VoIPWX.NET Activates as Bonnie Makes Landfall

[kd5ing]

For additional information contact-

Tim Lewallen, KD5ING
Public Information Officer
Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club
Deep East Texas Skywarn
kd5ing at arrl.net

For Immediate Release:

Area Amateur Radio Operators Prepare for Duty

Nacogdoches, Texas, August 12, 2004. As Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley make landfall on the Florida coastline, volunteer amateur radio operators working for Deep East Texas Skywarn are gearing up for duty.

For the last two years, Deep East Texas Skywarn has operated and maintained an Echolink server, WX_TALK, that allows amateur radio operators in storm affected areas to communicate directly with liaisons to the National Hurricane Center in Florida. The system was recently combined with IRLP Node #9210 maintained by Danny Musten, KD4RAA in Raleigh, North Carolina to become VoIP.net, an even more robust and reliable communications system. Apart from providing the communications equipment, local volunteers also operate as Net Control Operators, manning the system 24 hours a day during severe weather events.

Recently Nacogdoches based amateur radio operators Kent Tannery, KD5SHM, Jeff Clark, K5NAC, and Kevin Anderson, KD5WX were honored by the National Hurricane Center for their volunteer work during last years hurricane season.

Those interested in hearing what kind of reports and messages are being sent can listen in via Echolink, IRLP and at the website maintained by the group at http://www.voipwx.net.

[wq5p]

Here is a great service for echo link and IRLP. I'm not much for radio and internet, but this has a very good purpose.

[WM5L]

This sounds great as long as the phone lines dont go down. Is that not what happens most of the time during a disaster? Just a phone company employee here with an opinion...Jim/WM5L

[na4it]

Jim/WM5L thnaks for your truthfulness! All get out of phone company employees around here is that phone service never fails!

For those interested, 14.325 is the HF version for hurricane "management", but please! If you are not in the affected area, listen only! There are also some frequencies (which ones I don't know) on 40M that Cuba is using.

And yes, this is a very good use for Echolink / IRLP / VOIP! I'm "listening" right now to WX_TALK via N2BR.

[ai4ba]

Quote[/b] (na4it @ Aug. 13 2004,04:43)]Jim/WM5L thnaks for your truthfulness! All get out of phone company employees around here is that phone service never fails!
Well realistically, underground facilities are very reliable. #The main threat is from backhoes. #Ever heard the term five nines (99.999%)? #This is from statistics kept on phone network reliability. Unfortunately there is aerial cable out there too.

As an aside, when Cell phones came into being that is when people came to accept less than five nines reliability.

73 de,
AI4BA
David "phone company employee" with both wireless and wireline services.

[wa8vnz]

Does anybody know of a site which streams the wx_talk audio over the internet. While the echo link system is fine for ham operators it does nothing for non-hams which would just like to listen. So if there are any links to do that, please post them.

Thanks

[n7spy]

Quote[/b] (wa8vnz @ Aug. 13 2004,08:14)]Does anybody know of a site which streams the wx_talk audio over the internet. #While the echo link system is fine for ham operators it does nothing for non-hams which would just like to listen. #So if there are any links to do that, please post them.

Thanks
As stated earlier, go to http://www.voipwx.net./ to listen to the live feed http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Alternately, click on http://live.irlp.net:8080/listen.pls to listen to the feed directly.

As more people know about this, however, the site gets more hits.. therefore it gets more crowded and more bandwith is used.. therefore the Stream slows down some.

I'll be scanning 40M to see if I can catch the Cuban stations.

[WM5L]

#Well realistically, underground facilities are very reliable. #The main threat is from backhoes. #Ever heard the term five nines (99.999%)? #This is from statistics kept on phone network reliability. #Unfortunately there is aerial cable out there too.



David, dont believe it. it all goes down sooner or later. Dosent matter where it comes from or how it gets there. Circuits fail everyday. Ever heard of earthquakes? Have you ever thought of how easy it is to vandlize underground plant or cross boxes? I fell like some of the newer,techno geek type hams feel this is a better way to communicate. I have used it and it works. It is cool to talk to europe on a 2 meter repeater but I think it is putting all your eggs in one basket. These modes will never be a replacement for HF. This Eqso,Echolink and IRLP might be neat and esay to use but when the chips are down there is a very good chance the electricity and phones will be as well.[QUOTE]

[KC9ETP]

So how is this internet stuff holding up? I don't have any speakers on my computer so I can't hear the live feed.

[n7spy]

Quote[/b] (KC9ETP @ Aug. 14 2004,05:27)]So how is this internet stuff holding up? I don't have any speakers on my computer so I can't hear the live feed.
So far so good: I can hear them on my computer just fine

[ai4ba]

Quote[/b] (WM5L @ Aug. 14 2004,05:14)]#
David, dont believe it. it all goes down sooner or later. Dosent matter where it comes from or how it gets there. Circuits fail everyday. Ever heard of earthquakes? Have you ever thought of how easy it is to vandlize underground plant or cross boxes?
Either I didn't articulate my point or I didn't give enough information. If this post rambles too far from the original subject, my apologies.

James, I didn't say it never fails, just that it is quite reliable. Five nines doesn't mean never fails, indestructable or vandal proof. We have our share of bullet holes in our peds and cross boxes, we have auto accidents that take out various above ground pieces too. we've had kids with Zippo lighter fluid burn out a cross connect box with about 4800 MDF pairs and cross connects. Not a pretty sight. Still not a match for a backhoe with sewer, gas, power and phone in the same area.

We relocated our main CO to reduce the chance of flood from storm surge threat. We went to underground cable in the 70s to reduce damage from inevitable hurricanes. When Hugo hit in 89, we went and helped the neighboring Telcos because we didn't have aerial plant to repair. Damage to plant just a few miles from us was catastropic. During Hugo, we had wind gusts near 100 MPH.

I think you'll agree though that none of this is really the plant itself failing (outside influence). Actually, whether aerial or UG, jelly filled traditional twisted pair is very, very reliable. Not perfect, not without failure, just quite reliable. Wireless is well, wireless. As such it's much less reliable by it's very nature. Don't you agree? Thank goodness that cell phones don't have more broad band capabilities.

Great Scott! HF cell phones... "CQ, CQ, CQ, this is AI4BA calling CQ on 20 meters, my rig is a cell phone, can you hear me now"? Hmmm...

James, thanks for the lively discussion.

73 de,
AI4BA
David "still a phone company (wireless and traditional twisted pair) employee".

[KH2D]

Sixteen years worth of typhoons on Guam, most of which make Charlie look like a brisk wind, and never remember the phone being off once. Power and water off for 3 weeks in 1997 after typhoon Paka, but the phone always worked...

73, Jim KH2D

[W5HTW]

My daughter wishes her phone worked. Of course, she's in Port Charlotte. And she doesn't expect to have phone service anytime soon. (Or electricity, but that's another story.) Her cell phone doesn't work either. Guess she'll have to forgo any Voip.

[KD7YVV]

Hello,
For the last week, I've been running a net of my own on this WX_TALK on EchoLink
I've been reading the releases from the National Hurricane Service on the hour.
If people are listening in the affected area of a storm, and they hear an hourly bulletin,
and it ends up saving one life then the time I've been putting in is worth it.

If you're on Echolink and see my call, say hello. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

--KD7YVV