Lo sforzo per riportare la normalità nell'etere di Haïti

Il blog della FCC riporta una corrispondenza di Mindel Della Torre, una funzionaria dell'Authority americana appena tornata da Haïti dove si era recata in missione umanitaria. Secondo le sue valutazioni nessuna delle due stazioni in onde medie autorizzate e solo dieci delle quaranta in FM sarebbero attive in questo momento. Ma il ruolo svolto è fondamentale, perché molti superstiti del terremoto non hanno altro modo per informarsi. La Della Torre cita anche l'azione di supporta condotta dalla ONG Internwes Network, specializzata in progetti di comunicazione per il terzo mondo e nelle aree di crisi. Il sito di questa ONG pubblica un videoreportage di Time Magazine dedicato al suo lavoro con le stazioni radio dell'isola.

On our last day, I also went to visit the nongovernmental organization called Inveneo. Inveneo is responding to the Haiti earthquake with much needed communications infrastructure for NGOs, such as Save the Children, Care, etc. Inveneo has deployed long-distance WiFi links across Port-au-Prince bringing high-speed Internet access - critical communication capacity - to relief agencies making a difference in Haitian lives. Inveneo, working with NetHope agencies, has now linked ten relief organizations in the Port-au-Prince. Inveneo is working with the Haitian ICT community to find immediate ways for them to participate in the reconstruction of their country.
I tried to meet up with the Telecom sans Frontieres crews who are providing free international calls in many of the refugee camps around Port-au-Prince (and now outside the city as well), but due to tremendously difficult logistical issues, I was not able to meet up with them. I did, however, chat with their staff about the wonderful work that they are doing in Haiti – as the very first telecom responder in Haiti they have played a key role in connecting the victims of the earthquake with loved ones around the world. You can see more about what they are doing in Haiti at TSF’s website.
I want to tell you about a special need in Haiti now – the radio and TV stations. The earthquake affected all of Haiti’s communications infrastructure, but the damage to radio and TV stations has been particularly debilitating because they are normally staffed 24/7 so the proportional loss of life and building and equipment damage was enormous. The impact of the earthquake has strained the ability to spread information about humanitarian relief and other messages, not to mention music and recreational programming. A good thing about broadcasting is that it can reach so many people at once – when it’s working. Now more than ever, radio and TV is a critical source of information for the people of Haiti – regarding location of food and water distribution, medical services, shelter, weather, etc. By the time we left, only six of 18 TV licensees were on the air, and their operations were intermittent. The two licensed AM radio stations were off the air because they couldn’t afford the fuel needed to run the generators that would power their transmitters. Of the 40 licensed FM stations, 30 were on the air, with a few able to operate between 12-16 hours per day. Damaged facilities and equipment, limited fuel and lack of advertising revenue are really hurting the broadcasters in Haiti now.
To help improve this situation, at the FCC, we are working with U.S. broadcast organizations to facilitate any assistance possible for the Haitian broadcasters – from equipment to programming. There is an organization on the ground in Haiti called the Internews Network. Internews is an international media development organization whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people needed news and information. It has responded to other disasters around the world and is in Haiti trying to help improve the broadcasting situation. At the FCC, we’re also exploring ideas to see what could be done to support Haiti’s broadcast media.

Ionosfera e terremoti: teorie cospirazioniste su Haïti

I cospirazionisti americani del programma radiofonico The Power Hour - diffuso tra l'altro sulle onde corte da WWCR - sono convinti che quello di Haïti non sia un "vero" terremoto. O meglio sono praticamente certi (ma del resto guardando su YouTube i cospirazionisti - e molto spesso neonazisti - americani sono del tutto certi che Barack Obama e Osama bin Laden siano la stessa persona) che il terremoto non sia naturale bensì artificiale. L'arma utilizzata per scatenare il sisma del settimo grado che ha devastato Port-au-Prince si troverebbe nella lontana Alaska e sarebbe il famigerato impianto dell'HAARP, la struttura della Difesa USA che studia i fenomeni ionosferici e come indurre nella stessa ionosfera variazioni che possano servire per particolari applicazioni nel campo delle telecomunicazioni.
La "prova" del coinvolgimento dell'HAARP si troverebbe direttamente sul sito Web del laboratorio e precisamente nell'archivio che raccoglie gli spettrogrammi rilevati ogni giorno nella porzione compresa tra 1 e 30 MHz. Lo spettrogramma dell'11 gennaio, tre giorni prima del sisma di Haiti, mostra un "sospetto" buco di due ore, tra l'1 e le 3 di notte. Secondo The Power Hour questo vuoto dimostra che in quelle ore l'HAARP stava sparando fasci di radiofrequenza nella ionosfera per scatenare il terremoto di Haïti attraverso un meccanismo "piezoelettrico inverso". In pratica la ionosfera sarebbe stata caricata elettricamente per far spostare le zolle tettoniche nel sottosuolo di Hispaniola. L'effetto viene chiamato piezoelettrico inverso perché è specularmente opposto a quello della carica elettrica generata dallo spostamento meccanico di due lamine di cristallo in un accendigas. E' stato ipotizzato che il fanomeno dei precursori in radiofrequenza dei terremoti derivino proprio da questo, dai segnali radio associati alle scariche generate dalla terra che si muove. L'effetto inverso non mi sembra altrettanto facile da spiegare e soprattutto da controllare fino al punto di rendere possibile l'impiego di campi elettromagnetici "sparati" verso la ionosfera come cannoni ad alta precisione. Ma basta guardare su Internet, deposito di ogni sorta di teoria strampalata, per sapere che anche lo tsunami asiatico di cinque anni fa era stato provocato dagli americani nello stesso modo. Scusatemi, non ero aggiornato.
Quale che sia il vostro parere sul sito di The Power Hour trovate abbondandi "dimostrazioni", inclusi i link agli archivi sotto accusa. In particolare questo (selezionare la data dell'11 gennaio). La lista di riferimenti fa una certa impressione ma i documenti parlano semmai di come le perturbazioni possano servire per spiegare fenomeni al suolo, non viceversa.
[Un personale disclaimer: NON faccio parte di circoli cospirazionisti e non do alcun credito a teorie che considero del tutto assurde e strampalate. Pubblico storie di questo tipo come pure curiosità di stampo antropologico e invito i miei lettori ad applicare lo stesso scetticismo nei confronti delle loro presunte "basi scientifiche".]

HAARP has deleted its records from 2010-1-11

Daniel Solis 2010-01-23

A very unusual deletion can be observed in the archived data of HAARP instrument readings from the day before the Haiti earthquake. Perhaps it is a matter of time until it will get fixed with a simple copy-paste operation, but I have made screen shots of it). Set the date in "Chart Archives" below the today's graph to 2001/Jan/11 in the window below the graph and see for yourselves. It is the only instance of such an occurrence I have discovered by looking through other historical dates. Perhaps some other deletions have already been fixed, I can think of date like May 12th 2008 or December 26th 2004.

