Author: Michael Blake

Mitchell Alan Hull, KE5HWW, longtime president of the U.S.S. Batfish/U.S.S. Oklahoma Amateur Radio Club in Muskogee, Oklahoma, went silent key on Sunday, November 18th at the age of 61.

Mitch had been a licensed amateur radio operator since 2006 and he upgraded to Amateur Extra 2011. He became a member of the U.S.S. Batfish/U.S.S. Oklahoma A.R.C. shortly after becoming licensed serving in several capacities during the past several years while continuing to promote the hobby of amateur radio to the public with his fellow operators.

Mitch was introduced to electronics at a young age by his father Melvin who was also an amateur radio operator. He later worked as a broadcast engineer for KOAM-TV in Joplin and KOTV-TV in Tulsa.

Services will be Saturday, November 24, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. at Moore Funeral Home located at 1908 S. Memorial Drive in Tulsa, OK. Graveside services and interment will follow at approximately 1:30 p.m. at Highland Park Cemetery in Pittsburg, KS.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to:

U.S.S. Batfish/U.S.S. Oklahoma Amateur Radio Club,
c/o Muskogee War Museum
3500 Batfish Road
Muskogee, OK 74403

The 2018 Mt. Vernon Apple Butter Makin’ Days are coming up on October 12th through October 14th.

They need 35 to 40 volunteers to help keep things running smoothly for all the participants and visitors. Last year it was estimated that 100,000 people came sometime during the 3-day event.

The two activities needing the most help with are: 1) the Parade on Saturday, October 13th, and 2) Help with monitoring the Handicapped Parking areas Friday – Sunday (October 12th – 14th).

1) The Parade on Saturday: Before the Parade starts, they need people to help Parade Entrants find their correct staging location. Organizers will provide maps showing where the different groups/entrants are supposed to be located. Volunteers are assigned to specific street corners where they will answer questions and direct parade participants to their proper location. This will involve standing/walking from 6:30 AM until about 11:00 AM the morning of the parade. You can bring a chair if you would like. For any non-hams, small handheld license-free (FRS) radios will be provided to assist volunteers with communications. Ham radio operators are greatly appreciated and requested to bring their own HT’s for use on a 2 meter frequency.

2) Handicapped Parking (HP) Areas: This position involves checking to see that people wanting to park in the HP area have an actual Handicapped license plate or mirror tag. If they don’t, then volunteers will need to redirect them to the free parking i) on the street, ii) at the Baptist church, iii) at Silgan’s, iv) or at the Spirit of ’76 Park. There will be four different areas to watch over each day Friday through Sunday. Shifts run from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM and from 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM. You can bring a chair to sit in if you would like.

If you have a ham radio license, they would especially like to encourage you to help with the Parade on Saturday. They’ll be using a 2 meter simplex frequency with Net Control located in the middle of the Parade Staging area. Most of our Hams are placed around the periphery of the Staging area. This allows us to answer people’s questions before they get into the staging area and can’t get easily out again. Net Control will know all the answers or can contact someone else who does. If you are new to ham radio, this is a great opportunity to get involved in a practical application that uses radio communications.

If you have any questions or would like to help us, please contact:

Kendel Klein, W0KLK

Phone: 608-618-1955 (This is a Google Voice number, so leave a message and he’ll call you back)

or Email: ABMD.Volunteer@gmail.com

More information about Mount Vernon Apple Butter Makin’ Days can be found here.

Join Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn on Thursday, October 18, 2018, at 10:18 a.m. Central Time as we participate in the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut, the region’s largest earthquake drill ever! During this drill, people throughout the Central United States are encouraged to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in order to practice how to protect ourselves and to become prepared in the event of a major earthquake. You may only have seconds to protect yourself in an earthquake before strong shaking knocks you down or something falls on you.

The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is an annual opportunity to practice how to be safer during big earthquakes. The ShakeOut has also been organized to encourage you, your community, your school, or your organization to review and update emergency preparedness plans and supplies and to secure your space in order to prevent damage and injuries.

Major earthquakes may happen anywhere you live, work, or travel. Here in the Central U.S., the New Madrid Seismic Zone presents the biggest potential for spawning a catastrophic earthquake. However, there are many locations where relatively smaller yet still dangerous earthquake hazards exist including the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone in Southeastern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana along with several areas in northeastern Oklahoma and northern and central Arkansas.

Millions of people worldwide have participated in Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills since 2008. The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is now held annually on the third Thursday of October.

