 Setting up the MCARA tower and beam |
 Getting the PCARS tower and 20M Yagi ready |
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 Warren, AE4WG, on 20M HF |
 GAP Voyager |
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During the first weekend of December, the National Weather Service Office in Melbourne, Florida supported SKYWARN™ Recognition Day for the 18th consecutive year. The event for Amateur Radio (ham) operators was held from 7 pm Friday, December 2nd until 7 pm Saturday, December 3rd and was co-sponsored by the NWS (www.weather.gov) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL; www.arrl.org). We also hosted a SKYWARN™ Open House from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, December 3rd, where local amateur radio operators and their family members stopped by for tours of event operations and of the National Weather Service office. SKYWARN™ Recognition Day (SRD) provides a venue for National Weather Service (NWS) offices to recognize Amateur ("ham") Radio operators for their commitment in helping keep their communities weathersafe. During every tropical weather threat, and many other major weather events, Amateur Radio operators staff local NWS and American Red Cross shelters and stand ready to provide emergency communications should standard services fail or become overloaded. Many Amateur Radio operators are also trained as SKYWARN™ weather spotters by local NWS offices, to provide valuable information during hazardous weather situations. Often, these spotter reports allow NWS meteorologists to issue severe weather warnings with greater advance notice and confidence than would otherwise be possible. During the 2016 special event here at NWS Melbourne, operations included two High Frequency (HF) stations, a Very High Frequency (VHF) station, and a PC-based EchoLink (VoIP) station. HF operations utilized the 10, 15, 20, 40, 80 and 160-meter bands. Amateur Radio operators across east central Florida helped operate through the event, including members of the Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society from Brevard County (PCARS), The Vero Beach Amateur Radio Club (VBARC), the Treasure Coast Weather Net (TCWN), Martin County ARES/RACES, and Volusia County ARES. Licensed NWS Melbourne meteorologists also operated during the event. The NWS Melbourne East Central Florida SKYWARN™ Group special call-sign WX4MLB was used.
2016 SRD results:
Radio Operators & Assistance Provided by:
For questions, comments, feedback, please email Derrick Weitlich. To receive a QSL card from WX4MLB after the event, please send your card along with an SASE to: NWS Melbourne, 421 Croton Road, Melbourne, FL 32935. Electronic QSLs can be exchanged via EQSL (www.eqsl.cc).
Annual Statistics from WFO Melbourne (local records)
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