SKYWARN Newsletter #23
Hello to all...
SKYWARN Training Update...
Sending the SKYWARN Document to Those Who Couldn't Attend the Meeting...
APRS Documentation Series...
Changes in the Eastern Mass. ARES/RACES/SKYWARN Homepage...
New SKYWARN Net in the Greater Boston Metro Area Approved by NSRA...
Snowstorm Grazes Southeast Massachusetts, and Southeast Rhode Island...
Possible Storms for the Upcoming Week...
***Newsletter issued: 2/9/97
SKYWARN Training Update...
I have another confirmed site in the Falmouth area with an interesting
story that all Amateur Operators would appreciate, special thanks to
Henry, N1SNH, for his help in obtaining SKYWARN training in the Falmouth
area.
Rob: This is a long story but I'll tell it anyway. I'm gonna be tied up on
business for two weeks starting Monday and had not made the arrangements for
the room. I remembered this A.M. that FARA was having a VE session this
morning in the room and that Jo, N1LNE, our club secretary, was usually at
the session. So I went there to ask her to reserve the room for May 24th. on
the calender, and to notify the town hall people next week that we need it
from noon-4 p.m. So plan on it!!! We will announce it at FARA meetings and
in our newsletter.
In the process of doing this, the VE's prevailed upon me to sit for the
general code test, which I did, and passed, much to my amazement. Then they
said, "why not take the theory?" I had not looked at the general theory book
in a year but took it and passed, again to my amazement So now I am
N1SNH/AG, I guess in part thanks to SKYWARN!
Congratulations on Henry getting his General, and thanks for his
help in securing another SKYWARN Training Session at the Falmouth
Town Hall from Noon-4 PM (usually ends at 3 PM) on Saturday May 24th.
Further updates on training:
All parties who have been gathering the sites and dates, please be
advised that Glenn Field does not want anymore weekend dates. He has
two already and with his regular workload its quite a strain on him.
Please restrain the dates to weekdays. I have also been advised that
April has opened up a bit as far as dates are concerned. A date in
April can be considered outside of April 9th, 16th, and the 21st-22nd
timeframe and I will get approval from Glenn Field. Also, it would
be much appreciated to have the dates secured by the last week of
February, first week of March timeframe, so that maximum publicity
for the training can be given between the internet, NOAA Weather
Radio and the media. Thanks to everyone for helping obtain sites
for this training.
Here is an update on the needed areas remaining for training:
Brockton area: Carl (N1FYZ) has confirmed using the Brockton VA Hospital
and is in the process of securing a date.
Canton CT: Attempting to secure May 7th at the Canton High School
in Canton Connecticut in Hartford County from 6:30-9:30
PM.
Western RI: Attempting to secure a site possibly CCRI in Warwick
RI.
Middlesex County: Carl N1FYZ is attempting to secure the VA Hospital
in Bedford, MA. I have not heard from MEMA Area I
with regards on the use of their facility. I will
also attempt to contact a person that Glenn Field
thought might be able to secure a SKYWARN site
in the Littleton area.
Hillsborough County NH: Don Dillaby and David Day have secured the
Nashua Town Hall and I am now awaiting a
date.
Northeastern Univ.: Awaiting word from NUARC, as well as we must wait
for the end of quarter at Northeastern before securing
a date.
For a complete list of SKYWARN dates check out my Eastern Mass.
ARES/RACES/SKYWARN homepage at http://www.ultranet.com/~rmacedo
Sending the SKYWARN Document to Those Who Couldn't Attend the Meeting...
I have made more copies of the document and am prepared to have all
the copies sent out during the course of this week and my apologies
for the delays in sending this document.
APRS Documentation Series...
Here is Part 3 on an ongoing series on APRS...
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
As mentioned above, some SKYWARN participants use APRS to
track the movement of storms. But you can have fun with it, too.
Some enterprising hams have used their APRS/GPS systems for fox
hunts, and cross country bicycle races. Some like to use it in
combination with their local DX cluster. When a new DX station
appears on the cluster, it can be plotted on the map along with the
callsign. APRS packeteers have taken their portable packet systems
with them on camping trips, and cross-country tours. Others have
used their mobile systems to locate jammers, and then put his
location on the map. You could conceivably put a GPS transmitter
in your car the next time you have to park it at the airport for
long time. If it turns up missing when you return, you just might
be able to find it with APRS. ThDpNrrhbhlhthdr `rd `llnrt lhlHtDD fJHX
Bpyour imagination. Who knows? You might even find a way
to use APRS/GPS for an Easter egg hunt! Anybody want to know when
Santa will arrive in the neighborhood? Try using APRS. You never
know...
