Yep, I was there last week with my prepper group and Vicky did an outstanding job coordinating everything that was needed. She nicknamed my buddy Potato King as we delivered 200 lbs of potatos to Avery County Airport (he was king because it was his truck and his callsign, I was Potato Prince as I was the muscle to pick up and drop the spuds). All the Net Controllers DESERVE to get an award. How do we go about nominating ALL OF THEM for an award.
All of those who "manned" the repeater should get an award. Dan, Vicky, ..., ??? all other's. Was in Newland, NC with my prepper group assisting last week. The devastation was brutal and heartbreaking. Our group delivered 200 lbs of potatos to Avery County Airport. I rode with the Potato King to deliver them. Bottom line - "Ham Radio Saves Lives" as I know that is true now. How do we nominate all the Net Controllers for Awards? They ALL deserve them. While I was there Vicky kept things moving - potato delivery, connexes needed for storage of all supplies delivered. All these people ARE ROCK STARS.
I listened to the Broadcastify feed for days. Dan did an amazing job, no doubt about that! What I wanted to know more about was the team that put up the Mt. Mitchel repeater, and kept it going this whole time. That thing was definitely working overtime for days straight. Good job to whoever maintains that site and the equipment, it saved lives.
Dan delivered an exceptional performance. When all other systems failed, ham radio was the lifeline that prevailed. But without dedicated individuals like Dan and those who committed the time and effort to earn their licenses and master their radios, the operation would have collapsed. From Maryland, I listened daily, gaining invaluable insights that have driven significant changes in my own emergency communications setup-both for offering assistance and ensuring I’m prepared to receive it. Jason, thank you for the interview.
I am SO proud to be a ham radio operator because of K2DMG's and the other operators' role in this. I think he has renewed the spirit of ham radio and helped other people understand how valuable amateur radio can be, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a licensing boom because of this.
Good Job Dan, Here in TN. my husband worked net control for the Anchor Baptist Church in NC. Ham radio is really truly the only communications when everything goes down.
You all definitely earned your angels wings through all of this. You were a HUGE help to me, contacting my mother. 73’s and sending lots of love and blessings!! ❤️🙏
On one hand I can count the number of people I hold in esteem at the level I just placed Dan. Not only a ham, not only a law enforcement and first responder background, Dan has the demeanor as well to be at the core of such an effort! Living just east of Houston and only a few miles north of Galveston Bay, we could learn a great deal from how he handled this situation. Thanks for bringing this to us, Jason!
I listened to the Mt. Mitchell repeater on broadcastify a few of the nights. There were over 1500 listeners. You did a fantastic job Dan and Vicky. You helped a lot of people. This whole event was tragic and eye opening. Thank you for helping those in need as best as you could.
I ran the TOC for Grindstone Ministries at Cherry Grove. We intently monitored the Mt Mitchell repeater and eventually had to cut over to it after our repeater was shutdown. First hand: Dan & Vicki are absolute gangsters, and helped a ton of people.
Jason, very nice interview with Dan. I listened to him for several days and evenings during the initial response and emailed back and forth with him a few times. He did do an excellent job and I hope he becomes affiliated with his local ARES group and they use his guidance for how to get assistance support accomplished. It's nice to be able to put a face with the voice and I hope he comes to Hamcation next year so I can meet him and shake his hand. I think what he did is one of the things that many of us experienced hams ponder; how would I approach it if I had to lead a REAL support/assistance emergency net without having much other support and would I really be able to stay emotionally detached and do a good job. Dan, for what it's worth, I think you did an Excellent Job providing a communication outlet and comfort to so many who were hurting and maybe scared of how the situation would progress (or devolve). Sometimes, just knowing that someone heard you inspires hope that some assistance might be on the way. Good work and may God continue to Bless you.
Jason, Thank you for getting this interview from Dan. He did a magnificent job & showed the world what HAMs can do. We live in the Pacific Northwest but lived in Virginia & coastal NC & SC so have attachment to that whole area. Followed on YT reports of destruction, rescue & help. Proud of the people continuing to donate their time, equipment,$ to help these folks. This goes beyond race, religion, red or blue or football teams. We Are Americans
I live in WNC and thank you Dan I was on my HAM radio and you did a great job for us in this devastated area! KQ4NIH CLEAR AND Montering! Hats off To you Dan K2DMG 🎉
Dan, you're a rock star. I know you don't realize it, but you are. Thank you for what you did! Jason, thanks for bringing this to light - it was heartwarming to learn about all this!
