Table Of Contents

• The Amateur Code
• Phonetics Chart
• Net Directory (Seperate Page)
• Area Clubs (Seperate Page)
• Repeater Directory (Seperate Page)
• Service Organizations
• Modes of Radio Communication
• Websites of Interest to Hams

The Amateur Code

By Paul Segal, W9EEA, 1928

Considerate...never knowingly uses the air in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others
Loyal...offers loyalty, encouragement and support to their fellow radio amateurs, their local radio club, and to the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio is represented
Progressive...With knowledge abreast of science. It is well-built and efficient. Operating practice is above reproach
Friendly...slow and patient sending when requested, friendly advice and counsel to the beginner, kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the marks of the amateur spirit
Balanced...radio is their hobby. Then never allow it to interfere with any of the duties they owe to their home, job, church, school or community
Patriotic...their knowledge and their station are always ready for the service of his country and their community

Phonetics Chart

Service Organizations

ARES

ARES is a volunteer radio communications service available to Federal, State, County and Local Governments, as well as to non-profit organizations. Amateurs nationwide volunteer their services and formed as an organized pool of operators to provide reliable primary and secondary communications links. Amateurs provide voluntary communications in time of need. ARES consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes.

• Website: www.qsl.net/gcares
  When you enter the site, you can click on links, then district information and find the different districts of ARES.
• Contact: Green County ARES - Ken Baremore, W0KRB, w0krb@yahoo.com
• Meeting is the 2nd Thursday of every month
• At the American Red Cross on the West Bypass in Springfield, MO
• Green County ARES Net - every Thursday at 7pm, Freq. 147.225(+) PL 162.2

CERT

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness project in their community.

• Website: www.citizencorps.gov/cert
• District 1 contact: Bill Gilmore, KC0TCF, jnh4111@yahoo.com
• District 2 contact: John Marberry, KC0UXR, johnmarberry@msn.com
• District 3 contact: John Elmore, KC0ZOY
• District 4 contact: Rick Williams, KC0TCB, rwilliams@republicmo.com

RACES

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a public service provided by a reserve (volunteer) group of amateur radio (ham radio) operators that is administered by local, county and state emergency management agencies, and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States government. As a part of the Amateur Radio Service, it provides radio communications for civil-preparedness purposes only, during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies. These emergencies are not limited to war-related activities, but can include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, power outages, floods, victim searches, air crashes, and many others.

• Contact: Emergency Management Office: 417-869-6040

SKYWARN

What is SKYWARN? (get logo)
SKYWARN is a concept developed in the early 1970s that was intended to promote a cooperative effort between the National Weather Service and communities. The emphasis of the effort is often focused on the storm spotter, an individual who takes a position near their community and reports wind gusts, hail size, rainfall, and cloud formations that could all signal a developing tornado. Another part of SKYWARN is the receipt and effective distribution of National Weather Service information. The organization of spotters and the distribution of warning information may lie with the National Weather Service or with an emergency management agency within the community. This agency could be a police or fire department, or often is an emergency management/service group (what people might still think of as civil defense groups). This varies across the country however, with local national weather service offices taking the lead in some locations, while emergency management takes the lead in other areas.

SKYWARN is not a club or organization, however, in some areas where Emergency Management programs do not perform the function, people have organized.

SKYWARN groups that work independent of a parent government agency and feed valuable information to teh National Weather Service. While this provides the radar meteorologist with much needed input, the circuit is not complete if the information does not reach those who can activate sirens or local broadcast systems.

SKYWARN spotters are not by definition "storm chasers". While their functions and methods are similar, the spotter stays close to home and usually has ties to a local agency. Storm chasers often cover hundreds of miles a day. The torm Storm Chaser covers a wide variety of people. Some are meteorologists doing specific research or are gathering basic information (like video) for training and comparison to radar data. Others chase storms to provide live information for the media, and others simply do it for the thrill.

Storm Spotting and Storm Chasing is dangerous and should not be done without proper training, experience and equipment. The National Weather Service conducts spotter training classes across the United States, and your local National Weather Service office should be consulted as to when the next class will be held.

