Tampa Bay Area Skywarn™ Page

WX4TOR is the amateur radio station at the National Weather Service in Ruskin (Ruskin WFO). X4TOR is utilized during major weather events or disasters such as tropical cyclones or other natural disasters which cover most of the Ruskin WFO county warning area (CWA). When WX4TOR is activated, a local amateur radio operator / SKYWARN™ volunteer will come to the Ruskin WFO and communicate with the net control and other SKYWARN™ spotters who are on the net frequency. The stations consists of the following equipment:

Icom IC-746 HF/VHF- used for long distance and local communication. For example, if phone lines are down, the Ruskin WFO can communicate with the National Hurricane Center during tropical cyclones using this radio.
Icom IC-2100 VHF - used for packet and APRS comms.
Icom IC-207H VHF/UHF - used for voice communications during SKYWARN™ nets.
Yeasu FT-7100M VHF - used for local packet / SEDAN.
PC - APRS via UIView, Echolink, internet access, IEMchat.

Finally, each Tuesday at 9 pm, WX4TOR is utilized for a practice net, which is conducted on the NI4CE repeater system. This net serves as practice for real SKYWARN™ net activations, but mainly as a method of reaching out and providing useful information to the local SKYWARN™ volunteers.

Activation Policy and Operating Plan
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The NWS Ruskin Weather Forecast Office (WFO) utilizes two methods of operating SKYWARN™ amateur radio nets. They consist of local county-based SKYWARN™ nets, and a regional SKYWARN™ net. Both support the Ruskin WFO in local early weather warning and emergency communications functions, and assist with SKYWARN™ severe weather spotter operations. This guide is intended to serve as a tool to provide direction as to the role of the various amateur radio volunteer SKYWARN™ groups that serve the Ruskin WFO.

Responsibilities of county and regional nets

Local County Nets

Many of the 15 counties in the Ruskin County Warning Area (CWA) operate their own SKYWARN™ amateur radio nets during severe weather events. Some of the counties operate SKYWARN™ net activations under the support or direction of county emergency management, ARRL ARES, or ACS affiliation, while others are volunteer groups or clubs with no particular affiliations.

County Nets will be responsible for SKYWARN™ activation and will be recognized as the official SKYWARN™ nets for routine or day-to-day severe weather events. This includes warm season sea breeze thunderstorm activity, as well as convective watches (tornado and severe thunderstorm watches). County nets will activate upon request from the Ruskin WFO or will self-activate as needed (typically, county nets self activate most of the time). County nets will relay severe weather reports and communicate directly with the Ruskin WFO via phone, IEM chat, or eSpotter. Since the aforementioned weather events typically affect only small groups of counties at any one time, net activation and duration will be dependent on the timing of the weather event itself, and will be determined by the net control. When it appears that the severe weather is about to enter a given county, that county's net control will establish and activate a directed net. When the severe weather threat has exited an activated county, the net control may close the net at their discretion.

The table below is a summary of the local county net frequencies (pl tone in parenthesis):

Please note that this table is not complete. Please check back often for updates.

County Name	Hosted By	Primary Frequency	Secondary Frequency	Weekly Practice Net
Charlotte
Citrus	Citrus County ARES	146.775- (146.2)	146.955- (103.5)
DeSoto
Hardee
Hernando	Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club	146.805 (123.0)	146.715 145.370	7:30 PM Tuesday
Highlands
Hillsborough	Tampa Amateur Radio Club	147.105+ (146.2)	146.940- (127.3)	8:00 PM Tuesday
Lee
Levy
Manatee	Bradenton Amateur Radio Club	146.955-		8:00 PM Monday
Pasco	N9EE Repeater	146.640-		8:00 PM Wednesday
Pinellas	Pinellas ACS	145.170- (156.7)	442.400+ (156.7)	7:30 PM Tuesday
Polk	Polk ARES	146.985- (127.3)
Sarasota	Sarasota Emergency Radio Club	146.730 (100)
Sumter

Regional Nets

The West Central Florida Group, Inc (WCFG) NI4CE repeater system (http:www.ni4ce.org) will be utilized for NWS Ruskin amateur radio SKYWARN™ nets during large scale natural disasters or large scale weather events such as tropical cyclones, during which the majority of Ruskin WFO's CWA is affected at the same time. During regional net activations, net control will be done remotely by well-trained and dedicated radio traffic operators (trained and directed by WCFG Inc members). At the same time, an NWS-designated volunteer will serve as a liaison station at the Ruskin WFO and will operate NWS Ruskin amateur station WX4TOR to receive and disseminate information to the net and to interact with NWS staff.

