Bill upsets amateur radio operators

Great Falls Tribune-

WASHINGTON — When a tornado or wildfire hits Montana, the firsthand reports often come from ham radio enthusiasts, who provide crucial and timely information for the National Weather Service or local emergency responders.

"They're just a group of people that we can depend on to help us out in the communications end whenever we need them," said Vince Kolar, who heads Disaster and Emergency Services for Cascade County. "Definitely out here, we need 'em. (They're) knowledgeable, available and they've got those radio communication skills that you need."

There are nearly 5,000 amateur radio volunteers in Montana, and many of them provide a backup communication system that emergency responders in the Treasure State and across the country depend on if or when cellphones, satellite phones or other radio systems don't work.

"That's how we plan to communicate between hospitals and the Red Cross in the event of an emergency," said Ryan Nicholls, director of the Office of Emergency in Springfield, Mo. "We have it written into our emergency operations plan."

But this service, currently provided for free by amateur ham radio operators, could be in jeopardy under a measure Congress is considering.

The House bill, introduced by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., would strengthen the communications capabilities of America's first responders by reallocating certain frequencies — 758-763 MHz and 788-793 MHz — to public safety.

"Allocation of the D Block (of frequencies) to public safety will ensure that our nation's first responders have sufficient spectrum to develop a wireless broadband network," King said in a statement.

The 9/11 Commission, when investigating the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, cited the need for improved emergency communications among jurisdictions and agencies, and the issue has broad support from both parties, including from President Barack Obama.

It's a tiny clause deeper down in the legislation that has ham radio enthusiasts and emergency responders all worked up.

Under the bill, in the next 10 years the government would sell the 420-440 MHz frequencies, which is currently used by amateur radio operators, for commercial use. Selling the block of frequencies would raise money to offset the cost of setting aside the D Block of frequencies for first responders.

The 420-440 MHz band is not used only by hobbyists. It's also used by hundreds of thousands of Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers, severe-weather spotters working with the National Weather Service, weak-signal operations, thousands of repeater systems, mobile operators, amateur radio satellite communications, radio location beacons, amateur radio's nationwide system of digital and text communications, and more.

Amateur-radio enthusiasts, for the most part, spend their own money, use their own equipment, and spend hours of their time training and volunteering during emergencies. They say losing this frequency band would require costly changes to their infrastructure and equipment, and could jeopardize their ability to assist during emergencies.

"It would make it difficult in a lot of areas for our emergency communications, which are vital during any disaster, flood or heavy weather events — anything where we have to get out and help people," said Doug Dunn, the National Association for Amateur Radio's section chief for Montana. "We're usually there first. We fill a lot of slots."

On Father's Day 2010, as a tornado bore down on the eastern edge of Billings, amateur radio operators were there to spot the system, track it, relay the information to the National Weather Service so it could alert the public and help with the response after the tornado tore through the area, Dunn said.

It's a "boots-on-the-ground sort of a thing where we can describe damage and places to stay away from," he said. "It's important to us — and, I'm going to say, vital."

Kolar said ham radio operators provide another layer of assistance.

"During large wildland fires, we have them run our mobile communications van. They're used to running radio, so we have them operate the county radios and the command post, and it takes the pressure off the sheriff's office, off my office and we don't have to supply that manpower," he said. "It frees us up to do other things."

The American Radio Relay League — the national association for amateur radio — has lobbied members of Congress over the provision, which it calls "unacceptable."

"It is ... completely unnecessary to the creation of a nationwide public safety broadband network," ARRL spokesman Dan Henderson wrote in an email. "To be sure, ARRL will vigorously oppose this legislation in its present form."

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), which is a federation of more than a dozen public safety communications organizations, also has spoken out against the commercial sale provision in the bill.

In a letter, NPSTC Chairman Ralph Haller said the provision "needs to be amended to address the concerns of public safety and the amateur radio users."

Both groups said they support the underlying objective of the legislation.

The bill, which was introduced last month, is pending in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.