Glendora Emergency Response Communications

Your HT May Save Your Life

Feb 26, 2008

To GERC hams & friends,

There was an article in today's SGV Times about two hikers who became stranded on a cliff in the Santa Ana Mountains near Santiago Peak later yesterday afternoon. As fog and rain moved into the area they became lost and used a cell phone to call for help, but because of the intermittent cellular coverage rescuers were unable to re-establish contact with them. This immediately got my attention as I know there are several amateur radio repeaters on Santiago Peak and in the nearby areas! Had these hikers been hams and had with them an HT with just a few milliwatts of power they could have quite easily been in contact with other hams immediately! The Catalina repeater would also have been a sure bet for communications for the lost hikers. Well, as of the writing of the news article the lost hikers had not yet been rescued, and probably spent a cold and wet night in the mountains.

The lesson learned here is obvious?… you can't rely on your cell phone to get you out of trouble, but if you have a ham radio there is better than an even chance that you will be heard!

The Southern California Intermountain Repeater Association, of which I am the founding director has been recently formed for the express purpose of providing Emergency Communications over a wide area of the southland. Our goal is to make repeaters accessible to hams with HT's no matter their location. If you are interested in helping SCIRA, Inc. achieve this goal we welcome your tax-deductable contributions or membership. Visit www.SCIRA.net for further details, or contact Jim Dowdle, Membership Chair at dowdle@roadrunner.com or contact me at the SCIRA office listed below.

73,
Mark Hayden
SCIRA, Inc.
514 Crown St.
Glendora, CA 91740
Office phone: 626-963-4016


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Mark Hayden, N7YLA
"Ham Radio may not change the world, but it will change the way you hear it."