Cornell Grad Students Go Ballooning (Again) 58
ballooner writes "A group of Cornell University graduate students are attempting to break the Amateur Radio Ballooning duration record this weekend. The project is a continuation from last year when some other Cornell grad students broke the altitude record. The progress of the team can be tracked via their Twitter feed or by monitoring their APRS beacons. For all the HAMs out there, downlinks are available on a 30m wavelength, too."
This is news? (Score:0, Interesting)
Man, talk about a slow news day.
"I'm going to the crapper and tweet how my new suppository is working"
Read the exciting details, as a tweet - out of my arse!
Re:Troll (Score:2, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_emergency_communications [wikipedia.org]
Recent examples include the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, the 2003 North America blackout and Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, where amateur radio was used to coordinate disaster relief activities when other systems failed. ...
The largest disaster response by U.S. amateur radio operators was during Hurricane Katrina which first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane went through Miami, Florida on August 25, 2005, eventually strengthening to Category 5. More than a thousand ham operators from all over the U.S. converged on the Gulf Coast in an effort to provide emergency communications assistance. Subsequent Congressional hearings highlighted the Amateur Radio response as one of the few examples of what went right in the disaster relief effort.
You won't see them paddling down the street or trudging through snow, but converging by the thousands to coordinate the emergency efforts of those who are paddling and trudging.
They are invaluable in times of emergency and crisis. Until local law enforcement has an international network of volunteer radio operators it will never match the resources of HAMs. If you've been through many natural disasters chances are you should be thanking them for their tireless efforts. Communication, coordination and organization between disparate groups is vital in any rescue effort. These HAMs have helped save countless lives the world over, and this may well include yours.
I cannot believe anyone would survive multiple natural disasters and have such a contemptuous attitude toward volunteer rescue workers no matter what their shape. You're either a troll or a dangerously ignorant ungrateful scumbag.