The graphs are here:
Spectrum Monitor Waterfall Chart
http://maestro.haarp.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/spectrum/getchart.cgi

HF Chart (1-30 Mhz)
http://maestro.haarp.alaska.edu/data/spectrum2/www/hf.html

VHF chart (100-200 MHz)
http://maestro.haarp.alaska.edu/data/spectrum2/www/vhf.html

NCDXF Beacons (14.1 MHz)
http://maestro.haarp.alaska.edu/data/spectrum2/www/beacon14.html

NCDXF Beacons (18.11 MHz)
http://maestro.haarp.alaska.edu/data/spectrum2/www/beacon18.html

Also check patents related to HAARP to understand the technology of reversed piezoelectric effect in which earth can tremble when energy is applied to ionosphere. Scientific references will be underlining this further in this post: The patents are from greater part owned by a LARGE defense contractor:
www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2003/press_28032003.html

- US Patent 4686605 - Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth's atmosphere, ionosphere, and/or magnetosphere
www.patentstorm.us/patents/4686605/fulltext.html

- US Patent 4999637 - Creation of artificial ionization clouds above the earth www.patentstorm.us/patents/4999637/fulltext.html

- US Patent 4712155 - Method and apparatus for creating an artificial electron cyclotron heating region of plasma
www.patentstorm.us/patents/4712155/description.html

- US Patent 5777476 - Ground global tomography (CGT) using modulation of the ionospheric electrojets
www.patentstorm.us/patents/5777476/fulltext.html

- US Patent Application 20070238252 - Cosmic particle ignition of artificially ionized plasma patterns in the atmosphere
www.patentstorm.us/applications/20070238252/fulltext.html

US Patent 5068669 - Power beaming system
www.patentstorm.us/patents/5068669/fulltext.html

US Patent 5041834 - Artificial ionospheric mirror composed of a plasma layer which can be tilted
www.patentstorm.us/patents/5041834/description.html

Just lets remember the scenario 6 years ago:
Did New York Orchestrate The Asian Tsunami?
http://www.reformation.org/joevialls.html

and turn to some scientific backing:
Ionospheric Precursors of Earthquakes; Recent Advances in Theory and Practical Applications
http://tao.cgu.org.tw/pdf/v153p413.pdf

Theoretical Model of Possible Disturbances in the Nighttime Mid-Latitude Ionospheric D Region over an Area of Strong-Earthquake Preparation (Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radio-Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/65gg2vnubm70ab52/

Relationship between microseisms, geomagnetic activity and ionospheric absorption of radio waves (Geophysical Institute, Czechosl. Acad. Sci., Prague)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h520088165u58652/

MODELING OF THE ACOUSTO-ELECTROMAGNETIC METHOD FOR IONOSPHERE MONITORING (Karpenko Physico-Mechanical Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)
http://www.ursi.org/Proceedings/ProcGA05/pdf/EP.32%280275%29.pdf

And let us not forget that there is a functioning smoke screen cover up mechanism, as seen in the case of the Tromsø / Norway spiral which has been later ludicrously attributed to a russian Bulava missile test - which was taking place hundreds miles away:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1234430/Mystery-s...

Data from HAARP style ionosphere heating facility EISCAT in Ramfjordmoen just over the mount Tromsdalstinden only dozens of miles away from Tromsø, during apparition of the spiral:

Daily plan for the 9th of December 2009 and the time frame:
http://www.eiscat.se/raw/schedule/comment.cgi?fileName=200912099145...

power consumption data of the facility:
http://dynamite.eiscat.uit.no/power_consumption/

particularly
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:jHWE5DBXLDwV-M%3Ahttp://dynamite

EISCAT facility can be easily located on google maps or google earth, under 'EISCAT' Tromsø can be seen near by to the north. Its coordinates are:

69°39'07? N
018°57'12? E

Here is where the Russian missile was supposed to fly:

NAVTEX warning:

ZCZC FA79
031230 UTC DEC 09
COASTAL WARNING ARKHANGELSK 94
SOUTHERN PART WHITE SEA
1. ROCKET LAUNCHING 2300 07 DEC TO 0600 08 DEC
09 DEC 0200 TO 0900 10 DEC 0100 TO 0900 NAVIGATION PROHIBITED IN AREA
65-12.6N 036-37.0E 65-37.2N 036-26.0E 66-12.3N 037-19.0E 66-04.0N
037-47.0E 66-03.0N 038-38.0E 66-06.5N 038-55.0E 65-11.0N 037-28.0E
65-12.1N 036-49.5E THEN COASTAL LINE 65-12.2N 036-47.6E 2. CANCEL THIS
MESSAGE 101000 DEC= NNNN

If you put these coordinates to google earth you will see what I mean. This is how the public is being constantly misled on everything.

La speranza in onda nell'etere di Haïti

Una bella corrispondenza di Roberto Bongiorni da Port-au-Prince, pubblicata sul Sole 24 Ore di domenica scorsa. Per scaricare il pdf della scansione cliccate qui, è un po' tagliatina nel titolo e nella fotografia, ma il pezzo c'è tutto. (Grazie anche a Fabrizio che me lo ha segnalato, per fortuna il Sole di Domenica lo prendo sempre). Nell'illustrazione vedete lo "studio" di Radio Caraïbes, improvvisato sul marciapiede di fronte alla sede, inagibile, dell'emittente.

Tra SMS e radioline, Haïti cerca di barcamenarsi

Un bel servizio di Tim Large, della Reuters, parla di come tra cellulari e radioline gli haitiani cercano di arrangiarsi e comunicare in queste ore. La stessa Reuters attraverso "AlertNet", della Thomson Reuters Foundation, ha messo in piedi un sistema, EIS, Emergency Information Service, per diffondere gratuitamente, via SMS informazioni utili. La gente dice di preferire i cellulari alle radioline perché i primi sono ricaricabili e le pile per le seconde costano. In mancanza di corrente elettrica, ci si industria allestendo delle temporanee postazioni di rifornimento dove un quarto d'ora di ricarica costa 75 cents. Ma il cronista parla anche delle radio con dinamo a manovella distribuite dagli americani e dei programmi diffusi dalle emittenti internazionali (l'ultima, BBC World Service in Creolo, dagli studi di Miami). Ecco un estratto dell'articolo che qui trovate completo.

In Haiti, cell phones and radios help save lives
By Tim Large
Reuters
Jan. 25, 2010

[...]

How the EIS helps save lives

Just a few days after the earthquake, EIS was able to direct injured Haitians via text message to one of the few hospital able to treat patients. The service also helped search-and-rescue teams to find people trapped in the rubble. In one case, a man trapped for five days in a collapsed building in downtown Port-au-Prince sent a text message, which the EIS team, working through the night with experts around the world, translated into GPS coordinates. A search-and-rescue team was dispatched and saved his life. Working with InSTEDD, an innovative humanitarian technology NGO, we created an information system allowing Haitians subscribed to the Digicel and Comcel networks to register with a simple shortcode - 4636 - to receive our free Creole-language alerts.
In addition to receiving critical news and information, Haitians can send, at no cost, text messages into the system. This ensures a stream of on-the-ground information of use to aid groups. We publicized the shortcode chiefly through local radio stations, including Signal FM, Melody FM, MINUSTAH Radio FM and Caraibes FM. The latter broadcasts from the sidewalk outside its quake-damaged building, sucking power off a car engine. As of the time of writing, EIS had received nearly 10,000 text messages from Haitians, all translated into English and geotagged by hundreds of global volunteers organized by "crowd-sourcing" NGO Ushahidi. The information is also available through RSS feeds.
Now that the search-and-rescue phase is over, we are working with the United Nations, the Red Cross, the government and others to help spread messages such as how to reduce disease risks, trace missing relatives and protect children. Entrepreneurs like Jacques Pierre, 25, help people to keep their devices charged. "Last week I had gasoline (for the generator) but the phones weren't all working," he said. "This week there's more gasoline out there and the phones are back, so the price is going down." Just down the road from Pierre's phone-charging operation, an outlet of Digicel, Haiti's biggest mobile carrier, offers a free re-charging service for about 40 people at a time. "I'm waiting for the money, I'm waiting for the money," one man shouts into his handset, on the line to relatives overseas. "We're hungry."

