LeeCARES Monthly Meeting May 17, 2020

LeeCARES met at Elm Creek Cafe. It was announced that we had a new member joining LeeCARES bringing expertise to the group.. We discussed possible future training to be held in different locations in June.  We evaluated the net script and was voted to keep it in the current format. We commented on our success thanks to many participants on the latest SKYWARN net, during which we were able to warn the National Weather Service of a tornado newly formed at the intersection between HWY 77 and HWY 21, going toward Old Dime Box. We discussed and illustrated the benefit of SKYWARN net and the possibility of saving lives. We explored the relationship between ARES and the National Weather Service (NWS),  the NWS chatroom, and the system to give out warnings to public. We also reviewed various radar services such as Radarscope, Dark Sky and GRLevel 3. We also contemplated our role in the Spring 2020 National Red Cross Exercise coming up on May 30.

At the end of the meeting we went outside where we discussed and viewed home made VHF/UHF antennas, NVIS antennas, radios, tools to add connectors to cables, and masts and other solutions to set up antennas from the hitch of a truck, tripod, or flag poles.