WHAT'S NEXT?
Obviously, there's a lot more that can be said about APRS, and
many more uses than have been mentioned here. There are document
files that come along with the software, and many more on the
T.A.P.R. website and ham-related BBSs that can doubtless address
aspects that have not been covered here. The capabilities of APRS
are always being improved, and the latest upgrades are soon made
available. So, if you're really interested in seeing a fastinating
use for packet radio, get into APRS. Who knows what it may lead
to?
The following is a bibliography chronicling the development of
APRS:
[1] MULTI-USER DATA NETWORK OVER VHF RADIO, Bruninga, AMRAD
Newsletter, Mar 1978.
[2] HF PACKETS, MODEMS and GATEWAYS, Bruninga, Third ARRL computer
Networking Conference pg 6-7, 15 Apr 84. (HF packet specification
for 200 HZ shift)
[3] EASTNET - AN EAST COAST PACKET RADIO NETWORK, Bruninga, p 9-11,
Third ARRL Computer Networking Conference. 15 Apr 84. (MD,NJ & NY
packet map)
[4] THE RACING PROBLEM: A PACKET SOLUTION, Bruninga, p 12-15, Third
ARRL Computer Networking Conference, 15 Apr 84. (A connectionless
protocol for reporting the location and status of Horses on a 100
mile endurence run. *(the original APRS concept)
[5] EASTNET - A YEAR LATER, Bruninga p 15-24, Fourth ARRL Computer
Networking Conference, 30 Mar 85. (More East Coast maps and the
first USA HF map)
[6] LINKING PERSONAL COMPUTERS BY PACKET RADIO, Bruninga,
Proceedings, IEEE COMPCON 84 16 Sept 84, (Published the USA packet
map, and amateur HF packet standards)
[7] CONNECTIONLESS EMERGENCY TRAFFIC SYSTEM, Bruninga, Packet Radio
Magazine, pg 4-5, July 86. (details the design of the
connectionless position and status reporting system)
[8] AN UPDATE ON THE CONNECTIONLESS EMERGENCY TRAFFIC SYSTEM,
Bruninga, Packet Radio Magazine, Aug 86. (more of the same)
[9] CONNECTIONLESS PROTOCOL for the NDMS, Bruninga, p 19, Packet
Radio Magazine, Nov 86. (using the connectionless protocol for
emergency comms)
[10] PACKET RADIO AT THE WRECK OF THE AMTRACK COLONIAL, Bruninga,
P 13 Packet Radio Magazine Jan 87. (using portable packet for
disaster comms)
[11] LANS and WANS, Bruninga, 7th ARRL Computer Networking
Conference, 1 Oct 88 (First DC/BALTIMORE area packet maps with APRS
symbols)
[12] A WORLDWIDE PACKET RADIO NETWORK, Bruninga, Signal Magazine,
June 88, (shows HF map of 10.149 MHz activity.
[13] PACKETRADIO IM NOTFUNKEINSATZ BEI EINEM ZUNGUNGLUCK, RTTY
magazine 18 Jan 87. (translation of article on APRS at the AMTRACK
train wreck)
CURRENT:
[14] AUTOMATIC PACKET LOCATION SYSTEM (APLS), Bruninga, ARRL
Gateway/QEX, Feb 1991. (early specification for position and status
reporting formats)
[15] GROUND STATION TRACKING VIA PACKET RADIO, Bruninga, AMSAT
Journal, Pg 1 May/June 93
[16] TRACKIT RADIO, Stan Horzepa, p 92, QST, July 93
[17] UPFRONT IN QST, p 11, QST, August 93. (excellent pictures)
[18] A DESCRIPTION OF APRS by WB4APR, AND MORE!, PACKET USERS
NOTEBOOK, Buck Rogers, CQ Magazine, Dec 93
[19] INTERFACING GPS/LORAN DEVICES TO PACKET RADIO, Bruninga, pg
9-14, QEX, Feb 94
[20] HOMING IN, Radio Direction Finding, by Joe Moell, page 56-59,
October 94 issue of 73 Magazine.
