[NvHam] Elko Amateur Radio Club Press Release

[Giraudo, Joe (Goldstrike)]

National Weather Service and Elko Amateur Radio Club Celebrate SKYWARN
Recognition Day

The Elko Amateur Radio Club, in cooperation with The National Weather
Service, will be participating in SKYWARN Recognition Day, Friday and
Saturday December 6 & 7, 2002.  This is an annual event where Amateur Radio
operators set up communication equipment at the National Weather Service
Forecast Offices around the nation and attempt to contact as many other
stations as possible during the weekend.  SKYWARN is a cooperative program
which utilizes trained severe weather spotters who relay information to
Weather Service Offices via Amateur Radio so that the public can be alerted
to pending severe storm conditions.

Several members of the Elko Amateur Radio Club have taken training, provided
by the Weather Service to become spotters.  The combination of Amateur Radio
with the spotter program allows for more rapid communication with the
Weather Service via radio should telephone service be unavailable due to
location or interruption of service.

This year, the event coincides with the anniversary of the attack on Pearl
Harbor.  Each station around the country will attempt contact with the
Honolulu Station and will relay Pearl Harbor weather conditions as part of
this exercise.  Further information about this event can be seen at:
http://hamradio.noaa.gov/

If you are interested in becoming a weather spotter, whether you are
interested in Amateur Radio or not, contact Paul Essautier at the Elko
Forecast Office, (775) 778-6716. The Elko Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a
non-profit corporation whose mission is to provide emergency communication
support in time of disaster, to aid travelers with emergency radio
communication and to recruit and train persons interested in Amateur Radio
and electronics.   If you are interested in Amateur Radio, contact the Elko
Amateur Radio Club at w7lko@arrl.net or contact Joe Giraudo at 738-7110.
The Elko Amateur Radio Club also maintains a website at: www.qsl.net/w7lko