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)

It's a really diverse hobby, really #ARRL #hamradio

The Best Hobby on the Planet is a diverse experience. 

Think about your television viewing pleasure. Your choices are over-the-air, streaming with Roku, Amazon Fire, or satellite Dish, etc.

Your AM radio listening has changed to FM and then to streaming. 

The Hobby is even more diverse than that. 

Some of the Hobby like plain old CW, nothing fancy, just a J38 to some vintage gear. There's a club or more for that. 

Still others forgot Code, when they got their No-Code Extra license. For them, it's sideboard or AM or FM on 10 meters. There are clubs for that too. 

Slow scan and fast scan tv interest some. Also, you have quickly observed the pattern. There's clubs for that. 

The interest in emergency communication, public safety, weather, space communication, and network radio operations also have clubs for those activities. 

Then, there's the ARRL. It's a radio club to some, a magazine to others, the best National Organization Representing Amateur Radio to a few. 

Regardless, the diverse hobby requires a diverse organization giving aid and counsel. 

Some people have learned the hard way that THEY are responsible for the operation of their station. That's in CFR Part 97 of the FCC rules. 

 The League, likewise, is responsible for their operation. The RF side is guided by Part 97. The rest comes under the rules governing corporate actions. The reflection in the mirror gets to decide how much or how little to enjoy the Best Hobby on the Planet. You are responsible for that.

 

So Many Choices; Not enough Time #HamRadio #ARRL

 New hams have so much to learn.  New students learn answers to the questions.

Ham Radio is the BEST hobby on the Planet.  It's also the most diverse hobby on the planet.

On TV, you can watch ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and more.  You can subscribe to Hulu, Netflix, Google TV, Tubi, and a plethora of other streaming services.

On streaming services, you can get Spotify, YouTube, WeatherNation, and a ton of other sources for information.

When do you have time to watch anything anymore?

Students, don't try to learn it all.  Folks go crazy trying to learn Winlink the next day after passing their Technician class license.  

When do you have time to master Morse Code, check into the Nets on HF, check into the nets on VHF, work the grids on the satellites? 

Pick a spot.  Find something to enjoy.  Make ham radio fun.

After all, it IS the BEST hobby on the Planet.

Christians and #hamradio

 Recently, this article appeared about a amateur radio group.

Readers will appreciate the tone of the article.  It is well written.  

Readers will also appreciate the net, in the preamble, allows for any amateur radio operator to check into the net.  

Sadly, not every amateur radio operator operates the same way.  Our Nation prohibits discrimination based on age, sex, religion, national origin, handicap, or political belief.

The author has witnessed discrimination in the above areas on and off the air.

Maybe the Hobby needs to take note.  If you can't be Christlike, regardless of your religion, at least follow the guidelines below:

Chasers! Please be SAFE! Report PLEASE! #Skywarn @NWSNorman @NWSWichita @NWSTulsa @TrooperBenKHP @OHPDPS

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

APRSFoundation Mentioned #hamradio #APRS

APRS is far from dead.

 

#APRSThursday happens every Thursday.

From the APRS reflector, mention of the APRS Foundation also included 

"One way that we can ensure the future of APRS is by providing a central clearing house for the protocol definition, including potential new extensions.  And even better, to develop some level of compatibility and interoperability testing that has been lacking beyond Bob's enforcement of will and intent."

WA4APR and Bob's memory carry on. 

It's #Skywarn time again #hamradio

 Each year, folks with the National Weather Service give free Skywarn talks to interested individuals and groups.

This year is no exception.  The Wichita office notes a number of talks in Kansas.  The Norman office has a number of talks available, live and in person or virtually.  Tulsa has also announced their classes.

These classes are designed for folks who want to learn how to be safe in severe weather and how to report to their local Weather Forecast Office.  

No experience is required.  Come learn how you can be safe while providing a service to your neighbors.  The training is FREE.