SMS robust

Haiti's cell phone networks have been quick to recover, even as other infrastructure remains crippled.
Robin Padberg, head of Comcel-owned mobile carrier Voila, told me most services were restored within a day of the earthquake. Digicel came fully back online a few days later. SMS networks proved most robust, which explains why Philippe Richardson, the coordinator of Port-au-Prince's emergency service, made SMS his chief point of contact with the capital's residents. There was simply no other way. "The City Hall collapsed, the mayor's house collapsed, the houses of our employees collapsed," he told Radio Metropole in an interview, announcing a 3702 2418 text hotline for residents. "Now we are homeless. We sleep looking at the stars, like you."
A straw poll of a group of 15 young men in Lepine on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince showed that 14 of them owned cell phones - and nearly all said they relied on them for news and information rather than radio. "It's less expensive because I don't have to buy batteries," said one. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti already had a track record of using SMS in novel ways. Two years ago, CECOSIDA, a network of local journalists, used the same 4636 number to disseminate messages about HIV/AIDS. Another project has flirted with SMS voting.

Working with local radio

But while the number of EIS subscribers grows by the day, radio is still the most efficient way to reach a mass audience. That's why we turn to local broadcasters to help spread key information, often acting as a bridge between the international aid effort and local media. In this respect, our efforts mesh nicely with other initiatives launched in the wake of Haiti's quake. Internews, a media development organization, has been broadcasting a daily Creole-language program called "Nouvelles-Utiles" (News You Can Use) on 12 radio stations since January 21. The BBC World Service has just begun producing a daily 20-minute show out of Miami called "Connexion Haitienne".
All this is part of efforts to improve communications with disaster survivors led by Communications with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC), an inter-agency working group comprising Thomson Reuters Foundation, Internews, BBC World Service Trust, the Red Cross, Save the Children, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and others. "The issue we face is getting the message out to the affected community that aid is coming, that something is being done," said OCHA spokesman Nicholas Reader. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is distributing 50,000 solar- and crank-powered radios in the capital.
(continua)

Jean Dominique, la voce libera di Haïti

Mercoledì 19 gennaio il canale Sky 130 di Current Tv, la social television fondata da Al Gore, ha trasmesso una serata speciale su Haïti, con la proiezione del film diretto da Jonathan Demme (qui una conversazione con lui) The Agronomist, dedicato alla figura di Jean Dominique, agronomo "costretto" a diventare giornalista e fondatore di Radio Haïti-Inter, ucciso nell'aprile del 2000 da un gruppo armato i cui mandanti sono rimasti ignoti. Nel film viene formulata l'ipotesi che lo stesso governo di Jean-Bertrand Aristide potesse essere coinvolto. Dominique faceva del giornalismo di denuncia in una nazione dove denunciare le colpe del potere e delle oligarchie può facilmente costare la vita. Non sono poi così lontane da noi, queste nazioni.
Il film di Demme è di qualche anno fa ma la sua versione su DVD può essere ordinata dall'editore Feltrinelli insieme a un libro, L'isola d'acqua. Un paper sull'affaire Dominique può essere scaricato dal sito della University of California, Santa Barbara e questa invece è la pagina dedicata al collega da Réporters Sans Frontières:
Ho chiesto a Current Tv se fossero in programma delle repliche di The Agronomist. Barbara Castiello mi ha cortesemente informato del calendario delle prossime uscite:

30 gennaio ore 15.20
1 febbraio ore 15.00
4 febbbraio ore 10.00
6 febbraio ore 13.30
27 febbraio ore 21.00



Per ricevere il programma bisogna essere abbonati a Sky e sintonizzarsi con il decoder sul canale 130. Purtroppo il film non sarà disponibile su Internet.
Intanto però potete sintonizzarvi sullo stream di SignalFM di Haiti, che ha da poco ripristinato il suo collegamento Shoutcast (lo si può aprire anche con Real Player). Signal è una delle radio di informazione più importante e in un certo senso ha raccolto il testimone lasciato cadere dagli assassini di Jean. Purtroppo infatti, Haïti-Inter venne chiusa tre anni dopo l'omicidio, per decisione della vedova di Dominique, Michèle Montas, a causa delle continue minacce ricevute. Michéle è stata portavoce del segretario delle Nazioni Unite, Ban-ki Moon, fino al 1 dicembre scorso.

Commando Solo, una radio volante per Haïti

Torna a volare, questa volta sui cieli di Haiti, il C130 (anzi, l'EC-130J) attrezzato come una stazione radiotelevisiva volante del 193esimo Special Operations Wing in forza alla Guardia Nazionale della Pennsylvania. L'aereo da trasporto è meglio conosciuto con il nome di Commando Solo ed è entrato in funzione più volte in passato per analoghe operazioni di psy-op, "guerra psicologica". Ad Haiti c'è una emergenza, non una guerra. In passato la radio volante è entrata in azione sull'Iraq, l'Iran, l'Afghanistan, in Kosovo, e ancora prima a Grenada e ancora su Haiti, anche se ai tempi dell'invasione dei marines. Sulle sue lunghezze d'onda viaggiavano annunci, appelli, musiche, un format studiato per demoralizzare i nemici, invitarli alla diserzione, o per mandare messaggi alle popolazioni civili. Ora la missione di Commando Solo sarà comunque quella di fornire, via radio FM e onde medie, una serie di informazioni di coordinamento e incoraggiamento che spiegheranno la logistica dei soccorsi del dopo-terremoto.

Contemporaneamente, la Joint Task Force-Haiti sta provvedendo a distribuire tra la popolazione cinquantamila radioline a manovella e pannello solare, in modo che i senzatetto rimasti completamente privi di mezzi possano ricevere le trasmissioni di Commando Solo e, si spera, delle emittenti locali che riusciranno a riattivare i loro impianti.
La storia del C-130 radioemittente risale agli anni Sessanta ma nel suo assetto attuale è entrato in servizio verso gli anni Novanta, all'epoca di Desert Storm. Mi è capitato di ascoltarlo durante la sua missione in Afghanistan dopo l'attacco al World Trade Center, perché operava in una frequenza delle onde corte, intorno agli 8.700 kHz. Trovate una scheda dettagliata con la storia di Commando Solo su questa pagina dell'Aviazione americana.

Pennsylvania Guard to Broadcast to Haitians

By Airman 1st Class Claire Behney Special to American Forces Press Service

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 15, 2010 – The Pennsylvania National Guard is sending a uniquely equipped plane to Haiti to provide radio and television broadcasts to keep the people of the earthquake-stricken nation informed as rescue and humanitarian missions continue.
Airmen assigned to the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard load a C-130J as they prepare to depart Middletown, Pa., for Haiti, Jan. 15, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Hawkins
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
About 50 airmen and three C-130 aircraft assigned to the 193rd Special Operations Wing will provide rapid communications response capabilities to all of Hispaniola, which comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Two of the aircraft are cargo aircraft. The third, named Commando Solo, is an airborne radio and television station that will provide important information to the Haitian people as U.S. and international search and rescue and humanitarian aid missions continue.
In what he described as an "unprecedented humanitarian mission," Gov. Edward G. Rendell said that the Pennsylvania Air National Guard had been called out to support the Air Force Special Operations Command mission in Haiti.
One of the aircraft departed late on Jan. 14, the other two aircraft left Middletown, Pa., today.
"Our National Guard is honored to extend a helping hand to the people of Haiti. I am proud of these dedicated airmen, who are always ready to answer the call of duty, whether it is for combat missions or to aid those in need," said Army Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, the adjutant general of the Pennsylvania National Guard.
The 193rd was last called to serve in Haiti more than a decade ago. In 1994, Commando Solo was used to broadcast radio and television messages to the citizens and leaders of Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy. This is, however, the first humanitarian mission of its type for the wing.
(Airman 1st Class Claire Behney is assigned to the Pennsylvania National Guard.)

