SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE

AMATEUR RADIOEMERGENCY COMMUNICATION

NETWORK

H A M N E TPRESENTER - FRANCOIS BOTHA

NATIONAL DIRECTOR

• SARL founder member of IARU - 1925.• IARU stipulated each country establish

an emergency network – when all else fails!

• HAMNET established mid 1960’s.• Represented on various bodies

including SASAR.• ORRU – MCSA – K9 dog Unit – NSRI.• Internationally, Amateur Radio is

regarded as a national resource.

BRIEF OUTLINE

• Apies River Flood• Laingsburg Flood• Free State Floods (many)• Westdene Bus Disaster• Cyclone Demoina• ‘Oceanos’ sinking• Van Reenen Pass Snow • Orange/Vaal river Floods (many)• Many other incidents• Communications for many sporting events

RECENT HISTORY

• Most disasters are weather related.• Weather data critical to operations.• Many reliable sources available –

both locally (SAWS) and international.

• Weather enthusiasts own sites accurate and very reliable – including radio amateurs.

• Internet dozens of accurate sites

WEATHER INFORMATION

LOCAL INTERNET WEATHER FACILITIES

INFORMATIVE – RELIABLE – EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND UPDATED AT LEAST 4 TO SIX TIMES EVERY HOUR!

Johan Terblance – ZS1I Prof. Kobus Botha – ZS6KOB

SOUTHERN CAPE FLOODS – DECEMBER 2007.CUT-OFF LOW THAT MOVED OVER REGION.

ACCESS NOW DENIED TO GENERAL PUBLIC

• Access to SAWS Website already restricted!

• Informing our colleagues of adverse weather may now become illegal!

• Our sources are impeccable!• Our conduct is professional!• Being denied the right to support our

community would be a tragedy!• Being denied the right to dissect

international data would be a disaster.

OUR CONCERNS

• Access denial, discussion and open publication can breed more miss-information.

• Disallowing other sources and enthusiasts is counter productive!

• Creating a monopoly is not in the interest of our country!

• Restricting freedom of information – disastrous!• Sharing information would be more productive!• 7 Days ago – Limpopo flooding – amateur

information more accurate than SAWS – website restriction!

CONCLUSION

• By e-mail – jfbotha@iburst.co.za alternative zs6buu@gmail.com

• P.O. Box 555, WELOBIE. 1714• Landline 011 679.5260• Cell Phone (24/7) 083.585.3847• Visit our website at www.sarl.org.za

and follow the link to HAMNET.

• THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.

CONTACT DETAILS