Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club

"Discover the magic and camaraderie of Amateur & GMRS Radio!"

Enhanced Skywarn – More Eyes & Ears

Fiber Internet Service has been installed at the Lookout Mountain Repeater Site and AllStarLink (ASL) Node 602640 is now active. Typically, the ASL node will be linked to the KA4ELN Repeater at Oswald Dome near Benton, TN or to the W4KEV Repeater in Knoxville.  Use of these repeaters via ASL has been approved by their respective owners.

Linking Protocol.
Organizations or individuals with ASL nodes are welcome to connect and participate in the regional Skywarn Net. Generally, a link is initiated by the organization or individual wishing to participate. Normally, the Lookout Mountain 145.390 Repeater (ASL Node 602640) will be UNLINKED from its normal linking schedule during Skywarn Training Nets or activations so as not to broadly flood other ASL nodes with Skywarn-related traffic. Those within RF range of the Lookout Mountain Repeaters, may participate directly via RF. Organizations wishing to routinely link for Skywarn or general use, should contact Gary Ownsby via email (gsownsby@w4am.net) to coordinate.

The Enhanced Skywarn Net is rapidly growing and encompassing more of the area. Additional clubs have expressed plans to join the network and assist with Skywarn. We welcome those that wish to be part of this effort.

Skywarn Net participants should carefully read each Skywarn eMail/newsletter to remain up-to-date.  Skywarn participants are strongly urged to sign up to the Skywarn Mailing List and to install the free Telegram App on their smartphone to enable rapid communications for administrative and weather-related information.

Skywarn Needs You!
Participation is easy. 

  1. While joining our Skywarn Mailing List is optional, if you add your email address, we can contact you regarding Skywarn activities and we’ll know you’re interested. 
  2. When threatening or severe weather comes along, just try to be available and within radio range of a Chattanooga Area CARC or NGGMRS GMRS Repeater and participate as needed.  Very simple to do and you help may save a life. 
  3. Due to the wide radio coverage of the area, even a handheld radio, a.k.a., a handi-talkie (HT) can be used to report severe weather, so take along an ham or GMRS HT with you.  HTs can easily fit in a glove box, a purse, briefcase, or a pocketbook.  HTs are also good because they are battery operated and if the power goes out, you remain operational.  If you have base or vehicle-based radio gear with external antennas that’s “icing on the communications cake.”

  4. Join us every Tuesday Night (weather permitting):
    1. 7-8 PM for the GMRS Skywarn Net
    2. 8-9 PM for the Amateur Radio Skywarn Net
    3. Activations occur as needed.  If you’re a serious Skywarn fan, please make sure you sign up for our Skywarn Mailing List AND be sure to check that you will install the Telegram App on your smartphone for instant notifications of Skywarn activations and other information.

Welcome to Enhanced Skywarn.

What is Enhanced Skywarn?  In the Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Northeast Alabama area, it is a new approach to a long-established National Weather Service (NWS) Program. Under this new approach, not only are Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators participants in Skywarn, but also GMRS Radio Operators.  The result is more eyes and ears on the ground to report severe weather to the NWS.

To be clear, Skywarn participants are NOT storm chasers.  Skywarn weather spotters observe weather from the safety of their own location (home, work, outside activities, etc.) and report what they see to a local Skywarn Coordinator who forwards the spotter’s information on to the National Weather Service.  The Skywarn Coordinator’s role is to be available by radio, receive spotter reports, ensure that information reported is accurate, and provides such information to NWS in a timely manner.

Skywarn training and orientation provides participants:

  • Basics of thunderstorm development.
  • Fundamentals of storm structure.
  • Identifying potential severe weather features.
  • Information & standardized descriptive terminology to report.
  • How to report information.
  • Basic severe weather safety.

So while training is not mandatory, it is highly recommended.  A local Skywarn Orientation Session is planned for the near future.  If you wish to get a headstart on Skywarn education and training, various opportunities exist here:

Why is Skywarn important?

NWS says:  “In most years, thunderstorms, tornadoes and lightning cause hundreds of injuries and deaths and billions in property and crop damages.  To obtain critical weather information, the National Weather Service (NWS) established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with between 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

Although SKYWARN® spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the focus is reporting on severe local thunderstorms. In an average year, the United States experiences more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes.

Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN® spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods. SKYWARN® storm spotters form the nation’s first line of defense against severe weather. There can be no finer reward than to know that your efforts have given your family and neighbors the precious gift of time–minutes that can help save lives.”

Anyone can participate in Skywarn; however, those that have radio communications skills, weather awareness, and some basic training are often better equipped to support the program.  That’s where Federally-licensed Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators came into the picture long ago.  Fast-forward to today’s world and we now have new licensed radio services that bring additional communications capabilities…GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service).

North Georgia GMRS NetworkGMRS is a FCC (Federal Communications Commission) licensed radio service which is heavily oriented toward families and communications between individuals.  GMRS is NOT Citizens Band (CB) Radio or based on cellular technology.  In the Chattanooga Area, we are fortunate to be in the heart of the largest GMRS organization in the country…The North Georgia GMRS Network (NGGMRS).  Founded in 2007, NGGMRS is a membership-based, non-profit organization which supports reliable GMRS communications with commercial grade equipment across a wide area ranging from The Great Smoky Mountains to Northern Florida.

While Amateur Radio, due to its global communications capability, requires more technical skills, a passing grade on one or more FCC tests, and an awareness of international communications rules, GMRS usage requires NO testing, the FCC license costs only $35, and is good for 10 years.  So for many with a need for less technical, alternative, non-commercial, non-business communications, GMRS is a good option.  Due to the nature of the radio frequencies used by GMRS, it tends to be somewhat more localized in coverage and range, though the use of radio signal repeaters can extend coverage areas.  This is especially true in the case of NGGMRS, which has an extensive network of linked repeaters.

The Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club (CARC) and NGGMRS have long recognized that Amateur & GMRS Radio are kindred spirits and natural partners for those that love radio.  About 45 percent of NGGMRS members are also ham radio operators, which makes the “connection” between ham radio and GMRS an obvious fit.  With that recognition, CARC and NGGMRS have established a strong partnership of mutual support to implement and strengthen non-commercial, non-government communications in service to its members and as a public service to the community at large.

Amateur & GMRS Radio Operators stand should-to-shoulder in support of our communities and special events like Ironman, Special Olympics, and now…Skywarn.  Through the combined coverage areas of CARC Ham Radio Repeaters and the NGGMRS GMRS Repeaters, we have extensive coverage of the Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Northeast Alabama area.

So if you are already an Amateur or GMRS Radio Operator, join us in Skywarn.  If you are not already a radio operator, contact the Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club or the North Georgia GMRS Network to learn more about how radio can be fun for you, your family, and provide avenues of service to your community.

Combined CARC & NGGMRS Chattanooga Area Radio Coverage:

Chattanooga Area Regional Skywarn