Spotter Frustration...

[Jim Hunt]

I wait a couple of days to make sure I was still as frustrated as I was at the time. I still am so here goes...

Tuesday was the wind and severe weather event in Indiana (and many other places too). Indiana even was the bullseye for High Risk which doesn't happen very often.

For me, I knew we would short handed with spotters for the mid day event and having plenty of personal days built up at work, I made the decision at before 5 AM to take the day off. I really want to be out there to do my part for community safety and to witness the event.

Unfortunately NWS asked for someone in my county to bring up a net over an hour before we were to see the storms. I has already been on amateur radio listening ended up doing net control/radar duties which is what I had in mind.

The bad part about doing net control was one less set of eyes out in the field. However I realize the important role net control plays and take the position seriously.

However I have two frustrations and they are not just limited to this event.

Spotting from home. While I appreciate check ins, just sitting on your couch with an HT doesn't do a lot of good when spotting. Particularly so when we only hear from you is during the Skywarn net and we never see you at amateur radio club meetings or ARES/RACES training or at spotter classes. Honestly I don't have any confidence or feel for your abilities.

Especially annoying are the ones who check in asking for a weather forecast for their back yard.

A couple of the home based spotters did have a solid signal (base) and were capable of doing net control but passed on the opportunity when asked. That kept me stuck at home. Again I could have been out in the field and been mobile (with radar) but was in my ham shack at home.

In the end I had two mobile spotters covering the entire county and we never saw much of anything from those two locations. However we did have a brief EF-0 hit one home in our county and no spotter saw it. We never even got a Tor Warning.

I feel we could have done better with more spotters being mobile and trained. The sad part is we have spotter training and offer amateur radio classes and testing the weeks following but we seldom get any additional spotter help.

I am at a loss on what to do about it.

Honestly I look back and think I should have played dumb and just went mobile before the net was brought up and spotted. I don't know but I am tired of nobody helping out much anymore.

Suggestions for more participation?

 

[rdale]

Given the number of small tornadoes in Indiana that day, and the fact that there are no pictures I can find, I don't think it was an issue with the number of spotters. Actually, in those sort of instances I'd rather keep people at home. I didn't chase myself because 1) I didn't think there would be anything to see even if a tornado did hit and 2) it was MUCH more dangerous than a typical event if the straight-line winds had approached forecast values.

I was stuck as NCS for a long time because of my education, and spent many a good event stuck in a windowless building. But I think having people 1) who know weather and 2) who know how to run a net is VERY valuable. We've all heard a horrible Skywarn operation or two. So at the end of the day, do you feel better about yourself for running a good net - or would you have felt better had you been out chasing and seen a line of showers with gusty winds? Even if you were in place to see that tornado - would you have provided any advance notice to the house that was hit? Again, given the speed of the storms and the short-lived nature of the tornado, by the time you called NCS and they called NWS and the warning was issued and the sirens were sounded, the tornado still would have hit without warning.

As for getting more participation - an October work week day is probably low on the available crew side to begin with.

 

[Jason Foster]

I gave up on ham radio overall. Since I've been licensed in 1993 I have seen nothing but a decline in participation, cohesiveness, professionalism, etc. in such things like Skywarn and other assorted spotter programs. While there are still many, many great networks, repeaters, etc. the real story for me is that ham radio is not too far (5 years +/-) off from becoming irrelevant for storm reporting thanks to newer technologies and the lack of the ability of ham radio to keep it's system clean and efficient. In fact I think this is already it's downfall. While ham radio nets are still valuable and would provide very good if not better coverage than the cell networks and other reporting systems, I just feel that the system is breaking down. So....I think the frustration will continue.

 

[rdale]

I think it's a stretch to say that the entire SYSTEM is breaking down... And when the big one comes, you better have your ham radio nearby because the Internet won't be there.

I agree that its value isn't what it used to be, but writing it off is taking a BIG chunk of spotters away. In my state there might be 20-30 SN spotters. I'd guess there are well over 1000 active Skywarn spotters.

