[PPRAANet] Weather net

[John Bloodgood]

For those who don't get the PPARES reflector emails.

------

So today we had our first really good event of the season for El Paso & Teller counties.  Great to hear so many stations on the air.  Lots of reports were coming in and NWS Pueblo was listening on frequency.  Much of the information that was passed to Sid, K4ARM, was good info, but it appears that we are a bit out of practice.  Therefore, without malice or calling out individuals, let me address some key things:


1)  DON'T SHOUT!!!  I know how easy it is to raise our voices when we get excited or there is a lot of background noise.  We all have done it.  Shouting just makes it even harder to understand what you are saying.  Talk normally and hold your mic correctly. Talk across hand mics, talk into HTs.  


2)  Key, Wait, Transmit.  That way we don't clip the first part of our call signs. And wait for the courtesy beep after other people transmit before keying up.


3)  Don't use VOX. Seriously, forget your radio even has a VOX option.  


4)  Follow normal net procedures: Check in with NCS.  Always wait for NCS to give you the go ahead.  Check out with NCS.


5)  Clear with your full legal call sign. NOTHING substantive is allowed to follow our call signs when clearing.  


6)  Exercise restraint when calling things in.  Limit yourself to previously defined reportable items or the items NWS Pueblo has asked for.  Normally, that means 1" sized hail (Quarter sized), though sometimes NWS will ask for 3/4" (One Cent AKA Penny sized) or any hail.  Lightning is not normally reportable, unless it caused damage.  Winds have to be 58 MPH to be reportable.  When in doubt, check with NCS to find out what he or NWS wants. 



7)  This is not a storm chaser net.  We will take reports from storm chasers, but our net should not be used for coordinating chases.  I know that some in Texas and other states have had serious problems with this; us, not so much.


8)  We not calling a horse race.  If you aren't sure what that means, listen to one being called some time, but in essence it means we do not need a blow-by-blow or calls every 2 minutes.  If you are calling things in a lot more than anyone else, ask yourself if you really need to be doing so.  


9)  Keep it short and sweet.  Give the Time, Observation, ID, and/or Location (not necessarily in that order) and clear with your call sign -- that's it. Know what you are going to say ahead of time and say it.  If you are keying up and giving a paragraph about what you are seeing, you are stopping others from reporting. 


Example: "I'm at the corner of East street and North Ave, uhh... by the Stop & Go, and I'm seeing, well, it looks like one inch hail at the largest, but I haven't measured it, so that is just an estimate and umm... the sky looks awfully green."  As compared to, "At the corner of East street & North Ave, one inch hail estimated."  


10)  Remember, OTHERS ARE LISTENING TO US.  Anyone, including news media and kids, can and do listen in to our transmissions over scanners or the Internet.  Use plain language and don't say anything you wouldn't want repeated.  



All that being said, it was really FANTASTIC to hear all the check ins on the midday weather net and to hear all the different call signs during the weather activity this afternoon.  Pretty sure K4ARM went through a couple of pencils today.  YOUR participation is what makes ARES so valuable to our served agencies and communities.  





John Bloodgood, KD0SFY
Emergency Coordinator & Public Information Officer
Region 2 District 2, Colorado ARES (Pikes Peak ARES)
www.facebook.com/PikesPeakARES
Twitter @PikesPeakARES