***

U.S. Military Delivers Self-Powered Radios to Earthquake Survivors

HOMESTEAD ARB, FLORIDA – A U.S. Air Force C-130 is delivering 50,000 hand-held radios for distribution to Haitian earthquake survivors by the recent devastating earthquake.
The radios will be distributed by JTF-Haiti and are expected to arrive later this week.
The small emergency radios are both solar-powered and hand-cranked and do not require batteries.
Radios are being distributed in order for affected citizens to receive news and important information concerning international relief efforts.
In close coordination with the government of Haiti, JTF-Haiti is currently broadcasting news, public health, safety and information regarding relief efforts via a military aircraft equipped with FM and AM broadcasting capability.
Public safety messages are broadcasting in the following frequencies:
92.4 FM, 104.1 FM, 1030 AM.
The role of U.S. military forces during this humanitarian assistance and disaster relief effort is to rapidly respond with critically needed supplies and medical services in those areas the Haitian government deems necessary.
U.S. Department of Defense forces are part of a larger, unified United States federal response to the Government of Haiti’s request for humanitarian aid. U.S. Southern Command is working with the Department of State, USAID, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and others to aggressively provide life-sustaining services to the people of Haiti.

Le radio di Haïti, voci di soccorso e speranza

Una bellissima cronaca di Associated Press apparsa ieri sul Washington Post ci racconta degli sforzi che le stazioni radio di Haïti stanno facendo per cercare di informare una popolazione gravemente colpita dalla lentezza e dal mancato coordinamento nei soccorsi. I flussi Web di queste stazioni erano tutti interrotti nei giorni scorsi, ma alcune radio stanno cercando di ripristinare parte delle funzionalità. La protagonista dell'articolo di Tamara Lush è SignalFM che oggi sul suo sito pubblica una orgogliosa traduzione in francese del testo.
Intanto l'EBU di Ginevra ha creato un wiki che si prefigge di fungere da piattaforma di interazione tra i giornalisti radiofonici europei e i media e i loro rappresentati attivi in questo momento nell'area dello spaventoso sisma. Per favore, contattatemi se siete interessati ad accedere a questa risorsa.

Geneva, 20 January 2010, The EBU has launched a Wiki to help broadcasters coordinate media aid to Haiti. The Wiki aims to help media organisations to deliver media aid more effectively and bring radio stations back on air quickly.
The Wiki is designed to facilitate coordination between broadcasters, international organizations and NGO's.
Radio is playing a vital role in Haiti following the earthquake. EBU Members have been helping local broadcasters to get back on air in order to strengthen the sense of community and to provide Haitians with the comforting sound of familiar voices.
They are helping families to locate missing relatives, as well as providing crucial information about emergency healthcare, food and water aid.
Even before the earthquake, radio was Haiti's most popular medium. It is estimated that half of the population do not have sufficient literacy skills to read newspapers, while a lack of electricity means there is no television in many households.

***

Haiti radio fills information void in disaster
By TAMARA LUSH The Associated Press Wednesday, January 20, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The caller from Boston was desperate.
She had just received a text message Tuesday from a friend trapped in the rubble of a Port-au-Prince school and needed to get the news to rescuers, the Haitian government, the world.
She called the right place: Signal FM, the only radio station in the city that has broadcast nonstop during the earthquake. Its building, transmitting equipment and antennas escaped damage, and the station has been a key source of information since the magnitude-7 temblor wrecked Haiti a week ago.
Day and night, journalists and disc jockeys announce names of missing persons and news of open stores and dead celebrities, while calmly taking frantic calls and e-mails from both home and abroad.
Outside, people crowd the station's parking lot with crumpled handwritten notes, pleading for the announcers to read the names of their missing loved ones or a location where hungry people need relief.
"The radio station is the people's life right now," said 56-year-old Roselaure Revil, a Haitian who runs a small church aid program that is out of food, water and clothing. "Without the radio station, the country is dead. Without the radio station, we can't communicate. We don't have anything."
Even before the earthquake, radio was the nation's most popular form of media. About half of Haitians are said to be illiterate, so they can't read newspapers, and a lack of electricity in many households means television is not an option.
Stations like Signal FM, which broadcasts nationwide from the capital's Petionville neighborhood and on the Internet, also highlight how painfully absent the government has been. President Rene Preval has not addressed the nation about the disaster live on any media, opting instead to send Signal FM a cassette tape of remarks the day after the quake.
"Radio stations are holding the country together," said Carla Bluntschli, an American who has lived in Haiti for 25 years. She showed up at the Signal FM studios Tuesday trying to get the word out about her neighborhood's need for food and water. "They're kind of replacing the government, in a sense."
Out on the fetid and dusty streets of Port-au-Prince, it's common to see earthquake survivors trudging along with tiny transistor radios pressed to their ears.
On Tuesday afternoon, Bernardin Abady walked by the crumpled presidential palace - just hours after Navy helicopters landed U.S. troops on the lawn - listening to his radio with an intense look on his face.
He had Signal FM on.
"The better you're informed, the fewer problems you'll have," said Abady, a 52-year-old electrical technician.
According to Internews - a California-based group that helps people in poverty and disaster-torn countries get media and information access - 26 radio stations were up and running in Port-au-Prince as of Tuesday. Some are only broadcasting a few hours a day, while others play mostly music or religious programming.
Signal FM is one of the few broadcasting news 24 hours a day.
That's key for citizens who have lost everything, said Jacobo Quintanilla, an Internews project director, who is in Haiti working to connect aid organizations with broadcasters.
He said he was encouraged by a group of people clustered around an SUV in downtown Port-au-Prince, listening to Radio Caraibes from a boom box atop the car.
"This is as important as providing food, water and shelter," he said. "It's building confidence and trust that someone is listening to their problems."
The broadcasters at Signal FM listen to the woes of the city; almost all of the staff are physically OK but continue to take calls and messages from the desperately needy or the grief-stricken.
In the case of the Boston caller, it was unknown whether anyone tried to save her friend. The radio station has no time to follow up on every call it broadcasts for help.
"I tell all the people here, don't stop working," said Mario Viau, the station's owner and director. "When you stop working, you start thinking."

Haïti sull'orlo del tracollo

In circostanze così drammatiche ecco un secondo post sul devastante terremoto di Haïti. Approfitto anche per rispondere al commento di Roberto in calce oggi al post di ieri: sì, andando sul sito di Radio Metropole vedrai che Nancy Roc la giornalista premiata in Italia, ha ancora il suo programma. Ho visto tra l'altro che anche gli amici di Newsline citano SignalFm, altra stazione locale, e le incredibili fotografie pubblicate in queste ore.

Un messaggio di Enrico IZ2KQP giratomi cortesemente da Francisco Clemente mi rivela una bella iniziativa, mobilitatasi in queste ore in direzione di Port-au-Prince. Earstoourworld.com è una "charity" molto particolare, la cui missione è rifornire le aule scolastiche delle nazioni più povere di apparecchi radio a onde corte, raccogliendo le piccole somme versate da donatori di tutto il mondo. In queste ore molti broadcaster internazionali si stanno attivando per rafforzare la loro programmazione in francese e in creolo. La VOA ha cominciato subito, attraverso le antenne a onde medie di Marathon, in Florida, con nuove trasmissioni nella lingua locale. Considerate le difficoltà incotrate con altri mezzi di comunicazione, telefonino incluso (che però, dove funziona, ormai tende a prendere il sopravvento su tutto il resto), la radio a lunga distanza dimostra di poter avere un ruolo prezioso e Ears to our World cerca di favorirne la diffusione.

