West Georgia Amateur Radio Society

SKYWARN Training 2017 - Join the SKYWARN Team!

WGARS members turned out in force for the 2017 SKYWARN training program put together by the Carroll County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service. Not only did members have the chance to take the SKYWARN training, but county EMA Director Tim Padgett arranged, and participated in, a tour of the 911 center and new EOC facility. Those who didn't attend missed an educational and interesting evening.

SKYWARN is the National Weather Service's (NWS) citizen spotter training program, open to broad participation.  Carroll County, as a "Storm Ready" county holds SKYWARN classes approximately every two years. Amateur Radio has a special relationship with the National Weather Service as the NWS utilizes amateur radio operators at their facilities to communicate with amateur radio storm spotters in the field during severe weather events.

For those who participated in these training sessions the information provided below will be great for review; for those that have not, or can not, participate in the training classes, the NWS provides online training, testing, and certification. However, it is strongly recommend that a SKYWARN class be taken when opportunity permits.

First, the NWS links to a basic spotter training course for those that wish to take it.  In addition, there's the spotter guidebook for reference.

Although snow is uncommon in our region, we can usually count on at least one snow event in any given year, and the NWS very much likes to collect showfall data to assist them in building better prediction models. Please consider preparing for snowfall measuring by reviewing this manual.

So, once you've got training out of the way, you'll need a way to report.  Of course, we'll likely have a net running on the W4FWD repeater, which the NWS often contacts to collect information.  Additionally, you can submit information online in numerous ways, including phone.

Fox Hunt / SET 2016 was a great success

Roughly fourteen amateur radio operators converged on the park near Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton for a combination Simulated Emergency Test and Fox Hunt. John Playford (WD8LQT) developed the scenario under which the event would take place:

An small airplane crashes with only the pilot and a blind passenger. The pilot is injured and is unable to speak, but writes down the frequency he is transmitting on. The blind passenger (our own Lee Studdard, KI4QLV) believes he can make his way down a trail with the note to find help. Lee, being a ham radio operator, took his radio with him and began radioing calls for help on amateur radio frequencies. He finally makes contact but can not tell people where he is or the frequency the injured pilot is transmitting on. To assist rescuers in locating him he transmits for brief periods of time on a regular interval so rescuers (other amateur radio operators) can home in on his radio signal, locate him, and then get the frequency the pilot is transmitting on so the pilot may be rescued.

Lee was stashed away for participants to locate with an HT, simulating the scenario's circumstances. Participants first began homing on Lee's transmissions, complicated by the strength of the signal and reflections off the nearby pond. Once locating Lee, the operator(s) would take one of the pieces of paper that had the frequency of a 2nd hidden transmitter and would begin hunting for it. Since different people were looking for different transmitters at any given moment, things were pretty interesting!

By the time the event wrapped up, around two hours later, all operators had found both Lee and the hidden transmitter.

So much fun was had that it was decided another Fox Hunt should be held in the near future, and planning is under way!

The 2nd Fox Hunt of 2016 a Success!

With the success of the October Fox Hunt and the excitement of doing it again fresh in our minds, John Playford (WD8LQT) organized a 2nd effort. This hunt was much more ambitious; rather than a foot-hunt within the boundaries of a local park, the fox would be hidden somewhere within the borders of the Carrollton Greenbelt trail, an area of about 20 square miles!

For those who aren't sure what a "Fox Hunt" is, it is basically a game of hide-and-seek with a hidden transmitter.  Someone hides it and it's the job of the hunters to locate it as quickly as possible.  A new twist in this hunt was we were also completing for the shortest distance traveled as well.

2017 Officer Election Results

Congratulations to our new club officers for 2017! A combination of early voting via the website and ballots cast at the November meeting resulting in the election of the officers listed. WGARS officers are elected in November of each year, taking office at the end of that meeting and serving for one year.

We'd also like to extend our thanks and appreciation to the current President, Wayne Hitch (KM4BYH) for his continuing service in 2017.