Ham radio support for the shuttle Columbia debris search and recovery effort in Nacogdoches and San Augustine counties in Texas wrapped up February 12. US Forest Service personnel were scheduled to assume the support role hams had filled in East Texas for nearly two weeks.
South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Bob Ehrhardt, W5ZX, praised amateurs for their professionalism and dedication. Ehrhardt said the weather often was rainy and cold with some sleet–and the brambles and briars in the forest did not help. Ehrhardt said the agencies the hams worked with were pleasantly surprised, and pleased, too. As he put it: ”I know that we changed several minds that we could get the job done.”
Hams spent about 12 days in the Columbia search-and-recovery effort, using GPS and off-the-shelf computer mapping software to pin down and report the locations of debris items as they were sighted.
Preliminary numbers reported this week indicated that 198 amateurs logged in at one time or another in Nacogdoches County and 148 in San Augustine County. An estimated 80 percent of the participating amateurs were from outside the two counties.