Modes of Radio Communication

APRS
Years before commercial vehicles started carrying equipment to send their location back to their fleet management called Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) APRS was initially developed by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, and in the intervening years has been endorsed by commercial amateur radio manufacturers so the equipment is now available "off-the-shelf" APRS allows hams to support storm spotting activities, search and rescue field teams, as well as assist with the community service events such as marathons, bike races, and other events where the real time location of assets is of value.

APRS uses software written by hams to display position reports on various mapping software. It can also be used to send short informational messages to improve coordination. One of the main features of this exciting 'mode' of operations is that all of the digital radio repeaters (digipeater) operate on the same frequency so there is no need to constantly change frequencies if you were to use APRS on a cross-country trip.

Extensive APRS information can be found on the ARRL website, www.arrl.org - search for APRS

• Contact: Jim Baremore, K5QQ, k5qq@mchsi.com

EchoLink
EchoLink software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the internet, using voice over ip (voip) technology. The program allows worldwide connections to be made between stations, or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities. There are nearly 200,000 validated users worldwide - in 162 of the world's 193 nations - with about 3400 online at any given time.

For more information about VOIP programs such as EchoLink, download the PDF from the ARRL website.

Packet Radio
The Versatile error-correcting mode

• At its height, almost everyone had a packet station
• In Southwest MO we still enjoy the services of two fully capable PBBS's
• Low-cost internet access has taken a bite out of the excitement of packet radio
• Packet Radio is considered as a viable mode for Emergency Communications
• We recommend that everybody set up a packet station at least once in their radio career - it's fun.

What do you need?

• A radio
• A TNC (terminal node controller) or MMC (multi-mode controller) or a computer soundcard software TNC simulator
• A keyboard and monitor. Usually a computer is used and it can be very slow and old. State of the art computing power is NOT required.
• Software
• Cables, cables, cables

Packet Radio - Station is set up, now what?

• Tune to 145.090
• Be sure your squelch is turned up
• Listen for the annoying sound of packet bursts
• To be sure, hold down the CTRL key and C at the same time
• Next, type MCOM and return. If it comes back MCOM ON, you should be seeing words and informational characters on your screen.
• If it comes back OFF, type MCOM ON and enter.
• If this doesn't get it - seek additional help.

A word about software
Today, your choice of software is easy. You will want to use WinPack. It is free. Do a Google search and go from there. Although you can use HyperTerminal included with Windows, its setup is not quite as clear. HyperTerminal lacks many features built into WinPack.

Cables, Cables, Cables For me the biggest hassle is building, or buying, the cables that connect the TNC to the computer and the TNC to the radio. No standards here. And you can pay as much for new cables as a used TNC. www.packetradio.com is the largest source for cables. You can purchase fully assembled (recommended) or the components to make your own.

Support We are fortunate to have a wonderful resource in N0KFQ in Branson, MO. K.O. Higgs and his wife Billie host a packet workshop the first Saturday of the month from 2pm to 4pm. K.O. has taught countless hams about packet radio over the years and continues to do so. A must activity if you are truly interested in packet radio.

In addition to the monthly workshop, Billie hosts the PCL (Packet Chicken Lips) net every Monday Night from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. After you are connected to the PBBS, type C to enter the conference node for the net.

The Springfield Public Library has several copies of Your Packet Companion by Steve Ford. The book is a little old but contains a lot of good information. The internet is also available to seek out information. There is one site that is especially good - Introduction to Packet Radio by Larry Kenney, WB9LOZ. Again, it's not supported with new information but like Your Packet Companion, most all of the information is sound.

Websites of Interest to Hams

• www.arrl.org
• www.qrz.com
• www.wb0w.com
• www.niftyaccessories.com
• http://radcomm.bizland.com/rad-comm
• www.mfjenterprises.com
• www.gigaparts.com
• www.aesham.com
• www.hamradiocenter.com
• www.ares.org (ARES)
• www.qsl.net/gcares (Greene County ARES)
• www.greenecountymo.org/web/OEM (Green County Emergency Management)
• www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf (Weather Service)
• www.citizencorps.gov/cert/ (Community Emergency Response Team)
• www.echolink.org (Echolink set up)
• www.echolinkmap.org (Echolink nodes map)
• www.kent.net/ve3rdn (Slow-scan TV)
• www.packetradio.com (Packet Radio)