 

[Karen St John]

I gave up on ham radio overall. Since I've been licensed in 1993 I have seen nothing but a decline in participation, cohesiveness, professionalism, etc. in such things like Skywarn and other assorted spotter programs. While there are still many, many great networks, repeaters, etc. the real story for me is that ham radio is not too far (5 years +/-) off from becoming irrelevant for storm reporting thanks to newer technologies and the lack of the ability of ham radio to keep it's system clean and efficient. In fact I think this is already it's downfall. While ham radio nets are still valuable and would provide very good if not better coverage than the cell networks and other reporting systems, I just feel that the system is breaking down. So....I think the frustration will continue.

Personally, I think that a lot of the decline reflects a longterm decline in public service. We get so wrapped up in our new phones that we forget they are tools to an end...communication.

Communication is part of community, IMO. But we need to unwrap ourselves from our new toys that distract us. Emergency Management tends to rely on hams less and less, both because they have new toys to play with, and because they have concerns about liability (so I have been told!)

Hams don't have to really know much theory if they don't wish. My Novice classes, years ago, were harder than the Tech license today. (Then again, my dad's club was really training us for the General Class ticket, because the classes were ongoing and dovetailed seamlessly into each other.)

I like to take apart my toys, and not just play with them according to the instructions. I'm not saying I am good at doing so.

You really cannot dissect your cell phone, because you also disconnect your warranty. It's a pity.

Just ramblin'...

 

[Jeff Banter]

Jim,

Tuesday's storm was such a fast mover that I doubt you would of seen the tornado. The people that lived in the house that was hit didn't really see anything but parts of it being rip off. You could of been sitting in the driveway and not seen it.
I listened to the Howard County net when I wasn't busy on the Grant county net and thought the net ran well. I've been in a situation where I was the only mobile spotter out and the adjacent county was tornado warned with the local repeater acting up and spotty cell phone coverage. We had 15 spotters with 2 or 3 of them base. None of them reported anything but strong winds (70mph) and zero visibility. I want to thank you for taking the net Tuesday morning if you didn't there might not have been one. Since I live in the county east of you its good to listen to your frequency.

Jeff

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

I agree, the system as a whole is not failing, certain geographic areas are wilting in their participation. It's amazing to see operators flock from their dusty basements when "disaster" strikes. Our program is quite strong, but we have the advantage of a larger population from which to draw quality operators...we still have our moments of lapse however

I think we've all felt your pain at one time or another Jim. My suggestion, and something I've done in a smaller community, is to take someone who is consistently participating, who is constantly stationary, who is reliable, and ask them to handle NCS duties to free up your eyes for the field. One of the best systems I've operated under relied on two folks...one blind man who worked as NCS, and one home-bound man who acted as the eyes for the radar and liaison to NWS GRR. They were quite reliable and efficient operators, and their contribution really did free folks up to be in the field when they could not. While we had more stationary spotters than mobile peppered throughout the county, we still managed a quality outcome by focusing our resources where they were needed.

As for increasing participation.....I think a lot of folks would love to hear suggestions on this, especially in smaller communities. The best solution I can think of, invest in quality over quantity.

Good luck!

 

[Bart_Comstock]

I think one of the best nets in the country would have to be in SGF's area. Every time I have chased in their area I have been impressed by how well the net works. I know they have dedicated controllers who seem to always be running it and so that helps. There still is the odd key ups asking for forecasts or to report that "nothing is happening here" but for the most part the qc is good and it has proven many times to be an invaluable tool for the local NWS. This net is a great example of howin some areas the use of ham radios for reporting is far from breaking down.

 

[Tim Shriver]

One way to beat the "gee I don't want to be a ham" or take the time to get their license is to use business band. No training and anyone you authorize can use it.

We used business band long before we added ham to our tool box. We still use it.

To be able to say "come join us, you don't need to get a ham license but still you can use radios" is a good draw. But once they get the radio in their hand they become more interested in the ham end of things. This is how most of our members came aboard.

Also working with your local Emergency Management and the NWS during the spotter classes helps in getting folks interested and involved. Folks see that it's not just a bunch of "rag chewers" sitting on their porch telling us about what they see.

Most groups are not real good at reaching out to the public in a way that it appeals to todays high tech people. Thats why having good public relations, getting the local EMMs to recommend your group and promote your group and even getting the local media to plug your group on the air helps. Takes time to build a group with a good solid core
of well trained and dedicated people.

