Our History
Amateur Radio and Public Service - The first recorded instance of amateur radio being used in an emergency was in the United States for the Eastern States Floods in 1936, followed in 1937 by the Ohio River Valley Flood, although our American colleagues claim to have been established since 1917.
Radio amateurs played an important role in the UK at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. MI5 introduced a contingency plan to deal with the problems of illicit signals. The Radio Security Service (RSS) was set up and recruited all radio amateurs who, for one reason or another, were not called up. They were requested to monitor Morse code radio transmissions and submit logs. Within three months of starting work, RSS had recruited fifty Voluntary Interceptors (VI’s). By August 1941, 23,000 complete logs were being received a month, comprising up to 10,000 sheets a day. The VI’s were given particular frequency bands to search for signals and sometimes were asked to listen out for particular call-signs and to take down any messages which appeared in coded groups of five letters – the standard method of sending secret information by Morse.
An attempt had been made three years earlier by the RSGB to set up an Emergency Amateur Communications Service. It received a reply from the then Minister for Transport stating that “every eventuality was adequately covered.” Then came the night of January 31st 1953….
RAYNET was formed in 1953 after the severe East coast flood disaster - High spring tides, held upstream by the high winds of the previous day, were reinforced when the next flood tide came in, driven down the north sea by the fierce north easterly gales. Sea defenses from the Humber estuary to Kent were swept away and the sea invaded the coastal towns and villages on a scale never before recorded. Over three hundred people were drowned, and many more had to be rescued by boats from the rooftops of what remained of their homes. Communications at this time consisted mainly of overhead telephone lines, and many of them were brought down by wind or falling trees. No-one knew what the full extent of the crisis was; the police authorities, in desperation, sought help from the few Radio Amateurs then licensed, and, although such assistance was at that time illegal, the Home Office permitted the use of amateur radios in order to direct and co-ordinate the land and waterborne rescue teams, and to ascertain the scale of the relief measures which would be required. The lives of many marooned victims, whose plight was made known to rescuers, were saved as a result. Since then, the network has grown into a nationwide movement; with the emergence of county planning organisations dedicated to civil protection, the scope for involvement in community welfare has increased considerably, and, with the increasingly leisure orientated society of modern times, involvement with the voluntary First Aid societies, in support of social events, has become almost a weekly routine in many country and urban environments.
The Amateur Radio Emergency Corps - The Home Office reluctantly conceded the “desirability” of an organisation which, in times of emergency, could affect the passing of messages facilitating the rescue operations of the professional services. The RSGB decided to renew its efforts to get something started. An appeal to the membership in March 1953’s RSGB Bulletin (the forerunner of RadCom) asked members to register their names with Headquarters with the view to starting the “Amateur Radio Emergency Corps”. In late March, a special committee met for the first time, under the chairmanship of Auther Milne G2MI (Executive Vice-President), with Leslie Cooper G5LC (RSGB President), Dud Charman G6CJ (Immediate Past President), Len Newman G6NZ, C H L Edwards G8TL (RSGB Treasurer) and P Winsford G4DC. Recommendations were made and accepted by Council.
These included:
• A purely Amateur Radio Communications Service, having no tie-up with the Armed Service Reserves….with a view to co-operating with the public utility and rescue services in case of need
• The broad principles of the service……would be on the basis of key stations with associated outstations
• The service would be self-supporting and entirely amateur in nature
• Active “local nets”, organised by the key stations would be established and these would make every effort to maintain interest during the necessary long intervals between the occasions when their services in a real emergency might be needed.
• Proper and recognized procedure would be regarded as essential to the efficient running of the service
• Regular practices and simulated emergencies would take place
• Recommendations as to the type of equipment to be used would be formulated with the idea of voluntary standardization.
The Formation of the Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network - On November 25th 1953, RSGB President Leslie Cooper G5LC announced the formation of the Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network, at the luncheon following the opening of the Seventh Annual Amateur Radio Exhibition. Support for the idea had been “excellent” from the amateur radio community and by January 1954 a total of twenty-eight Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs) had been appointed (the equivalent of Group Controllers today). The task for the ECOs was to establish local radio nets and to recruit further members in their areas. It was recommended that nets be held at least once a month and preferably more often. Simulated emergencies would be arranged, at short notice, once the Network was organised. The ECOs would also be responsible for liaison with the local User Services. The primary purpose of the Network in an emergency was to send back information to the nearest available centre with a landline telephone facility. In those days, it was only envisaged that the service would need to be used in cases of sea and inland flooding and severe blizzards. The Post Office was fiercely protective of its communications monopoly and it was stressed that the service could not be used routinely.Membership was available to all, and the member was requested to provide details of his station, his personal availability and indicating his willingness to participate, operational preparedness and training. At the time, the service was seen as the true spirit of amateur radio. It still is today. RAYNET is the public face of amateur radio.
Forget Tony Hancock’s Radio Ham – RAYNET members today are dedicated to providing a professional communications service to our User Services and event organisers, and ready to be called upon when needs dictate.
The lifting in 1989 of all restrictions regarding frequency and type of events which can be covered by RAYNET operation, has brought both a new freedom and a new responsibility. It is unfortunate that the progress of modern society has en-trained also the increasing incidence of minor and some major disasters, nearly all of which have seen the involvement of RAYNET in a significant rôle, either as communications between the various professional and voluntary unit controllers, or as media for information to and from survivors and their families.