Informal weather nets conducted on the NI4CE system during limited coverage severe weather events (when county nets are activated) will be handled and staffed by WCFG Inc members or designees without NWS Ruskin control.

The repeaters of the NI4CE system include (all repeaters have a pl tone of 100):

City	County	Frequency (Mhz)	Offset
Verna	Manatee	145.430	Minus
Verna	Manatee	442.95	Plus
Port Richey	Pasco	442.65	Plus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	145.29	Minus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	443.45	Plus
Pebbledale	Polk	442.825	Plus
Riverview	Hillsborough	442.55	Plus

Summary

The table below summarizes the roles of both the county and regional SKYWARN™ nets:

Local/County Nets
Utilized for limited coverage events

Regional Net on NI4CE
Utilized for widespread regional events

Responsible for conducting Skywarn™ net operations for all day-to-day events, such as sea breeze thunderstorm events and convective watches (SVR/TOR Watches).
Reports sent directly to NWS via phone, IEM chat, or eSpotter to expedite reporting process.
Can optionally activate for large scale or regional events (those handled on NI4CE), however NI4CE will be recognized as the official Skywarn™ activation frequency for such events.
WX4TOR will not be staffed.

Responsible for conducting Skywarn™ net operations for tropical cyclones and large scale natural disasters where the majority of the County Warning Area for the Weather Forecast Office (WFO), Tampa bay Area is affected at the same time.
During regional activation:
- Net control is done remotely by well-trained and dedicated radio traffic handlers.
- A NWS designated volunteer will serve as a liaison on station at the NWS office and will operate WX4TOR to receive and disseminate information to the net and to interact with NWS Staff.
The weekly NWS outreach net is conducted on NI4CE every Tuesday at 9 Pm.
Informal "severe weather nets" conducted on NI4CE during limited coverage events will be handled solely be WCFG staff or designees without NWS direction or designation.
Remote net controls are encouraged to utilize IEM chat.

Modes of Activation
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Standby Mode

This mode means the repeater is free for normal use; however, a Net Control Operator will be standing by to receive criteria severe weather reports.
NCO will make frequent announcements regarding the SKYWARN net being in standby mode (usually once every 15 minutes)
This is not a directed net.
Typically this mode will be utilized before warnings are issued.

Active Mode

This mode means the repeater is now under a directed net, and all traffic should be directed through the Net Control Operator.
Severe weather is occurring and/or warnings have been issued, and Net Control is receiving multiple severe weather reports.

The Role of Local County-run SKYWARN™ Nets
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Many of the 15 counties in the Ruskin County Warning Area (CWA) operate their own SKYWARN™ amateur radio nets during severe weather events. Some of the counties operate SKYWARN™ net activations under the support or direction of county emergency management, ARRL ARES, or ACS affiliation, while others are volunteer groups or clubs with no particular affiliations.

County Nets will be responsible for SKYWARN™ activation and will be recognized as the official SKYWARN™ nets for routine or day-to-day severe weather events. This includes warm season sea breeze thunderstorm activity, as well as convective watches (tornado and severe thunderstorm watches). County nets will activate upon request from the Ruskin WFO or will self-activate as needed (typically, county nets self activate most of the time). County nets will relay severe weather reports and communicate directly with the Ruskin WFO via phone, IEM chat, or eSpotter. Since the aforementioned weather events typically affect only small groups of counties at any one time, net activation and duration will be dependent on the timing of the weather event itself, and will be determined by the net control. When it appears that the severe weather is about to enter a given county, that county's net control will establish and activate a directed net. When the severe weather threat has exited an activated county, the net control may close the net at their discretion.

The table below is a summary of the local county net frequencies (pl tone in parenthesis):
Please note that this table is not complete. Please check back often for updates.

