Really comprehensive look at building failover comm setups. The Hurricane Maria example is kinda fascinating, how they bridged Winlink and Iridium to handle 5,000 welfare checks when everyting else went down. I remeber reading about similar hybrid approaches in wildfire response where redundancy was the only thing that actualy worked when infrastructure collapsed.
There has been a tendency in the Ham Universe to "avoid computers" and ignore things like hybrid communications. Some folks are "purists" and believe that using any sort of digital technology isn't "ham radio". Radio, in my book is RADIO. I've operated radios in VLF, LF, HF, VHF, UHF and SHF. I've made antennas from wire, pipes, brass welding material, slinkys and many other things. I think that the actually name "Amateur Radio SERVICE" says it all. PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE - https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97
That is, Ham Radio is a service and accomplishing a mission is key. So hybrid it all day!
You might add the Starlink mini groundstation to your list. If one is a Starlink customer, the mini is furnished free of charge. There is a $5 monthly fee for standby mode. In this mode, the mini provides unlimited 700kbps bidirectional data link to the Starlink satellite constellation. In a true emergency, the owner can subscribe to portable full speed operation for the month. I haven't looked at the fee for one month activation, but even if it was $100 or more, it brings heavy capability to an EOC that would allow many times the iridium channels you spoke of. The whole package is about the size of a business check ledger. It 12V powered, as well.
Another possible intersection of drone use in emergencies might be to deliver radios to stranded people/communities. Flying in some inexpensive handhelds that are already tuned to a particular frequency could be very helpful in some situations.
Really comprehensive look at building failover comm setups. The Hurricane Maria example is kinda fascinating, how they bridged Winlink and Iridium to handle 5,000 welfare checks when everyting else went down. I remeber reading about similar hybrid approaches in wildfire response where redundancy was the only thing that actualy worked when infrastructure collapsed.
There has been a tendency in the Ham Universe to "avoid computers" and ignore things like hybrid communications. Some folks are "purists" and believe that using any sort of digital technology isn't "ham radio". Radio, in my book is RADIO. I've operated radios in VLF, LF, HF, VHF, UHF and SHF. I've made antennas from wire, pipes, brass welding material, slinkys and many other things. I think that the actually name "Amateur Radio SERVICE" says it all. PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE - https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97
That is, Ham Radio is a service and accomplishing a mission is key. So hybrid it all day!
Rick,
You might add the Starlink mini groundstation to your list. If one is a Starlink customer, the mini is furnished free of charge. There is a $5 monthly fee for standby mode. In this mode, the mini provides unlimited 700kbps bidirectional data link to the Starlink satellite constellation. In a true emergency, the owner can subscribe to portable full speed operation for the month. I haven't looked at the fee for one month activation, but even if it was $100 or more, it brings heavy capability to an EOC that would allow many times the iridium channels you spoke of. The whole package is about the size of a business check ledger. It 12V powered, as well.
73,
Shane
KE7TR
I'll look into the details, as I'm unfamiliar with starlink as a problem. I've considered using it, but never tried
Another possible intersection of drone use in emergencies might be to deliver radios to stranded people/communities. Flying in some inexpensive handhelds that are already tuned to a particular frequency could be very helpful in some situations.
I didn't think of that, thanks Tom, KJ7T, for pointing it out!