The Most Dependable Communications System During Calamities

For years now I have been encouraging the RGoB to consider training a select group of DeSuups – to act as an Emergency Response Group (ERG) - in the use and operation of Ham Radio or Amateur Radio – a form of wireless communications that will still be standing even as everything else around it falls and crumbles like 9 pins. But no one has as yet stopped to consider the idea. Well, what can I say – I suppose, true to character, it is because it is no money in their own pockets.

Highly portable Ham Radio Transceiver with Microphone

But at a time when natural calamities are becoming more and more common place – it is important to be prepared for the most unexpected eventualities. In times of emergencies we all know that being able to communicate is most critical.

What if our mobile network goes down? What if we are rendered incommunicado with the outside world? What if we cannot communicate within our own boundaries? Such situations can arise – the world as we know it now has become a dangerous and unpredictable place to live in.

In times of natural disasters and emergencies and when every form of telecommunication fails, Ham Radio is the only means of communication that will still work and come to the rescue of relief workers. It can operate from the middle of the ocean or from atop Mount Everest. It can be set up and become operational in minutes. At any given time, close to four million users are active and listening in on to the radio signals around the globe. Ham Radio is perhaps the only multi-modal communication system that can transmit and receive Voice, Text, Morse Code, Graphics and Image data over the open airwaves. And, best of all, there is no charges to be paid to any service providers. It is all FREE!

Many people over the years have used the Ham Radio for a variety of purposes and emergencies but one of the most famous among them is the case of Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, the last King of Sikkim. When everything else around him was gagged up, Ham Radio was the only means through which he managed to send out his message of crisis. A little after 6 PM on 9th April, 1975 – he used his Ham Radio equipment to send out his distress call – to inform the world of the annexation of his Kingdom.

Some of the world luminaries who are registered Ham Radio operators with individual and unique CallSigns assigned to them.

Ham Radio can effectively serve as our short-term emergency back-up communications system – it can transmit to every corner of the earth. And, best of all, it is easy to master, simple to operate, equipment are cheap to acquire, and best of all, compact and highly portable.