If you plan to vacation in another area of the Nation, take the training from that office.  Amateur Radio Operators may be interested in this list of resources.

To find other classes in other areas, go to Weather.gov and search for your local office by entering your zip code in the search box.  When you find your local office, look for the Skywarn link somewhere on the page.

Finn, the Skywarn Dog!

 

New Echolink process is up #hamradio #ARRL #Skywarn

There is a new Echolink process up.

Users are now able to access the service over the web.  There is no software to download.

The process lets users connect and disconnect from their favorite resources.

This promisses to be a good tool for Weather Talk and AUXCOMMUSA users.

As always, users are encouraged to set their transmit and receive audio at 9999 ... the Echotest server ... before connecting to other resources.

 

Just when you thought it was safe #hamradio #NatlPrep

 You are driving down the turnpike listening to your favorite radio station and THIS happens.

WAY back when, that would be disastrous.  One radio station served the entire region.  

Today, there are travelers listening to all manner of AM, FM, Sirius XM programs that originate all over the Planet.

So where do you tune, next, and hope the thieves or a Carrington Event have not zapped that one.

So, what is a ham to do?

1.  If you SEE something, Say something.  Someone, somewhere saw the event unfolding or not long afterwards.  The State Homeland Security office is aware. Obviously, local law enforcement is aware.

2.  Is your local repeater monitored for all hazards frequently?  If someone were to call RIGHT THIS MINUTE, who would answer.  Advance the question 12 hours.  Who will answer then?

3.  Have THREE ways to get emergency alerts, regardless of the AM, FM, or satellite station you are tuned to listen.  THEN have battery backups on the devices to which you listen.

4.  Tell your neighbor.  Have a way for them to reach you during a disaster.  They are your neighbor, right?  They are a member of the public, right?  You are all about serving the public, right?

Just as the public has a choice of who they will hear, they too might not be listening to your station.  YOUR job is to make it easy for them to find you and listen, before, during, and after a disaster.

Be #WinterReady #hamradio #UHA

EVERYONE loves Winter!!!!  NOT

Amateur radio operators would do well to know how to prepare themselves for winter weather and prepare their neighbors too. 

Until Help Arrives is an important part of the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency mission to get people to prepare their neighbors.

What can ham radio do? 

Groups like AUXCOMMUSA, Radio Relay International, and others have encouraged amateur radio operators to monitor Family Radio Service channel one, no tone, to receive calls for help from their neighbors.  Encourage your scanner listeners to get their ham radio operator license, BUT, until they do get an FRS radio and use the FRS channel as a kind of "Neighborhood Watch".

Teach your friends and neighbors how to send a "Radiogram".  The Radiogram has been an avenue for letting loved ones outside the "affected area" know the sender is safe.  

These are just two ideas for serving the public.  Leave your ideas in the comments below.     

 

