Hurricane Watch Net Activated For Gustav

[W7XF]

Hmmmmm....
Is Crypt Boy becoming the next Link-Bot????

Or is Crypt Boy not exercising his brain by not making contacts??

[W7XF]

I hope its not asking me to spare it, lol.

No... but you're dreaming of talking chihuahuas, Travis....

"DROP THE CHALUPA!"

[K2WH]

We have reviewed all the reports that have come out of the Louisiana region and Hurricane Gustav behavior.

Conclusion:

It was rainy and windy as suspected and there were lots of reporters waiting and watching for death and destruction which, didn't happen.

There you have it folks, put it in the books.

K2WH

[K2XT]

Seriously, I don't get it. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon, as the storm peaked over Louisanna I tuned in to the net. I heard Net Control asking (begging) for reports from stations in the "affected area" presumably to pass along to the NHC.
There was no communications outage as far as I know. Phone lines were up. The internet was up. Is the NHC actually counting on such random, sporadic data from unreliable sources to make any kind of meaningful hurricane analysis? Gee, if such data was of value the NCS could have chosen random phone numbers from the white pages in Baton Rouge, or Lafayette and CALLED the people on the phone and asked them what the weather condx were!! In a matter of seconds I checked www.wunderground.com and had literally dozens of up-to-the-minute accurate data points from automated weather stations, showing me wind speed, temperatures, all on one map. Was the ham data, from eyewitnesses in the "affected area" of more value than this?
I just don't get it. The folks at NHC CAN'T be taking ham radio seriously, can they? Yes, I know, under different circumstances (total loss of power, all communications facilities down), the situation could be different. I am talking about what happened during my observation yesterday.

[VE2NSM]

The folks at NHC CAN'T be taking ham radio seriously, can they?

I think all the official agencies are taking it less and less seriously everyday, and the "wacker" phenomenon is in most part the reason why.

[K2WH]

Seriously, I don't get it. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon, as the storm peaked over Louisanna I tuned in to the net. I heard Net Control asking (begging) for reports from stations in the "affected area" presumably to pass along to the NHC.
There was no communications outage as far as I know. Phone lines were up. The internet was up. Is the NHC actually counting on such random, sporadic data from unreliable sources to make any kind of meaningful hurricane analysis? Gee, if such data was of value the NCS could have chosen random phone numbers from the white pages in Baton Rouge, or Lafayette and CALLED the people on the phone and asked them what the weather condx were!! In a matter of seconds I checked www.wunderground.com and had literally dozens of up-to-the-minute accurate data points from automated weather stations, showing me wind speed, temperatures, all on one map. Was the ham data, from eyewitnesses in the "affected area" of more value than this?
I just don't get it. The folks at NHC CAN'T be taking ham radio seriously, can they? Yes, I know, under different circumstances (total loss of power, all communications facilities down), the situation could be different. I am talking about what happened during my observation yesterday.

I agree with you. Just dead air coming out of the "Affected Area". But then again, all one had to do was watch the weather channel, CNN, Fox or just about any of the major networks and get first hand reports on the ground from their people in the middle of the storm, especially Heraldo who thought Al Capone might show up.

As technology advances with the appropriate sensors on the ground, the Hurricane Watch Net will pass into history.

K2WH

[KG4KWW]

The VOIP net was active till 3am Tuesday morning.

I didn't hear squat last night on 14.325.

[K2WH]

The VOIP net was active till 3am Tuesday morning.

I didn't hear squat last night on 14.325.

Maybe cause there was nothing to report except its rainy, windy and there are little puddles on the ground.

Seriously though, don't you think there is better data coming out of the Affected Area from the weather channel guys and their handheld wind speed devices? That plus satellite imagery, doppler radar etc.

[N7RJD]

The VOIP net was active till 3am Tuesday morning.

I didn't hear squat last night on 14.325.

The VOIP net had constant problems throughout with their audio links dropping out. I suppose if you want to play whacker using the little IM box on EchoLink then things were good to go.

[KG4KWW]

k2wh--Seriously though, don't you think there is better data coming out of the Affected Area from the weather channel guys and their handheld wind speed devices? That plus satellite imagery, doppler radar etc.

Yep I agree but this gives these folks a sense of purpose and justifies the expense of all their gear to the OL.