Love love love that you’re doing this. Please, feel encouraged to go deeper. More time with Dan, more time with other hams that we haven’t heard about. You are asking the right questions. The rest of us are learning incredibly valuable lessons through interviews like this. The news media won’t know what to ask. It takes another ham who’s always been thinking about emergency comms to ask the right questions. You’re the right person with the right audience. Please please please keep going down this rabbit hole. Find the stories for us the media didn’t.
Thanks to Jason and Dan for this excellent UA-cam video. I started listening to Mount Mitchell repeater on Monday after storm and Dan was already net control. Outstanding job on keeping the panic lid closed and managing resources. I listened a lot this first few days as rescue operations were still underway. I also learned that Iredell County EOC was taking wellness checks and the broadcastify network was operational. I believe the team at W4CQ in Charlotte was part of making that happen and were telling everyone on radio/echo link to get updates there. I was fortunate to make a in person HT contribution to Avery County Airport, the team on the ground was setting up a separate repeater for first responders over a week later. This request was started over 145.1900 Mt Mitchell repeater and confirmed using email/text. Huge shout out to Vicki for picking up the logistics and net control in the second week. I listened to repeater while traveling to and from Avery County and was at airport when private Blackhawk landed with medical supplies to help medical clinic set up. It looked like a MASH unit in real time. Also Michael KJ4GPT was on ground coordinating project team. It was very well organized, everyone was focused on the mission at hand. Thanks to everyone involved.
Great interview and I live on the edge of all the major damage took over a week to get power and internet. Phones were out for a few days and thankfully I could stay in touch with my family on GMRS and kept a radio on mount Mitchell the whole time and GMRS local solar repeater. This man handled business. Excellent ham K2DMG thank you for your service. You saved a lot of lives. All of the police, ems , fire, all ecoms are Viper and no internet or cellular then no e coms. 98% of the emergency services radios were out. Also they were relaying gps coordinates to helicopters so they could make food and fuel group.
Great work. I'm glad you're addressing this. The good news is finally getting out, the bad news already did. Sad hams got a fair amount of negative press.
Funny that you mention all the new licenses. I've had my books for months and have just been "too busy" to study... I live on the west coast where the Cascadia Subduction Zone is the ticking time bomb. This series of storms has been a huge wake-up call. Thanks for all your work!
That guy is a hero. If Icom, Yaesu or anyone else wants to give him a free radio that is great that's the least we can do for the guy. *AND* . . . . Holy cow Jason you are a fantastic interviewer! Very thoughtful and well organized questions you asked. You did a great job of drawing a fairly quiet unassuming person out of his shell. You did a much better job than any talk show host and > 90% of news reporters I've seen!. Our message to non-radio people (including Hams) in areas with frequent / recurring natural disasters (e.g. FL) - if you live in a community (e.g. a HOA) that's very picky about exterior appearances - perhaps don't give your neighbor a hard time when they want to put up an antenna. That otherwise big "ugly" annoying antenna might just save your life one day. 73
The one thing I would recommend adding is an unlocked VHF/UHF (like the Retevis RT-95 in mode 02), and a CB so you can talk to anyone with emergency traffic on any radio people tend to have lying around, such as FRS/GMRS, MURS, marine (channel 16 and some hailing/working channels) could be the only thing they have to call on, and we as hams may be the only ones able to receive those weak signals and get them some help.
I was in Augusta, GA on family business at the time and so thankful I brought my HT and HF radios with me. A big life saver and knowing what was going on and getting messages to family overseas was important. No power, no cell service, internet and water. Thank you and other hams who kept the net up and running. Many thanks to the W4DV-R who was up and running the whole time too.
God Bless you both, it was a scary situation. I listened to my radio the whole time. Edgefield SC here. We were devastated along with Augusta Ga. Cat 1 winds for 4 hours. 🌪️🌪️🐦🐦
Thank you, Dan and thanks to Vicki, Kahuna at the Avery county airport, Michael for delivering medical supplies from Charlotte, Steve, the Mecklenburg club president who spent the night at the airport to help and everyone else who’s helped. We are still trying to get some shipping containers delivered to the Avery county airport for storage of donated items.
First, of all the types of contest logging software, I can’t believe that the ARRL or ARES does not have some sort of software for emergency response. “Radiograms” just don’t cut it. Sure, Dan and Vicki made do with notebooks and performed an admiral job, but come on folks, where’s the software to take, disseminate and form the logistical backbone? Second, Dan deserves a Presidential Citizens Medal. Third, never underestimate the need to “broadcast”. PSAs and general situational awareness was/is vital. I was following along on broadcastify, others in the affected area could have been following along on a 40 year old radio scanner or HT. Dan/Ham radio was boots on the ground news and information.