County Name	Hosted By	Primary Frequency	Secondary Frequency	Weekly Practice Net
Charlotte
Citrus	Citrus County ARES	146.775- (146.2)	146.955- (103.5)
DeSoto
Hardee
Hernando	Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club	146.805 (123.0)	146.715 145.370	7:30 PM Tuesday
Highlands
Hillsborough	Tampa Amateur Radio Club	147.105+ (146.2)	146.940- (127.3)	8:00 PM Tuesday
Lee
Levy
Manatee	Bradenton Amateur Radio Club	146.955-		8:00 PM Monday
Pasco	N9EE Repeater	146.640-		8:00 PM Wednesday
Pinellas	Pinellas ACS	145.170- (156.7)	442.400+ (156.7)	7:30 PM Tuesday
Polk	Polk ARES	146.985- (127.3)
Sarasota	Sarasota Emergency Radio Club	146.730 (100)
Sumter

The Role of Regional SKYWARN™ Nets on the NI4CE System
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The West Central Florida Group, Inc (WCFG) NI4CE Repeater System (http:www.ni4ce.org) will be utilized for NWS Ruskin amateur radio SKYWARN™ nets during large scale natural disasters or large scale weather events such as tropical cyclones, during which the majority of Ruskin WFO's CWA is affected at the same time. During regional net activations, net control will be done remotely by well-trained and dedicated radio traffic operators (trained and directed by WCFG Inc members). At the same time, an NWS-designated volunteer will serve as a liaison station at the Ruskin WFO and will operate NWS Ruskin amateur station WX4TOR to receive and disseminate information to the net and to interact with NWS staff.

Informal weather nets conducted on the NI4CE system during limited coverage severe weather events (when county nets are activated) will be handled and staffed by WCFG Inc members or designees without NWS Ruskin control.

The repeaters of the NI4CE system include (all repeaters have a pl tone of 100):

City	County	Frequency (Mhz)	Offset
Verna	Manatee	145.430	Minus
Verna	Manatee	442.95	Plus
Port Richey	Pasco	442.65	Plus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	145.29	Minus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	443.45	Plus
Pebbledale	Polk	442.825	Plus
Riverview	Hillsborough	442.55	Plus

Who Should I Report To?
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Question: "OK, I'm still confused! Who should I call my severe weather reports in to?"

First off, SKYWARN™ volunteers need to keep in mind that the NWS needs to get your report and information as soon as possible. As such, the NWS would like for you to use the most direct and fastest means possible to communicate your report to the NWS. Typically, the fastest way to reach the NWS is by old fashion telephone, via a call in to the 1-800 spotter reporting hot line. Please be sure to check and become familiar with the NWS Ruskin 1-800 spotter reporting hot line. It is on the back of your spotter ID card. Also, please keep in mind that this unlisted number is to be used ONLY for reporting severe weather and official SKYWARN™ matters.

In the absence of routine communication methods such as land line telephone, the amatuer radio service provides an invaluable service to the NWS and the local community by way of amateur radio SKYWARN™ nets. As such, SKYWARN™ nets are usually conducted during severe weather events.

If the severe weather is localized, such as the case with warm season sea breeze thunderstorms, or during the cool season with thunderstorm squall lines or convective watches (severe thunderstorm or tonado watches), please call in your report to your local county-based SKYWARN™ net.

If the event is large in scale, such as tropical cyclones or other large natural disasters, you are still encouraged to call your report in to your local county-based SKYWARN™ net. However, keep in mind that during these types of events, a regional SKYWARN™ net on the NI4CE system will be in place, and you can also report your information on that net as well.

Please see the Net Frequencies page for a listing of all county and regional net frequencies.

SKYWARN™ Net Frequencies
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Local County Net Frequencies

The table below is a summary of the local county net frequencies (pl tone in parenthesis):

Please note that this table is not complete. Please check back often for updates.

County Name	Hosted By	Primary Frequency	Secondary Frequency	Weekly Practice Net
Charlotte
Citrus	Citrus County ARES	146.775- (146.2)	146.955- (103.5)
DeSoto
Hardee
Hernando	Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club	146.805 (123.0)	146.715 145.370	7:30 PM Tuesday
Highlands
Hillsborough	Tampa Amateur Radio Club	147.105+ (146.2)	146.940- (127.3)	8:00 PM Tuesday
Lee
Levy
Manatee	Bradenton Amateur Radio Club	146.955-		8:00 PM Monday
Pasco	N9EE Repeater	146.640-		8:00 PM Wednesday
Pinellas	Pinellas ACS	145.170- (156.7)	442.400+ (156.7)	7:30 PM Tuesday
Polk	Polk ARES	146.985- (127.3)
Sarasota	Sarasota Emergency Radio Club	146.730 (100)
Sumter

Regional Net Frequencies

Regional SKYWARN™ nets are conducted on the NI4CE repeater system, which is owned and operated by the West Central Florida Group, Inc (http:www.ni4ce.org). All of the repeaters in the NI4CE system listed below are linked. When keying up, please take a 1-2 second pause before speaking, to allow all the repeaters in the system to link up. Finally, the repeaters of the NI4CE system have a pl tone of 100 hz.

