Amateur Radio operators gearing to become better prepared for future natural disasters in Dominica

​Dominican Amateur Radio operators are gearing to become better prepared for future disasters in Dominica. Brian Machesney who assisted in sourcing and delivering donations of Amateur Radio gear to the island, is optimistic that the recent donations will also assist in ongoing recovery efforts. He and others were in Dominica for about 10 days after the passage of hurricane Maria.
 
Machesney and others also helped deploy nearly 600 pounds of radio equipment to Dominica, transported by air, thanks to assistance from Dave Bridgham, and from Brian Lloyd, who circumnavigated the globe earlier this year.  Nonetheless, the gear was delivered safely to the Dominica Amateur Radio Club, Inc (DARCI).
 
DARCI members lost everything in the hurricane. The ham radio gear they received was donated, or purchased with donations. Primary players included the Yasme Foundation, the Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service (FAIRS), and Yaesu. “The first challenge the hams faced in providing communications after the hurricane was the lack of power to recharge their HT batteries”.
 
Machesney said “The solar-charged battery power systems supplied by FAIRS were quickly dispersed to stations from Jimmit to Castle Comfort where, in addition to powering ham equipment, they served to recharge neighbors’ mobile devices and further raised ham radio’s profile in Dominica.”
 
Machesney sees a productive future on Dominica for HF Automatic Link Establishment, a mode widely used by the government and the military. Through a cooperative arrangement with the Dominica Air & Seaports Authority, HF ALE transceivers, purchased by the Yasme Foundation, were installed at a station at Canefield Airport, with a companion station at the larger Douglas-Charles Airport.
 
A third HF ALE station was set up at the DARCI club station, J73Z, and powered by solar panels. FAIRS provided six solar-charged battery power kits, Machesney said. Yaesu also supplied 10 FT-8900 transceivers and 30 FT-65R handheld transceivers and accessories. “It was a great, cooperative effort that resulted in an integrated package of equipment that should ‘keep the lights on’ for the foreseeable future,” Machesney said.