Thanks Jason for interviewing Dan. Our little CERT group is co-sponsoring a HamCram class & test on a Saturday in early November after convincing a HOA in the neighborhood to let us use the clubhouse based on earlier disasters and the roll of radios. Keep telling the stories.
Dan deserves all the accolades he gets. His EXEMPLARY e-coms during the crisis was utterly professional, concise and showed true leadership. Made me very proud to be a ham listening to the reports on the internet. 73 OM
Great interview Jason. Sometimes the best people for a job are not hand picked, or an organized group, but those who volunteer for the task! And this guy (& his friends) took on that mantel. It sounds like he did a great job! Hopefully we all can learn from this real life disaster, and be better prepared for the next time.
That was very good Jason ! I am in Boston NY .We got info on this very quickly. Many supplies from hear and from all around the world went over to NC and TN. I have friends in the efficed area . Asheville was hit very hard with many towns . Not all areas hit hard were able to get MT Mitchell repeater. A outher mountain in way. So many repeater systems went down including public safety. They had to rely on simplex . Some still do not have power and running water still. The water just went on in Asheville NC . But it is very dirty and can not drink it. So many radio and TV stations went off the air . cell towers went down. Only radio was working . Ham radio and some CB with GMRS and FRS and MURS radios. My friend was using CB and GMRS radios. The GMRS repeater went down. The HT is what got threw the most . What got friends of mine threw is off grid solar power and batteries and power stations with a generator. The skip on CB was crazy but they worked skip to get some info out and in. The first sign of outside world was a AM station in Asheville area came back on the air after a few days . and was their only source of info. Not just ham radio came threw. AM radio proved itself once again getting news to area and outher AM stations gave emergency information because at night AM goes very far. Even a AM station in NY gave information to them at night. because they herd in NC and TN. Them AM/FM weather radios with solar and hand crank really came threw for so many ! Still no TV and FM stations on in Asheville area . One station was washed off the mountain. AM radio still getting threw . This really showed the importance of basic radio. Everyone should have a emergency radio . I have several ! The NOAA radio did give warnings . saving many lives . I have like 1o radios that get NOAA weather . The cheap Beofang does get NOAA ! And many were used to get help as well as many HT radios. 73 from Boston NY !
Jason, thank you for a very informative interview with Dan. Dan, you were the right person at the right time, regardless of formal ham radio training. Your LE background served you well, as well as your level-headed approach to helping others. Sorry, but you reinforced some of my beliefs, especially regarding the great value that ARES serves at the local, community level. It's really tragic that the NC Section Manager has trashed ARES in his monthly ARRL newsletter. I say this as both AuxCom and ARES trained, but just work with ARES now. Anyway, thanks for you being there and providing a great service to the disaster victims. You are a wonderful representative to the public for the value of amateur radio.
Great interview brother. I live within range of that repeater and listened a lot when he was on and he did great. Vicky who is running the net now was doing it with an older radio and it died on her along with her antenna. A friend of mine loaned her his Anytone 5888 and a Yagi pointed towards Mt. Mitchell. A bunch of us like minded radio guys chipped in to replace all that stuff so she could keep doing her thing. She's great at it too. She does a lot with youth in amateur radio. You should interview her too.
This is very interesting! He and others did all that without the “organized” amateur radio groups being involved. I am curious as to the repeater was it privately owned or a club owned, I may have missed that . Where I live the repeaters are club owned which cuts down significantly any use by non club members, which reinforces the repeater is dead except for the eight users 😂. This video shows that there are good people willing to step up when needed.
DAN, DAN, DAN!!!! YOU'RE A FREAKIN' .... ROCK STAR!!! God bless you, man!!! You were a blessing to many, and may Jesus favor you with his grace for this one, dude!!!" 🙏 ❤ I will never forget in my life the influence you've had on me!!
We live in Corpus Christi TX. We deal with storms and these storms that have went through those areas have opened my eyes and i have purchased HT also have portable for truck that our son gave us. Going to get my tech and then move up. Great information here and kudos to Dan, K2SMG. Thanks Jason, KM4ACK. Need to learn lots as time allows.
Excellent interview. Some videos on the type of setup he had, since that worked for him so well would be a great help for the community. It is nice that he is going to upgrade but it will be interesting to see what is good enough without breaking the bank. A setup that works well knowing that lives depend on it, not a fashion statement or an endless exchange of gear for the fun of it.
Excellent interview and lots of equally excellent information. Thanks for doing the interview Jason and thanks for giving the interview Dan. Great job.
Jason, Even though Dan said he didn't do any digital communications, he did ask if two Hams that were moved traffic from an HF net to the VHF net if they had Winlink. They said no, and he gave them his email.
