Well I've managed to hook up with the Y2K Net!! Thanks to Bill, Dale, Fred and others we've communicated with each other. We have discussed various topics and laid some ground work for future efforts. This effort hopefully will NOT BE NEEDED but if it is at least some of us will be prepared.

I choose not to disucuss my opinion on this forum regarding possible Y2K problems, etc. Let each person decide for themselves. I am a private person in some areas so I'll let it go at that. I am however a techie by trade and avocation hence my interest in HAM radio.

Our efforts at establishing a communications net are progressing. Several of us are involved with our local emergency coordinators so this net is a natural extension of our own efforts and involvment. As a personal note I have participated in several support functions in my area when flooding occured, etc. so I am versed in the emergency communication and coordination needs. If the Y2K net is to be successfull then we will need to establish both local and national communication nets. The core group that appears to be forming, thanks to Bill, will be most helpfull in getting this off the ground.

There is a lot of planning and coordination that needs to take place in the next 100 days. Depending on your personal viewpoint, either a BITR or a possible "10", communicating with others will be important. Speaking for myself I will do all I can to help others make this net a sucess. And besides this a personal and technical challenge for me with an added level of urgency.

Now if I can just keep from burning my fingers with that soldering iron I should be ok!! :)

Don

-- Don from OR (thaxton@ptgroup.com), September 22, 1999

Answers

Hi Don,

But boy, some of those guys dropping in on the 'net were sure DGI's. :)

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moines (dtmiller@midiowa.net), September 22, 1999.

Hi, guys, GREAT job!

If a person wanted to get involved, could he buy a ham radio and just do it? I know it USED to be that you'd have to learn morse code, learn all kinds of techie stuff, and so forth. Is this still true?

The reason I'm asking is, we have a lot of people in my neighborhood who have CB's, and are trying to start a communications grid out here, but the CB is pretty limited in range, which complicates matters a lot.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), September 22, 1999.

Al,

I remembered reading a thread about this that might help with some of your questions-- http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch- msg.tcl?msg_id=0018X1 (Sorry, don't know hotlinks...)

Aside from what I've read here, I don't know much about ham radio. From the thread, it sounds like you still need to go through training and licensing procedures... HTH,

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), September 22, 1999.

If the world is in really bad shape and all we had for communications was ham radio, and I had access to a ham radio, I would certainly use it license or not.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), September 22, 1999.

For those of us interested couldnt we purchase a resonable used Ham radio to "monitor" the y2k net you have developed as long as we dont transmit on it we would not be out of compliance. It seems to me it could be a valuable source of information even if we werent able to use it ourselves? If this would work where would be the best place to look for a good used radio, any suggestions on model to look for or price range to seek out? Thanks in advance for your feedback

-- The Young'n (Newbie@ShineTheLight.com), September 22, 1999.

ALKALOID:

Good question -- good reasoning. You can buy the gear but you can't use it if the FCC is still 'in working order.' It's a big NoNo. However, if the grid and the phone lines go down and stay down for a significant length of time -- there won't be anybody going to work down at the FCC. In THAT case, you could use your gear. Problem: you have to have experience to use it -- after Y2K is too late to get that experience. Join a local ham club, buy some gear, go thru the motions of studying for your no-code license (otherwise no ham at the club will give you any kind of advice), and then if you're persuasive enough bring some ham into 'GI' consciousness. Then maybe he'll set up your station for you, check it out, and maybe run some QSOs from your rig. Meantime you watch carefully and take notes. Also do some listening on the bands betw now & Y2K and pick up what you can in the way of operating protocol. Lots of 'ifs' betw where you are now and being able to effectively use ham gear -- but it IS doable. Also take a look at my response to CAROL lower down here.

WINTER WONDERING:

Yes, there are several pertinent threads (mostly by now in the 'older messages' category --- look under 'communications' and 'ham radio' I think.)

CAROL:

You have definitely come up with the same answer I would have, had I not gotten my ham license.

THE YOUNG'N:

There's good info right up your alley, in recent threads on this forum re ham radio, & other aspects of radio comm. Go into the older messages and look -- I've posted sources, phone #s, model numbers, specs, reasonable prices, etc.

Good luck to all,

Bill, KG4DHJ

S

-- William J. Schenker, MD (wjs@linkfast.net), September 22, 1999.

Hi, WW; thanks for the help. I went to the site, and what do I find? Lots of help, including a lot of great info from William J.Schenker.

Bill, thanks to you, lots of good advice. I am hoping that you are wrong about no GI's in ham clubs. I know, slightly, a guy in a ham club who, I'm pretty sure, is a GI. I've just never asked him. If I get serious about this, I will. By the way, you're the only person who has noticed the trick about my name :) If I get time to investigate it (I'm actually a pretty busy guy, although it's hard to believe, as much time as I spend on this forum), I'll follow your advice. In addition to reconnecting with my ham acquintance.

Carol, right on.

To all, and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong--this is hearsay from a CB guy in my now defunct y2k neighborhood group--you can allegedly legally use as much power as you want to broadcast on a "sideband", which I understand to be a non-regulated frequency in the near CB range. I don't know how this works in the real world, as far as whether or not everyone blocks each other out, how many people use the frequency(frequencies?), etc.

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), September 23, 1999.

Short of advertising, how does one go about locating a ham operator in his/her neighborhood? I've never personally known anyone who is a HO. This would be very valuable. Suggestions?

And "Alkaloid" he may be the first person to show he knew what your name meant, but some of us "got it" long ago...LOL

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), September 24, 1999.

ELAINE:

Call up your local Radio Shack dealer -- if he's a heads up salesman he'll know about the local ham club. If he can't help, call up another R-S dealer in another, nearby town -- maybe he'll have the info. You can also call the local police/sheriff/911 dispatcher -- bet they'll know a ham or two. Good luck, Bill, kg4dhj

-- William J. Schenker, MD (wjs@linkfast.net), September 24, 1999.

Short of advertising, how does one go about locating a ham operator in his/her neighborhood? I've never personally known anyone who is a HO. This would be very valuable. Suggestions?

Aside from the obvious jokes about HOes, you can search for a local ham club at the ARRL's club search page. I'm sure the contact person at a nearby club will be glad to help you get started in amateur radio.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), September 25, 1999.