1. Virginia Emergency Management Symposium Outreach Presentation Estimated Run Time: 30 Minutes Produced: 22-Feb-2010 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

2. NOAA - National Weather Service Wakefield SKYWARN Amateur Radio Support Team VEMS Presentation Steve Crow, KG4PEQ – Amateur Radio Coordinator Steve.Crow@WX4AKQ.org (877) 499-4257 ext. 3900 Revised February 22, 2010

3. SKYWARN Spotters and Amateur Radio

4. What is Amateur Radio? Amateur radio, or “ham radio” exists to further the radio art and facilitate communications during emergencies. It is both a hobby and a radio service. Participants, often called hams, must pass an examination demonstrating their proficiency in basic electronics theory, FCC regulations, and communications technique prior to receiving their license from the FCC. Many hams have a strong desire to use their radio communications skills and equipment in service to their community through several local and national organizations.

5. Amateur Radio Services There are several major amateur radio service groups that exist in our area and across the country. All are dedicated to providing critical emergency communications services. Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) Virginia Dept. of Emergency Mgt. (VDEM-ARCA) Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) Radio Emergency Associated Comm. Teams (REACT) National Traffic System (NTS) And of course... National Weather Service SKYWARN All of these programs exist to serve the public in some way.

6. Why Ham Radio Serves The National Weather Service Many hams are naturally curious about the weather. Many hams are community-service minded. They enjoy working with the forecast team at the NWS.

7. How Ham Radio and SKYWARN Fit Together Ham radio operators and the clubs they often belong to have invested many thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into building resilient, high quality communications systems. These systems are made available to the National Weather Service for purposes of the SKYWARN program. Hams donate their time, skills, and equipment to serve the National Weather Service during SKYWARN Activations. Even if phone lines are working and the power is on, hams still serve a valuable purpose for your office: collecting and disseminating weather information and serving as a filter for all of those “sunshine” and “dark cloud” reports!

8. For More Information http://www.wx4akq.org/ coordinator@wx4akq.org