That repeater was vital. So was the HF net and Echolink. My sister was stuck up there and I used Echolink to talk to a local on a repeater in Bryson City to get information. I used information I got on the nets and repeater to pass on to her. I also sent the repeater link to two of my LEO freinds who went up to help Hendersonville PD. They said they got a lot of good information from it. Ham radio and Starlink probably saved lives up there.
When I was listening to the nets I kept thinking about how you would keep the crazy flow of traffic/information organized. I still revert to paper as well. A stack of legal pads is good to have.
Hopefully this will be a wake up call for all county EOC’s to have a proper operating station. Also, Ecoflow…get this man a battery setup for the house.
Great interview. Thanks for getting right into it. I'm not too keen on ARES and would like to hear more about the interoperability especially in a rural scenario like we had.
This storm has made me more ready to get my license I have been in the mindset of getting it for some time now. I work for the NCDOT in one of the affected counties and was on night shift the Thursday night that the storm started and by the time I worked off at 6am most of our communications was starting to fail including the viper system for a short time during the height of the storm but amateur kept clicking right along during it all. I am a licensed GMRS user and had capability to monitor the 2 meter band for updates.
I listened to Dan's net on Broadcastify for the first week. I got the notification of his net thru the Scanner app on my android. Anyways, excellent work and should be a model for any future events. Anyways KM4ACK, I wish you would have talked more about what the "rules of using the radio during an emergency" without a license. I head Dan dealing with that issue while I was listening to the net. Too many "sad hams" that don't understand that rule and many others too. Anyways, great job Dan!
Heros are always humble and prefer the background. Dan was exceptional. If we had 100 Dans with Hams across the nation, this would be a different place. hummmm, Dans with Hams that has a nice ring to it. When life slows down for Dan, it would be wonderful if he could publish notes for the rest of us to be able to help others in similar situations.
I seen on a video Tim Grentry & sons I think that’s how it spell. Early on He goes to a town up there we’re there a fire station with maps . on the wall is a drawing on the set up s2 is in the middle then to the right is one kind on unit going out on the left is one kind of unit coming in. . Any how you got to see it for your self. National Guard. Was run a air control for that place they was standing out in the run way field radios why long antennas. It was a well oiled Machine . That what they keep saying . I seen True American History That Day. I hope my chat has the info right .
I was expecting he had back ground in 911 call taking/dispatch but fire/LE makes sense as well. Adapt and overcome. Great work Dan. Thanks for your service to your neighbors. 🫡🇺🇸🙏
Isn't there a ham radio operator of the year award? He has my vote!
ME TOO
we an ask the aarl or a local american legion for awards
100% this!
This needs to be a Presidential Citizens Medal
Don't forget Vicki Carnes, AD3I who was net control on the Mt. Mitchel repeater for 2 weeks after the hurricane. She was there every time I listened.
Yep, I was there last week with my prepper group and Vicky did an outstanding job coordinating everything that was needed. She nicknamed my buddy Potato King as we delivered 200 lbs of potatos to Avery County Airport (he was king because it was his truck and his callsign, I was Potato Prince as I was the muscle to pick up and drop the spuds). All the Net Controllers DESERVE to get an award. How do we go about nominating ALL OF THEM for an award.
🎉 Vicki AD31
Not forgotten, she was mentioned several times in this video.
All of those who "manned" the repeater should get an award. Dan, Vicky, ..., ??? all other's. Was in Newland, NC with my prepper group assisting last week. The devastation was brutal and heartbreaking. Our group delivered 200 lbs of potatos to Avery County Airport. I rode with the Potato King to deliver them. Bottom line - "Ham Radio Saves Lives" as I know that is true now. How do we nominate all the Net Controllers for Awards? They ALL deserve them. While I was there Vicky kept things moving - potato delivery, connexes needed for storage of all supplies delivered. All these people ARE ROCK STARS.
Great interview. Dan embodies the spirit of ham radio.
Thanks Tim
He really does!
I listened to the Broadcastify feed for days. Dan did an amazing job, no doubt about that!
What I wanted to know more about was the team that put up the Mt. Mitchel repeater, and kept it going this whole time. That thing was definitely working overtime for days straight. Good job to whoever maintains that site and the equipment, it saved lives.
Dan delivered an exceptional performance. When all other systems failed, ham radio was the lifeline that prevailed. But without dedicated individuals like Dan and those who committed the time and effort to earn their licenses and master their radios, the operation would have collapsed. From Maryland, I listened daily, gaining invaluable insights that have driven significant changes in my own emergency communications setup-both for offering assistance and ensuring I’m prepared to receive it. Jason, thank you for the interview.
I am SO proud to be a ham radio operator because of K2DMG's and the other operators' role in this. I think he has renewed the spirit of ham radio and helped other people understand how valuable amateur radio can be, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a licensing boom because of this.