[21] HOMING IN, by Joe Moell, Jan 95 issue of 73 magazine.
[22] Ads by PacComm, AEA and KANTRONICS touting GPS packet. April
95 QST
[23] Buck Rogers Column, Packet Notes. CQ magazine May 95 issue.
[24] QST Compares: GPS Compatible TNC's, Steve Ford WB8IMY, QST Oct
1995
[25] Availability of Seventy 9600 Baud Packet CHannels on Two
Meters, 14th ARRL Digital Communications Conference, Arlington, TX
8-10 Sept 1995
[26] APRtrak, A Program for Determining the Locations of Ground
Stations and Spacecraft, Proceedings of the AMSAT-NA 13th Space
Symposium Oct 6-8 1995, Orlando, FL
[28] APRS in Balloons and HOMING-IN column Nov 95 issue of "73"
Magazine
[29] The MIM Module, Mobile Radio Technology, May 1996
-End of Part 3 -
73 de Larry KC7LVZ @ WB7VMS.#MURPH.OR.USA.NOAM
Changes in the Eastern Mass. ARES/RACES/SKYWARN Homepage...
I have made many changes to the Eastern Mass. ARES/RACES/SKYWARN
Homepage. I have added many new links in the miscellaneous links to
other Amateur radio sites section. I have also revamped the SKYWARN
Weather Center as the gopher site at Ohio State will be taken
offline at the end of this month. Those links were replaced with the
Ohio State Weather Web links. I also added several sites including the
Fairhaven Weather Net Web page produced by Hank Riley N1LTV and a
Massachusetts Tornado database produced with Microsoft Access by
Ken Branco, N1VND.
Also, and perhaps one of the bigger changes of interest is I now
have included a link to download the latest SKYWARN document for
NWS Taunton and ARES document for the South Coastal region. This
way people from around the country and even around the world can
download and look at the procedure. Look for details in the
What's new on the Eastern Mass ARES/RACES/SKYWARN homepage.
New SKYWARN Net in the Greater Boston Metro Area Approved by NSRA...
Philip Night, N1HWA, has obtained approval to run a weekly weather
net on the 145.47 Danvers Repeater. Congratulations to Phil, and
a terrific job in obtaining permission.
The net will begin once a week, every Wednesday at 8 PM, starting
on Wednesday February 19th again on the 145.47 Danvers Repeater.
This Monday Night, February 10th at 8 PM at the NSRA meeting, Phil
and I will give a brief presentation on SKYWARN. Phil will detail
the objectives of the net, and I will detail the objectives of the
SKYWARN Program at NWS Taunton and how the net will assist.
Again, congratulations to Phil, and details of the meeting will
appear in the next SKYWARN Newsletter.
Snowstorm Grazes Southeast Massachusetts, and Southeast Rhode Island...
A Coastal Storm that dumped 6-9 inch amounts in portions of the
mid-atlantic, with 2-5 inch amounts across New Jersey, Long Island
and the New York City area grazed the extreme portions of southeast
New England with snow. The storm which was originally expected to miss,
came dangerously close to the region and nearly dumped a much heavier
amount of snow on the region but tracked far enough out to sea
to spare the region a major hit.
The light snow did cause its share of accidents around the region,
and plows and sanders were called out over portions of extreme
Southeast Mass, and the Cape and Islands. Here are some snowfall
totals from this event.
W Tisbury Martha's Vineyard: 4.0"
Nantucket: 3.0"
Block island: 3.0"
Oaks Bluff Martha's Vineyard: 2.0"
New Bedford: 1.5"
Possible Storms for the Upcoming Week...
The pattern of coastal storm exiting just to the south of New
England is expected to continue during the course of the upcoming
week. This will leave the region with some potential big storms
or "big misses" for the upcoming week. Two chances for possible
storms will be in the Tuesday-Wednesday timeframe as well as Friday
of this week.
That concludes this week's edition of the SKYWARN Newsletter,
Comments, Questions, or Suggestions are always welcome. The next
SKYWARN Newsletter will be issued in the February 16th-17th timeframe.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Greater New Bedford ARES Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Work Phone #: (508) 435-1000 Ext.: 3411
Email Address: rmacedo@ma.ultranet.com
Packet Address: KD1CY @ AA1FS
http://www.ultranet.com/~rmacedo
Back to the SKYWARN Newsletter Archive