On 5 December 2021, The Southeastern D-STAR Weather Net had its last meeting. We've lost a number of our net controls and we haven't had any volunteers to pick up the nets, so it is with regret that we have to cease the operation of the net.
This shouldn't be construed to be any statement about D-STAR, it is alive and still growing. New radios are being introduced and lots of folks are still enjoying operating every day.
We'd like to thank our net controls, many of them have been with us since when the net started in 2008. And the folks that have provided weather alerts over the years.
The Southeastern Weather Net is focused on significant weather events in the southeastern area of the United States. This is an area that is frequented by hurricanes, tornadoes and other sever weather. The Net meets weekly on Sunday evenings at 9:00pm ET, 8:00pm CT on REF004A.
If Reflector 004A is unavailable or out of service, all repeaters and users on Dongles and DVAPs should connect to REF030A. Many repeaters are setup to automatically connect to REF002A just prior to net time. Users can check the REF004 Dashboard at http://ref004.dstargateway.org to see if your local repeater is connected for the Net.
When weather events do not exist, the Southeastern Weather Net focuses on training and creation of procedures for support of large scale events utilizing D-STAR as the communications medium. During non-emergency periods, the Net allows users to practice operation of a wide area directed net with linked repeaters.
The Southeastern Weather Net operates a little differently from other nets. The net is called alphabetically by state. Users are asked to check in by the "quick key" method. A "quick key" is unique to D-STAR in that as a station transmits, their call sign is sent. Taking advantage of that, all a user needs to do is to key down for about a second. The Net Control Stations are watching the transmission logs and can see each user as they key down. After all of the "quick keys," users are then asked to provide their name, location and any traffic for the net by voice.
Connected Repeaters
A large number of repeaters are commonly connected to the Southeastern Weather Net.
Check with you local systems operators to see if your repeater is participating in the net. Many repeaters allow the users to link the repeater, if so, feel free to link your repeater to the net.
Discussions lists for users in the Southeast
Operation Hints
- Make sure to leave enough time after the last transmission before you transmit
- Program your radios as if you were talking to someone local on your repeater, make sure gateway is in RPT2
- Do not key down on your local repeater unless it is your turn. If you quickly hit your PTT you can interrupt communications for the entire net.
- Check-in when your repeater is called. Don't check in when other repeaters are called. Net Control will come back around and ask for other check-ins.
- During Quick-Key check-Ins, it is okay if all stations on a repeater quickly key-down one right after another. This accelerates the net operation.
Net Controls
We are looking for a number of Net Control stations to spread the load around. Please contact [email protected] if you are thinking about being a net control.
Net Script (Updated Version 3.3 - December 24, 2017)
Southeastern Weather Net Script Word Format PDF