Emergency radio donations for Byron

Image via AAP: Jason O’Brien ( abc.net.au)

As the Bureau Of Meteorology  declares another La Niña, increasing flood risk for the third year in a row, we reflect on those affected by this weather pattern last year.

Something those in eastern Australia have been all too familiar with over the last two soaking La Niña summers. 

According to Dr Margaret Cook, environmental historian and lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast and researcher at Griffith University. “The problem with a triple La Niña is that the ground is very wet already, our rivers are quite high, our creeks are full and our dams are quite full,””So we have less capacity to absorb this enormous amount of rain.”

It does not necessarily follow that this summer will definitely bring biblical floods.

But it doesn’t rule out the possibility of floods this summer. 

During a La Niña, the atmospheric circulation across the tropical Pacific is set up so that warm waters to Australia’s north-east and strong trade winds pump moisture into the atmosphere along Australia’s east coast. When the right systems come along they can then tap into that moisture, bringing about heavy rains and flooding. 

A situation all too familiar for those situated on the east coast of Australia.

Like many Australians, we wanted to find a useful way to help those that were affected by the floods.  

Lismore resident Christine Porter created a fantastic initiative to distribute Emergency radios to the flood stricken Lismore and surrounding community.

 Aptly named EMERGENCY RADIO Project Lismore Floods 2022.

Nsw floods

Christine found the BEST Emergency Radio by Tecsun Radios, Sydney. She realised that, as well as it being a great AM/FM radio, its primary function for emergencies matched the emergency we’d just had. It’s a torch, lightweight, stable, not too small. Its lithium battery is charged by USB, an inbuilt solar panel, or its own crank handle. It can be used as a power-bank, will pick-up shortwave, but most importantly: it has a siren and flashing beacon. 

After long discussions with the principal at Tecsun, and testing one herself, she believes something like this would have made a very real difference the night of the flood. Next time there may not be a bloke in a tinny going past at just the right time. 

Her aim is to put one of these radios into as many single-person households returning to the flood zone as she can – especially for older or less-abled people. The river rose 2.4 metres (8 feet) higher than the highest flood on record, so the flood zone has spread into parts of suburban Lismore it never had before. Christine has ordered 50 radios, with an option for another 50 later in the year. Her plan is to contact groups or individuals outside the North Coast region to fundraise for the purchase of the radios, in order to spread the volunteer load, and give people a specific way to help. Tecsun has kindly offered a discount  to support Christine.

Lismore is still broken; there is so much still to do. If you, or your organisation would like to contribute, Christine has set up a bank account to receive donations for the radios. She’ll send you a receipt and follow up info about how the project is going. If you’d like to send a card, or message to the recipient of your radio/s she’ll pass that on. It’s the small things as well as the grand gestures that we see making a difference. That night, in the rain and the noise, no-one would have imagined we’d all be still here knee-deep (waist, chest and chin deep) in worry so far into the future. Christine believes that the radio will save lives should an event like this happen again, but it will also reassure the traumatised that this time, if need be, someone will be able to hear them call out in the night. 

Best emergency radio

lismore flood relief shortwave radios

If you would like to donate a radio to Christine, please contact us at: hello@tecsunradios.com.au for special pricing

 

RNZ shirtwave

In recent and welcome news, RNZ (Radio New Zealand) shortwave radio broadcasts have resumed from the hours of 5am to 9am ( NZ time) to the ​​Pacific region. A service that ceased back in 2016.

As a result of this decision, listeners in the remote areas of the Pacific will now have 24-hour access to these broadcasts instead of it turning off early in the morning every day. 

We have previously reported just how important these broadcasts are for many remote communities who regularly endure unexpected weather patterns and can lose contact with the mainland and emergency services. Emergencies don’t stop between the hours of 5am and 9am, therefore access to emergency broadcasts shouldn’t either.

We applaud the decision by the NZ Government to contribute extra funding for shortwave services. We hope the Australian Government is taking notes!

One of the most widely listened to broadcasts is the RNZ Pacific’s flagship daily current affairs programme Pacific Waves which is also broadcast by the BBC Pacific Service.

So, what will be broadcast ? At various times RNZ will run 3 different frequencies, at 5am NZT tune in on 7425 kilohertz, at 6am NZT listen on 9700 kilohertz, and at 8am NZT change the dial to 11725 kilohertz

This information and image is courtesy of the RNZ website.

For the full schedule of shortwave frequencies check out the RNZ Pacific website.

As we continue on from our letter to Dad, the next point our author makes is that “radio answers our desire to travel” It in fact safely satisfies the desire to explore, learn about new places and speak with new people, but this time from the comfort of your own home, and watchful eyes of parents!

