Amateur Radio and Hurricane Maria
By: José M. Candelaria NP4ET
After the mandatory break caused by Hurricane Maria, we publish a new edition of the blog "Amateur Radio 101". First of all, my best wishes and solidarity with the Puerto Rican people exclaiming loudly "Puerto Rico rises. And although there is a saying that after the storm comes the calm, it is no less true that after the storm the calm was far from arriving because we were faced with a desolation and anguish that Puerto Rico had never experienced. 100% of the island was without electric power, without drinking water and completely cut off from communication. This last fact was the first cause of despair among the people, as cell phones stopped working, only one commercial radio station was on the air and absolutely no one could communicate with their loved ones both on and off the island.
It is at this moment where radio amateurs come into the picture, not to improvise, but to apply what has been studied and practiced during the "field days", what to do in a disaster situation. Personally, the day after the hurricane, I installed a wire antenna that I built at the time for the 40m band, since this band provides us with the reliability to communicate long and short distance at any time of day, although it is more effective during the afternoon and night. And indeed, I was able to communicate via relay or transit with relatives in the United States, thanks to the help of our brothers in the Dominican Republic who were so kindly for days, making phone calls to family members who otherwise would not have been able to know of the situation on the island. I would like to thank Teddy Jimenez "HI3T" who was the link to communicate with relatives in the U.S., thanks Dominican Republic. In addition, I heard dozens of ham radio operators passing emergency traffic on 40m, keeping the communities connected. What more could have been done? Yes indeed! We will always fall short in everything we do in the face of a disaster like the one we faced, but I know of many who made the effort to keep the people and even the government in communication.
Like the rest of the people, many radio amateurs not only lost their antennas, they lost their homes, their belongings, they were in need and were also distressed, that is why I want to congratulate the radio lovers who were in the arduous task of communicating to the people, and those who could not, not because of the hurricane, but because they did not have enough knowledge, I urge them to educate themselves, to learn every day more about the necessary techniques to operate a station in an emergency situation.
I am not only a radio amateur, I am an astronomy lover since I was a child, I practice astronomy and I spread it for a reason that I learned from someone who made me love this science, Carl Sagan. Sagan said one day, "When you love someone, shout to the four winds how much you love that person, so I shout to the world how much I love astronomy, so that others feel what I feel." In this same way a radio amateur who loves his hobby must spread radio amateurism, with passion and in a detached way, so that others learn the art of making good radio, experimentation and practice. In this way I have put the knowledge acquired through social media such as Facebook on my "E.T. Antennas" page, in my videos, in my videos and in my "E.T. Antennas" page. Antennas", on my YouTube channel videos "NP4ET E.T. Antennas" and my website under the same name with this blog "Amateur Radio 101".
I am not looking for recognition, I am simply someone who loves teaching, who is passionate about learning more every day and who wants others to learn what one has already practiced. Amateur radio has a particularity that other hobbies don't have, you need someone else to practice it. You cannot establish a communication alone, you need an interlocutor, someone who when you identify yourself through a microphone will say hello, so why am I going to hide the knowledge, why am I going to deny someone else the opportunity to build the best antenna.
Are the clubs the means of instruction and training of new and better hams or are they just groups that are dedicated to making a net that talks about everything but ham radio and get together for annual parties, in other words, a purely social club? That said, I recognize clubs that were doing their good work during the Hurricane Maria emergency. By the same token, do you, as a ham radio operator who is willing to be a tough critic of what the clubs do, contribute and do something for the good of Amateur Radio or are you just a spectator asking for what you are not willing to give?
Perhaps my written words will raise eyebrows, but my intention is that we do introspection, that we look within ourselves what we are doing for the good of the radio and the community that expects that in an emergency radio amateurs are present, united and working. May we make the effort to share the knowledge we have acquired without fear that the other will do it better. You know, I need you to have someone to talk to on the radio, otherwise it would be better if we put our equipment away, because I would have no one to talk to. Hurricane Maria, revealed many shortcomings, especially, that of those who criticize but do nothing, but also revealed many strengths, those who did not look at what country, town or club he belongs to in order to help him. 73s and even a new "Amateur Radio 101" blog.
By: José M. Candelaria NP4ET