What if there was an outage like this?

What would you do?  How would you call for help?

Do you know the non-emergency number to Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, Public Works?

If the answer is no, then look them up ... now ... and save them in your phone

Which is better #Twister or #Twisters? #Skywarn #WRN

 The Short answer is neither.

You have read and now it is repeated.

While certainly is entertaining, Twisters adds yet another encouragement for chasers to bust stop signs, drive in excess of speed, drive recklessly, follow too close, and a host of other traffic infractions.

For educational value, 13 Minutes gives you all that and parking under overpasses, ignoring official warnings, and the drama the real life adds to the everyday storm day.

Why is 13 Minutes named that?  Because the average warning time in the USA for a tornado is ... 13 minutes.  That is, of course, if chasers don't take video of themselves talking about the tornado, rather than failing to report it to the National Weather Service.

13 Minutes has emergency managers, NWS, media folks all talking to one another.  They coordinated the warnings.  They were obviously a team, rather than competitors.

Twisters had an opportunity to do that, yet did not.  Would the professionals at Stillwater Emergency Management have failed to visit with the rodeo organizers?  When the wireless emergency alert was activated, the crowd in the stands were without direction.

13 Minutes had a motel housekeeping staff translating tornado action cards for the non-English speaking guests (That's good Hollywood but the National Weather Service provides material in languages other than English).  How many statements were ignored or misunderstood in that movie (How many weather statements do you ignore or misunderstand on any given day)?

The Movie was a remake of the original Twisters.  In that line, another round of chasers acting dangerously will be unleashed.  After all, movie fans will ignore that famous statement "Don't try this at home."   

Weather.gov/Skywarn 

If you can find a BETTER National Organization ... #ARRL #hamradio

Lee Iacocca said, more than once, "If you can find a better car, buy it."



Let us apply this to amateur radio for a moment.



Lets apply this to the American Radio Relay League.



Can you find a better "National Association for Amateur Radio"?



Does this other organization offer insurance for its members, representation before the Federal Communications Commission, an office in Washington, DC, friendly staff at Newington who answer phone calls and emails?



You have found a better National organization?



Do TELL!  What organization is it?



If not, then join the League.

When will Brandmeister be added to Sunflower? #hamradio

 From the Lookout Mountain Amateur Rado Club page, one can read:

We were notified by Brandmeister admins that new rules state (sic) “We don’t allow any bridges to other dmr networks now”. 

As a result of that, TGIF is the only DMR network supported on Sunflower Net.  

Anyone connected their station to Sunflower Net with Brandmeister connected do so on their own initiative.  

The Sunflower Net has always had the focus of finding ways so we CAN talk, rather than making rules to prohibit communication.

Hamshack Hotline is a very nice way use Auxcommusa.org and SunflowerNet.us

 At the Hamshack Hotline wiki, it is stated that:

"We no longer permit new softphone registrations on the HH (Hamshack Hotline) primary network servers (HHUS / HHEU / HHAP) without an active hard phone first."

That's all they read thinking there won't be a test at the end.

Further down the document, one will find that:

If you are looking to be on Hamshack Hotline with just a softphone only, you are allowed to do that on the experimental server (HHUX) without having a hard phone.

Please click the link, download the software, request an HHUX extension.

Then, after setup and testing, join the effort on the Auxcommusa.org and SunflowerNet.us systems.

Chasers! Please be safe. #Skywarn #WRN #OKwx #KSwx

 First, setting the record straight, this is NOT ANTI-CHASER.  It IS pro-safety.

The GOAL is a reduction in the loss of life and property.  While the numbers have trended down over the decades, there's never been a year where a storm doesn't injure or kill someone somewhere.

CHASERS!  The goal includes a reduction in the loss of life and property, including you, your friends, your chase vehicle.

In 2011, this note was sent by an emergency manager:

To: The WX-CHASE list

Since I'm not around ground zero this afternoon, I took some time to

watch some of the video samples available on the various video

streams.

I observed speed too fast for conditions (wet roads and hail),

following too close (can't you count one-one thousand, two

one-thousand after you pass a yellow line or pothole?), inattentive

driving (at least two left of center), one busted a red light, a

couple or three almost rear-ended the car in front.

Folks, if you are going to tell the world you are safely operating

your motor vehicle, the pictures need to match.  If you are going to

put a picture of you in the car driving, it helps if you pay attention

to what you do instead of dinking on the PC, talking on the radio, dig

for something on the floor or in the back seat, etc.  Don't you all

have partners?

