After having looked at our presentation for the Atlanta Hamfest last year, I was reminded that it was about time for the first anniversary of the Southeastern Weather Net.
I've included the first reference that I had in my mailbox of the net and it is amazing how far we have come in such a little time. We commonly have over 25 repeaters connecting every week with over 50 check-ins. We've expanded our footprint to include every southern coastal state. John (WB4QDX) and I (WA4YIH) would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the net over the year. We've now got an awesome group of net control operators, even our newest net controls are doing a super job. And we definitely appreciate all of those who have checked in over the year. Over a year ago, John and I were always talking about D-STAR and how it "could do this" and "could do that." And quite frankly, we got tired of saying that it could and wanted to change that to "D-STAR DOES THIS!" That was our driver, and you've helped make that a reality. The Southeastern Weather Net has shown that it can assist during significant weather events and it has proven that D-STAR can support major events. We've already been through a few hurricanes, and have provided value to our customers. During one of the storms that hit New Orleans last year, we opened a shelter in Gwinnett County (Lawrenceville, GA) and were requested to help setup communications and get operations rolling. During the event, D-STAR was allowing us to get information on things as simple as the weather to the people in the shelter. And the crowning event was when the shelter manager asked us if "we had heard" and we asked him to give us a few minutes until we linked into the New Orleans EOC and let our Shelter Manager talk directly to the EOC to find out the facts. There's a couple of other activities that are occurring right now that are about to usher in the next generation of D-STAR. And the yearlong operation of this net has helped D-STAR move forward. So in a year from now, I'll republish this letter and I hope that we will all be amazed out how far we have come. 73s Ed WA4YIH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Woodrick, Ed Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2008 10:21 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [ga_dstar] Sunday Evening Southeastern Weather Net - 15 June 08 This evening's net had 9 repeaters linked in with 26 stations checking in. KD4EFM provided the Tropical Weather Forecast and US Severe Weather Forecast. Connected repeaters were WD4STR-C GA, KJ4BDF-B GA, KI4SBA-C GA, W4DOC-C GA, W5SHV-C LA, KI4WXS-B NC, W0OMB-B MO, KJ4ACN-C FL, KZ2TGB-C NJ. WA4YIH provided Net Control. While a little outside of our weather zone, we also had a few stations from Australia check in. The net is envisioned to provide communications during weather events in the Gulf Coast States. While not in a weather event, the net is designed to provide practice to stations and system operators with operations during large nets. All stations and repeaters are welcome to check in to the net. Repeaters and DVDongle users should connect to the REF002A reflector at about 15 minutes prior to the net. Repeater roll call begins at 5 minutes before the net. Ed WA4YIH [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
