SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
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SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION NETWORK HAMNET PRESENTER - FRANCOIS BOTHA NATIONAL DIRECTOR
BRIEF OUTLINE • SARL founder member of IARU - 1925. • IARU stipulated each country establish an emergency network – when all else fails! • HAMNET established mid 1960’s. • Represented on various bodies including SASAR. • ORRU – MCSA – K 9 dog Unit – NSRI. • Internationally, Amateur Radio is regarded as a national resource.
RECENT HISTORY • • • Apies River Flood Laingsburg Flood Free State Floods (many) Westdene Bus Disaster Cyclone Demoina ‘Oceanos’ sinking Van Reenen Pass Snow Orange/Vaal river Floods (many) Many other incidents Communications for many sporting events
WEATHER INFORMATION • Most disasters are weather related. • Weather data critical to operations. • Many reliable sources available – both locally (SAWS) and international. • Weather enthusiasts own sites accurate and very reliable – including radio amateurs. • Internet dozens of accurate sites
LOCAL INTERNET WEATHER FACILITIES Johan Terblance – ZS 1 I Prof. Kobus Botha – ZS 6 KOB INFORMATIVE – RELIABLE – EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND UPDATED AT LEAST 4 TO SIX TIMES EVERY HOUR!
SOUTHERN CAPE FLOODS – DECEMBER 2007. CUT-OFF LOW THAT MOVED OVER REGION.
ACCESS NOW DENIED TO GENERAL PUBLIC
OUR CONCERNS • Access to SAWS Website already restricted! • Informing our colleagues of adverse weather may now become illegal! • Our sources are impeccable! • Our conduct is professional! • Being denied the right to support our community would be a tragedy! • Being denied the right to dissect international data would be a disaster.
CONCLUSION • Access denial, discussion and open publication can breed more miss-information. • Disallowing other sources and enthusiasts is counter productive! • Creating a monopoly is not in the interest of our country! • Restricting freedom of information – disastrous! • Sharing information would be more productive! • 7 Days ago – Limpopo flooding – amateur information more accurate than SAWS – website restriction!
CONTACT DETAILS • By e-mail – jfbotha@iburst. co. za alternative zs 6 buu@gmail. com • P. O. Box 555, WELOBIE. 1714 • Landline 011 679. 5260 • Cell Phone (24/7) 083. 585. 3847 • Visit our website at www. sarl. org. za and follow the link to HAMNET. • THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
