Yesterday I wrote about my sleepless adventure this past Saturday, driving down to Chilton and Autauga counties after the all night severe weather episode Friday night and early Saturday morning. I had actually planned on going to the annual Birmingham Hamfest on Saturday, and I do regret missing the event. I attended by first Birmingham Hamfest in 1970 when it was held at the old Oporto Armory in the eastern part of town. I had just earned my novice amateur radio license at the ripe age of 14, and the hamfest was like being in hog heaven with the huge flea market and new equipment vendors. The Birmingham Hamfest has always been held on either the first or second weekend in May over all of these years. Guess I will have to wait until the annual Huntsville Hamfest, which will be held August 20-21.
Amateur radio has been a wonderful hobby, and it helped to shape my career in meteorology thanks to the many years I volunteered as a severe weather spotter in the 70s in Tuscaloosa. To this very day, ham radio operators still are the backbone of the SKYWARN process. To anyone that expresses interest in becoming a storm spotter, I always recommend two things: SKYWARN training, and getting an amateur radio license. There are three types of amateur radio license: technician, general, and extra class. The most popular license for beginners is the Technician Class license, which requires only a 35 multiple-choice question written examination. The test is written with the beginner in mind. Morse Code is not required for this license. With a Technician Class license, you will have all ham radio privileges above 30 megahertz, allowing you to use FM repeaters for SKYWARN nets. Exams are given locally by amateur radio clubs on a regular basis. Here are some links to local amateur radio clubs:
Birmingham Amateur Radio Club: http://www.w4cue.com/
Shelby County Amateur Radio Club: http://www.scarc.com/
Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club: http://www.w4kcq.org/
Gadsden Amateur Radio Club: http://www.garc.org/
Calhoun Emergency Amateur Radio Club: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=224735&ck
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Amateur radio has been a wonderful hobby, and it helped to shape my career in meteorology thanks to the many years I volunteered as a severe weather spotter in the 70s in Tuscaloosa. To this very day, ham radio operators still are the backbone of the SKYWARN process. To anyone that expresses interest in becoming a storm spotter, I always recommend two things: SKYWARN training, and getting an amateur radio license. There are three types of amateur radio license: technician, general, and extra class. The most popular license for beginners is the Technician Class license, which requires only a 35 multiple-choice question written examination. The test is written with the beginner in mind. Morse Code is not required for this license. With a Technician Class license, you will have all ham radio privileges above 30 megahertz, allowing you to use FM repeaters for SKYWARN nets. Exams are given locally by amateur radio clubs on a regular basis. Here are some links to local amateur radio clubs:
Birmingham Amateur Radio Club: http://www.w4cue.com/
Shelby County Amateur Radio Club: http://www.scarc.com/
Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club: http://www.w4kcq.org/
Gadsden Amateur Radio Club: http://www.garc.org/
Calhoun Emergency Amateur Radio Club: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=224735&ck
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