Miscellaneous Items

Below is an email that was sent to club president Fred Reiselt from a National Weather Service employee. This is just one example of what ham radio is about!

Whenever..you get this email..I wanted to let you know I called P.T. (Fred) Reiselt in Corinth, MS, today. I evacuated with my Slidell daughter Kristin's family to my Corinth daughter Kelley's house in Corinth. My son-in-law, Chris Duncan, is a Corinth Firefighter; also Corinth is my hometown. Both Kristin's home and mine were in mandatory evacuation areas. Normally, I 'ride it out' at work, but this time I left. This morning I spoke with Wayne Hall at NWS Slidell; he advised our roof was leaking in many places and they believed part of it had blown off. Flat roofs in LA..go figure.

I had been on Internet and watching TV all day since telephones were down. With the absence of news about St. Tammany+ and lost communications to the NWS, I thought about you, so I searched on Internet and that's how I found Fred in Corinth. Anyway, I left a voice mail for Fred and he called me back to give me news that there had been some communication with the NWS Slidell and everybody was 'OK' and running on our generator, but other communications were down.

I wanted to tell you both..before I hear anything more, now I know how it feels to be out of communication, not knowing if you're going to have a home when you get back..or no news about people you care about. Next time you come to the NWS or when I'm doing Spotter Certificates for a Ham Radio Club somewhere..I'm going to have a better appreciation for those names/call signs.

Ron, I hope and pray you, Sharon, and family are safe wherever you are, and Fred, that Corinth will make it thru tonight/tomorrow. Yesterday before we left, I looked around my house trying to figure out what I could rescue to take with me. I thought..this is just 'stuff'..people are important, so the 'life things' I bought with me (besides family) were mostly pictures..and my outdoor cat.

This link was sent by Harold Bullard, K5WHB. It is a story that was covered by MSNBC regarding amateur radio use in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. You can view this article by clicking here. Thanks to Harold for sending it in!

Click here to read the ARRL newsletter for September 3, 2005. This issue tells about ham operations involving Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to club president Fred Reiselt for fowarding it!

US Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho has proposed a new bill to help protect the amateur radio spectrum. Click here to read the article on the ARRL website about the proposed bill.