JANUARY 14, 2010

Broadcasters, Telecom Firms Offer Help For Haiti
By Juliana Gruenwald

U.S. broadcasters and telecom companies are pitching in to help relief efforts for Haiti after the country was devastated by a major earthquake earlier this week. The National Association of Broadcasters said Thursday that a public service announcement featuring First Lady Michele Obama and detailing "critical earthquake relief information" will be available Friday for download on NAB's public service Web site by radio and television stations.
The NAB also encouraged broadcasters to produce localized public service announcements urging help for the Haitian relief efforts and called on stations to participate in the group's "Broadcasters for Haiti Day" on Feb. 1 by dedicating airtime on that day for "fundraising relief efforts, telephone banks, radiothons and telethons."
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Commerce Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee, Thursday praised the efforts of several telecommunications companies in providing communications expertise, equipment and manpower to Haiti. "I'm in touch with industry leaders to try and mobilize more resources faster and greatly appreciate their efforts," Kerry said in a statement.
He noted that Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), a telecom humanitarian organization that provides emergency telecommunications services, is deploying two emergency teams to Haiti to set up emergency telecom centers for emergency first responders. In addition, CapRock Government Services is providing satellite phone services to U.S. military personnel sent to assist the relief effort, while Iridium has provided satellite handsets to the Defense Department, Federal Emergency Management Agency and TSF, Kerry said.

Giustamente Christian Diemoz mi segnala Radioreference, il database-wiki con centinaia di frequenze radio "di servizio". Anche questo benemerito sito ha prontamente allestito una sezione speciale haitiana, con parecchie frequenze non broadcast civili, militari, areonautiche e radioamatoriali. Troverete anche riferimenti a siti di operatori ham radio che hanno creato link audio a frequenze HF e Echolink. Io continuo a non sentire niente, temo che in questo infernale disastro non sia molto facile intervenire. I radioamatori possono dare il loro contributo a supporto di una azione coordinata di soccorso, che ad Haiti dev'essere ancora in fase molto embrionale.
Molto bello questo articolo apparso oggi sul sito dell'emittente pubblica televisiva PBS sull'ansia con cui la comunità haitiana di New York cerca di seguire le notizie ripetute attraverso i microfoni di Radio Soleil d'Haiti, low power "non autorizzata" della parte bassa dello spettro FM di Brooklyn (qui un bell'articolo sul fenomeno di questa e altre stazioni etniche). L'emittente illegale era famosa per il suo storico commentatore Lionel Legrand, morto nell'aprile scorso.

HAITI -- January 15, 2010
Waiting for News From Haiti in Brooklyn

BY: RAY SUAREZ

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--The Haitians and Haitian-Americans of New York can see the newsstand photos of unimaginable suffering. They watch hour after hour of the television coverage that is now flowing freely from Port au Prince.
For most of us, that coverage tells everything we need to know... the who, what, where, when, why. For the Haitians of Brooklyn, that's not nearly enough.
The rumbling from underground took down power lines, transmission lines, and the basic underpinning of power and communications. Those tremors struck at the heart of the worldwide communications tool of the poor: the cell phone.
Here and there you can find people in Flatbush who have gotten through during a random few minutes of service, checking on who is hurt and who is not, who is accounted for and who is still missing. When that phone call ends, an anxious relative in Brooklyn often does not know when their endless speed-dialing will get them through again.
Radio Soleil D'Haiti, Sun of Haiti Radio, is tucked into a storefront on a commercial street in Flatbush. Today the front reception area was jammed with people speaking Haitian Creole, sometimes into multiple phones. I met a young nurse, Haitian-born, Brooklyn-educated, who passed by to see what people knew, whether new sources of intelligence were opening on the island.
Fabienne Jean was admirably composed. Her father, who brought her to Brooklyn from Haiti in 1984, was back in the island nation for a visit that began just before New Year's Day. In a tough Port au Prince neighborhood, he had been shot, and admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment. One bullet hurt his arm, another lodged close to his lungs, too close for Haitian doctors to safely extract it. Jean's father planned to come back to Brooklyn and head right to the hospital for the surgery he couldn't get in Haiti.
Tuesday, he was discharged. Then the ground began to shake. For Fabienne Jean, a few successful phone calls over the course of 73 hours have not been enough to figure out where her father is now.
After the front door of the hospital, the trail goes cold. As she tells me the story she gets a catch in her throat, and quickly wipes a forming tear from the corner of her eye. An aunt, who owns a popular Brooklyn restaurant, is missing. A cousin is hurt, but will be OK.
Jean's brother has been seen safe and sound by a relative since the quake, but no one knows where he is now. "I know he made it," Jean said, "but still, I'd like to hear his voice, you know?"
Felipe Doussou was born in Brooklyn. He's watched as his Haitian-born parents have stayed up around the clock, making repeated attempts to get a phone call through. One branch of the family should be OK, it is based far from the epicenter of the quake. Another branch is in the heart of one of the worst-effected areas.
I asked Doussou if his parents had already started to come to terms with the idea that some have died, given the terrible scenes of mass death now coming here from Haiti. He smiled, "We're optimistic. We're waiting for the phones to work again."
As a neighborhood folk hero, and one of the best-known members of the community, Ricot Dupuy of Radio Soleil D'Haiti, is doing what he can to get information in Creole out to a waiting community. His station is carrying the signal of a sister station in the Haitian capital, with occasional interruptions for news bulletins in Brooklyn. He's barely slept since the quake, and talks to me in a radio announce booth at the end of a long corridor jammed with station people, neighbors looking for help, and the world's press looking for a story.
Dupuy tells me the magnitude of the tragedy hasn't sped up the response from New York, one of the largest populations in the Haitian diaspora, but slowed it down. He expects the necessary coordination to come together in the coming days to more closely resemble the aid that came pouring out of Brooklyn in 2008, when Haiti was hit with five hurricanes and tropical storms in one terrible season.
New York City Councilman Mathieu Eugene is the first Haitian-born politician elected to the city's legislature. He too is a veteran of the hurricane relief emergency effort, and has been disappointed to find that the systems and structures to get help to Haiti has to be built every time from scratch.
For now, he says, even if all the medicine, food, water, and shelter Haiti needed started pouring in, there is no way the country could handle it. So much infrastructure is now rubble even the decency and charity of governments and individuals around the world won't be enough to save the struggling people of Haiti.

Anche a Philadelphia, Radio Vision Celeste, ascoltabile sugli 88.5 in FM ma solo con ricevitori attrezzati per il servizio SCA Subsidiary Communication, ormai desueto (sfrutta delle sottoportanti modulate delle normali portanti FM e richiede particolari adattatori, un po' come la filodiffusione ma senza filo), cerca di esaudire le richieste angosciate dei suoi ascoltatori. Lo riferisce un servizio dell'emittente locale ABC.



Oggi Repubblica ha pubblicato un interessantissimo pezzo di Gabriella Colarusso sulla geolocalizzazione e i mash-up che in queste ore fioccano per incrociare informazioni di tipo testuale, visivo e geografico. Anche qui i protagonisti sono gli smartphone, che anche quando non possono funzionare sui luoghi dei disastri per problemi infrastrutturali, consentono di ottenere informazioni e - fatto molto importante - effettuare facilmente donazioni in danaro.

