[warn-news] Change In WARN Operations

[mnie at warn.org]

Hey all,

 

It's been a while since we've had to address our local amateur radio
equipped spotters.  We have some news on our current situation for running
weather nets.

 

Late last year, our long-time host WLW radio underwent a major renovation
and downsizing of their footprint.  Unfortunately, in the new facility,
there was no longer room for the WARN net control point.  We would like to
thank WLW and Clear Channel/iHeart Media for the many years they hosted our
operation free of charge.  We made many friends among their staff and all of
our personnel enjoyed being there during our severe weather operations.  It
was a high energy, lively place to be.  We certainly understand the
realities of business and why it was no longer possible to continue hosting
us.

 

We removed our equipment from the old net control point with the intention
of finding a new facility.  That has taken longer than we anticipated.  We
need a specific type of arrangement that has 24-hour access, emergency
power, ability to set up our equipment and antennas, Internet access,
central location and so on.  And, oh yeah, the rent must be free for our
all-volunteer operation.  I know. We're not asking much!

 

So, for now, until we find that perfect arrangement, our net control
operators are running nets from home, for the most part.  That means they do
not have as many resources as before.  Being able to monitor multiple
amateur radio repeaters on different frequencies is problematic, so many
times we are confined to our main frequency of 146.88MHz.  That will reduce
our radio coverage some.  It also means that we do not have a team in the
same room working together.  If more than one operator is covering an event,
they are in their respective locations, making coordination a little more
difficult.

 

We hope to get a more formal net control point soon or eventually.  We were
through it a couple of times before, once when the old NWS office at the
airport closed, and again when WLW moved from Mt. Adams to Kenwood.  We hope
everyone understands and we appreciate you working with us during this
transition.

 

Mike Nie

 

Michael Nie - W8VMX

Trustee and Net Control Operator

Weather Amateur Radio network

Email: mnie at warn.org <mailto:mnie at warn.org> 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.warn.org/pipermail/warn-news/attachments/20220617/fa01fcd9/attachment.html>