City	County	Frequency (Mhz)	Offset
Verna	Manatee	145.430	Minus
Verna	Manatee	442.95	Plus
Port Richey	Pasco	442.65	Plus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	145.29	Minus
St. Petersburg	Pinellas	443.45	Plus
Pebbledale	Polk	442.825	Plus
Riverview	Hillsborough	442.55	Plus

Backup to County and Regional SKYWARN™ Nets
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Backup to Local Nets:

If any of our local county nets go down during limited coverage events, SKYWARN™ volunteers in that county are expected to pass along reports to NWS via the 1-800 spotter hotline, or a neighboring activated county net .
Spotters in counties that do not have a local SKYWARN™ net are expected to report weather events to NWS via the 1-800 spotter hotline.

Backup to Regional Nets:

The W4FLG (146.640 Mhz) repeater will serve as backup to the NI4CE repeater system for wide-area or regional net coverage in the event that the NI4CE system goes down.

NWS Ruskin SKYWARN™ Net Preambles
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Local net preambles are developed and maintained by the various county-based SKYWARN™ groups. Preambles for regional nets are attached. These are subject to frequent changes and are updated often, so be sure to check back for new releases.

The following are preambles for SKYWARN™ nets conducted outside of the NWS Ruskin office (remote nets):

The following are preambles for SKYWARN™ nets conducted at the NWS Ruskin office (at WX4TOR):

Weekly Tuesday Evening Nnet

Weekly NWS Ruskin SKYWARN™ Practice and Outreach Net
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The NWS Ruskin SKYWARN™ weekly practice and outreach net meets every Tuesday evening at 9 pm on the NI4CE repeater system (see net frequencies for regional net). This net is operated directly from the National Weather Service forecast office in Ruskin each week. The purpose of this net is to provide limited SKYWARN™ training, make announcements of interest to SKYWARN™ personnel, provide local weather information (especially if severe weather is expected in the next few days), and to provide net participants the opportunity to interact with the staff of their local NWS weather forecast office.

The question and answer portion of the net has become quite popular over the past few years. During this portion of the net each week, a National Weather Service forecaster will stand by with net control to answer any questions net participants may have about the National Weather Service, or about up coming west central Florida weather. As such, this weekly net serves as your direct connection to your local National Weather Service office. When joining us for the net, feel free to bring along your questions for the NWS forecasters!

Finally, net control operators are needed for this net! If you'd like to volunteer to run this net, please contact our Webmaster at the NWS Ruskin. Net control experience is not necessary, training is provided locally.

NWS Ruskin SKYWARN™ Schedule
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The table below is the net control schedule for our weekly practice net.

Date	Operator	Confirmation
1st Tuesday each month ,	Jason Triolo, KD4ACG,	Confirmed
2nd Tuesday each Month ,	Bill Reiss, KK4XI,	Confirmed
3rd Tuesday each Month ,	Bill Barron, W1WAB,	Confirmed
4th Tuesday each Month ,	Bob Hibbard, N1ZK,	Proposed
Alternate ,	Greg Fairbrother, KD4VLX,	Confirmed
Alternate ,	Cameron Badgett, K4ACB,	Confirmed

NWS Ruskin SKYWARN™ Volunteers
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The National Weather Service in Ruskin would like to thank our group of volunteer net control operators who have dedicated a considerable amount of time and effort running our weekly practice and outreach nets, and conducting nets during severe weather events.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin is always looking for additional volunteers. Volunteers are needed for:

Tuesday night net control - typically operators arrive at the NWS around 8:30 pm. The net begins at 9 PM EDT each week, and typically lasts about one hour. Each operator is asked to cover a net about once every two months.
NWS liaison station during tropical cyclone events - volunteers will operate NWS Ruskin station WX4TOR and serve as NWS liaison to the SKYWARN™ net. This involves:
- Come to the NWS during tropical cyclones (probably the best place to be anyway during this type of event!), and operate WX4TOR. Volunteers typically spend 6-8 hours or more, so come prepared to spend some time!
- Communicate with the remote net control. This means you will be taking severe weather reports from net control and passing them on to the NWS staff. Also, you will be passing critical weather information back to net control and others on the net
- Interact with NWS staff - this is an exciting and great learning experience!