Rumors abound that this hurricane season will be even worse than last year. More storms are expected and they will likely be larger because the ocean currents are warmer this year. If this holds to be true, we can expect to see one or more storms come into the Gulf of Mexico and possibly into our area. With that comes the evacuation of coastal residents and the possibility they will seek shelter in the Meridian area.

We were not ready to support those evacuees last year during Hurricane Georges' with anything other than providing some shelter data. If that situation happens again we hope to be better prepared. We have operators interested in assisting the travelers with finding shelter and passing health and welfare messages as needed.

Mel (N5JCG) conducted a traffic handling class in April to prepare our group for the event. It has been interesting to hear messages originated and delivered over the local two meter net as a result of this class. I hope that he will be able to teach another one soon and that the response is even greater.

LIGHTNING - as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary...
1. a. An abrupt, discontinuous natural electric discharge in the atmosphere. b. The visible flash of light accompanying such a discharge.

The topic of lightning has come up in several conversations that I have been a party to over the last several weeks and deserves a few words in this month's article.

Lightning kills about 100 people in the United States each year. Thousands of lightning strikes occur in the world each minute.

England by contrast has only one or two strikes each year. Most of us don't live in England, so we have to take precautions to keep from becoming one of those 100 or so persons mentioned above.

When outside, avoid being in or near tall metal objects (radio towers, antennas, airplanes, flag poles, and metal buildings) as well as trees, light poles, baseball dugouts, picnic shelters, both metal and wood bleachers, fences, water, convertible autos, unenclosed farm equipment, and boats. When these objects are isolated in open fields, on water, or atop hills they seem to be even a greater attractor of lightning.

Some safer locations are large enclosed structures (with proper lightning arrestors), cars, busses, trucks, and vans with their windows rolled up seem to provide good shelter (but do avoid contact with metal surfaces inside the vehicle).

When you are inside and lightning is within about 15 miles (when you can see the flashes or hear the thunder) you should not talk on a telephone (cordless is questionable), take a bath or shower, wash dishes, come into contact with metal plumbing, electrical wires, cables, metal doors, or window frames.

Amateur Radio Operators in their quest to transmit/receive better tend to have tall pointed things protruding from the tops/sides of their houses and cars. These objects can be a conduit for lightning and place our homes, autos, equipment, and families as well as selves at greater risk than those homes or cars without the aforementioned tall, pointy objects.

Be safe and operate with good earth grounds, provide your towers and antennas with proper lightning protection. Without that protection you could find your radio room in shambles from a direct strike or with minor damage from electromagnetic pulse or a minor strike.

Do not be afraid to go off the air if the conditions warrant. It is expected that at some point you may have to do so. Disconnect transmission lines and power cables from your equipment and protect computer gear too. Return to the air when it is safe. Surge protection is available for your power lines and telephone systems and also for your radios and towers. The ARRL handbook is a good source of info on how to protect our systems from this hazard. Contact your power company for whole house protection.

LOCAL OPS

There is now a two meter rig at the LEMA building so that we can communicate directly with that agency when our net is in session. The Tuesday night net is the target of some changes too. More to come later.

Be aware that the net will not be called into session for every thunderstorm that passes through the area. The net will normally be activated when the NWS brings up the HF Net or if LEMA asks us to help. We do not have the capability at this time of sustaining a long term operation; our numbers are small.

There are approximately 155 HAMS in Lauderdale and 21 in Clarke Counties. Please contact any of those individuals that are not members of our group and encourage them to participate. We especially need operators to provide info in the northern parts of Lauderdale and southern parts of Clarke counties. Without the information provided by the storm spotters in Oklahoma the death toll would have been much higher.

All area amateur operators are encouraged to participate in the WX program. You DO NOT have to be a member of the Meridian Amateur Radio Club, ARRL or any other group to participate. All you need to operate on the two meter net is a Technician class license or higher, a radio that will operate on the frequencies we will use, and the desire to serve your community.

Being a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) is also not required but does provide the group with affiliation with a nationally recognized organization with operating agreements with FEMA, NWS, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and local emergency management agencies through the state run agency. Novice through Extra class operators can be members of the ARES unit. As a Novice class licensee you can operate outside your license class if a higher class control operator is available. You can also be of other service if you wish to donate your time. If you would like to be trained to function as a net control operator or storm spotter, please contact me on the W5FQ repeater.

Jim - WB5OCD

Welcome | Net Operations | Spotter Tips & Safety Facts | Last Modified: 03/10/2002