Good Job Dan, Here in TN. my husband worked net control for the Anchor Baptist Church in NC. Ham radio is really truly the only communications when everything goes down.
You all definitely earned your angels wings through all of this. You were a HUGE help to me, contacting my mother. 73’s and sending lots of love and blessings!! ❤️🙏
On one hand I can count the number of people I hold in esteem at the level I just placed Dan. Not only a ham, not only a law enforcement and first responder background, Dan has the demeanor as well to be at the core of such an effort! Living just east of Houston and only a few miles north of Galveston Bay, we could learn a great deal from how he handled this situation. Thanks for bringing this to us, Jason!
I listened to the Mt. Mitchell repeater on broadcastify a few of the nights. There were over 1500 listeners. You did a fantastic job Dan and Vicky. You helped a lot of people. This whole event was tragic and eye opening. Thank you for helping those in need as best as you could.
I ran the TOC for Grindstone Ministries at Cherry Grove. We intently monitored the Mt Mitchell repeater and eventually had to cut over to it after our repeater was shutdown. First hand: Dan & Vicki are absolute gangsters, and helped a ton of people.
We have been listening to the Mt Mitchell repeater since the 4th day- i didnt know it was there but my hubby did.
Yep, Vicky was instrumental also, i bet she was on air at least 16 hours a day!
Good ol’ 214s! And 309’s!
I have some wisdom- get each county’ EOC and hospital to have a radio room!!!
Jason, very nice interview with Dan. I listened to him for several days and evenings during the initial response and emailed back and forth with him a few times. He did do an excellent job and I hope he becomes affiliated with his local ARES group and they use his guidance for how to get assistance support accomplished. It's nice to be able to put a face with the voice and I hope he comes to Hamcation next year so I can meet him and shake his hand. I think what he did is one of the things that many of us experienced hams ponder; how would I approach it if I had to lead a REAL support/assistance emergency net without having much other support and would I really be able to stay emotionally detached and do a good job.
Dan, for what it's worth, I think you did an Excellent Job providing a communication outlet and comfort to so many who were hurting and maybe scared of how the situation would progress (or devolve). Sometimes, just knowing that someone heard you inspires hope that some assistance might be on the way. Good work and may God continue to Bless you.
Jason, Thank you for getting this interview from Dan. He did a magnificent job & showed the world what HAMs can do.
We live in the Pacific Northwest but lived in Virginia & coastal NC & SC so have attachment to that whole area. Followed on YT reports of destruction, rescue & help. Proud of the people continuing to donate their time, equipment,$ to help these folks. This goes beyond race, religion, red or blue or football teams. We Are Americans
I'm in Canada. I'm a CB user since I was 16 years old. I'm currently 49 years old and doing my licence for HAM radio. Great job guys!
I live in WNC and thank you Dan I was on my HAM radio and you did a great job for us in this devastated area! KQ4NIH CLEAR AND Montering! Hats off To you Dan K2DMG 🎉
Awesome interview! This is what all amateur radio operators should inspire to be.
I was hoping for an interview with a ham who helped out with this major event. Thank you for this interview.
Dan, you're a rock star. I know you don't realize it, but you are. Thank you for what you did!
Jason, thanks for bringing this to light - it was heartwarming to learn about all this!
Love love love that you’re doing this. Please, feel encouraged to go deeper. More time with Dan, more time with other hams that we haven’t heard about. You are asking the right questions. The rest of us are learning incredibly valuable lessons through interviews like this. The news media won’t know what to ask. It takes another ham who’s always been thinking about emergency comms to ask the right questions. You’re the right person with the right audience. Please please please keep going down this rabbit hole. Find the stories for us the media didn’t.
Thanks to Jason and Dan for this excellent UA-cam video. I started listening to Mount Mitchell repeater on Monday after storm and Dan was already net control. Outstanding job on keeping the panic lid closed and managing resources. I listened a lot this first few days as rescue operations were still underway. I also learned that Iredell County EOC was taking wellness checks and the broadcastify network was operational. I believe the team at W4CQ in Charlotte was part of making that happen and were telling everyone on radio/echo link to get updates there. I was fortunate to make a in person HT contribution to Avery County Airport, the team on the ground was setting up a separate repeater for first responders over a week later. This request was started over 145.1900 Mt Mitchell repeater and confirmed using email/text. Huge shout out to Vicki for picking up the logistics and net control in the second week. I listened to repeater while traveling to and from Avery County and was at airport when private Blackhawk landed with medical supplies to help medical clinic set up. It looked like a MASH unit in real time. Also Michael KJ4GPT was on ground coordinating project team. It was very well organized, everyone was focused on the mission at hand. Thanks to everyone involved.
