Air Conditioners Always Break Down During a Heat Wave
During one summer's hot spell my wife called the repairman to come look at our air conditioner. "OK, but we can't get to it for three weeks," came the reply. Poor service? No, not really. It's rather logical that an air conditioning repair service would be inordinately busy during a hot spell. Equipment is used to full capacity at these times. A device that is marginal under a light duty cycle is likely to fail because of the rigors of the situation. This, in the midst of a heat wave, when the customer can least afford downtime, his equipment is most likely to fail. To compound things, that is the time when he will have the longest wait for repair.
Ever wonder why Amateur Radio operators often provide the critical communications circuits during emergencies? Communities find themselves in a situation analogous to my wife's. Under normal conditions public service communications systems (police, fire, ambulance, etc.) are adequate. Occasionally, equipment malfunctions; the operator takes the radio to the local 2-way repair shop, or the repairman makes a "housecall." Such down time is of little consequence.
Then comes the emergency. What happens? Confusion reigns. Communications circuits may approach a 100% duty cycle. Frequently, inclement weather and associated power and telephone outages compound the difficulties. The weak link begins to fail. Who picks up the pieces? No matter how dedicated and selfless the radio repairmen is, he can't be every where at once. Who provides communications while the community waits for things to return to normal?
Amateur Radio operators are waiting in the wings for just such occasions. The operator is the repairman. If a fuse blows, the ham knows how to replace it. If a wire breaks, the hams knows how to solder it together again. If an antenna falls down, the ham knows how to make one out of a coat hanger or an extension cord. If it is a major malfunction, the hams probably has a backup "rig" or, at least, can borrow one from a friend. Amateur Radio operators duty cycle for up to 48 hours at a time---that weeds out the weak link. Hams experiment with alternate sources of energy (e.g. solar, wind, water, etc.). Money can't buy that kind of preparation, because the ham is having fun.
It is a social contract between society and the Amateur Radio Service. Society give the hams a few small segments of the radio spectrum to "have fun with." All the time the hams care having fun, they are preparing for the day when they pay back society tenfold. Air conditioners usually break down during heat waves.