Dall'Africa a Palo Alto
Crisis mappers per Haiti

In rete si moltiplicano le informazioni geolocalizzate per gestire l'emergenza. Come Ushahidi, piattaforma di crowdsourcing che permette raccoglie e organizza sms, tweets, mail. Nacque nel 2008 per raccontare le violenze post-elettorali in Kenya
di GABRIELLA COLARUSSO

MIGLIAIA di tweet, post, mail, sms. Feriti intrappolati sotto le macerie, ospedali crollati, scuole rase al suolo. La rete è inondata di notizie che provengono da Haiti. Ma come renderle facilmente accessibili alle organizzazioni umanitarie e agevolare così i soccorsi? Una risposta arriva dall'Africa. Ushahidi, la piattaforma di crowdsourcing che permette di raccogliere informazioni dalla folla attraverso sms, tweets, mail, nata nel 2008 per raccontare le violenze post-elettorali in Kenya, e usata anche da Al Jazeera per la copertura dell'ultima guerra a Gaza, ha messo online una pagina dedicata alla crisi haitiana. In meno di 12 ore sono già stati raccolti quasi 3000 messaggi, in gran parte via Twitter (via sms +447624802524 o via email: haiti@ushahidi.com).
Una volta verificate, le informazioni vengono visualizzate su una mappa, divise per categorie: strutture crollate, scuole e ospedali danneggiati, strade bloccate, persone intrappolate sotto le macerie, incendi e zone senza acqua potabile. La piattaforma, rilasciata in beta come applicazione open source, è scaricabile gratuitamente. (Il New York Times, secondo quanto riferisce l'Huffington post, sta cercando il modo di integrarla per seguire gli sviluppi della situazione ad Haiti).
Per mettere a punto il software, il team di Ushahidi, composto da sviluppatori africani (da Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Ghana) ma anche olandesi e americani, ha cominciato a lavorare già poche ore dopo la notizia della prima scossa (qui il racconto di Ory Okolloh, avvocatessa e blogger keniana che dirige il progetto, coordinandosi attraverso l'International Network of Crisis Mappers (CM*Net). "Abbiamo un numero di telefono internazionale - scrive Okolloh - ma stiamo lavorando con i nostri colleghi di CM*Net e dell'Insteadd per avere anche numeri locali".
L'InStedd di Palo Alto (Innovative support to emergencies, diseases and distaster) è specializzata in gestione delle informazioni in situazioni di emergenza. Ha già testato nel Sud Est asiatico il software GeoChat, open source, pensato per le organizzazioni umanitarie e no-profit, che consente a chiunque sia dotato di telefonino o di computer di segnalare immediatamente la propria posizione, i bisogni sanitari/umanitari e le strutture più vicine in grado di soddisfarli, comunicarli a chi è nella stessa zona e localizzare gli altri su una mappa.
L'applicazione potrebbe servire anche per l'emergenza haitiana. A Palo Alto sono a lavoro. Ma è l'intera comunità dei crisis mappers a mobilitarsi. Mikel Maron di OpenStreetMap ha lanciato una pagina wiki per condividere in tempo reale le informazioni sul terremoto. Lo stesso ha fatto GeoCommons, il sito che permette di costruire mappe semplici e repository di dati geografici generati dagli utenti, sotto licenza Creative Commons.
Un team di MapAction, ong che si occupa del coordinamento delle informazioni durante le crisi umanitarie o catastrofi natuarali, attraverso i sistemi Gis (Geographical Information System) e le mappe, è già in volo per l'isola caraibica: "Il nostro lavoro - scrive sul sito il direttore generale Nigel Woof - è raccogliere informazioni che possano essere mappate per creare così un quadro operativo d'insieme in modo che le persone che ne hanno più bisogno ricevano immediata assistenza".

Per saperne di più su Haïti, con o senza radio

Secondo il sito di Radio Metropole di Port-au-Prince, ancora questa mattina le vittime sopravvissute al sisma che ha raso al suolo la capitale della nazione più povera dell'intero continente americano, vagavano per le rovine della loro città senza che una sola squadra di soccorso, un solo equipaggio di pompieri, sia potuta intervenire per aiutarli. A proposito di povertà sono molto interessanti i documenti messi a disposizione sul sito del Ministero per la pianificazione e la cooperazione esterna, MPCE.

La comunicazione via radio, terrestre, cellulare o satellitare che sia, è un fattore sine qua non in una situazione del genere. Ma quando un evento naturale di questa intensità si abbatte su una infrastruttura già molto debole, la devastazione è totale e la zona è precipitata in un autentico inferno logistico. Sto cercando di raccogliere quante più informazioni possibili su Internet, dove le prime notizie sono arrivate dai telefoni satellitari. Haïti era già prima una nazione caratterizzata da una offerta radiofonica molto limitata. Da decenni le sue stazioni radio non sono presenti in onde corte (io ho fatto in tempo ad ascoltare i programmi religiosi di 4VEH di Cap Haïtien, al nord, ancora oggi una delle principali emittenti). Radio Metropole è ammirevole per il coverage che riesce a dare in queste ore sul suo sito Web da cui - avvertono i responsabili - il link allo stream in diretta è sparito. Secondo la stazione sono però ancora in funzione, in parte, le linee di accesso a Internet di qualche operatore e sia la fibra sottomarina sia i link digitali satellitari permettono di collegarsi con il mondo. Il segnale dell'unico operatore GSM dell'isola (Haïti condivide con la Repubblica Domenicana il territorio di Hispaniola), ComCell Voilà, è tornato a risentirsi in certe aree. Le linee fisse di Haitel e Teleco funzionano ma si saturano subito.

Haiti: Réseau occupé, réseau indisponible... Communication difficile...

Bref résumé sur l'état des communications en Haïti.

L'accès internet par Hainet et Access Haiti ne fonctionne pas. Aucune informations pour le réseau ACN. La liaison sous-marine par fibre optique est restée opérationnelle. L'opérateur de téléphonie mobile Digicel signale que son réseau en Haïti est de nouveau opérationnel mercredi matin. Certain utilisateur Voila ont eu un signal hier. Dans tout le pays, de nombreuses lignes ou "tronçons" sont par terre et donc inutilisables. La plupart des communications par internet passe par satellite.
Les lignes des compagnies Haïtel et Teleco fonctionnent quand elles ne sont pas saturées.
"Ils essaient parfois 15 à 20 fois avec le même téléphone", renchérit Jyoti Mahurkar-Thombre, directrice générale d'Alcatel-Lucent (réseau Digicel en Haïti), interrogé mercredi soir. Les personnes qui partagent le même réseau peuvent peut-être communiquer plus facilement, estime-t-elle.

L'ITU ha appena rilasciato un comunicato per dare la notizia di una quarantina di terminali satellitari più una sessantina di non meglio specificate unità broadband verranno dispiegate ad Haïti, mentre una Deployable Base Station di Qualcomm entrerà in funzione a supporto delle comunicazioni cellulari.

ITU joins international effort to assist Haiti
Satellite links to re-establish communications in earthquake-hit country

Geneva, 14 January 2010 — ITU joins the international effort to provide humanitarian assistance to Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake on 12 January 2010.

Forty satellite terminals are being deployed immediately to re-establish basic communication links and a further 60 units with broadband facility are being dispatched along with experts to operate them. ITU will also set up a Qualcomm Deployable Base Station (QDBS), a reliable, responsive and complete cellular system designed to enable vital wireless communications aimed at strengthening response and recovery mechanisms in a disaster zone. ITU has allocated a budget of over USD 1 million to strengthen the disaster response effort in Haiti.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré expressed his solidarity with the people of Haiti and offered his condolences to the bereaved victims of the disaster. "The whole world is in shock following the devastation and untold misery caused by the earthquake in Haiti," Dr Touré said. "ITU will do everything possible to provide assistance to the people of Haiti by re-establishing telecommunication links which will be vital in the rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the days ahead." Dr Touré also called upon ITU Sector Members and other ICT companies to urgently assist ITU’s efforts to reinstate telecommunications in Haiti.
Along with the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, telecommunication links in Haiti were also snapped in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Re-establishing communications is a critical tool in disaster management to ensure
timely dissemination of authoritative information to government entities and aid agencies involved in rescue and rehabilitation efforts.
The worst earthquake in the region in over 200 years levelled Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital as well as other towns and villages in the country leaving several thousands dead and injured. UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon has declared it a "major humanitarian emergency".