Dan , you sir , are a true inspiration .
Much respect .
Great interview and I live on the edge of all the major damage took over a week to get power and internet. Phones were out for a few days and thankfully I could stay in touch with my family on GMRS and kept a radio on mount Mitchell the whole time and GMRS local solar repeater. This man handled business. Excellent ham K2DMG thank you for your service. You saved a lot of lives. All of the police, ems , fire, all ecoms are Viper and no internet or cellular then no e coms. 98% of the emergency services radios were out. Also they were relaying gps coordinates to helicopters so they could make food and fuel group.
Some of us practice and train to be up to the task when the call comes, great job!
Thanks for your service! I listened in via websdr !
Great work. I'm glad you're addressing this. The good news is finally getting out, the bad news already did. Sad hams got a fair amount of negative press.
Excellent interview Jason - mighty proud of Dan! 👍👍
Thanks!
Funny that you mention all the new licenses. I've had my books for months and have just been "too busy" to study...
I live on the west coast where the Cascadia Subduction Zone is the ticking time bomb.
This series of storms has been a huge wake-up call.
Thanks for all your work!
Thank you so much for stepping into the breech Dan. There’s no telling how many lives you’ve saved and people helped.
That guy is a hero. If Icom, Yaesu or anyone else wants to give him a free radio that is great that's the least we can do for the guy.
*AND* . . . . Holy cow Jason you are a fantastic interviewer! Very thoughtful and well organized questions you asked. You did a great job of drawing a fairly quiet unassuming person out of his shell. You did a much better job than any talk show host and > 90% of news reporters I've seen!.
Our message to non-radio people (including Hams) in areas with frequent / recurring natural disasters (e.g. FL) - if you live in a community (e.g. a HOA) that's very picky about exterior appearances - perhaps don't give your neighbor a hard time when they want to put up an antenna. That otherwise big "ugly" annoying antenna might just save your life one day.
73
The one thing I would recommend adding is an unlocked VHF/UHF (like the Retevis RT-95 in mode 02), and a CB so you can talk to anyone with emergency traffic on any radio people tend to have lying around, such as FRS/GMRS, MURS, marine (channel 16 and some hailing/working channels) could be the only thing they have to call on, and we as hams may be the only ones able to receive those weak signals and get them some help.
Lots of valuable lessons here.
Listen to him on broadcastify, and that dude is a rock star. He did very well and was the calm voice on the radio in a world of chaos.
I was in Augusta, GA on family business at the time and so thankful I brought my HT and HF radios with me. A big life saver and knowing what was going on and getting messages to family overseas was important. No power, no cell service, internet and water. Thank you and other hams who kept the net up and running. Many thanks to the W4DV-R who was up and running the whole time too.
God Bless you both, it was a scary situation. I listened to my radio the whole time. Edgefield SC here. We were devastated along with Augusta Ga. Cat 1 winds for 4 hours. 🌪️🌪️🐦🐦
Thank you, Dan and thanks to Vicki, Kahuna at the Avery county airport, Michael for delivering medical supplies from Charlotte, Steve, the Mecklenburg club president who spent the night at the airport to help and everyone else who’s helped. We are still trying to get some shipping containers delivered to the Avery county airport for storage of donated items.
First, of all the types of contest logging software, I can’t believe that the ARRL or ARES does not have some sort of software for emergency response. “Radiograms” just don’t cut it. Sure, Dan and Vicki made do with notebooks and performed an admiral job, but come on folks, where’s the software to take, disseminate and form the logistical backbone?
Second, Dan deserves a Presidential Citizens Medal.
Third, never underestimate the need to “broadcast”. PSAs and general situational awareness was/is vital. I was following along on broadcastify, others in the affected area could have been following along on a 40 year old radio scanner or HT. Dan/Ham radio was boots on the ground news and information.
Thanks Jason for interviewing Dan. Our little CERT group is co-sponsoring a HamCram class & test on a Saturday in early
November after convincing a HOA in the neighborhood to let us use the clubhouse based on earlier disasters and the roll of radios. Keep telling the stories.
Dan deserves all the accolades he gets. His EXEMPLARY e-coms during the crisis was utterly professional, concise and showed true leadership. Made me very proud to be a ham listening to the reports on the internet. 73 OM
Great interview Jason. Sometimes the best people for a job are not hand picked, or an organized group, but those who volunteer for the task! And this guy (& his friends) took on that mantel. It sounds like he did a great job! Hopefully we all can learn from this real life disaster, and be better prepared for the next time.
