[aprssig] New Orleans APRS digi still on the air

[Richard Amirault]

It's nice to see that in the middle of all the disaster there still is a
digi operating in New Orleans. Bob, mentioned it a few messages ago.  I was
going to comment on what kind of emergency power they had, but before I
posted that question to the list I decided to do some investigation on the
'net.

Turns out that the repeater is located (along with other voice radios belong
to the Greater New Orleans Amateur Radio Club) on a TV tower. And that TV
tower has emergency power.  So, I would assume that the voice repeaters
located at the same site also have power.

This is a great asset to hams trying to provide emergency communications in
the area.  Kudos to the club for locating thier equipment at such a site.  I
know that it is, generally, a hard thing to do.  You just can't climb a TV
tower and install ham antennas, and there is often an interference problem
to work out.  Many clubs forgo the complicated legal and technical problems
and choose other sites for repeaters.

The club website is:  http://www.qsl.net/w5uk/

Richard Amirault              N1JDU
Boston, MA, USA          Go Fly A Kite