Amateur radio furnishes a safe outlet for this desire; flinging messages across thousands of miles of spaces, chatting with fellow amateurs in the far corners of the earth, sending the spoken word into faraway homes, exploring the mysteries of the ultra-short waves, all of these things spell thrilling adventure to the youth of today. Why that is the factor that makes the hobby so fascinating to the boys from seven to seventy. They are given a chance to do things which they never did before; they are permitted to talk to people whom they will never see. Amateur radio has given them a key to a “magic world” of modern science, and they revel in their esoteric delights.

 Further stating that it will give him his desire to work and earn money and stay focused on broadening his world while not leaving home.

His next point is that Amateur Radio is an Urge to Greater Scholastic Endeavours.

This is in response to the fathers concerns that this hobby is a distraction from his school and study. Our author explains that radio is actually a science that requires a high level of mathematics that goes beyond simple multiplication and subtraction.

 “Jack will soon find himself up against formulae that will require a more than superficial acquaintance with the higher branches of mathematics. A knowledge of physics is nearly indispensable for the radio amateur. Light and sound are so closely related to electricity that a knowledge of the principles of all three should be in the mental quiver of the conscientious amateur. Chemistry, too, will prove to be a basic science for this new hobby. You have only to point out these facts to Jack and you will find him viewing these subjects with an entirely new interest. Encourage him to approach his hobby from a scientific angle. Make him desire to know the why as soon as he has learned the how. Let him learn the thrill of being able to forecast exactly how his apparatus will function even before he assembles the parts.”

Further to this point, the author emphasises that while the world is being opened up to young Jack through radio, he will in turn become more interested in news and events of the world, broadening his desire to learn and be more worldly. So in fact this hobby will not make him an introvert who shys away from study, chances are it will be the exact opposite.

The next point is quite amusing and titled No Danger of Son Becoming Radio “Nut”

This point is in response to Jack’s dad saying he wants Jack to stop this hobby before he becomes a “radio nut”

Our author starts by saying, I know what you mean, I have seen that individual, and I know what a bore he is. He then reassures him that based on his knowledge of the boy, the boy’s passion for outdoor sports, his talents in athletics, and the fact that Jack and his dad regularly go on fishing and hunting trips shows that the boy has a well balanced life and interests. In addition, the boy has a fantastic group of friends and an active social scene. He asks Jack’s dad, with all these extracurricular activities, do you fear Jack is unbalanced? If anything, simply because he is so active the hobby will be a good grounding factor. His opinion is that “the hobby will really balance up his life. At the present time, there is too strong an accent on the lazy, careless seeking entertainment. Nothing the boy does builds toward a definite achievement by which he can measure his progress. This new hobby will inject a note of serious study and painstaking construction into his present butterfly existence. His completed station will be something that he can show to his friends with that pleasant glow of pride which arises from a knowledge of work well done.

Now there are only two points left that our ham operator wants to tell Jack’s dad.

This next one is a warning, that if you discourage the boy away from radio, you may be discouraging him away from science.

He titles it Dangers of Discouraging a Boy’s Scientific Interest

He warns that he himself would not like to be the person that is responsible for discouraging the boy away from science. He wonders, where might this interest take him in the world and mentions Edison’s interest in chemistry, Ford’s interest in machinery, and Marconi’s interest in radio,

which were all, at one time, hobbies.

Perhaps this boyish liking for radio may be a signpost of the lad’s destiny. At least, it betokens a mental alertness, a healthy desire for knowledge on the part of Jack that I should welcome with the greatest happiness if I were his father. Give me a boy who asks questions, who experiments, and who takes a keen interest in his hobby. That boy has the foundation for a successful life. He is awake, and his brain “absorbs knowledge as a sponge does water”! I know some boys who go through life with a dull apathetic attitude that is entirely devoid of enthusiasm. Nothing stirs them; nothing arouses their interest. They have only scorn for others who become excited over a hobby. Would you prefer that Jack be one of those fellows ?”

 

Our letter finishes with a single worded heading that says Resume.

 He tells the dad that from his observations of Jack that this hobby will only have a positive influence on his life and skills. He mentions that this letter comes from a place of compassion and honesty. That his son has picked up a hobby that will grow with him from a young man to an old man, forever learning, experimenting and feeling that sense of achievement and connection.

 In his opinion, you couldn’t ask for a better hobby to have throughout life.

 

From a simple knowledge of fundamental principles, the amateur can climb upward until he has mastered the intricacies of technical theory. From there, he can set forth, intrepidly into the unexplored reaches of its various fields. Radio is new enough that it holds forth unparalleled opportunities for the radio experimenter.

Ultra-short waves, television, power transmission, and pathological application are but a few of the many fields that beckon the experimenter

The letter ends with…… There you are! My argument is complete! The decision is now in your hands. Will you permit that boy of yours to go ahead with his hobby?

 This article does not mention what happens next. We will undertake some research to see if there is a follow up article, but truthfully… How could a dad say no to these arguments?