[Skywarn] New to skywarn

Thu Jul 9 13:37:11 EDT 2015

I think the real question is not the use of DMR at all.  The question is the
use of a wide area network of repeaters for a localized event.  I know of
some forecast offices that have SKYWARN wide area nets, including the NI4CE
system reporting to WX4TOR for West Central Florida, The Southeastern Linked
Repeater System reporting to WX4PTC in Peachtree City, GA, and W9ICE and the
Central Indiana SKYWARN Network reporting to W9NWS in Indianapolis.  The one
thing each of these offices has in common is that their County Warning Area
does not extend into more than one state and the forecast office itself is
near the center of the network.

That doesn't work when your forecast office CWA extends into three states,
three different ARRL sections,  works with three different state emergency
management agencies, and three differently organized volunteer emergency
communications services such as ARES, RACES, REACT, ACS, and AUXCOMM.

So, each WCM, in cooperation with local hams, must decide the best way for
their area to communicate storm spotter information in real time based upon
the resources available to them.  In some areas of the "real" tornado alley,
like OK, KS, MO, and NE, storm spotters are paged out like volunteer fire
fighters and operate on public service band frequencies.

It is important to remember that SKYWARN exists to provide real-time severe
weather observations to the NWS in order to support or verify the issuance
of watches and warnings.  We do not exist to relay weather reports to each
other via ham radio.  That is a secondary benefit of monitoring a SKYWARN
net, but not its purpose.

If you do not believe me, try checking into any SKYWARN net and giving a
non-severe weather report or try relaying something you heard on your
television weather.  The net control will probably be polite at first, but
then they will either ignore you, or in worst case, publicly humiliate you
over the air by saying something like "This net is a directed net for
reporting severe weather ONLY!!"

Heck, the biggest problem I have is getting spotters to get over the fear of
having their radio antenna struck by lightening.  The darn repeater has been
up at 4900 Feet ASL for 40 years and has never been struck by lightening.

Kevin Heyboer KD4UYR
AEC Cherokee County NCARES
Southwest Carolina SKYWARN Net Manager
http://www.cherokee-ares.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Skywarn [mailto:skywarn-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Steve
Spence
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2015 12:00 PM
To: Jerry Cooley
Cc: skywarn at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Skywarn] New to skywarn

DMR-MARC requires users of it's network to be hams, but DMR itself is  
not HAM tied, it was designed for commercial use. Other networks do  
not have the HAM requirement, and non ham frequencies are supported by  
DMR.

The DMR codec is proprietary, and a license fee is paid to Digital  
Voice Systems, Inc. when a DMR radio is purchased. I don't have to pay  
a license fee to a manufacturer in order to communicate on ham radio  
frequencies, it's "open". I can build my own equipment if I choose. I  
can't build a DMR radio without paying a $100,000 + license fee.

I'm not paying a premium to play in their club. It's against the  
openness spirit of Ham Radio.

Quoting Jerry Cooley <jcooley at tatitlek.com>:

