 Dwaine, KM4HCN, and Ray, KI4RHL, in the BEARS-1 Van (Photo Taken By Arnie Lewin, W7BIA)
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 Ray, KI4RHL, operating on 2M (Photo Taken By Arnie Lewin, W7BIA)
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 Dwaine, KM4HCN, giving a tour of the BEARS-1 Van |
 BEARS-1 Van with the KMLB Doppler Radar (Photo Taken By Arnie Lewin, W7BIA) |
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During the first weekend of December, the National Weather Service Office in Melbourne, Florida supported SKYWARN™ Recognition Day for the 19th consecutive year. The event for Amateur Radio (ham) operators was held from 7 pm Friday, December 1st until 7 pm Saturday, December 2nd 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 2nd, 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 2017 special event here at NWS Melbourne, operations included two High Frequency (HF) stations, including one in the Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Services emergency communication vehicle (BEARS-1), and one provided by Eric Smitt, K9ES, of PCARS. Operations also utilized a Very High Frequency (VHF) station, and a PC-based EchoLink (VoIP) station in the NWS Melbourne office. HF operations utilized the 20, 40, and 80-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 Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Services (BEARS) group, 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.
2017 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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