Right now is a tough time for everyone and most have many things that are on their minds. Unemployment, house values and foreclosures etc tends to put the task of storm spotting at the bottom of the normal Joe's/Jane's list.

Don't let it discourage you. The times will change and with the right public involvement, consistent high performance and getting others to help promote your cause will make it happen.

Try your local radio stations during the spring or Severe Weather Awareness week. Do some interviews, get something in the local papers, have a good modern and informative website, Present spotting in a modern and high tech manner. Let them see the cool tools you can use, like radios, cell phones, GrLevel products etc.
Also get into finding the tornado tracks that were not warned. This impresses folks when you do that.

Also having good protocols and standards that are modernized helps.

We also chose not to use Skywarn in our name as it tends to bring old thoughts
of Skywarn to mind. We chose the MidWest Severe Storm Tracking and Response Center or MidWest for short. This reflects what we truly do and seems to work well in the media as well.

PR is vital these days. Present something old and tired and your responses will be weak. Present something new, high tech and progressive will get more younger folks interested.

We have also seen a drop in attendance at our meetings in the past few months, but the core is still there and doing a great job for us.

But this takes time, planning, good PR and dedication to put it together into something that is affective and appealing.

We still have counties that are lacking in local participation, but we keep hammering away at it and I am confident that when the outbreak occurs we will get it covered.

As for NCO, people are listening. They may not be saying anything but they are there.
So keep the standards high and they will come.

Tim

 

[Jesse Risley]

When I first obtained my ham license back in 1998, I resided in LaSalle County in northern Illinois (the LOT FA), which had a very active ham community that also facilitated weather spotting services.

There are a few things that did work in that area, though they may not necessarily work for you. First, club members and resident amateurs were regularly encouraged to take spotter training every year when it was offered. Continual announcements were made over nets, information was printed in club newsletters, and it was also mentioned a month or two ahead of time at club meetings. There was also an annual amateur radio spotter meeting held to cover spotting protocol and net procedures (e.g., none of that "it's not raining here yet" banter allowed on weather nets); this was covered, in more brevity, at the ham club meeting in March as well.

Finally, we had a few dedicated hams who had at least an above average knowledge of severe weather. They knew their way around sites like College of Dupage, so that they could at least visually look for cues on satellite, they could read AFDs and forecast discussions, and they could navigate the SPC homepage for convective outlooks and MDs. A day or two before an expected event, emails were sent out and something was said over the repeater. The hams were pretty good about being near their radios when needed. Once a watch was issued, announcements were made over the area repeaters, as well as 146.520 MHz. When a warning was issued for adjacent counties, a call was made over the repeater and also over .52 simplex for spotters to head out into position.

Anytime severe weather threatened, save for a few very surprise circumstances, there always seemed to be at least for or five trained spotters out mobile and relaying information to a net control. It wasn't exactly the most 'organized' system, in the same fashion that an organized group with written procedures and hundreds of directives is concerned, but the proactive stance of some weather wise hams served the Starved Rock area quite well.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

On HAM radio related stuff and cell phone, it does blow that cell phones are becoming more popular these days. I found an old mobile CB radio and hooked it back up in my truck and couldn't get anyone at all on the radio not even truckers! I remember back 10 years ago when the CB radio land was booming!

 

[David Drummond]

Not to worry Shawn, you can still use it to pick up lot lizards at the old choke and puke.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

LOL yeah Heck they use craigslist now days haha

 

[Flo Cornett]

New here, and I hope it's alright to pick this topic up again with a slightly different twist. What do you all think about general spotter coverage? In my post-season review, I had hooked seven tornadoes and a pair of really nasty straight-line events (IN, IA, IL, WI, MN) last year; however, I encountered a total of three other vehicles - two chasers on an IL storm and one spotter on an IA storm. Granted, small rural communities have work force concerns interfering with spotter activation, but I was still rather concerned about the lack of spotters last summer over a rather broad region. I realize the law of small numbers may have really played havoc with my observation, so my question is, "has anyone else noticed a drop in participation like this or was it an aberration?"

 

[rdale]

Many spotters do it from a fixed location.