Radio amateurs played an important role in the UK at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. MI5 introduced a contingency plan to deal with the problems of illicit signals. The Radio Security Service (RSS) was set up and recruited all radio amateurs who, for one reason or another, were not called up. They were requested to monitor Morse code radio transmissions and submit logs. Within three months of starting work, RSS had recruited fifty Voluntary Interceptors (VI’s). By August 1941, 23,000 complete logs were being received a month, comprising up to 10,000 sheets a day. The VI’s were given particular frequency bands to search for signals and sometimes were asked to listen out for particular call-signs and to take down any messages which appeared in coded groups of five letters – the standard method of sending secret information by Morse.
An attempt had been made three years earlier by the RSGB to set up an Emergency Amateur Communications Service. It received a reply from the then Minister for Transport stating that “every eventuality was adequately covered.” Then came the night of January 31st 1953….
RAYNET was formed in 1953 after the severe East coast flood disaster - High spring tides, held upstream by the high winds of the previous day, were reinforced when the next flood tide came in, driven down the north sea by the fierce north easterly gales. Sea defenses from the Humber estuary to Kent were swept away and the sea invaded the coastal towns and villages on a scale never before recorded. Over three hundred people were drowned, and many more had to be rescued by boats from the rooftops of what remained of their homes. Communications at this time consisted mainly of overhead telephone lines, and many of them were brought down by wind or falling trees. No-one knew what the full extent of the crisis was; the police authorities, in desperation, sought help from the few Radio Amateurs then licensed, and, although such assistance was at that time illegal, the Home Office permitted the use of amateur radios in order to direct and co-ordinate the land and waterborne rescue teams, and to ascertain the scale of the relief measures which would be required. The lives of many marooned victims, whose plight was made known to rescuers, were saved as a result. Since then, the network has grown into a nationwide movement; with the emergence of county planning organisations dedicated to civil protection, the scope for involvement in community welfare has increased considerably, and, with the increasingly leisure orientated society of modern times, involvement with the voluntary First Aid societies, in support of social events, has become almost a weekly routine in many country and urban environments.
The Amateur Radio Emergency Corps - The Home Office reluctantly conceded the “desirability” of an organisation which, in times of emergency, could affect the passing of messages facilitating the rescue operations of the professional services. The RSGB decided to renew its efforts to get something started. An appeal to the membership in March 1953’s RSGB Bulletin (the forerunner of RadCom) asked members to register their names with Headquarters with the view to starting the “Amateur Radio Emergency Corps”. In late March, a special committee met for the first time, under the chairmanship of Auther Milne G2MI (Executive Vice-President), with Leslie Cooper G5LC (RSGB President), Dud Charman G6CJ (Immediate Past President), Len Newman G6NZ, C H L Edwards G8TL (RSGB Treasurer) and P Winsford G4DC. Recommendations were made and accepted by Council.
These included:
• A purely Amateur Radio Communications Service, having no tie-up with the Armed Service Reserves….with a view to co-operating with the public utility and rescue services in case of need
• The broad principles of the service……would be on the basis of key stations with associated outstations
• The service would be self-supporting and entirely amateur in nature
• Active “local nets”, organised by the key stations would be established and these would make every effort to maintain interest during the necessary long intervals between the occasions when their services in a real emergency might be needed.
• Proper and recognized procedure would be regarded as essential to the efficient running of the service
• Regular practices and simulated emergencies would take place
• Recommendations as to the type of equipment to be used would be formulated with the idea of voluntary standardization.
The Formation of the Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network - On November 25th 1953, RSGB President Leslie Cooper G5LC announced the formation of the Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network, at the luncheon following the opening of the Seventh Annual Amateur Radio Exhibition. Support for the idea had been “excellent” from the amateur radio community and by January 1954 a total of twenty-eight Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs) had been appointed (the equivalent of Group Controllers today). The task for the ECOs was to establish local radio nets and to recruit further members in their areas. It was recommended that nets be held at least once a month and preferably more often. Simulated emergencies would be arranged, at short notice, once the Network was organised. The ECOs would also be responsible for liaison with the local User Services. The primary purpose of the Network in an emergency was to send back information to the nearest available centre with a landline telephone facility. In those days, it was only envisaged that the service would need to be used in cases of sea and inland flooding and severe blizzards. The Post Office was fiercely protective of its communications monopoly and it was stressed that the service could not be used routinely.Membership was available to all, and the member was requested to provide details of his station, his personal availability and indicating his willingness to participate, operational preparedness and training. At the time, the service was seen as the true spirit of amateur radio. It still is today. RAYNET is the public face of amateur radio.
Forget Tony Hancock’s Radio Ham – RAYNET members today are dedicated to providing a professional communications service to our User Services and event organisers, and ready to be called upon when needs dictate.
The lifting in 1989 of all restrictions regarding frequency and type of events which can be covered by RAYNET operation, has brought both a new freedom and a new responsibility. It is unfortunate that the progress of modern society has en-trained also the increasing incidence of minor and some major disasters, nearly all of which have seen the involvement of RAYNET in a significant rôle, either as communications between the various professional and voluntary unit controllers, or as media for information to and from survivors and their families.