Amateur Radio Disaster

OK, I don't complain often but today I am going to rant or complain or vent, call it what you want. Hears the deal, I am a ham radio operator and work public safety via Skywarn, a program where when the National Weather service calls for spotter information, I am won of the guys who is on the ground spotting weather. OK so thats all fine and dandy, today we had a huge thunderstorm hear that may have put a half of inch of rain down in its hour time. I call on the ham on several different repeaters and no answer, repeaters connect hams together and takes something won guy says and relays it to the other guy with more power. An example say 3 hams are using radios say at power levels of 1W 3W and 5W, well we all hear the signals at the same power level. Say the repeater is 500W, the 1 and 3 and 5W signals all get to us at a power level of 500W. A net is a group of hams talking to one another. no nets, allstar the number I use is down, it's a system I can call into via the phone and connect to several different ham stations via repeaters. Its down, I get onto a system called Echolink and go to 2 different repeaters, won in Pa and the other specially for Skywarn operatives, not a single avenue was active. Now the concept of ham radio is in my use for public safety, how am I able to do my job when those who run the system are not doing theirs? Folks it's a team thing, if we cant function as a team we cant function on a one on one bases. Why does the military do team operations? Because it works and its small but effective. When several people run several systems and no-one does their job, the little guy like me who depends on those working on the maintenance of the repeaters are not doing theirs, I cant do mine. Its simple, do your jobs and let me do mine and we will get along fine. If it came down to it I could have contacted the National weather service myself without ham radio but thats not the point. What happens if the phones are down and all internet is down, how are we hams going to get anything done if the hams who run the repeaters are on their fat behinds doing nothing to help the situation? We cant stay in contact then can we, nope we cant. In other words, those who depend on communications for food cant get food because we hams cant do our jobs. What happens if it's not a weather emergency but a bomb or something goes off say at the johnstown airport, someone like me who is a ham will be working that seen, how can I do my job protecting my countrymen if others in charge don't do theirs? Guess what, I cant. Why? Because people are not doing theirs. I am not God, I cant just whip out a ham and all is good, folks it's a team work effort. Why post this? Because we need a team when we work. It's a myth that won man can save the world. Unless your Jesus the Christ, you are not that man. We men and women depend on one another. We ham radio operators are to set the trend of the country, if this is how we hams are going, how is the wrest of the world. I hope God comes back soon. Anyway, rant over. KC3CDV clear.

Just another update.

Greetings and salutations to all. I am back with another update and wow, things have happened but I did not think to blog about them for a few days, then I kepped thinking " blog. blog blog blog." So I finally blogged about this. Well, lets see, where to begin, yeah the beginning I reckon. OK. So its Christmas 2015 and I just had received my first CCrane CCSW radio that I had bought for myself. I open it and its buggy as all get out, so I contact the manufacture in CCrane and they ship me a new won back in return for free and all I had to do was ship the defective unit back. Second one comes and it works fine. The folks over at CCrane are amazing. Check them out over at ccrane.com
 Lets also stick with Christmas 2015 for now, We do whats known as gift exchange and I had gotten a bag of hole bean coffee for my sister. She along with a family friend got me a coffee grinder in return, no more pre ground coffee for me, hole bean and wow, what a difference. Hole bean is the way to go folks.  So we then go a little forward and its now 2016 and I was looking at an acoustic bass after seeing my brother's acoustic electric Fender guitar, so I looked around and was always attracted to the Dean EAB Playmate bass, so I pick it up and wow, what a bass this thing is the best bass Ive ever played beside a high grade American made Fender.
 So Ive ben playing bass and enjoying my coffee and radio. All rite guys and girls, I hope you enjoy my little umm, journal? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, my external hard drive died in early 2016 or late 2015 cant remember and I came to the realization that I spend way to much time online and so Ive cut back quite a lot online, ben enjoying outdoors and reading and radio and spending family time.

 Everyone take care and remember, God knows who you are.
 I pray peace and blessings be with you in the name of Jesus. I ask for all you praying folk to pray for me just as we all need to be prayed for. We are told to lift each other up in prayer and I intend to do that. Thank you all and God bless.