Here are some upcoming events that I plan on attending; if you’re going to be there and happen to see me, stop and say hi.
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Current weather conditions here in Madison, WI:
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Yep, that about covers it. Madison Area Technical College is even closed today, which (I’m told) does not happen very often. A picture says a thousand words… see if you can see my street. So much for antenna work today… heh… that will have to wait a few months, I think.
Speaking of antennas… well, not specifically… let’s say speaking of 10 meters, and then we’ll get to the antennas part in a minute. I keep saying I’m going to find a way to learn morse code enough to actually be able to operate with it, but it just never happens. I might as well admit that I always have something else going on. So I’m looking at the chart of what bands I can operate SSB on as a Technician, and I’m looking at 10 meters– 28.3-28.5mhz. Which probably doesn’t generate much excitement for many people, because it’s the very beginning of a solar cycle and 10 meters tends to be kinda quiet these days (from what I’m hearing out of the speaker).
However, I can reasonably expect to fit a 1/4 wave 10 meter dipole inside my apartment (or on my patio, weather permitting). I’ve also found a reasonably priced replacement microphone for my IC-735; the MFJ-290I, which I just ordered. So once it arrives, I’ll be playing around on 10 meters a bit, when there’s time between classes and work.
I am no longer a member of Midwest SSTRC Inc.
There was a lot of internal discussion between myself, and members of the Board of Directors of Midwest after I announced I was leaving. There was also discussion between members of the organization in response to my leaving. These discussions were private, and as such I will not repeat them here—I will say that we nearly reached an agreement on my returning as a member, but remained apart on two important questions. Ultimately, I decided that Midwest isn’t the organization for me. I’m not leaving with any ill feelings towards Midwest, and I hope there are no ill feelings towards me.
I still intend to go out into the field to check out severe weather occasionally next summer. It’s something I like to do as a hobby—I’m not a hardcore storm tracker, but I do enjoy seeing nature up close. Hopefully, this year will be a little more interesting without being more dangerous, and I’ll have more to write about. I will be also be taking the NWS storm spotter class again this year, but I’m not sure yet which session I’ll be attending.
If you live in Madison and you’re interested in coming along and checking out the weather at some point this summer, please leave a comment and we’ll see what we can work out.
A sure sign that spring is here (besides the temps in the 70’s lately):
April 09-13, 2007 - Wisconsin Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week
Drill Day is Thursday April 12, 2007 from 1 to 2 PM.
…MOCK TORNADO DRILL…
THE DRILL WILL START AT 1 PM WITH A MOCK TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OF WISCONSIN…IN EFFECT THROUGH 2 PM CDT.
BETWEEN 110 PM CDT AND 155 PM CDT…THE 5 NWS OFFICES THAT SERVICE WISCONSIN WILL ISSUE MOCK TORNADO WARNINGS…ON A STAGGERED BASIS. THE MOCK TORNADO WARNING ISSUANCE ORDER WILL BE…
* MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN NWS OFFICE WILL OCCUR FROM…….120-125 PM CDT
THE MOCK TORNADO WATCH/WARNING DRILL WILL END AT 2 PM CDT.
More details and updates are here (NWS Sullivan)
NWS Sullivan/Milwaukee has posted the 2007 Storm Spotter training schedule. Looks like an initial version, but there’s the link.