Per il resto la situazione nella capitale questa mattina era la seguente, sempre secondo le cronache di Metropole che pubblica anche una serie di fotografie che non ho neanche il coraggio di riprodurre qui.

Capitale dans le chao

Port-au-Prince n'a plus de service de pompier, à la première secousse son service de pompiers, a été enseveli. Beaucoup de rues sont jonchées de cadavres et on voit des gens, on voit apparaître une jambe, un bras, dans des tas de ferraille et de béton. il y a des survivants qui appellent à l'aide mais personnes ne peut réellement les aider sans mettre leur vie en péril. A tous moment tous peut s'effondrer et créer de nouvelles victimes. Les moyens matériel manque, tous et à reconstruire selon des sources diplomatique. Dans la zone du canapé vert il ne reste presque plus de maison debout. D'après l'ambassadeur de France en Haïti il va falloir reloger 2 millions de personnes. mais la question c'est où ? Tous les hôpitaux de la capital sont fortement endommagés et fermés. MSF accueil les victimes, mais vue leurs grandes nombre ont du fermer leurs portes. Certain témoins ont vue des gens mourir devant le centre MSF faute de soin.
Un hôpital mobile est attendu aujourd'hui. La Croix Rouge doit envoyé jeudi 40 tonnes de médicaments et de kits médicaux en Haïti.
Un membre de l'ONG MSF ,Stefano Zannini a déclare "Je me suis rendu dans cinq centres médicaux dont un grand hôpital et la plupart d'entre eux ne fonctionnaient pas. Beaucoup sont détruits et j'ai vu un nombre bouleversant de corps".
Hans van Dillen, coordinateur de MSF en Haïti, raconte tant qu'à lui : "Des centaines de milliers de personnes ont dormi dans les rues car elles n'ont plus de logement. Nous avons pu voir des fractures ouvertes, des blessures à la tête. Le problème est que nous ne pouvons envoyer les gens se faire soigner correctement à ce stade"

Jeudi, 14 janvier 2010 07:41
Ce matin dans la capital

- Il y a beaucoup de cadavres le long de la route de Bourdon, de Delmas et bien sur de la capital.

- Certains cadavres commence à gonflés à cause de la chaleur.

- Aucun cellule de gestion de la crise n'a été mise en place.

- A Carrefour le collège Paul VI s'est effondré

- Les parcs sont transformés en campement de fortune.

- Le commissariat de police près de Saint-Louis de Gonzague à été détruit

- Avenue Christophe, le lycée Jean-Jacques Dessalines s'est effondré

- La plupart des stations service n'ont plus de carburant.

- Beaucoup de victime sous les décombres appellent encore à l'aide, mais personne n'a les moyens de les aider.

- L'Hôtel San Carlos s'est effondré, beaucoup de dominicain sont portés disparus.

- 2000 personnes sont réunis derrière le capitol, rue lamarre impasse moussin, sur 2 terrains vagues.

- Les gens remonte sur Pétionville, pensant trouvez le repos, mais aucun infrastructure pour les accueillir n'est disponible.

- Il y a des survivant au Collège Amazan rue picant

Ho cercato di capire se eventualmente altri flussi Web potessero portarmi il sound in diretta da Haiti. Ieri lo stream di Signal FM sembrava ancora funzionare, oggi però il canale trasporta solo rumore bianco.
Molto belle anche le corrispondenze di Radio Kiskeya ("che cosa succede" in creolo). Silenzio e foto raccapriccianti anche da Radiotele G(u)inen e dalla stessa 4VEH, per la quale tuttavia il problema potrebbe essere legato alla decodifica di uno stream Windows Media su Mac. Una possibile fonte di informazione che viene dalla diaspora haitiana negli USA è quella di Radio Flambeau su WRCA di Boston a partire dalle sette del mattino in Italia e fino a mezzogiorno. Una fonte abbastanza aggiornata per accedere alla programmazione radiofonica, non sempre autorizzata dalla FCC, della popolazione haitiana residente negli stati uniti è il sito Haiti FM, ma state attenti perché il creolo non è la pronuncia caraibica della lingua francese, la comprensione è molto parziale. Molte altre informazioni si trovano inoltre sul blog, questo sì in francese, Bel Balawou, del cronista creolo Evariste Zephyrin, residente in Francia.
In questi casi ci si aspetta che un supporto alle comunicazioni di emergenza possa venire dalla comunità dei radioamatori, ma ad Haïti ce ne sono pochissimi e senza generatori di corrente potrebbe essere molto complicato trasmettere e ricevere. Le frequenze da sorvegliare per l'eventuale coordinamento dei soccorsi sono la 3.720, la 7.045, la 14.265 e la 14.300 kHz, ma ieri sera non ho sentito un granché. Secondo le fonti americane un nodo di Echolink, la rete VoIP radioamatoriale, il numero 278173 dovrebbe ripetere il traffico ma per ora le chance di contatto appaiono molto ridotte. Un radioamatore americano ha annunciato di aver creato un canale di relay per le frequenze qui menzionate con il software di comunicazione vocale TeamSpeak (indirizzo IP 206.40.113.111), ma le prove che ho effettuato con il client Mac di TeamSpeak non hanno avuto successo.

Some ham radio activity from Haiti is beginning to be heard, following yesterday’s devastating earthquake.
Father John Henault, HH6JH, in Port-au-Prince, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. Based on relays monitored at W2VU, Father John reported that he and those with him were safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day. He asked the station copying him, William Sturridge, KI4MMZ, in Flagler Beach, Florida, to telephone relatives with information that he was OK.
The following frequencies are in use for earthquake-related traffic and should be kept clear unless you are able to provide requested assistance:
14300 (IATN), 14265 (SATERN); 7045 (IARU Region II) and 3720 (IARU Region II) kHz. Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

VU2SGW - On Tuesday, January 12 at 4:53 PM Haiti time (2153 UTC), a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince,the island nation's capital. Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.
No word has been received as of yet from any of Haitian Amateur Radio operator. The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) is also active on EchoLink node 278173. All radio amateurs are requested to keep 7045 kHz and 3720 kHz clear for possible emergency traffic related to today's major earthquake in Haiti.

Earthquake net frequencies - 7045, 3720 kHz - Please keep clear
All radio amateurs are requested to keep 7045 kHz and 3720 kHz clear for possible emergency traffic related to today's major earthquake in Haiti.
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator Arnie Coro, CO2KK, reports that as of 0245 UTC on January 13, nothing had been heard from radio amateurs in Haiti, but that the above frequencies were being kept active in case any Haitian hams manage to get on the air, and in case of other related events in surrounding areas, including aftershocks and a possible tsunami.