Dan, Vicky and others are doing a fantastic job steering the ship and supporting us folks in the war zone of Helene on the mount Mitchell repeater!
Dan exemplifies what ham should be. Be just like Dan. 💪🇺🇲👍
Great Video Jason !!! You got the scoop. I don't think any other YT channels have interviewed the Ham of the year DAN K2DMG.
Being here in FL I appreciate his local level comments. Another great and interesting video Thanks!
What an awesome blessing you were to so many folks in desperate needs. God Bless!
I think almost every time I listened to this online there was something important going on. Couldn't believe the amount of work done there. Great job!
That was very good Jason ! I am in Boston NY .We got info on this very quickly. Many supplies from hear and from all around the world went over to NC and TN. I have friends in the efficed area . Asheville was hit very hard with many towns . Not all areas hit hard were able to get MT Mitchell repeater. A outher mountain in way. So many repeater systems went down including public safety. They had to rely on simplex . Some still do not have power and running water still. The water just went on in Asheville NC . But it is very dirty and can not drink it. So many radio and TV stations went off the air . cell towers went down. Only radio was working . Ham radio and some CB with GMRS and FRS and MURS radios. My friend was using CB and GMRS radios. The GMRS repeater went down. The HT is what got threw the most . What got friends of mine threw is off grid solar power and batteries and power stations with a generator. The skip on CB was crazy but they worked skip to get some info out and in. The first sign of outside world was a AM station in Asheville area came back on the air after a few days . and was their only source of info. Not just ham radio came threw. AM radio proved itself once again getting news to area and outher AM stations gave emergency information because at night AM goes very far. Even a AM station in NY gave information to them at night. because they herd in NC and TN. Them AM/FM weather radios with solar and hand crank really came threw for so many ! Still no TV and FM stations on in Asheville area . One station was washed off the mountain. AM radio still getting threw . This really showed the importance of basic radio. Everyone should have a emergency radio . I have several ! The NOAA radio did give warnings . saving many lives . I have like 1o radios that get NOAA weather . The cheap Beofang does get NOAA ! And many were used to get help as well as many HT radios. 73 from Boston NY !
Jason, thank you for a very informative interview with Dan. Dan, you were the right person at the right time, regardless of formal ham radio training. Your LE background served you well, as well as your level-headed approach to helping others. Sorry, but you reinforced some of my beliefs, especially regarding the great value that ARES serves at the local, community level. It's really tragic that the NC Section Manager has trashed ARES in his monthly ARRL newsletter. I say this as both AuxCom and ARES trained, but just work with ARES now. Anyway, thanks for you being there and providing a great service to the disaster victims. You are a wonderful representative to the public for the value of amateur radio.
Great interview brother. I live within range of that repeater and listened a lot when he was on and he did great. Vicky who is running the net now was doing it with an older radio and it died on her along with her antenna. A friend of mine loaned her his Anytone 5888 and a Yagi pointed towards Mt. Mitchell. A bunch of us like minded radio guys chipped in to replace all that stuff so she could keep doing her thing. She's great at it too. She does a lot with youth in amateur radio. You should interview her too.
What's Vicky's call?
@@KM4ACKAD3I
@@KM4ACK Vicki Carnes, AD3I
Great interview, 73 from Germany
Great interview. I didn't know anything about this. Thanks for sharing.
Incredible interview Jason. Thank you Dan and Jason for all you do. 73
This is very interesting! He and others did all that without the “organized” amateur radio groups being involved. I am curious as to the repeater was it privately owned or a club owned, I may have missed that . Where I live the repeaters are club owned which cuts down significantly any use by non club members, which reinforces the repeater is dead except for the eight users 😂. This video shows that there are good people willing to step up when needed.
Thank you for the interview🙏
Excellent Interview - You hit all the good questions... Thanks for this.
DAN, DAN, DAN!!!! YOU'RE A FREAKIN' .... ROCK STAR!!! God bless you, man!!! You were a blessing to many, and may Jesus favor you with his grace for this one, dude!!!" 🙏 ❤ I will never forget in my life the influence you've had on me!!
We live in Corpus Christi TX. We deal with storms and these storms that have went through those areas have opened my eyes and i have purchased HT also have portable for truck that our son gave us. Going to get my tech and then move up. Great information here and kudos to Dan, K2SMG. Thanks Jason, KM4ACK. Need to learn lots as time allows.
Thanks! Good luck on your tech exam. Looking forward to hearing you on the air :-)
I passed my technician’s class exam this past Saturday and I’m getting into amateur radio because of this event and Dan
Congratulations!!
Dan's my hero and I think we all can learn from him.
Great interview Jason! We're thankful to have folks like Dan in the amateur radio community!
