My letter keys heavily on disasters and emergencies in which amateurs have been of help on Long Island. I have sent exactly this letter to my State Assemblyman today. Amateur radio operators provide an emergency communications network that is disaster-tested and robust. We provide this service free of charge to the citizens of New York, a service that would require many millions of dollars to replace. We are, in many ways, like volunteer firemen, but we respond to communications emergencies rather than fires.
Amateur radio is a voluntary, non-commercial communications service.
A key element of a radio amateur's capability is a small radio tower high enough to ensure effective communication. This law will help make sure that state amateur radio operators continue to do this job. Cell phones and the Internet go down in storms and power outage but amateur radio does not. This delays replacing key elements of the amateur radio emergency network. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal, court and expert witness fees are spent annually to resolve these matters.