I just renewed my license, and it is good to 2030. AND I hope that I am!
I want to reflect for a moment about how & why I got my license.
It was Hurricane Dolly (2008). My Red Cross Survey team and I had to drive across the (condemned) levees to reach a school. It was toward the end of the list of several locations we were asked to scout to see if there were people there in need of help. When we reached the school, some folks rushed out to us. The shelter was packed, the water was rising, and we were about to be cut off. On the way we passed numerous downed cell towers. My issued Red Cross Cell Phone was not operating.
The first ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) to “reach” the shelter.
I stayed at that shelter as the shelter manager, and I was fortunate that the head of the fire department was actually in the shelter, as was the school cook. So we harvested the food in the Freezer before it spoiled, got porto-potties delivered as we had power issues, and we started the wait for the waters to recede. Power was eventually restored. It was some days until communications were restored. “COW”s were finally deployed to compensate for the downed towers and all of a sudden my Red Cross cell phone was operating again.
This was my savior. Verizon COW, AT&T across the street. This was behind the fire station.
Communication was a challenge to start with, and I vowed at that point that I would never be without emergency communications again. I learned the **"**when not if" message the hard way. That was the beginning of my amateur radio journey.
Of course, I had no idea how much fun I was going to have, or the wonderful folks I would meet, or the things I would learn. I was just trying to solve a problem, and I discovered a great hobby as well.
My wife Sandy reading a bed time story - Edcouch TX Shelter
Well, thank you for putting up with my reflections. Hope to see you on the air or on deployment!
Kevin KF5FUZ IT/DST Texas @KF5FUZ
