Winter Awareness Day is November 14, 2012

Governor Fallin advised some winter weather preparedness tips when she
declared Winter Weather Awareness Day in Oklahoma.

Have A Plan:

• Discuss with your family what to do if a winter storm watch or
warning is issued.
• Ensure your family knows meeting places and phone numbers of other
family members in case they are separated when a winter storm hits.
• Know what to do if basic services such as water, gas, electricity or
telephones are cut off for an extended period of time.
• Understand the hazards of wind chill. Cold temperatures are even
more dangerous, and potentially deadly, when combined with strong
winds. The lower the temperature and stronger the wind, the more at
risk you are.
• Check on family, friends and neighbors, especially the elderly. Make
sure they are prepared.
• Plan to bring pets inside during winter weather. Move livestock to
sheltered areas with non-frozen drinking water.
• Install and check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Let faucets drip to avoid freezing and know how to shut off water
valves if necessary.
• Have an alternate heating method such as fireplace or wood or coal
burning stove. Always be cautious using a portable space heater.
• Have your car winterized before winter storm season. Keep your gas
tank full for emergency use and to keep the fuel line from freezing.
• Make sure your home is properly insulated. If necessary insulate
walls and attic. Caulk and weather-strip doors and windowsills.
• Install storm windows or cover windows with plastic from the inside.
• To keep pipes from freezing, wrap them in insulation or layers of
old newspapers. Cover the newspapers with plastic to keep out
moisture.
• Never heat a home with an oven if the electricity goes out

Make A Kit:

• Windshield scraper, de-icer, snow shovel and small broom for ice and
snow removal.
• A cell phone with charger and a battery powered radio.
• Several blankets or sleeping bags.
• Mittens, they are warmer than gloves because fingers generate warmth
when they touch each other.
• Rain gear, warm coats and extra sets of dry clothing, mittens, socks
and a cap.
• Non-perishable snacks like dried fruit, nuts and other high energy
"munchies."
• Several bottles of water. Eating snow will lower your body
temperature. If necessary, melt it first.
• Sand or cat litter for generating traction under wheels and a set of
tire chains or traction mats.
• Jumper cables, flashlight with extra batteries, first aid kit and
brightly colored cloth to tie to antenna if you get stranded.
Stay Informed:

• Know what National Weather Service winter storm and blizzard watches
and warnings mean.
• A winter storm watch is a message indicating a winter storm is
possible in your area.
• A winter storm warning indicates a winter storm is occurring winter
storm is occurring or will soon occur in your area and could threaten
life and property.
• A winter weather advisory means winter weather conditions are
expected to cause significant inconveniences and may be hazardous,
especially to motorists.
• A frost/freeze warning means below freezing temperatures are expected.
• Ice storms usually bring heavy accumulations of ice that can bring
down trees, electrical wires, telephone poles and lines, and
communication towers. Communications and power can be disrupted for
days while the utility company works to repair the extensive damage.
• A blizzard warning means sustained winds or frequent gusts to 35 mph
or greater and considerable falling or blowing snow is expected to
prevail for a period of three hours or longer.
• Depend on your NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio, along with local
radio and television stations, for weather reports.

Be Cautious with Alternative Heat Sources:

Never use generators, grills, camp stoves or other gasoline or
charcoal-burning devices inside your home or garage. They produce
carbon monoxide which is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that
kills more than 500 people every year. Use extra caution when using
space heaters.

• Use fireplaces, wood stoves, or other combustion heaters only if
they are properly vented.
• Do not place a space heater within 3 feet of anything that may catch
on fire, such as drapes, furniture, or bedding, and never cover your
space heater.
• Never place a space heater on top of furniture or near water.
• Never leave children unattended near a space heater.
• Do keep a multipurpose fire extinguisher on hand in case of emergency.
• Protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning by installing a
battery-operated carbon monoxide detector and never using generators,
grills, camp stoves or similar devices indoors.

Follow the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management at:

www.facebook.com/OklahomaDepartmentofEmergencyManagement or www.twitter.com/okem

Happy Birthday KF5RRG

Good-morning to all,

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Justin (KB7CSW), few local hams, and I (KB0MMR) will be celebrating or supporting a young lady (YL) KF5RRG (Kelsee) for her 17th birthday party on 3 Nov 2012 using HF. She will be attempting to contact all 50 states and anyone else that would like to wish her a Happy Birthday or just wanting to say hello. The only gotcha is that she is looking for a QSL card made out on Saturday that says "Happy Birthday Kelsee".

Kelsee just recently upgraded to General and will be attempting her Extra ticket this Friday. This event has been in the works for several weeks and she will attempt to contact all 50 states through out the day with her callsign.  She will be using a ICOM 718 at a 1000 watts with two beams (20 meter and 17 meter) and 5BTV vertical at her house. Her QRZ page will have more information later this week on the details of you HF birthday party.

I would love for you that has a callsign to be her first contact for your states. This event is going to happen during November Sweepstakes contest. If you know other hams in different states please pass this email on to them so this will be a successfully World Wide HF Birthday Party for her.

FYI she is an experienced HF operator on phone, the callsigns she has operated under are WW2SUB and K5USA. She has logged over 500 contacts under these call signs. This wil be here first time using her newly upgraded callsign on HF.

Thank-you
Frank Salas - KB0MMR


Did you work her?  How was her signal?

Local clubs join forces to support Oklahoma Health

Saturday October 20, 2012 the Pottawattamie County Amateur Radio Club (PCARC) and the South Eastern Oklahoma Amateur Radio Emergency Services (SEOKARES) joined together to exercise emergency radio communications. 

Friday afternoon a western shelter provided by Oklahoma State Department of Health was deployed and setup and temporary antennas were installed. Total time to get up and on the air was about four hours.

In times of disasters often  Amateur radio has been the only communication in and out of the effected zone for hours, days and sometimes weeks. This is why we exercise and work to make things work better and faster.  If we can provide that emergency communication for the first responders and emergency officials then we are doing our part.

On Saturday we had five radio stations up and running. The communication ranged from local contacts to, Ecuador, Ontario Canada, and Los Angeles, Germany and many others.

There were also people dropping in from local Boy Scout Troops and Venture Crews to Participate in Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and to learn about amateur radio.

We wish to thank all who helped make this a successful event, the Pottawattamie County Health Department, Wesley United Methodist church, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and all the SEOKARES and PCARC members who donated their time and talents.

Persons interested in joining the Pottawatomie County Amateur Radio Club (PCARC) or the South Eastern Oklahoma Amateur Radio Emergency Services (SEOKARES),  meetings are on the 2^nd Tuesday of every month at the Shawnee/Pottawatomie County Emergency Operations Center in the basement of Shawnee City Hall at 6 pm (SEOKARES) and 7 pm (PCARC) If interested in becoming an Amateur Radio Operator (HAM) call (405)275-3478.  The club also has a Net on the Shawnee Repeater at 147.390 MHz pl-tone 131.8 at 8:30 pm on every Tuesday.