Honduras

On August 22, the Honduras National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) delivered Amateur Radio equipment to COPECO -- a government disaster-organization coordination agency -- for use in an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) pilot project that aims to take wider advantage of the Winlink HF email system for emergency communication. The ITU pilot project includes Central America and the Caribbean with the goal of achieving implementation throughout South America. Winlink already enjoys wide usage in North America by Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams. ITU donated the equipment.

"The most important thing is that CONATEL, COPECO, and radio amateurs start working with the Winlink tool," said ITU Area D Representative Miguel Alcaine. "I am very happy to know that we are doing something before disaster strikes."

The donation consists of an HF radio, a VHF radio, a multiband dipole, a VHF antenna, an automatic antenna tuner, a modem, and coaxial cable.

National Commissioned Minister of COPECO Lisandro Rosales said that one of his agency's objectives has been to strengthen information and communication technologies (ICTs) -- a primary ITU initiative. "We have realized that telecommunications is a key element in order to give early warning and to warn about imminent danger, or to coordinate assistance or reconstruction activities," Rosales said.

"This program and radio equipment will allow first responders that work during emergencies to send information [via HF], when telephone and digital communications collapse or if there are power outages," commented Omar Paredes, HR1OP, secretary of Club de Radio Aficionados Central de Honduras (CRACH). -- Thanks to IARU Region 2 and the ARRL

Update: 9/7/2018
XE1BRX, Senor Remba from FMRE in Mexico will arrive Monday 9/10/18 to start the final configuration and gateway power up.
Gateway call sign is HR0COP. Tentative next installs are Costa Rica and Dominican Republic for 2nd week in October 2018, two teams same day.

Update: 9/10/18 First photos of HR0COP gateway and it is on the air. https://mikeburton.smugmug.com/organize/Honduran-Gateway-HR0COP-activated

Parte dos, una plática sobre el funcionamiento y utilidad de este sistema, Técnicos de #Copeco y de Conatel Honduras participan en capacitación de telecomunicaciones en emergencia y subsistemas de radio VHF y HF, impartida por miembros de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones #OIT y presentada por Jonathan Remba XE1BRX miembro de la Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores. En unos días mas se harán las otras seis instalaciones: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica y Republica Dominicana.

When not on the radio KX5SP working as oral surgery assistant.

International Health Service (IHS), a non-profit, non-religious, all volunteer organization with headquarters in Minnesota (ihsmn.org), has been providing medical and dental care to the impoverished people in the most remote areas of Honduras for 30 years. Every year approximately ten teams including physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, eyeglass techs, engineers, and radio operators spread out across Honduras, the poorest country in Central America. Many of the remote villages that we serve make the phrase “off the grid” seem like luxury. Some locations require long travels on river boats to reach. Others require a flight into remote back-country airstrips to get to. There are some locations we operate in where there is no indigenous electricity, no cell service, no internet, no running water, etc.

The majority of these teams deploy with an experienced amateur radio operator to provide a communications link for the team to the outside world. For the most part Pactor 3 on the Winlink system is used to send and receive email from villages with little infrastructure. Messages may be medical consultations with specialists, arrangements for patient transfers to hospitals or our surgery team location, coordination with IHS staff in Honduras, and health and welfare messages from the medical team members to their families back home.

This past February 2018 I deployed as a radio operator to support a medical/dental team to villages in the western mountains of Honduras. I set up a Yaesu FT-100D, SCS Pactor modem, and an end-fed long wire strewn thru the trees. Any of the ubiquitous system of Winlink RMS gateway stations was available to connect to of course, but N5TW, a mega-station in central Texas supported our Honduras deployment by aiming his vast antenna farm beaming towards Honduras during our time down there. I found the Winlink system to be virtually 100% dependable. N5TW was consistently 7 S-units above the low noise floor. There was only one time I was not able to establish a connection with N5TW and that was when he had to disconnect during a lightning storm. In that case I had no trouble connecting with an RMS in Sarasota, Florida to send and receive traffic.

I have been providing emergency communications for various entities for many years. Just 2 months before my Honduras mission I found myself doing emergency communications on the island of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Then too, the primary mode of communications was Pactor 3 & 4 into the Winlink system. Unquestionably Winlink has become the dependable standard for serious, real-world EMCOMMs.

The IHS is always looking for radio communications talent to support these medical teams. It's not for everybody. An “outdoors type” with camping experience (you may be living out of a tent), very flexible personality, and experience with HF communications is the ideal candidate. Those interested in more information can contact the IHS Communications Director, John Kirkof, KB0UUP, for more information at: jmkkek at yahoo dot com.

I have been all over the world on a lot of interesting missions but found my Honduras mission was the most personally rewarding.

[Ed. Read Winlink 2000 in the Jungle from QST to get more information about IHS projects and Winlink.]

Dr. Steve Posner KX5SP/HR6 (now back stateside)

You Are Needed! IHS needs Hams for their upcoming February clinical/surgery mission to help the poor of Honduras. John Kirckof, KB0UUP, IHS Communications Director, writes that medical and dental professionals have committed to go so at least 11-12 multi-talented teams will deploy across Honduras February 13-27, 2015. They are still short of non-medical team members, interpreters, ham radio operators, and general helpers. Winlink radio email, HF and VHF phone have been used for mission communications since the early 2000's. Most returning hams describe the IHS experience as the real deal: For the radio experience, you'll never find a disaster drill or exercise to equal the large-scale deployment like an IHS mission. But there is so much more; Lives are saved and good work done every trip.

When: Applications for the February mission are due mid-September! But they need help, so lateness is not a real problem.

What International Health Services Does: The organization has been doing medical clinics and surgical work in Honduras for over 32 years. So, they know where to go, who to go to and what supplies to send to make a big difference in the Honduras people’s lives. Many IHS veterans go year after year so new volunteers work along side many experienced people.

Go to the IHS web site at http://www.IHSMN.org. Call John Kirckof, at 320-634-4386 for details, photos, etc.
**They say the hardest part of going is deciding to fill out the application**