Bay Area Fiber Cut

[Bill - K6WLM]

As I'm sure you noticed the Elecraft web site was not available most of yesterday 4/9/09.  This was due to  several  AT&T fiber cables that were cut by vandals in a man-hole located in the San Francisco bay area. Telephone service, broadband service, Sprint, and Verizon wireless were all affected.  AT&T is offering a $100,00.00 reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever did this.

There is a lesson here for us all.  Even though the telephone network is "protected" with fiber "rings" and protection channels  it is fragile  and can fail from even a small amount of damage whether it be from vandals, fire, earthquake, or just a simple auto accident.  Think about it!

This is the reason I do not much care for   Amateur modes such as IRLP/EchoLink and D-Star that depend on the Internet for connectivity.

My K2 continued to work just fine during all of this and could have provided emergency communications if needed.

73, Bill - K6WLM
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[Giulio Pico - IW3HVB]

This is a little OT, but I can't keep my hands off the keyboard.....

I totally agree....  An easy, but sad example happened some days ago, when
an earthquake stroke the center part of Italy, with more than 250 deaths.
The Volunteers of many ham radio clubs gave their immediate support, helping
coordinate the first waves of help and support, via the good old SSB on 40
mts or FM in 144 MHz. Many newspapers and TV news programs made clear at
what extent the ham support have been fundamental and effective.
Despite the complicated commercial and civil networks, internet, cell phones
etc.... hams are still more than useful.

Sad that most of the people remember of our existence only in these
occasions, seeing us as a potential health treat or at least as RFI makers
for the rest of the time...

73 de Giulio IW3HVB

2009/4/10 <[hidden email]>

> cut
>
> My K2 continued to work just fine during all of this and could have
> provided emergency communications if needed.
>
> 73, Bill - K6WLM
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[AC7AC]

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