Maybe it would be a better practice to NOT show video while you are

breaking the law.  After all, these end up on TV and you don't get

paid.

I'm getting the idea that this is too hard for some but, please, TRY

to be SAFE out there.  Tomorrow you are in Oklahoma.  I will be too

busy to watch but I bet someone in a clearly marked car will be.

Fast forward to a recent Skywarn safety talk by the National Weather Service office in Norman and the National Weather Service office in Wichita.  The goal is reinforced every year.

The Wichita Eagle reports:  

As storm chasing grows in popularity, so do the problems

There was hope this year at ChaserCon where folks from the Kansas and Oklahoma Highway Patrol joined a panel to talk about vehicle safety in storms.

There were positive results; one could hope they continue.

Then a ham radio fellow posted a video of a chaser willingly driving into debris in his effort to be a "free lance photographer".  The individual was not reporting anything to anyone who could actually warn the public. 

The online discussion went downhill from there. 

At any rate, for #Skywarn ACES is Awareness, Communication, Escape Routes, Safe Zones. https://t.co/pkKFwPtydk is the training site. #wrn @WRNAmbassadors @Kia pic.twitter.com/2hcZ2mdCfl

— kc5fm February 26, 2019

Awareness

Communication

Escape Routes

Safe Zones

All that's included in the online Skywarn class.

As one emergency manager once said more than once "Situational Awareness is a TERRIBLE thing to lose."

Willingly driving into an active debris field is dangerous and speaks to the loss of situational awareness.  Being in the area of a tornado and filming it, certainly speaks volumes to the lack of community spirit, when the tornado goes unreported.  

"We're all going to DIE" are the last recorded words of one veteran chaser crew.  Friends, if it can happen to them, it's pretty apparent we are ALL not bullet-proof.

For nearly 60 years, the only known chaser deaths were driving-related. The first was Christopher Phillips, a University of Oklahoma undergraduate student, killed in a hydroplaning accident when swerving to miss a rabbit in 1984.^[26] Three other incidents occurred when Jeff Wear was driving home from a hurricane chase in 2005,^[27] when Fabian Guerra swerved to miss a deer while driving to a chase in 2009,^[28] and when a wrong-way driver resulted in a head-on collision that killed Andy Gabrielson returning from a chase in 2012.^[29] On 31 May 2013, an extreme event led to the first known chaser deaths inflicted directly by weather when the widest tornado ever recorded struck near El Reno, Oklahoma. Engineer Tim Samaras, his photographer son Paul, and meteorologist Carl Young were killed doing in situ probe and infrasonic field research by an exceptional combination of events in which an already large and rain-obscured tornado swelled within less than a minute to 2.6 miles (4.2 km) wide simultaneously as it changed direction and accelerated.^[30][31] Several other chasers were also struck and some injured by this tornado and its parent supercell's rear flank downdraft.^[32] Three chasers were killed, two in one vehicle and one in another, when their vehicles collided in West Texas in 2017, bringing the total number of known traffic related fatalities to 7.^[33] There are other incidents in which chasers were injured by automobile accidents, lightning strikes, and tornado impacts.^{[citation needed]} While chasing a tornado outbreak on 13 March 1990, KWTV television photographer Bill Merickel was shot and injured near Lindsay, Oklahoma.^[34][35]

Friends from Germany come to the USA to study storms and share mutually beneficial techniques in Skywarn.  These folks are very comfortable with autobahn speeds.  The reports received from them indicate more of a concern for chasers than for the storm itself.

A former volunteer (still friend) turned tornado tour guide offers similar observations.

The current average lead-time for tornado warnings is 13 minutes.

How would you like to live in a community where the lead time went from seven minutes to ZERO because a chaser is spending time videoing, without reporting, the tornado seven minutes away from the community that got NO lead time?  There's a video proving that.  

To rephrase the goal from a retired emergency manager, "NO one dies on my shift".  One of these days, he'll quit caring if you arrive alive or not.  Until then, please memorize this photo:

Your Official Oklahoma Highway Patrol Tornado Chaser Chase Vehicle

BE SAFE

Y'all know I love when you send weather pics, but PLEASE don't take them while driving. I don't share pics that were clearly taken while driving; I would encourage other Mets to do the same. The likes/shares you may get are NOT worth risking the safety of everyone on the road. pic.twitter.com/GIwEvbtFnq

— Hannah Strong (@WxStrong) June 1, 2019

Don't say the band is not open without checking #hamradio #ARRL @tentennet

Ten Meters is one of my favorite bands. Even when it's not "open", it's frequently open. With the sunspots on the rise, so should the activity on the band increase.


