AmateurRadioNews.com

The Pakistan Amateur Radio Society (PARS) reports that emergency communications support for ham radio amateurs have been extended in the past week to three more villages. PARS emergency communications organiser Asad Marwat AP2AUM said food and non-food items have been provided to around 1,000 families in the Charsadda and Nowshera areas. He said that a medical camp was also established which treated almost 700 patients mainly suffering from Skin and Gastro diseases.
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All the hype about how disastrous the solar max could be for the entire power grid of Earth is unnecessary, a leading astronomer from Australia has said. But Dr Phil Wilkinson, assistant director with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Ionospheric Prediction Service, said that the claims that this coming solar maximum will be the most violent in 100 years are not factual. "All this talk about gloom and doom has selling power, but I'm certain it's overstated," ABC Science quoted Wilkinson as saying. "It's going far beyond what's realistic and could be worrying or concerning for people who don't really understand the underlying science behind it all," Wilkinson said.
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The Spanish amateur radio team ARMIC ONCE EA3RKR has received special authorisation to set-up a ham radio station and transmit from inside Barcelona Cathedral - something unheard of since its construction. The event will take place on the 18th of September, and the team would like to invite any radio ham who may be travelling to, or on vacation in Barcelona on this date, to come and operate the station.
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Amateur radio operators quietly provide key public service: Many people know that amateur radio operators like to chat. Few realize that the chatter can sometimes save lives. The Wood River Amateur Radio Club, operational for the past 12 years, has helped spread the word about the power of amateur radio as both a hobby and public service. Involvement in amateur radio is becoming more popular--not to mention more accessible--in the Wood River Valley, as the grassroots group hosts training sessions and testing for those interested in getting licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. Commonly referred to as "ham radio," amateur radio boasts the ability of low-power wireless communications worldwide via high-frequency radio waves. For Wood River Valley residents and visitors, the benefits of ham radio are profound. Cellular coverage is spotty at best outside city limits, leaving many people partaking in backcountry recreation without immediate communication in an emergency. "If something goes wrong--a major earthquake, for example--you could be a radio volunteer at a shelter or help with 911 dispatch," said Joe Yelda, public information officer for the amateur radio club. "In a disaster situation, emergency services can be easily overwhelmed. There would be a need for communications people." The dedication of volunteer amateur radio operators was a key component in the organization of emergency responses to Hurricane Katrina and last winter's earthquake in Haiti, as well as the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. While communications via cell phone, land line or the Internet inevitably fail along with the power grid, ham radio is often the only means of coordinating large-scale operations in the wake of tragedy.
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