hours after the Swiss Air crash, the Emergency Measures Co-ordinator, for Halifax Regional Municipality Barry Manuel initiated a call-out to members of the HRM - EMO Amateur Radio Group. The call was initiated through Dave George (VE1AJP) who is the contact for EMO and RAC ARES Coordinator for the Halifax area. The Director of the Nova Scotia Region, Canadian Red Cross, John Byrne actived the Disaster Response Team (DRT) including the Telecoms Officer (VE1CH) and directed us to report to the site and join the ERV at that location. Amateurs were dispatched to the Command bus at Peggy's Cove and were asked to establish telecommunications between the site and a net control station downtown. Amateurs were also sent to CFS Shearwater and to several other staging areas which were subsequently moved or closed down as more accurate information filtered in. Our emergency ID cards and vehicle identification cards were IMPERATIVE to gain access to both the outer and inner perimeter. As Telecommunications Officer for the Canadian Red Cross, VE1CH called in members of the Senior Amateur Radio Association to activate the communications centre at the Canadian Red Cross Headquarters in downtown Halifax and also set up telecommunications links (amateur and other) between the on site Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) of the Red Cross, the Command Post, Red Cross HQ and the net control station. Amateurs at the Command Post were kept very busy interfacing between the on-site commander, the military and just about everyone else who the site commander needed to talk to. Approximately 20 amateurs made themselves available and a shift roster was set up for twenty-four hour operation by the network control station. Two repeaters were used in the operation , one for traffic handling, the other for personnel coordination and assignment. Amateur operators were also asked to provide emergency HF links to the military and naval ships engaged in the search and were also asked to establish communications on marine emergency frequency of 156.8 Mhz. The response was both fast and efficient considering the hour and the number of people needed. The entire operation was moved from the Blanford area near Hubbards, to Peggy's Cove when the exact position of the debris field became known. The extensive training provided to members of the HRM-EMO team over the past year really paid off. Radio procedures were excellent and I heard MANY reports from senior officials at the site how well the amateurs performed. (From a report by Joe MacPherson, VE1CH distributed by RAC Bulletin) RAC President announces resignation Radio Amateurs of Canada President Farrell (Hoppy) Hopwood, VE7RD, has advised the RAC Board of Directors that he is resigning from his position as RAC President and Board Chair effective December 31, 1998. The RAC Directors will now convene the "RAC Elections Committee" as outlined in the corporation's bylaw, to elect a new president to fill the one-year remaining in Mr. Hopwood's two-year term. WORKED ALL RAC (WARAC) Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) is pleased to announce the following award available to all Radio Amateurs worldwide. WORKED ALL RAC (WARAC) A certificate will be issued to any Amateur who confirms two-way communication with an Official RAC Station using the suffix "RAC" in at least 10 of the 13 prefixes. VE1, VA2, VA3, VE4, VE5, VE6, VE7, VE8, VE9, VO1, VO2, VY1, VY2. Effective date of the award is 0000 UTC July 1, 1998. RAC Seeks 10M Privileges for Basic Licensees RAC has asked Industry Canada to permit holders of the BASIC and 5 WPM Morse certificates to operate in the 10 Metre band. RAC stated that it believes this proposal would be an important step for the growth and stability of the Amateur Radio Service, by offering amateurs who now meet basic international requirements the opportunity to operate on a worldwide long distance (DX) high frequency band during the upcoming favourable sunspot cycle years. Click here for the RAC searchable Fleamarket and Hamfest database BACK TO MAIN MENU For more information email info@kwarc.org [ TOP ] © 1998 Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club Comments and bugs reports to webmaster@kwarc.org