Friday, December 3rd @ 6PM Central Time (Dec 4 0000z to 2400z), Skywarn Recognition Day kicks off, and continues for the next 24 hours.
The National Weather Service office in Birmingham is represented in Skywarn Recognition Day by ALERT (The Alabama Emergency Response Team) as the callsign K4NWS.
Skywarn Recognition Day is an event celebrates the contribution of SKYWARN volunteers to the NWS’s mission. More information about the event, including Operating Procedures for the contest, Participating Offices, Echolink Info/IRLP info, all can be found at the event link: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
There is also a registration form for the event, this is used so NWS can associate your operation with a specific NWS office and you will be given an SRD number used in the contact exchange between participants, the form can also be found at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgnt7GpNxaLdtlsPxuVgyrnUIgpGfLnKHycXstQk996w6-HQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
To contact us via Amateur Radio:
HF: 10,17,15,20 Meters
2M FM 146.880 (BARC), 147.320 and 146.980 (SCARC)
220 FM 224.500
70cm FM 444.700
DMR Talk Group 31013 which is available on all DMR repeaters in the Birmingham area but is also available on various repeaters in the BMX county warning area.
D-Star: REF058B or REF090C/XRF334C
AllStar: 48168
EchoLink: K4NWS-L (155003)
IRLP Experimental Reflector: 0091
WinLink: K4NWS (at) winlink (dot) org
In 2020 and in response to COVID, SRD was expanded outside of Amateur Radio to include all Skywarn Storm spotters.
Here are some ways to contact our station that are not Amateur Radio:
Zello: https://zello.com/channels/k/duTMd
Telegram: http://t.me/K4NWS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K4NWS/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/K4NWS
MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/alert
Our participation in SRD in previous years can be found here:
http://alert-alabama.org/SRD/index.htm
Buckle up! An active start to spring is ahead. No, we’re not talking about weather, but it could be. I’m talking about events! What a list!
March-May in Alabama is our prime time for severe weather, and that means it’s a great time to BE READY. Here’s a few events that will help with being ready, and responsive!
- February 22-24 – Alabama Severe Weather Prep Sales Tax Holiday
- February 28 6:30PM – Online Skywarn Spotter Basic Training
- March 1 4PM-7PM, March 2 8:30AM-4PM – BirmingHAMfest
- ALERT will have a table at this event and will be presenting to a forum.
- More info: https://birminghamfest.org/?fbclid=IwAR0TQGjrEzVnR3hlIaYOxN4hUY6zNZYIMMf0RvM84awMTSSW2kzLGiFpEps
- For more info on the host, the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club, check out www.w4cue.com or www.facebook.com/w4cue
- March 5 6:30PM and March 7 1PM – Online Skywarn Spotter Basic Training
- March 6 1PM – Skywarn Spotter Training @ Auburn University Dept of Campus Safety & Security – EM Office
- March 11 7PM – Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club Meeting
- Robby, AC4RW, with the Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club has invited ALERT to do a talk/presentation at their regular meeting at DCH Northport.
- For more info on Tuscaloosa ARC, check out www.w4xi.org or www.facebook.com/TuscaloosaAmateurRadioClub
- March 12 6:30PM – ALERT Quarterly Board Meeting
- All ALERT voting members are welcome to attend to listen to the board proceeding.
- March 12 7PM – ALERT Monthly Meeting
- Vote on Constitutional Amendment
- Per bylaws, new officer nominating committee to be appointed by president.
- Officers must be with ALERT 1 year in good standing. If you fall in this category, and interested in being an elected officer, or appointed officer, let us know! We’ll share that info with the nominating committee.
- March 14 6:30PM, March 26 1PM, and March 27 6:30PM – Online Skywarn Spotter Basic Training
- April 2 6:30PM – Online Skywarn Spotter Basic Training
- April ?? – More April events TBA!
- May 4 8:30AM-4:30PM – Black Warrior Hamfest
- ALERT has reserved a table, and will have a presence at the first annual Black Warrior Hamfest! Check out this facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/bwhamfest/
- June 14 4PM-7PM, June 15 8:30AM-3PM – Helena Hamfest (NEW)
- ALERT plans on having a presence at Helena Hamfest.
- New date, new location! Indoors, will have forum rooms.
- Check it out! http://www.helenahamfest.com/
We had another successful Skywarn Recognition day and with our new digital assets we pulled in even more contacts via DMR, EchoLink, and IRLP.
Thank you to our volunteers who made this another great event!
On site we had Ron Arant N4PHP, Stephen Moss KB4KKN and Bill Rodgers K4FSO. Offsite we had Russell Thomas KV4S and Rodger Parsons KK4UDU.
Ron setup the R9 6m thru 80m antenna. The 3 onsite members operated HF and D-Star.
Due to hotspot issues on site, Russell handled the DMR/Echolink contacts off site.
Rodger handled Winlink for us.
Hope you all had fun and we look forward to next year!
Here are a few pictures:
This Friday, November 30 @ 6PM Central Time (Dec 1 0:00z), Skywarn Recognition Day kicks off, and continues for the next 24 hours.
The National Weather Service – Birmingham Office (BMX) is also celebrating their 25th Anniversary of being at the Shelby County Airport location.
To commemorate this milestone we have a special event callsign! NWS Birmingham and ALERT, The Alabama Emergency Response Team, will be W4A (Weather 4 Alabama).
Skywarn Recognition Day is an event celebrates the contribution of SKYWARN volunteers to the NWS’s mission. More information about the event, including Operating Procedures for the contest, Participating Offices, Echolink Info/IRLP info, all can be found at the link below:
https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
There will be a Special Event QSL Card for making contact with W4A, National Weather Service – Birmingham / Alabama Emergency Response Team.
To make contact with us:
HF: 10,17,15,20 Meters
2M FM 146.880 (BARC), 147.320 and 146.980 (SCARC)
220 FM 224.500
DMR Talk Group 31013 which is available on all DMR repeaters in the Birmingham area but is also available on various repeaters in the BMX cwa.
D-Star: REF058B and XRF334C
AllStar: 48168
EchoLink: K4NWS-L (155003)
IRLP Reflector: 9666
WinLink: KK4UDU@winlink.org
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