The following is from an e-mail from CO2KK:
A few minutes after the earthquake was felt in eastern Cuba's cities, the Cuban Federation of Radio Amateurs Emergency Net was activated, with net control stations CO8WM and CO8RP located in the city of Santiago de Cuba, and in permanent contact with the National Seismology Center of Cuba located in that city.
Stations in the city of Baracoa, in Guantanamo province, were also activated immediately as the earth movements were felt even stronger there, due to its proximity to Haiti. CO8AZ and CO8AW went on the air immediately, with CM8WAL following. At the early phase of the emergency, the population of the city of Baracoa was evacuated far away from the coast, as there was a primary alert of a possible tsunami event or of a heavy wave trains sequence impacting the coast line at the city's sea wall ...
Baracoa could not contact Santiago de Cuba stations on 40 meters due to long skip after 5 PM local time, so several stations in western Cuba and one in the US State of Florida provided relays. CO2KK as IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, helped to organize the nets, on 7045 kHz and also on 3720 kHz, while local nets in Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa operated on 2 meters.
As late as 9,45 PM local time 0245 UTC we have not been able to contact any amateur or emergency services stations in Haiti.
Amateurs from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela were monitoring the 40 meter band frequency, that I notified to the IARU Region II executive Ramon Santoyo XE1KK as in use for the emergency, requesting that 7045 kHz be kept as clear as possible..
We are still keeping watch on 7045 kHz hoping that someone in Haiti may have access to a transceiver and at least a car battery to run it.
All information that has so far come from the Cuban seismologists tell us of a very intense earthquake, and also of the possibility of other events following.
Following the advice of the geophysicists, we are keeping the 7045 and 3720 kiloHertz frequencies active until further notice.
From the CQ / WorldRadio Online Newsroom

La comunità ham radio attende adesso i primi risultati della missione di un radioamatore della repubblica Domenicana, Cesar Pio Santos HR2P, che afferma di essere partito alla volta di Haiti con il materiale necessario per stabilire una postazione d'emergenza. Ma non è ben chiaro il tipo di intervento che Santos potrà mettere in atto, considerando che nella zona del sisma regna il completo caos e la totale assenza di forze di polizia e coordinamento dei soccorsi.

The following update was received from Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P. By Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator RCD and URDA en route to Haiti
Victor Baez, HI8VB, Secretary of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) reports that the RCD with UDRA, Unión Dominicana de Radio Aficionados, are preparing to go to Port au Prince early morning of Friday January 15 to install an emergency radio Communications stastion, HI8RCD/HH, and a mobile station.
Victor has a blog which hopefully he will update with more news from Haiti: www.hi8vb.tk

RADIO CLUB DOMINICANO Y UDRA SE PREPARAN PARA COMUNICAR AL MUNDO CON HAITI

Una comisión del Radio Club Dominicano, Inc. y la Unión Dominicana de Radio aficionados, hace los preparativos pertinentes para comunicar al mundo con Puerto Príncipe Haiti, ciudad devastada por un sismo de 7.3 grados en la escala richter. La comisión coordinada por el Presidente del RCD y con el Apoyo de la HI8PGG Pepe Goico estará partiendo tentativamente de la cede del radio club la madrugada del viernes 14 del presente mes. Pretenden instalar una estación base la misma hará sus transmisiones con los indicativos HI8RCD/HH, y contara con todas las modalidades de comunicacion en las bandas de aficionados y una estación móvil con todas las bandas y frecuencias que estará informando al mundo. La comitiva estará compuesta inicialmente a parte de Pepe Goico por los miembros radio aficionados del RCD y la Udra siguientes: HI8FLB, HI8CJG, HI8DBF, HI8SAR, HI8JLH, HI8ROD y HI3TEJ.-

Sul piano delle prime cure mediche il problema è anche legato ai danni subiti dalle installazioni di Medici Senza Frontiere e dell'ONU. La Croce Rossa, che ha una sua rete di comunicazioni satellitari e HF ha creato una pagina sul suo sito FamilyLinks, rivolto a chi cerca di entrare in contatto con familiari e amici sui luoghi dei disastri.
National Public Radio ha una bella pagina su "come aiutare" mentre il blog del programma All Tech Considered si occupa di come cercare informazioni online.
Mobilitate anche le infrastrutture per l'imaging satellitare. Il Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales francese ha comunicato che il satellite Spot-5 è stato subito "centrato" con i suoi sensori nel visibile e nell'infrarosso su Haiti:

13 Janvier 2010
Haiti : le CNES coordonne l'intervention de la Charte Internationale "Espace et Catastrophes majeures"

TREMBLEMENT DE TERRE EN HAITI : le CNES coordonne l’intervention de la Charte Internationale « Espace et Catastrophes majeures »

L’Agence Spatiale Française (CNES) assure le rôle de Chef de Projet pour la mise en œuvre de la Charte Internationale « Espace et Catastrophes Majeures », déclenchée pour un tremblement de terre de grande ampleur (magnitude 7) sur la région de Port au Prince en Haïti, à la demande de la Sécurité Civile française (DSC/COGIC) le 13 janvier 2010 à 01h du matin (12/01 23h00 UTC), puis des Nations Unies pour le compte de la Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haïti (MINUSTAH) deux heures plus tard.
La violente secousse est survenue à 16 h 53 heure locale (22 h 53, heure française), faisant de nombreux morts et blessés. Plusieurs bâtiments de la capitale, y compris la présidence, se sont écroulés. Le quartier général de la Mission de stabilisation de l'ONU en Haïti s'est aussi effondré en grande partie.
L’Agence Spatiale Française (CNES) assure le rôle de Chef de Projet de ce déclenchement de la Charte (Call ID 287-288), en lien étroit avec les demandeurs (Direction de la Sécurité Civile française (DSC) et Nations Unies) pour organiser et coordonner l’ensemble des programmations et des acquisitions d’images satellites, optiques comme radar, haute et très haute résolution, fournies par plusieurs des 10 agences spatiales membres de la Charte Internationale.
Dans ce cadre, le satellite SPOT 5 a été programmé pour acquérir des images de crise en couleurs à 2.5 m de résolution, avec des prises de vues dès le 14 et 15 janvier. Les satellites radar de l’Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA) sont programmés, ainsi que ceux des agences spatiales japonaise et canadienne (images radar de haute résolution).
L’ensemble de la communauté spatiale s’efforce de produire des images de l’événement le plus rapidement possible pour supporter les interventions des équipes de secours et ainsi venir en aide aux populations touchées. A titre d’exemple, des images américaines de résolution métrique sont programmées pour le 15 janvier, et seront mises à disposition de la Charte.
La production des cartes de localisation précise des zones touchées, donnant un premier bilan des dégâts, a été confiée au Service Régional de Traitement d'Image et de Télédétection (SERTIT) de Strasbourg. Ceci dans le cadre du projet européen GMES SAFER (services opérationnels en réponse aux situations d’urgence). Ces produits cartographiques seront fournis aux équipes d‘intervention présentes sur le terrain qui sont utilisateurs de GMES SAFER tels que la Direction de la Sécurité Civile allemande (BBK) et des équipes des Nations Unies.
Les images d’archive les plus récentes de la zone d’impact vont être traitées par le SERTIT d’ici 24h afin de fournir une cartographie de référence à jour aux équipes de secours.
Le CNES, le SERTIT et la Sécurité Civile française travaillent en étroite collaboration pour fournir aux équipes françaises dépêchées sur place, les documents cartographiques leur permettant d’optimiser leur intervention.

Google ha invece impegnato il suo satellite GeoEye per rinfrescare all'istante le mappe che mostrano la zona di Port-au-Prince, rendendo anche disponibili dei nuovi layer per il software Google Earth. Tutti i dettagli sul blog Google Earth Library e su Google LatLong, il blog del team di sviluppo. MiBazaar ha messo rapidamente insieme due applicazioni Google Maps per visualizzare in cartografia digitale sia le corrispondenze da Haïti postate su YouTube sia i post pubblicati su Twitter.