ALERT NEWSLETTER – November 2016

Hi everyone,

Halloween is upon us. My idea of a good Halloween is to buy lots of candy, turn off the lights; pretend I’m in Tucson and then eat every stinking piece.

I’m not being selfish. Really I’m not.

I figure that I’m actually doing a vital public service by doing this. Just think of all the dental bills that parents won’t have to pay for their children thanks to my noble sacrifice.

At any rate, I hope you have a good Halloween and I hope to see you at our next ALERT meeting, which will be on Election Day, Tuesday November the 8th.

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2016 Simulated Emergency Test Results
The Simulated Emergency Test (SET) which was held on October 15 was a great success, both for ARES and ALERT. A callout was issued for the SET by NWS Liaison Russell Thomas, KV4S at 1:44PM October 13.
ALERT Responders were Casey Benefield NZ2O, Justin Glass N0ZO, Ronnie King WX4RON, Michael Lamb KK4OHW and Roger Parsons KK4UDU.
The following are excerpts from Casey’s After Action Report:
“OVERVIEW
(From SET Script Overview) This year’s statewide SET event is being conducted to simulate our communication response to a Category 5 Hurricane making landfall near Ft. Walton Beach, FL, travelling due north. The NWS requested us to share our coverage maps that indicate where we have operators who can provide information in advance of weather emergencies. The target is to produce maps that indicate where our operators, repeaters, and primary served agencies are located, as well as the capability of contacting and passing messages to and from each county EMA representative.
In addition to the original purpose of SET, ALERT responders would be tested on what we might do to establish an operational station by the start time of the event at 13:00 UTC (12:45 UTC for ideal start time), in the event of radio station damage, or in this case a dismantled station due to renovations being done.
EVENT TIMELINE
* 11:45 UTC – Arrival, NWS Sign-in and Briefing, Equipment Unload/Setup. Event/photos announced on social media, to show how amateur radio works when the primary communication station fails.
* 12:55 UTC – Station in conference room brought online. Capabilities/set-up as follows:
o Equipment (NZ2O): 115AH Gel Cell (Not Used), Astron RS-20, ICOM ID-5100 (VHF, UHF, Analog/D-Star), 100FT 50 Ohm Coax, Comet GP-1 Dual Band Base Antenna, Pofung GT-5, Baofeng BF-F8+, Channel Master Tripod, military mast (1 guy ring, 4x 4ft Pieces – 16 ft, antenna at approximately 17 ft, total height approximately 21 ft), 66ft of non-galvanized guy wire, 3 stakes. Tools: Hammers for stake install/removal. Multi-tool for cutting/dealing with guy wires. Gloves for handling fiberglass. Consumables: Electrical tape, for cable wrapping, orange safety flag tape, to flag the guy wires for safety reasons.
o Equipment (WX4RON): Laptop PC, Wouxum VHF/UHF Radio, Bridgecom 220MHz Radio for EMA contact.
o Equipment (N0ZO): Ultrabook PC, Internet Access Point for NWSChat, Cross-band repeater to KK4BSK (146.76MHz) in vehicle, ICOM D-Star Capable VHF/UHF Radio.
o Reachable Repeaters/Frequencies: 146.76 (Main), 146.88, 147.32, 146.98, 145.35, 146.58S, K4DSO D-Star
o Unreachable, Monitored Repeater: 147.39 (Jasper, AL)
* 15:40 UTC – NWSChat Test Messages, with Mary Keiser’s guidance.
* Approximately 16:30 UTC – Net Control Stations declare this SET session to be complete. ALERT/K4NWS advises Net Control Stations on 146.76/146.88 that the station is standing down, as courtesy to Net Control.
* Approximately 17:10 UTC – Temporary station being dismantled, returned to owners.
OUTCOMES
K4NWS was not online at the pre-planned 12:45 UTC, but we only missed by 10 minutes. We were online before the SET exercise began at 13:00 UTC. An acceptable result.
* The reason for this appears to be our initial choice of a site for the antenna support was too close to the building, and there was a lot of coiled excess cable, which might have resulted in degraded station performance/air-choke behavior. The antenna was moved more to the front of the building, which also likely eliminated the building as a source of line-of-sight interference.
We also were working with new guy-wire, which had not been cut to the proper length prior to the event. It will be useful in the next event, and it may be a good idea for temporary station antenna guy wires to be pre-cut. Today was a sunny and clear day, but measuring, cutting, and putting together the same in dark or rain conditions would have made it much more difficult. Note: It is not safe to work with an antenna during a storm with thunder.
* If this were a real emergency, we may be well-served by first establishing cross-band repeat operations first, and then have the temporary antenna and support structure being worked on afterwards.
* For the temporary station that we deployed today, we were on street power, but capable of emergency power by both gel-cell battery and the permanent on-site generator. The cable was run through a wire conduit to the outside, from the conference room. The NWS’s conference room computer was not used.
* A headset/earpiece in a multi-radio, multi-operator setup might be helpful for clarity/noise level.
K4NWS was ready for reports, and conducted test reports with NWS. The standard Local Storm Report form was used, and the reports were also entered in NWSChat as a test.
* As part of our storm reports, let’s be reminded that the time that an event occurred is important to the meteorologist, and may be different from the time that the report is received.
o SKYWARN® spotters are trained to wait until danger has passed, if any, to provide reports.
o Meteorologists might find the event time useful, when comparing a report with data or other reports.
o This demonstrates and reinforces the value in re-taking/refreshing our SKYWARN® storm spotter training once yearly, or more.
* NWSChat Best Practice shared by Justin (N0ZO): Have a notepad window up, and type the report up in full in that notepad. This prevents accidentally pressing enter, which immediately sends messages. This may also assist, by giving the operator a template to work with, reducing time typing messages. Note: In many cases by procedure, unless responding to a callout/severe event at home, the LSR form is handed directly to meteorologists, instead of NWSChat.
K4NWS’s temporary station was dismantled within 30 minutes, without incident.
Both the temporary station and the cross-band repeater worked well for the entire event. No uncommon occurrences took place.”
This test demonstrates clearly the resilience of ALERT and our capability of providing emergency communications under emergency conditions. I’ll add that if needed, HF capability could be added in “on the fly” just as successfully as VHF/UHF communications were.
I wish to say “thanks” to our responders.
You “did us proud”.
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K4NWS Operational Again
As mentioned in Casey’s After Action Report, the NWS office has been undergoing renovations, and as a result K4NWS has been temporarily out of commission as the cubical was modified to fit the new office scheme.
Roger, KK4UDU went by the office and tested K4NWS and everything appears to be operational again. He made successful contacts on 146.76, 147.140, 146.88 (on both the Alinco and the ICOM), 440 (the Shelby Co 440 input into the 146.88), and was able to activate the repeaters on 220 and D-Star.
He reports “we have an operable station again.”
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Mark’s Almanac