Have you found http://ten-ten.org/daily_nets.html yet? Nets listed there will help determine if the band is open. If you look at http://www.qsl.net/steelcity/nets/whichnet.html, one will see a search box that lets you know which nets are in operation.

http://www.dxwatch.com/dxsd1.php?f=92 or http://hamspots.net/10/ will also give you DX Cluster spots, just for 10 meters.

At http://www.vhfdx.info/spots/warnings.php, one can get email alerts when six meters is open. If SIX is open, it's almost a given that TEN is open.

http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=28&ML=M&Map=W2L&DXC=N&HF=N&GL=N also offers a map of openings AND the ability to post spots all in one place.


There's a number of 10 meter software defined radios that one can use to see where's the band is open. Two are dedicated to the "Beacon Band".

http://userpages.troycable.net/~wj5o/bcn.htm is a list of beacons on Ten. Tune here to see where the band is open, even when it's not.

Ten Meters is one of my favorite bands. Thankfully, there's plenty of tools to take some of the Magic out of the Band.  What is your favorite band? 

If you issue a WARNING, you should issue an ALL CLEAR when the situation is over. If you open the door, close it.

JBEOC (@John Bobel - EOC) posted: If you issue a WARNING, you should issue an ALL CLEAR when the situation is over. If you open the door, close it. https://x.com/jbeoc/status/1778424979589382437?s=51&t=5s1rmiUW_IWN6GSTOtWUSg

The other side of the coin is "Alerting is for danger.  No all clear is issued because warnings are for danger."

Have more than one way to get warnings #Skywarn #WRN #hamradio

When you see messages like this one, take time now to review the tools you use that insure multiple ways to get important messages from

@NWS

.

IF you have your three or more on your cellphone, when your cellphone is destroyed or lost, where are you now? #Skywarn #WRN…

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Quote

NWS Norman

@NWSNorman

·

Apr 27

Important info: We've received reports that warnings are experiencing delays in reaching NOAA Weather Radio. Given the serious situation ongoing, please consider other methods of receiving warnings such as TV coverage, WEAs on your phone, or our social media accounts.

Show more

Have at least three ways #hamradio #Skywarn #NatlPrep #RedCross @ARRL

When some folks started in emergency management, there were two ways to get warnings in the community.  One of those was the SIREN, if someone pushed the button and it was working.

Later, SIX ways were identified without even mentioning the SIREN.  

Now, there 10 ways to get warnings.  The photo lists 10.  The photo does not mention ham radio and it should.

Travelers need to have three ways to get warnings.  Ham Radio is a nice fit in that area.  Many local clubs and emergency management agencies include Skywarn programs, including repeaters that automatically alert with the National Weather Service issues a warning.

Now, as a reminder, if you have your three ways on your ONE cellphone, that's OK, until your cellphone is lost, stolen, or broken.  

The American Red Cross has a nice Alexa Skill called "Hurricane Alerts".  Once enabled, the skill allows one to receive alerts from a number of locations in the United States and territories.  It's free.  

Check with the American Radio Relay League for a radio club near you.  Once located, ask the club official for help with the Question "Does the club have a repeater that automatically sends an alarm for weather".  Also, ask if there is a license class.  

There's a Mission Possible statement Mr. Phelps.  Go forth and survive the next disaster.

So you really did not know? #ARRL #hamradio

One of the comments heard regarding a number of issues is "They don't tell me anything" or "How am I supposed to know these things?

The American Radio Relay League members have the ability to subscribe to a number of newsletters sent by email.

After logging into your membership page, changes can be made to the items that are of interest to you.  Check to get reminded about your license expiration.

Choices include:

ARES Letter

ARRL Board meeting agendas and minutes

ARRL Club News - (monthly notification)

ARRL Contest Update (bi-weekly contest newsletter)

ARRL Current - (monthly digital notification)

ARRL Instructor/Teacher E-Letter (Radio Waves)

ARRL Legislative Update

ARRL Letter

Division and Section News

IARU E-Letter (International Amateur Radio Union)

Notification of ARRL membership expiration

Notification of license expiration

NTS Letter (National Traffic System monthly news)