Jason, a great interview. Dan, thanks for all of your dedication and hard work.
Jason,
You conducted a great interview. Dan set quite an example.
Awesome and inspiring.
Dan ya did dang well, really well! Thank you
Good work Dan! Thank you!
Lots of valuable information to consider for SHTF!
Excellent. Dan really is an excellent role model for everyone involved. His community service is outstanding
Excellent interview. Some videos on the type of setup he had, since that worked for him so well would be a great help for the community. It is nice that he is going to upgrade but it will be interesting to see what is good enough without breaking the bank. A setup that works well knowing that lives depend on it, not a fashion statement or an endless exchange of gear for the fun of it.
Excellent interview and lots of equally excellent information. Thanks for doing the interview Jason and thanks for giving the interview Dan. Great job.
Great to put a face to the voice inwas listening to from VK on broadcastify
Excellent interview. We need more reports on what worked and what didn't.
Jason,
Even though Dan said he didn't do any digital communications, he did ask if two Hams that were moved traffic from an HF net to the VHF net if they had Winlink. They said no, and he gave them his email.
Excellent video. Thank you.
That repeater was vital. So was the HF net and Echolink. My sister was stuck up there and I used Echolink to talk to a local on a repeater in Bryson City to get information. I used information I got on the nets and repeater to pass on to her. I also sent the repeater link to two of my LEO freinds who went up to help Hendersonville PD. They said they got a lot of good information from it. Ham radio and Starlink probably saved lives up there.
When I was listening to the nets I kept thinking about how you would keep the crazy flow of traffic/information organized. I still revert to paper as well. A stack of legal pads is good to have.
Great to hear from someone who like me used to work in public service
Kudos to him. Very good interview. A for effort😊
Thank you Jason.
Hopefully this will be a wake up call for all county EOC’s to have a proper operating station.
Also, Ecoflow…get this man a battery setup for the house.
GREAT INTERVIEW. TAHNKS
Great job sir! Baptism by fire!
Great interview Jason! Thanks for that! 73
Great interview. Thanks for getting right into it. I'm not too keen on ARES and would like to hear more about the interoperability especially in a rural scenario like we had.
great interview, thank you.
great interview!
They need to make a movie about this guy!
Great interview & questions
ht and a go kit for all bands. doesn't have to be all hf. top notch work from this guy.I like how he stated the government stepped in afterwords.
This storm has made me more ready to get my license I have been in the mindset of getting it for some time now. I work for the NCDOT in one of the affected counties and was on night shift the Thursday night that the storm started and by the time I worked off at 6am most of our communications was starting to fail including the viper system for a short time during the height of the storm but amateur kept clicking right along during it all. I am a licensed GMRS user and had capability to monitor the 2 meter band for updates.
We are cheering you on as you study for the license exam! 👍
I listened to Dan's net on Broadcastify for the first week. I got the notification of his net thru the Scanner app on my android. Anyways, excellent work and should be a model for any future events. Anyways KM4ACK, I wish you would have talked more about what the "rules of using the radio during an emergency" without a license. I head Dan dealing with that issue while I was listening to the net. Too many "sad hams" that don't understand that rule and many others too. Anyways, great job Dan!
Many more will want to know how this works
Good interview PI-Guy :)
Heros are always humble and prefer the background. Dan was exceptional. If we had 100 Dans with Hams across the nation, this would be a different place. hummmm, Dans with Hams that has a nice ring to it. When life slows down for Dan, it would be wonderful if he could publish notes for the rest of us to be able to help others in similar situations.
Great interview Jason. Thanks for sharing. Will look forward to any follow up. 73 Steve/Kathy NN9J / NF9G..😊
Good to hear from you guys. It’s been a while. Need to catch up soon 😃
Hey awesome job Dan. 73 K4AEA
A Human stepping up for Humanity!
I listened to Dan the entire time via scannerapp. Can anyone point me to an audio archive if it exists from his work during those days?
This response to the storms makes me proud to be a ham! De kd7cjo in Wyoming
👍👍
I seen on a video Tim Grentry & sons I think that’s how it spell. Early on He goes to a town up there we’re there a fire station with maps . on the wall is a drawing on the set up s2 is in the middle then to the right is one kind on unit going out on the left is one kind of unit coming in. . Any how you got to see it for your self. National Guard. Was run a air control for that place they was standing out in the run way field radios why long antennas. It was a well oiled Machine . That what they keep saying . I seen True American History That Day. I hope my chat has the info right .
I was expecting he had back ground in 911 call taking/dispatch but fire/LE makes sense as well.
Adapt and overcome. Great work Dan. Thanks for your service to your neighbors. 🫡🇺🇸🙏