US Weather Channel Notes Ham Radio

The following is from the ARRL Letter

The Weather Channel Cites ‘Old School Tech’ Amateur Radio as Storm Resource:

Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Amateur Radio Assistant Coordinator of WX4NHC http://w4ehw.fiu.edu at the National Hurricane Center (NHC https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/) explained https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h47U6BlAaU0K6qEdCXjfzZZa_6HkoqBy/view Amateur Radio’s role during severe weather situations to interviewers from The Weather Channel (TWC http://www.weather.com). In a September 16 segment headlined, “Using Old School Tech During a Storm,” Ripoll — seated at WX4NHC — told Weather Channel interviewers Rick Knabb and Mike Bettes, that information NHC forecasters receive via Amateur Radio volunteers and spotters “sometimes fills in gaps they can’t get from satellites or reconnaissance.”

Knabb recounted an occasion when he was trying to pin down information about a storm system in Central America. “The only way I was able to accurately document what happened with that system in Central America was because of data through the ham radio operators that relayed it,” he told Ripoll.

Ripoll cited the WX4NHC volunteer staff of approximately 30 radio amateurs who gather and essentially screen information gathered via Amateur Radio for weather data that may be of use to forecasters.

Over the weekend, Ripoll expressed appreciation to WX4NHC, Hurricane Watch Net, and VoIP Hurricane Net volunteers for the time they donate during hurricanes and the reports they send to WX4NHC.

“Sometimes, we sit for hours listening to static. Sometimes, we receive many reports that are unremarkable. Sometimes, we receive very few reports. But then there are those times that one or two reports make a difference,” Ripoll said. He noted that NHC Hurricane Specialist Stacy Stewart cited Amateur Radio in a Hurricane Humberto advisory https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2019/al09/al092019.public.025.shtml?.

The advisory noted, “An Amateur Radio operator at Ports Island near the southern end of Bermuda reported a sustained wind of 75 MPH and a gust to 104 MPH during the past hour. An Amateur Radio operator in Somerset Village recently reported a sustained wind of 70 MPH and a gust to 89 MPH.” — Thanks to Julio Ripoll, WD4R



The Great BC SHAKEOUT Earthquake Drill Oct 17 2019.

COME ON As of Sept 30 2019 only two amateur radio organizations had registered for this event. This is a huge opportunity to promote emergency communications in your community. The event does not take all day. Not only can you use it to promote in your community, but it provides an opportunity to promote emergency communications with your volunteers employers. REGISTER TODAY ,

https://www.shakeoutbc.ca/index.html



SEA PAC 2020

Important SEA-PAC Announcements

The SEA-PAC Committee is already hard at work for SEA-PAC 2020, June 5-7, 2020. With a newly remodeled Seaside Convention Center, 2020 is sure to be a great year.

The 2019 Workshop, “Power and Communication When Everything Goes Dark”, was videotaped and the final production is available for viewing. The 5 workshop videos are now available on the SEA-PAC website (https://www.seapac.org ) on the “Workshops > Past Workshops” page along with the 10 sets of presentation slides that are available on the “Workshops>Past Presentations” page.

It’s with some excitement that the Committee announces the key note speaker for 2020’s Gala SEA-PAC Banquet, Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, editor of ARRL’s National Contest Journal, “dedicated to covering the competitive contesting aspects of amateur radio.” Scott is a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and an active Ham since 1977. He travels the world as part of his medical responsibilities but this travel also affords him the opportunity to take Ham Radio with him around the world. Scott’s sure to have fascinating stories to tell about his life in Amateur Radio and his adventures in contesting. After Registration opens in February, buy your banquet tickets early as they always sell out before the convention.

And don’t forget the SEA-PAC Collector Pin design contest. Entries are due by March 1, 2020. Fire up your creativity and maybe you’ll win 2 tickets to the SEA-PAC Banquet. See the SEA-PAC website and click on the SEA-PAC Pins tab for more information.

SEA-PAC is totally volunteered-driven. The Committee has identified the following areas that need your support: Registration, Security, Exhibitor Hospitality, Prize Committee, Workshops, Seminars, Flea Market, Exhibitor Setup and VE testing. If you’re interested in helping to make SEA-PAC a continuing success, please send an email to volunteers@seapac.org and indicate your call sign, contact number and your committee preference, if you have one, so that a committee coordinator can call you.

As a reminder, SEA-PAC 2020 Registration will open on February 15th, so keep an eye out for the email announcement and https://www.seapac.org for more information.

See you at SEA-PAC 2020.