[Dstar] Good news D-Star story from Port Lincoln

[Michael Carey]

Hi Everybody,
While the loss of our clubrooms and equipment is sad, it does pale into
insignificance when you compare it to the loss of 12 family homes two days
before Christmas.
We have received many emails with offers of equipment and money. Our 
next meeting
is on Jan 6th, we will then be discussing what direction we will be 
going and what our
equipment needs might be. We are a small club and our needs are minor, I 
will be
contacting the people who have emailed with offers of support after the 
club meeting.

But there is one story from the fire that promotes D-Star and I though I 
would
share it here.

By the time I first noticed the fire while I was at work,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln456kbAvV4
the NextG phone service was fully congested, I was unable to make calls 
or send
SMS messages.
I did however have my IC-91AD handheld radio with me. I was planning on
connecting up to REF012 B to check in on the San Diego D-Star net at 
1430 (my
time).
Instead I connected VK5REX B to REF003 C and put out an emergency call for
assistance from anyone who had immediate access to a telephone.
Steve VK5ZSW replied and I passed my home phone number info to him so he 
could
contact my wife to let her know that I was OK and that I was going to 
move to
safer ground. The message was dutifully passed along and Steve confirmed 
that my
wife got the message. Although Steve was some 170+ Km away in Moonta on the
Yorke Peninsula, he was able to use the VK5REX repeater perfectly.
Ross VK3HBS also heard my call through REF003 C and he too rang my wife 
with the
message.
It wasn't long after this that the power to Port Lincoln failed. 
Although the
VK5REX B repeater has a massive backup UPS and 85 kVa generator, the 
other end
of the WiFi internet link that the gateway uses did not, so I lost internet
connectivity. This is now being worked on so future power failures will not
stop gateway operation.

Steve remained at his radio during the drama and it was reassuring to 
know that
he was ready and willing to help with communications as needed.

I also used the VK5REX B D-Star repeater to talk to my father Tony 
VK5RF, while
I went home to gather essential items ready for evacuation. By the time 
I got
home the wind had changed and was blowing smoke and ash over a major 
portion of
Port Lincoln.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuz8ylTKUzk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VagyeMXfSTw
I had no idea how bad things would get so I had to assume the worst was 
yet to
come.
While my wife does not hold an amateur license, she was able to use the 
UHF CB
radio in our Toyota truck to talk to me in my work car. She was heading 
(with
our 11mo son Ethan) to my parents home in the marina area of Port 
Lincoln, way
out of the path of the fire.

The mobile phone service was still very congested and once again it was 
reassuring
to have D-Star as a reliable communications medium during this 
emergency. I was
able to let everyone at my parents home my progress as I made my way through
busy smoke filled streets, the work car loaded with essential items 
taken from our
home (photo albums, office computer, papers, charged gel batteries, 
Christmas
presents, my wife's insulin, etc.)
Apart from the loss of the gateway, the RF side of the D-Star repeater 
worked
perfectly and provided me a reliable way to communicate when the cell phone
system failed.

Michael.
VK5ZEA
President LEPARC (VK5ALE)