With the arrival of November we enter our second tornado season. Alabama and the Southeast are “blessed” by being the only area on Earth having two tornado seasons. And, the cause of the second season is the same as the spring season – clashes of cold and warm air masses. The cold air of winter is invading and trying to push the warmth of the summer back into the sea, which is the same process of springtime.

This second season is often more destructive than the spring season. So beware of a warm & muggy November day. Especially one with a south wind, as something may really be “in the air”.

The Hurricane threat greatly diminishes, with hurricane activity occurring mainly in the open Atlantic, threatening the Eastern Seaboard, but usually veering off into sea as cold fronts off the East Coast deflect them. Hurricanes can still form in the Caribbean, which usually visit the Yucatan, but can enter the Gulf.

Hurricane season ends November 30.

November Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

The blooms of summer have faded, but you may find yourself still sneezing, due to ragweed and mold.

Mold is a fall allergy trigger. You may think of mold growing in your basement or bathroom – damp areas in the house – but mold spores also love wet spots outside. Piles of damp leaves are ideal breeding grounds for mold.

Oh, and did I mention dust mites? While they are common during the humid summer months, they can get stirred into the air the first time you turn on your heat in the fall. Dust mites can trigger sneezes, wheezes, and runny noses.

November welcomes the peak of fall colors. For Birmingham the peak occurs around November 15, but the date can vary depending on your elevation & latitude.

Indian Summer and Squaw Winter continue to battle it out, but the cool or cold weather will eventually win, with the first average frost being on November 11.

The usual fall effects occur in North America with Canada’s Hudson Bay becoming unnavigable due to pack ice & icebergs. Navigation in the Great Lakes becomes perilous due to storms bringing the “Gales Of November” made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”.

And, don’t be surprised if you hear ducks overhead & see wedges of Canadian geese heading south for the winter. And if you see strange birds appearing in your front yard, remember that for 336 species of birds Alabama IS south for the winter.

Looking skyward, Mercury is hidden in the glare of the Sun

Venus shines low in the Southwest at evening twilight, at magnitude -4.0.

Mars glows at magnitude +0.3 in the south-southwest at dusk, 40 degrees upper left of Venus.

Giant Jupiter, magnitude -1.7 is low in the east in the early dawn.

Saturn, magnitude +0.5 is low in the southwest about 4 degrees above Venus as evening twilight fades.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7 in Pisces is well up after dark in the east

Neptune, magnitude +7.8 Aquarius is also well up after dark in the southeast.

The Taurid Meteor Shower will occur the night of November 4 & 5. This is a minor shower producing only 5 to 10 meteors per hour. It is an unusual shower in that it consists of two separate meteor streams. The first stream is dust grains left behind from Asteroid 2004 TG10, while the second stream is debris from Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs from September 7 to December 10, but, peaks overnight on November 4 & 5. The first quarter moon will set just after midnight leaving the skies dark for viewing the shower. The meteors will radiate from Taurus, but, can appear anywhere in the sky.

Full Moon will occur at 13:52 UTC or 7:52 AM CST November 14. November’s Full Moon is called “Beaver Moon” in Native American folklore, because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon.

This will be a Supermoon, as the Moon will be at its closest approach to the Earth and may appear slightly larger and brighter than normal

The annual Leonid meteor shower occurs from November 10 – 21 and peaks on the night of November 16/17. Though the Leonids are an “average shower”, producing only an average of 15 meteors per hour, they are well known for producing bright meteors and fireballs.

This shower is also unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids are produced by dust grains left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865.

Its productivity varies per year, but it can deposit 12 to 13 tons of particles across the planet. Which is why having an atmosphere to shield us is such a nifty thing.

A waning gibbous moon will block many of the fainter meteors, but, you should be able to catch the brighter ones. The meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but, can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon will occur November 29 as the Moon is located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun. This phase will occur at 12:18 UTC or 6:18 AM CST.
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3402 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of October 27, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

Finally, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour at 2 AM, Sunday morning November 6nd, as Daylight Savings Time ends.

Remember that according to the National Time Act of 2014 states you MUST wait until 2 AM to reset your clocks, or you will be in violation of Section 15, Paragraph 114, Subset 195485 (24(234b)) (see page 4537) of said act.

I saw it on social media, so it must be true. For NO ONE would post unverified muck on the internet, oh perish the thought.

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This month’s meeting will be on November 8 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

If for some reason you cannot attend the meeting in person, you can still participate via telephone. The teleconference number is 1-877-951-0997 & and the participant code is 741083.
Hope to see you there!
Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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