> DMR.....occupies the RF spectrum assigned to ham radio......requires  
> an amateur radio license of at least technical class.....yea it's  
> probably really not ham radio. Repeaters and IRLP probably aren't  
> ham radio either. Only real ham radio modes are HF and simplex.
>
>
>
> Jerry Cooley,  WX6AAA
> Site Manager
> Camp Pendleton/29 Palms
> The Tatitlek Corporation
> GeoNorth, an American Native Corporation
> Cell    : 760.208.0191
> Office: 760.275.4020
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Steve Spence <sspence at green-trust.org>
> Date: 07/09/2015 04:55 (GMT-08:00)
> To: skywarn at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Skywarn] New to skywarn
>
> I don't even consider DMR ham radio.
>
> No interest.
>
>
>
> Quoting Jerry Cooley <jcooley at tatitlek.com>:
>
>> Kevin,
>>
>> No one is trying to fix anything. I know the DMR radios cost a lot
>> of cash. I was merely throwing DMR out there as a means of
>> communication on a national basis for those who wished to
>> participate. As my 4 year old grand daughter says....."everybody
>> just calm down."
>>
>>
>>
>> Jerry Cooley, Site Manager
>> Camp Pendleton/29 Palms
>> The Tatitlek Corporation
>> GeoNorth, an American Native Corporation
>> Cell    : 760.208.0191
>> Office: 760.275.4020
>>
>>
>> -------- Original message --------
>> From: Kevin Heyboer <k.heyboer at verizon.net>
>> Date: 07/08/2015 19:27 (GMT-08:00)
>> To: Jerry Cooley <jcooley at tatitlek.com>, 'Kc9zar'
>> <kc9zar at gmail.com>, skywarn at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: RE: [Skywarn] New to skywarn
>>
>> I have two answers to your question, Jerry.  The first is money.  There
is
>> no federal or state money for SKYWARN operations.  Transceivers and
antennas
>> at weather service offices are donated, as is the time of the volunteer
>> operators.
>>
>> The second answer is a bit of Southern wisdom....If it ain't broke, don't
>> fix it.
>>
>> Kevin Heyboer KD4UYR
>> AEC Cherokee County NCARES
>> Southwest Carolina SKYWARN Net Manager
>> http://www.cherokee-ares.net
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jerry Cooley [mailto:jcooley at tatitlek.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 4:29 PM
>> To: Kevin Heyboer; 'Kc9zar'; skywarn at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: RE: [Skywarn] New to skywarn
>>
>> Greetings from San Diego,
>>
>> Something that I believe SKYWARN could utilize as a communications tool
is
>> DMR radio. DMR (digital mobile radio) is a very robust network of
repeaters
>> providing worldwide coverage. Coverage can also be broken down to local,
>> county, state, regional or nationwide. I use DMR frequently as I run up
and
>> down the state of California and enjoy staying in touch with friends via
DMR
>> repeaters. DMR repeaters host numerous nets of various user interests. I
>> don't know why SKYWARN couldn't find time on DMR for a hosted net.
>>
>>
>> Jerry Cooley WX6AAA Spotter Number SDG 229
>> Site Manager, Camp Pendleton/Twentynine Palms, CA.
>> GeoNorth FTSE, an Alaskan Native Corporation
>> Building 2238 Room 123 Camp Pendleton, CA 92054
>> Work: (760) 725 4020
>> Cell  : (760) 208 0191
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Skywarn [mailto:skywarn-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Kevin
>> Heyboer
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 1:17 PM
>> To: 'Kc9zar'; skywarn at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: Re: [Skywarn] New to skywarn
>>
>> Welcome to the group, Jerry.  As a SKYWARN Net Manager, I am curious as
to
>> why you want/need your own SKYWARN repeater.  Your county is served by
W9ICE
>> and the Central Indiana Skywarn Network on the frequency of 146.670 on a
39
>> repeater network with direct access to the WSFO Indianapolis (IND) whose
>> radio call sign is W9NWS.
>>
>> SKYWARN exists on ham radio through a Memorandum of Understand between
the
>> NWS and the ARRL.  I am hopeful that you are communicating and
coordinating
>> with W9NWS.org and your local version of ARES/ACS/AUXCOM/RACES.  Although
>> your repeater may soon be coordinated in your name and call sign, SKYWARN
>> groups and communications are generally coordinated by a single entity
with
>> the knowledge and consent of the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at
your
>> WSFO. The term SKYWARN is trademarked by the Department of Commerce.
>>
>> Now, there may be a need in Daviess County for an additional repeater due
to
>> propagation and other considerations.  However, having served for 20
years
>> in the capacity of a SKYWARN Coordinator for two different WSFO's, 3
>> different WCM's, and two different Emergency Communications Groups,
please
>> trust me when I say these steps are important.
>>
>> For example, my group, SW Carolina SKYWARN is also known as District 2 of
>> the CWA for the WSFO Morristown, TN.  We do not have a linked repeater
>> network, so each of the 7 districts runs its own net, but all report
>> directly to WX4MRX and each of the 7 Net Managers reports to the trustee
of
>> that call sign and the WCM in Morristown.
>>
>> We will likely never have a linked network of repeaters because WSFO
>> Morristown covers East Tennessee, SW North Carolina, and SW Virginia,
>> including the Cumberland Plateau and portions of the Great Smoky
Mountains.
>> The repeater we use is located at 4900 feet on Joanna Bald in far NE
>> Cherokee County, NC.  There are no phone lines or internet access there,
nor
>> is there direct, line of sight for UHF/SHF linking.  Internet access for
>> Echolink/IRLP is not reliable here, especially during storms.
>>
>> When I moved to Murphy three years ago, I volunteered to take on the
>> position of Skywarn Coordinator or Net Manager.  Before I could do so, I
had
>> to get permission from the trustee of WX4MRX, the WCM at Morristown, and
the
>> SEC of NCARES/NCAUXCOM.  My official title, as far as Tennessee is
>> concerned, is District 2 Emergency Coordinator for SKYWARN, but North
>> Carolina only recognizes me as a Net Manager because we are in a
different
>> ARRL section.  It took almost six months to get all the approvals, but we
>> are officially listed and recognized by both the NWS and ARES.
>>
>> Good luck with your project, and by the way, I saw your station on QRZ,
>> quite impressive.
>>
>> Kevin Heyboer KD4UYR
>> AEC Cherokee County NCARES
>> Southwest Carolina SKYWARN Net Manager
>> http://www.cherokee-ares.net
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Skywarn [mailto:skywarn-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
Kc9zar
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 7:53 AM
>> To: skywarn at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: [Skywarn] New to skywarn
>>
>> Hello to the group!
>> My name is Jerry - KC9ZAR and live in Washington Indiana. I own a local
70cm
>> repeater and would like to start skywarn in our county.
>>
>> Thanks for the add.
>>
>> Jerry - KC9ZAR
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>
> --
> Steve Spence KK4HFJ
> http://www.green-trust.org
> http://arduinotronics.blogspot.com
>
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-- 
Steve Spence KK4HFJ
http://www.green-trust.org
http://arduinotronics.blogspot.com

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