ALERT Newsletter – December 2011

Hi Everyone, December is here and you know what this means don’t you? Yep you’re right, it’s time for the ALERT Christmas party! You are all cordially invited to the ALERT Christmas party Tuesday, December 13 at the NWS. Be sure to bring a dish and be prepared to have fun. We are well into our second severe weather season & ALERT has been active. I wish to thank the following members who responded to the November 16 callout. David Reed, Bobby Best, Ronnie King & Stephanie Honeycutt. Also, to the members who helped relay reports via the Spotterchats. Thanks! Your efforts and dedication to ALERT, the National Weather Service and her mission are greatly appreciated. Remember, you aren’t just relaying reports. You are helping to save lives. There are some recent news items that I wish to pass along. First concerns ALERT operations and Tuscaloosa. If yourecall from last months newsletter I explained that Tuscaloosa’s net operations were conducted at the EOC and so that ALERT’s operations would not interfere with their operations, we were dependant on a Tuscaloosa’s request before actively providing assistance. In the aftermath of the April 27th tornadoes, changes have occurred in the net structure in Tuscaloosa County. The NCS operations are now conducted from a separate location than the EOC and any concerns that ALERT might be hindering Net/EOC operations no longer exist. ALERT operations are very welcome on the Tuscaloosa repeater and the West Alabama Emergency Net. The one thing that the K4NWS operator should avoid is (and this is the case with any net or any frequency) is that we do not override the NCS or try to run the net by asking repeatedly for reports. We always go through the NCS and the NCS filters the reports, controls the net and passes the reports on to K4NWS. Now if no net is in session then we can make general calls for reports, however if a net is in session we always work through and with the NCS. Another item concerns the 145.35 repeater. Recently this repeater returned to analog operation after a couple of years of D-Star operation. This repeater has a huge footprint. Most of Western Alabama and parts of Mississippi are well within its footprint. It has been suggested that when Western Alabama is “under the gun” that we monitor this frequency so that the Western counties can contact us. If the Western Counties can regularly have stations monitor this repeater it can fill a large void that now exists. While we can’t permanently monitor the frequency as we do D-Star, since we have to target our coverage to threatened areas, when West Alabama IS the threatened area we should not overlook this valuable resource. A news item out of Walker County is that the 147.39 repeater now has 110.9 subtone. Make sure to update you notes. Recently I was asked what 2 meter repeater ALERT monitors locally. The short answer is “we don’t”. While we constantly monitor 224.500 and D-Star, we monitor 88 & 98 until we start getting activity elsewhere and then we have to “follow the storms” on VHF. So, if you call us on 88 and get no answer, no we aren’t taking a nap, we are probably on another frequency dealing with a very, very serious situation. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// What Of D-Star? D-Star has proven to be a valuable tool in ALERT’s operations. Both in receiving reports directly or as a calling frequency, with counties being able to let us know that we are needed on a particular frequency. D-Star has tremendous capabilities. However D-Star has not however “caught on” as its aficionados might have hoped for. Why is this? Practically speaking, as a guy who doesn’t have a D-Star radio, perhaps I can offer some explanations as to why this has been the case. D-star is still is basically an expensive unknown commodity. I know it’s great during emergencies. It certainly sounds good at club presentations when every gizmo in the world is turned on, being linked into and reflected off of every D-Star system in the Southeast. But, what does it sound like during “normal operations”? It reminds me of my introduction to 2 meters and ham radio. My first real exposure to ham radio was listening to net operations during a tornado outbreak in 1973. I already knew what ham radio was. My brother, who I lost last year was a ham, K4FHX, way back in the early sixties. My Speed-X morse code key is all that remains of his station. But, what was I really listening to that stormy day? Only by listening day after day did I really begin to understand and develop a desire for ham radio strong enough to make me act on that desire. The same would be true of D-Star. Listening would answer the unspoken questions. The questions people really ask are: Is it a friendly mode, with friendly people, who are patient with newcomers? Is it populated by technoids or nit pickers ready to jump you at the first mistake you make? (And sort of hoping that you do mess up so they can “educate you”. Are the people you will meet there people you will enjoy talking and listening to, or will it be some of the same old dudes who already bore you to tears on VHF and who you avoid like the plague? Is it fun? Ham radio, despite what some would try to make it, is still a HOBBY. