SKYWARN and Ham Radio
COUGER GORDON
Robin269 <robi...@aol.com> wrote:
>Hi everybody,
>
>I wonder what relationship the National Weather Service actually has with
>"ham" radio operators. When I lived in south Florida we had a "net," or a
>
>Can anyone tell me more about SKYWARN - and can anyone tell me if ham
>radio operators still have a role to play (we darn well should, since
>we're able to communicate accross vast distances in the worst conditions)?
>
In Oklahoma I have been involved in weather and ham radio since the '50's
Until now. In the 50's ham radio was a major force in tracking storms and
in emergency communications. With radar, major efforts by the government
civil defense & FEMA ham radio no longer is the only way.
We still play very active and productive rolls in disaster work. Typicaly
the first thing that fails after even a small local disaster is that phone
system break down under the load. Hams fill this gap with health and
welfare trafic. We still go out and spot storms and we have played a major
roll in calibration of weather radar and still do.
In the recent Oklahoma City bombing for the first 8 hours we were on the
front lines furnishing communication. The next day the government got enough
folks there to handle the first line and hams started handeling health and
welfare traffic and logistics and drayage for the supplies comming. As I
recall they ran a net for 30 days non stop.
Another advantage of ham radio in emergnecies over cell phone is every body
hears what is going on.
We still have a place.
Gordon AB5DG
Gordon Couger senior software specialist
Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering. 114 AG Hall Stillwater, OK 74075
gco...@master.ceat.okstate.edu 405 744 8392 day 625-2855 evenings
Robin269
I wonder what relationship the National Weather Service actually has with
"ham" radio operators. When I lived in south Florida we had a "net," or a
specified time of each day on a specific radio frequency, where several
Amateur radio operators gathered to report weather observations (high and
low temperatures, precipitation, other observations) which were then sent
to the Weather Service.
Other than keeping records on the information gathered, we hams didn't
seem to play any other role in south Florida, except during a hurricane
warning and during the storm and it's aftermath. SKYWARN, at least in
Broward county, Florida, seemed to be nothing more than another way for
the Weather Service to gather data. We were not trained in storm
spotting, nor told how to alert the Weather Service if we observed
hazardous conditions - nothing! We just reported high and low
temperatures and precipitation amounts, period.
Now I've moved to a new community upstate and I'd really like to hear that
SKYWARN does more than just gather historical data in tyhis part of the
state (north central Florida). I suspect that in different parts of the
country, ham radio and the Weather Service have different roles to play.
Can anyone tell me more about SKYWARN - and can anyone tell me if ham
radio operators still have a role to play (we darn well should, since
we're able to communicate accross vast distances in the worst conditions)?
Thanks,
Robin Arnaud KD4ELI
Ocala, Florida
internet: ro...@juno.com MajorNet: Robin@SUN