Be #WinterReady

As temperatures drop, it's important to prepare for the risks cold weather can bring. Winter storms can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, snow, ice and high winds. These conditions can create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite and more. Here arerttention to watches and warnings. A Winter Weather Advisory is issued for snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle and sleet that will cause significant inconveniences but is not serious enough to issue a warning. A Winter Storm Watch is issued up to 48 hours before the possibility of a blizzard, snow, freezing rain or sleet that could be more severe and dangerous. Where you live determines the conditions needed to warrant a Winter Storm Watch. A Winter Storm Warning is issued when the potential for hazardous winter weather like heavy snow, freezing rain or sleet is expected soon or may already be happening. Remember, your local National Weather Service office forecasters monitor the weather around the clock in your area and will issue Warnings, Watches or Advisories based on local criteria. Sign up for your community's warning system. The Emergency Alert System and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio also provide emergency alerts. You can also download the FEMA App to receive alerts for up to five different areas. Stock up before the storm. Gather supplies in case you need to stay home for several days without power. Keep in mind each person's specific needs, including medication. Also make sure you have flashlights and extra batteries. Only use generators outside and be sure to set them at least 20 feet away from your home's doors and windows. Limit your time outside. Stay off the roads if possible. Keep your car's gas tank full and keep an emergency kit that includes a blanket in your car. If you need to go out, wear layers of warm clothing. Watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia. Frostbite causes loss of feeling and color around the face, fingers and toes. If it occurs, go to a warm room as soon as possible. You can soak the affected part in warm water. Do not massage or use a heating pad.Hypothermia, an unusually low body temperature below 95 degrees, is a medical emergency. Warning signs include shivering, exhaustion, slurred speech, confusion and drowsiness. Get the person to a warm room, remove any wet clothing they're wearing and warm the center of the body including the chest, neck, head and groin using warm, dry blankets, clothing, towels or sheets. If you have an electric blanket available, use it to warm the person. Get the person medical attention as soon as possible. Check on neighbors. Consider exchanging contact information including phone, email, and social media, with neighbors to stay in touch during emergencies. Reach out to those who are older or who have a disability, as they may be more vulnerable to winter hazards. Get help with heating bills if needed. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program(LIHEAP) is a federally funded program that helps low-income households with their home energy bills. To find out if you are eligible to receive LIHEAP benefits, contact your state LIHEAP office. You can also call: 1-866-674-6327. Visit the #WinterReady page on Ready.gov to understand winter risks you face and steps you should take now to prepare. Because the risks from winter weather affect people differently, the page includes low-cost tips for keeping your home warm, as well as tips for older adults, those who work or play outside and those who live somewhere that doesn't usually see extreme winter weather.

Lloyd Colston
KC5FM
Hamshack Hotline 50052
Arkansas City, KS
www.sunflowernet.us

#AuxCommUSA Announces New Net #hamradio

Starting January 4th, we will have a check in only net at 7:30pm Central Time on 20 meters using 14.330 frequency for 15 minutes. Then at 7:45 pm Central time, we will have a 40 meter check in only net on 7.220 frequency. Relays will be encouraged by those that net control isn't able to pick up. We will ask for Callsign, Name, City, State, and Country.

Best regards,

Billy Fanska
Director
AuxComm USA, Ltd.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation

www.AuxCommUSA.org
316-351-9200

 

When Automation replaces #hamradio #Skywarn

Ham radio operators in the Skywarn service are experiencing the times are changing.

More and more Weather Forecast Offices are shuttering their ham radio operations around the Nation.

Why?

Could it be services like the Oklahoma Mesonet?  In ALL 77 counties, there are weather staions that automatically, around the clock, record and report weather conditions in the area.  Some have been struck by tornadoes.  Often they are the first indicator of crippling ice storms.

Could it be services like the Airport Surface Observation Stations?  These stations, located at various airports around the Nation record and report surface observations.  There is even a phone number to call to get the conditions at the station.  Those conditions, when there is a trigger reached, automatically send that report to the WFO.

Could it be services like Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow?  Many Skywarn volunteers are sending reports to the WFO.  

Could it be services like SpotterNetwork? Members, after certification, send reports which are automatically relayed to the appropriate WFO.  

Could it be that the WFO can get information from Twitter and Facebook? For years, the various offices get and reply to questions, comments, etc. as a method of engaging the public.  

AUXCOMMUSA teaches, promotes and uses social media in their platforms.  Many ARRL divisions and sections have a presence on the various platforms.  The Voice over Internet Skywarn net has demonstrated for years the ability to gather information across a variety of platforms for WX4NHC.

Clearly, there are a lot of sources for information for the WFO.  However, Skywarn (and Weather Ready Nation) folks still can call the WFO, send information via NWSchat, and, for the few remaining offices with ham radio on board,  Additionally, reach out to your local WFO and any you plan to drive through on vacation.  Get their phone number at weather.gov, enter your zip code, and look for the number at the bottom of the page.

Hams are communicators.  Use the channels you have available, ham radio or not.  There are a number of groups even using GMRS to reach their customers.