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. There is a way to answer these questions. But, it is one that the D-Star repeater owners would have to act on. Simply provide a way for people to listen in on D-Star operations. This would be the best free advertisement that one could have. Why not take the audio output of a D-Star repeater and retransmit it on a VHF frequency? Or link a VHF repeater to D-Star, converting analog to digital and vice versa? Provide a way for the ham population to be exposed to D-Star operations without having to make a (seemingly risky) $600 roll of the dice. This is the best promotion or advertisement one could give. Once people hear how good it really is, they will want to jump onboard. Remember that affordability is directly proportional to desirability. Money tends to become available when you REALLY want something. Just a thought to chew on. 😉 Mark’s Almanac December, the tenth Roman Month, is the cloudiest month of the year, with only 40 to 60% of possible sunshine poking through the clouds. It is also the stormiest month of the year for the Continental US & the Gulf of Mexico. By “stormy” meaning large-scale storms, not necessarily the tornadic storms that they bring, even though we are still in the Second Tornado Season. A region of heavy rainfall usually forms from Texas to Northwest Florida to Tennessee and Arkansas. Cold waves bringing rain, snow, ice and occasionally tornadoes, sweep across the region. Hurricane season is now “officially” over, however Mother Nature sometimes throws a surprise in to make life interesting. In 120 years of records, from 1885 to 2005 there have been 5 December hurricanes. The last being Hurricane Epsilon during the 2005 season, the year in which we ran out of hurricane names. December can be cloudy and cold, and, then it can swing into Spring like warmth, luring plants to bloom early, only to have the frosts and freezes to return and the plants be “nipped in the bud”. Winter begins with Winter Solstice December 22 at 11:30PM CST. Oh, just in case haven’t heard already, the world is due to end on December 21, 2012 at 11:11 UTC. Or 6:11AM. The Mayan calendar ends or resets on that date, and since the Mayans were all wise, (except for not knowing how to keep their own civilization from becoming extinct), it is certain that we are all going to enjoy, depending on what nut you listen to: massive earthquakes, deadly solar radiation, an asteroid and/or comet impact, an alien invasion, a nuclear war, the magnetic poles reversing, global flatulence, a sudden new ice age and runaway global warming, etc, etc, etc. In other words, bad karma. Well, since you can’t take it with you, and, since you are going to be croaking anyway, if you want to donate all your radio gear and bank accounts to me, well, just remember that Visa and Mastercard are welcome. (With a no return policy when the nothing actually happens). Looking in my crystal ball I have a prediction for 2013. Early in 2013 you will get some killer deals on a ton of second hand emergency preparedness gear. I’ll probably buy some of the gear if the price is right, for I do believe in personal emergency preparedness. I take the “broad spectrum approach”, not focusing one horrific scenario, but remembering that emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. Most of the emergencies that affect us would not even be considered worthy of newsprint, but are just as disruptive to ones personal world as “the big ones”. Back to the almanac, in our evening skies just after sunset you will see brilliant Venus in the West and bright Jupiter in the Eastern sky. If you ever wondered how to tell a planet from a star, it’s easy, just remember that stars twinkle. planets don’t. The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on December 13-14. Geminids are one of the year’s best meteor showers. It’s a consistent and prolific shower, and usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the more widely recognized Perseids of August. There will be a waning gibbous moon that will provide some wash out, but it’s still worth the effort. This shower typically produces 50 or more meteors an hour, or about one every minute. Although some meteors can be seen a couple of days before and after the peak date, you can expect the peak of the Geminid meteors to start flying through the sky around mid-evening. December’s Full Moon is “Cold Moon” in Native American folklore. ————————————————————————————- This month’s meeting will be on December 13 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport. This meeting will feature the ALERT Christmas party! Come join us, bringing your families and perspective members. Until then, from Mark & Teresa’s house we wish you all Merry Christmas and 73. Mark / WD4NYL Vice-President ALERT www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/