Subj : Handheld Tranceivers 1/2
To : Andy Ball
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Wed Dec 06 2000 09:44 am
AB>Hello Daryl!
Hello, Andy...
AB>I've heard two local repeaters, on 2m and 70cm. Neither seems to have very
AB>much traffic.
It depends on the time of day, and whether or not nets are run on it. On one
of the repeaters in the Little Rock area, it has the capability of being linked
up to several repeaters across the state.
AB>Do you still have that one? It might be something as simple as a dry joint.
AB>I suppose it could also be down to the battery (assuming TX power requiremen
AB>is higher than RX). What happened when you tried to transmit?
The transmit light would light up, but it wouldn't key the repeater. And yet,
I knew the repeater did NOT have a sub-audible PL tone on it...plus, I WAS able
to key the repeater with another HT.
AB>I don't know anything about SKYWARN, what can you tell me about it?
SKYWARN is an organization in the United States, that is composed of "storm
spotters"...individuals trained by the National Weather Service, to provide
"ground truth" to what the Doppler weather radar is showing. Most of the
spotters are ham radio operators, and many communites have "weather
nets"...activated by the National Weather Service...when there is a threat of
severe weather. Spotters usually report:
1) Tornadoes -- a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground.
Sometimes the tornado will not be "direct" from the ground to the sky...but
it'll appear "separated". However, if there is a "debris cloud" on the ground,
it is a tornado...even though the entire circulation isn't visible.
2) Funnel Clouds -- same as above but NOT in contact with the ground. Some
funnel clouds will stay "aloft", but others will become tornadoes. While
Doppler Radar may show a tornadic circulation, the spotter will usually relay
the report whether the circulation is aloft, or on the ground.
3) Wall Clouds -- a lowered, rain free cloud base, usually at the southwest
corner of a severe thunderstorm, where the updrafts and downdrafts meet. This
is usually the area where the tornado will form, especially if it begins to
rotate. Next to the wall cloud is usually an area of large hail.
4) Hail -- chunks of ice, produced by intense updrafts of thunderstorms. Hail
size can range from pea sized to as large as tennis balls, or grapefruits. Some
hailstones have been reported to be as big as 5 inches in diameter. While
Doppler Radar can detect hail shafts within the severe thunderstorm, and
possible size of the hail, spotter reports provide information on the size of
the hail.
5) Flash Flooding -- Doppler Radar can estimate rainfall totals, that can lead
to flash flooding...but spotters can report incidents of flooding.
6) Wind Damage -- Doppler Radar can indicate high winds with the storm...such
as microbursts (downdrafts), as straight line winds. Wind speeds can approach
100 mph.
7) Nets can also be deployed during winter storms, with freezing drizzle,
freezing rain, sleet, and snow...which usually causes a myriad of travel
problems.
AB>Are ANSI and colour commonly used in packet radio?
It depends on what program you use. On my Pentium computer that I run my BBS
(and a packet door) on, I use a simple DOS program called "EZ PACKET". On my
Radio Shack Model 102 laptop, I use a program called XMDPW5, which like the EZ
PACKET program, allows for Xmodem or ASCII file transfers. The TNC basically
doesn't care about the date, unless you're using a fancy packet program. For
the most part, if you're just going after messages via a packet bulletin board
system, all you need is black and white ASCII text.
AB>I've been using NiMH AA rechargeables lately, which are supposed to be free
AB>that problem. I deep cycle them every now and again though.
Agreed...the NiMH batteries are much better...and I think they last much
longer.
AB>We get a lot of storms, especially during the summer. We don't have a lot o
AB>room, and I don't have a lot of cash, so I will probably have to think quite
AB>hard about suitable antennae.
I have magmounts in the shack for 2 meters, 6 meters, and 440. I saw an ad in
the Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) catalog for an HF antenna that you can
mount on a window or a table, thereby not needing an "outside antenna". The
only drawback was that it didn't cover 160, 80, or 75 meters...but, it covered
the rest of the HF bands, and up to the 440 UHF frequencies. I think it runs
around $100, but I'm not sure. AES is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...but other
United States locations include Cleveland, Ohio...Las Vegas, Nevada...and
Orlando, Florida.
(Continued to next message)
--- GTMail 1.26
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS, Little Rock, Arkansas (1:19/33.0)