As the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut approaches, here are a few things all of us should think about:

1. Do you know where your electric circuit breaker box for your home is? Can you easily access it at a moment’s notice?
2. Do you know where your water main shutoff valve is located? Can you easily access it at a moment’s notice? Do you have the proper tool to turn this valve if required?
3. Do you have natural gas or propane service at your home? If so, do you know where the main shutoff valve is located? Can you easily access it at a moment’s notice, and do you have the proper tool to turn this valve if required?

More information about the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut can be found here.

It’s a very straightforward motto. It’s the Skywarn mission. We all work hard and do a stellar job at spotting, reporting, and documenting severe weather throughout the Springfield, Missouri County Warning Area as we strive to do just that: protect life and property. There’s no question that last week was one of the most difficult weeks since the Joplin tornado of 2011. The Severe Weather Event of Thursday, July 19, 2018, will no doubt be the subject of many spotter training sessions for years to come.

From the watches issued by the Storm Prediction Center earlier that day to the ongoing barrage of warnings issued by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri, during the onset of the event, the meteorology professionals we depend upon had our back every second of that day. They did an amazing job, and they were spot on every time!

On the air, our Skywarn net control operators and mobile spotters hit it out of the ballpark. Excellent traffic handling by our net controlers combined with beneficial reports by our spotters helped everyone understand very quickly that a 60-mile-wide bullet train was bearing down on us and that time was of the essence.

Sometimes, though, things just don’t go the way we all hope they will go.

The scientific professionals with the National Weather Service along with all of us – the volunteers who make up Skywarn – provide an exchange of information. We all give and we all take this information. At the end of the day, our hope is that this information will be heeded by those in a storm’s path and that everyone will be okay. Most of the time, this goal is met. However, once in a while, something goes terribly wrong. It’s hard to accept. It’s hard to process. But, please keep one thing in mind: if it weren’t for this amazing team of professionals and volunteers, this sort of thing would happen much more often. We cannot control what people do once this information which we exchange reaches them. We can only hope for the best outcome. And, when things don’t work out the way we hope, then we must continue moving forward and continue preparing for the next time – because there will always be a next time.

THANK YOU to everyone who participates in our ongoing mission to protect life and property throughout Southwest Missouri and extreme Southeast Kansas!

After many, many months of planning and hard work we are very excited to announce that the newest addition to the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn Repeater Network is now on the air. The former Buffalo Repeater at 147.180 MHz is now operating from its new home 400 feet atop the Fox 5 KRBK Television tower in Polk, Missouri! The new Polk, Missouri repeater is currently operating in stand-alone mode meaning it’s not currently linked into the network. While it’s in this mode, we would greatly appreciate signal reports from all stations in all locations.

So far, signal reports have been really good with stations as far away as Lebanon and Sedalia being able to get in with modest amounts of power. Please give the new Polk, MO repeater a try. It continues to operate on the same frequency pair of 147.180 MHz with a standard plus offset of 600 kHz and a PL tone of 136.5 Hz.

As you test out the repeater keep in mind that at this time it is only transmitting 25 watts, and that’s before the duplexer – the device which allows for the simultaneous transmit and receive of two close frequencies using the same antenna. Most likely, 15 watts are all that are reaching the antenna. So, if you are transmitting 50 or more watts from your transceiver, the repeater is going to hear you much better than you are going to hear it coming back to you. Once all testing is complete at this new site, the 147.180 MHz. repeater’s power will first be doubled to around 50 watts. Eventually, the 147.180 repeater will transmit about 100 watts of power – or around 6 dB higher than it currently does at the present time.

Our 4-bay dipole antenna is seen in this photo mounted on the left side of the KRBK tower. 

On Wednesday, July 25th at 7:30 p.m. Central an informal net was held on the new 147.180 Polk Repeater as a way to encourage folks to gather on the air and test out its coverage.  Results are very encouraging, and we thank everyone who participated!

Please keep the signal reporting coming in. You can email signal reports to our system trustee Michael, N0NQW, via the form at this link.

Thank you to everyone throughout the Springfield, Missouri County Warning Area who emailed us with your local organization’s Field Day information. Here’s the list of 2018 Public Field Day Events throughout SW Missouri.

Field Day starts at 1 p.m. Central (1800 UTC) Saturday, June 23, 2018, and continues for 24 hours.

