Month: March 2018

Country Music band Farewell Angelina will be performing a benefit concert on April 26th to help raise funds for much-needed repairs to the 145.49 N0NWS Repeater. As you may know, a major lightning strike late last summer severely damaged the 145.49 repeater’s main transmit antenna, feed line, and final power amplifier knocking it off the air for the better part of a week. This also rendered our entire repeater network unlinked as the 145.49 repeater serves as a hub which interconnects all of our affiliated repeaters across southwest Missouri.

“More than $30,000 worth of new feed line and equipment has already been donated to us by various vendors and manufacturers,” says Michael Blake, N0NQW, trustee of the N0NWS Repeater. “However, we still need to raise around $20,000 to pay for additional equipment and a tower-climbing crew to install everything on the 1,000-foot-high tower from which we operate in Fordland,” says Blake.

Sponsored by Houston, Missouri business Pizza Express, Farewell Angelina has offered to hold a benefit concert at the Melba Performing Arts Center on April 26, 2018, at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are available for $15 by calling Pizza Express at 417-967-4473. Tickets at the box office will be $20. A VIP/After Party pass is available for $30. And, again, all proceeds will benefit the Southern Missouri Emergency Communications Fund which is the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization under which we operate.

To learn more about star act “Farewell Angelina”, visit their website at www.farewellangelinamusic.com. There you can sample their music and learn more about this band that Rolling Stone Magazine names as one of the “New Artists You Need To Know”.

The Melba Performing Arts Center is located at 214 South Grand Avenue in Houston, Missouri. Use the interactive Google Map below for directions.

The National Weather Service is encouraging you and your family to know where your severe weather safe place is at home, at work, at school, and even at places in between. From now until April 4th, you are encouraged to take a photo of yourself and your family (aka: a selfie) while inside your severe weather safe place. Then post this photo on social media with the hashtag: #safeplaceselfie

National Weather Service offices say they will increase social media posting as we get closer to April 4th. They plan to share the most creative and unique posts.

In the meantime, feel free to ask questions and engage in dialog with the larger #SafePlaceSelfie social media community.

More information about this can be found by clicking here.

Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend here in Southwest Missouri and throughout most of the United States. This Sunday, March 11, 2017, at 2:00 a.m. local time, we spring forward to Central Daylight Time as we turn our clocks ahead one hour. Safety officials also suggest that this is a great time to test and/or replace the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

None of the nets on the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn linked repeaters move after these time changes. All of our nets adhere to local time. If you monitor our nets on our Broadcastify Feed or if you participate via our EchoLink Node N0NWS-R from parts of the United States and its territories that do not observe Daylight Savings Time including most of Arizona, all of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands or in other parts of the world that do not observe Daylight Savings Time, then our nets will appear to start an hour earlier to you.

Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November 4, 2018, at 2:00 a.m. local time.

Thank you to all stations who participated in the amateur radio portion of this morning’s Statewide Tornado Drill throughout the Springfield, Missouri County Warning Area. We had a total of 81 stations participating!!!

50 stations (including net control) checked in directly via the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn Repeater Network. The remaining 31 stations were checked in by their county liaisons via their local/county repeater systems.

The drill was a success with almost all stations reporting hearing at least one type of alert.

Because of this morning’s Statewide Tornado Drill and the accompanying net at 10 a.m., the Skywarn Training Net is canceled for this evening. Please join us next Tuesday, March 13, 2018, at 7 p.m. when the Skywarn Training Net will resume at its normally-scheduled time.

Caleb, KEØFOE at the Skywarn Table

In the midst of yet another flooding event in Southwest Missouri, last Saturday’s Severe Weather Expo at Battlefield Mall in Springfield was an awesome success. The turnout at the mall was huge – probably a product of the rain itself.

Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn had a table this year. Our display featured brochures available to the general public describing who we are and what we do, a video loop which included sound clips of our spotters first reporting and confirming the Goodman, Missouri tornado which hit in April 2017, and a posterboard with quick facts about Skywarn. Along the left side of the table was a really cool portable backpack HF and VHF radio display assembled by Clay KBØWZI. A closer look shows a laptop Emergency and Portable Radio Setup Courtesy of Clay KB0WZI and tablet computer used for digital modes. Clay outfitted a military surplus ammunition can to hold multiple battery packs providing several hours of power. A portable and flexible solar panel can be seen as well along with a Yaesu FT-991A all-mode HF, VHF, and UHF transceiver. For HF communications, Clay brought a sectional HF whip, and a homebrew VHF Yagi was provided by Norm NØGRL. Many people, some of them already hams, stopped by our table and said hello. It was great meeting them all!

Emergency Radio Display Provided by Clay KBØWZI

Michael NØNQW with the Tornado Puncher

There was a bit of a buzz throughout the mall caused by a new display this year. Many of the younger folks in attendance thought the Batmobile was on hand. At first glance, it did kinda look like the Batmobile. However, it was actually the Tornado Puncher. This display was sponsored by Storm Damage Services. Designed to intercept a tornado and equipped with cameras and bright lights, the Tornado Puncher definitely turned a lot of heads on Saturday and may soon provide us with some amazing tornado video in the near future.

Our good friends and partners from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri had a very interesting and informative display including their tornado simulator, a video loop, and some sample weather instruments. Next to them was the Greene County Office of Emergency Management including our good friends at Greene County ARES.

Greene County ARES

National Weather Service Springfield, MO

Broadcasters were present as well including KY3, KOLR 10, and KTTS 94.7 FM along with other businesses aiming to encourage everyone to become aware of the dangers of severe weather and how they can protect themselves and their families.

We’d like to thank Battlefield Mall Marketing Administrator Sydney Leutzinger for allowing Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn to show the public how trained severe weather spotters help protect life and property throughout the Springfield, Missouri County Warning Area. We look forward to returning in 2019.

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri has rescheduled the 2018 Greene County Spotter Training Class:

Date: Friday, March 9, 2018, at 6:30 p.m.

Location: Assembly Of God Headquarters Auditorium
1445 N. Boonville Ave.
Springfield, Missouri 65802

(use the interactive map below for your convenience)