September 20, 2002  Severe Weather Event
The staff of the Central Indiana SKYWARN Association would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every SKYWARN storm spotter for your participation during the September 20th severe weather event. This was a very challenging day for everyone and it demonstrated the importance of comprehensive spotter training in conjunction with a coordinated reporting network. One of the most important aspects of the event was the amount of lead-time many persons had before the storm entered their area. These extra few minutes gave many Hoosiers an opportunity to seek shelter and thus possibly save their life. 

It is vital to continuously improve the manner in which vital real time information is delivered to the National Weather Service so that lead-time can be increased. To support that effort an additional resource has been added to the Central Indiana SKYWARN Voice Network. In cooperation with the Otter Creek Amateur Radio Club, the Indianapolis Carmel Experimenters(www.w9ice.com) and the Central Indiana SKYWARN Association, the 444.35 repeater in Farmersburg, In. is going to be linked to the 146.97/442.65 repeater system during severe weather nets and during the monthly communications test net. This repeater will enable the Central Indiana SKYWARN Severe Weather Network to enhance its voice capabilities into those counties in West and Southwestern Indiana. These counties would include Sullivan, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Greene, Owen, Clay, Putnam, Parke and Vermillion. This repeater should have a coverage range of at least 50 miles and it is a great opportunity for you, in those counties mentioned, to communicate directly with the National Weather Service without using a relay station. Please take the opportunity to try out this repeater to check the coverage in your county. NC9U, Marvin Dabelow, K9HX, Kevin Berlen and Keith Reedy WA9DRO, as well as the ICE trustees, are to be commended for their expertise and professionalism in the development of this system. It is another fine example of dedicated amateur radio operators working together to help protect their fellow Hoosiers.
As a side note, the 146.97 repeater system will now be transmitting a 77 Hz. PL tone during severe weather activity. With this feature, you can enable your radio to alert you when the severe weather net has been activated

The Central Indiana SKYWARN Association Web page has moved. The new home page address is www.w9nws.org and is online now. This will be the official Web page where you will find all of the upcoming SKYWARN events and developments within Central Indiana. Please be sure to check our Web page in the near future for other developments slated for the Central Indiana SKYWARN Network.

 Once again thanks to each SKYWARN spotter for a job well done !

 
      Mark Shaffer, N9GDR
      President
      Central Indiana SKYWARN Association, Inc.
      EC for Central Indiana SKYWARN
 

 

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