Greene County (Willard, Missouri):  W0EBE
11016 N. Farm Rd. 115
Willard, MO 65781

The Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club will be operating in Willard, MO at 11016 N. Farm Rd. 115.
More information: http://smarc.org/?page_id=698

Christian County (Ozark, Missouri):  WA6JGM
Christian County Resource Center (next door to Sonic)
1106 West Jackson Street
Ozark, MO 65721

Christian County A.R.E.S. will be operating at the Christian County Resource Center in Ozark, MO located at 1106 West Jackson Street in Ozark, MO. It’s right next door to the Sonic Drive-In and across the street from Ozark Junior High School.

Douglas County (Ava, Missouri): K0DCA
Ava Lions Club Building
309 N Jefferson St.
Ava, MO 65608

The DCAR Radio Club will be operating at 309 N. Jefferson Street in Ava, MO which is the Lions Club building. You can email Teresa KC0OKP at kc0okp@yahoo.com for more information.

Texas County (Houston, Missouri): N0NTC
Pizza Express
1415 S. Sam Houston Blvd.
Houston, MO 65483

The Ozark Mountain Amateur Radio Club will be operating in front of Pizza Express in Houston, MO.

Newton County (Joplin/Diamond, Missouri): W0IN
Camp Childress Boy Scout Camp
12255 State Hwy V
Diamond, MO 64840

The Joplin Amateur Radio Club will be operating from Camp Childress Boy Scout Camp at 12255 State Hwy V in Diamond, MO.
More information: http://joplin-arc.org/field-day/

Phelps County (Rolla, Missouri): W0EEE
1061 S. Bishop Ave.
Rolla, MO 65401

The Rolla Regional Amateur Radio Society will be operating from the Rolla Lions Club Den and Park (Pavilion 15) in Rolla, MO.
More information: http://www.rollanet.org/~rrars/fieldday.html

Camden County (Camdenton, Missouri): N0ZS
783 Thunder Mountain Rd.
Camdenton, MO 65020

Lake of the Ozarks Amateur Radio Club will be operating at the Missouri Conservation area on Thunder Mountain Road in Camdenton, MO.
More information: http://www.loarc.com/?page_id=663

Please email: webmaster@n0nws.com for corrections.

The National Weather Service has joined together with other local and state agencies to promote Missouri and Kansas Summer Weather Safety Week 2018: Excessive Heat and Lightning. This year’s Summer Weather Safety Week starts on Monday, June 18th and runs through Sunday, June 24th.

Excessive heat and lightning are among the top weather dangers during the summer throughout the United States. Being aware of these dangerous weather conditions is the first step in protecting the lives of yourself and those around you. Please visit this webpage provided by National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri to help you and yours stay safe this summer.

The weather can change in minutes in the summertime here in the Missouri Ozarks and extreme southeast Kansas. As always, you should monitor local broadcasts, NOAA Weather Radio, and the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn Repeater Network for updates whenever you’re outdoors.

It is with a heavy heart today that we announce that our dear friend and colleague Jim Sellars N0UAM has passed away. As you may know, Jim has been off the air for several months and has been in the hospital.

Please keep Jim’s family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Prior to passing, Jim penned his own obituary. Click here to read it.

Here are Some media articles commemorating Jim’s life and his service to our community:
KTTS 94.7 FM
Springfield News-Leader
Daily Mail
Detroit Free Press
RepublicanAmerican
Salina Post
New York Post
MSN News

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri is confirming that two EF-1 tornadoes of around equal strength hit Polk County, Missouri during the early evening hours of Saturday, May 19, 2018. The first tornado touched down around 2 miles northwest of Pleasant Hope at 6:25 p.m. It traveled about 2.3 miles and was nearly 100 yards wide with estimated peak winds of around 100 miles per hour. The second twister touched down about 3 minutes later approximately 3 miles north-northwest of Pleasant Hope. It traveled about 2 miles and also had estimated peak winds of 100 miles per hour and a width of around 100 yards.

The first tornado uprooted and damaged numerous trees and damaged several outbuildings before tearing the roof off of one house. The second twister destroyed two barns and damaged the roof on a third. It also uprooted several trees.

Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities were reported.

Forecasters say the severe weather on May 19th and 20th was spawned by several waves of upper-level energy that interacted with instability and a little bit of shear. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms errupted throughout the entire Springfield Missouri County Warning Area also bringing many reports of wind damage and large hail. As much as 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in some areas as the storms “trained” (moved across many of the same locations) causing localized flooding.