[CVRC] SKYWARN Recognition Day Update

[Matthew Parker]

Greetings to all -

We are now less than 48 hours away from "D-Day".  The event, and station
WX7RNO at the National Weather Service Office Reno, will be on the air
promptly at 00Z December 6 (1600 local time on December 5).  Our first
contact last year was promptly at 00Z with WFO Great Falls, MT - we'll
see if we can duplicate this kick-off again this year.

The latest national update on the event indicates that 115 NWS offices
across the country have registered.  This number is 6 greater than the
total of participating stations from last year and represents 91%
participation from among the 126 offices nationwide!  There is still the
possibility that yet more will register prior to start time.

The endorsement checklist for this year is slated to be released on
December 4, meaning it may be available by the time you read this.  For
more information on this subject, see the national web site at
http://renoskywarn.org.

We have not had any additional volunteers offer to assist with set-up,
leaving us with a crew of 4 to start at 1300 local on Friday.  A strong
weather system approaching the coast will stir up some gusty winds by
this time making our setup of antennas challenging, so additional
assistance would be appreciated.  I am pleased to report that interest
in what we are doing combined with the changing weather has piqued the
interest of at least one local television station - KOLO Channel 8 has
advised us they will be sending reporter Vicky Nguyen to provide some
coverage of the event.  We have calls in to the other networks as well
as the Reno Gazette Journal and are hoping their interest will be piqued
as well.

As a reminder, WFO Reno Warning Coordination Meteorologist Roger Lamoni
will be leaving us around the first of the year to take a position at
Western Region Headquarters in Salt Lake City.  Roger has been a great
friend to all of us in the amateur radio community and, while we
congratulate Roger on this opportunity for advancement, we will
certainly be sad to see him go.  We will be taking the opportunity of
this event to say goodbye and express our appreciation for all he his
done in support of amateur radio.  We will have a cake arriving sometime
around noon on Saturday and will be presenting a gift to him expressing
our appreciation at around 1400 local time.  We invite all of you who
have enjoyed with us the privelege of working with Roger to join us for
this presentation.

Again, we encourage everyone interested to come up and enjoy the event
by visiting and getting on the air with us at some point during the 24
hour duration of the event.  Hope to see you at station WX7RNO!

73,
Matt Parker, N7TOD
ARRL OES/ARES AEC - National Weather Service Reno Amateur Radio Liaison
WX7RNO Station License Trustee