Digital QST Coming Soon from ARRL

Coming Soon: NEW ARRL Membership Benefits

We are excited to announce two new ARRL membership benefits that will be introduced in June 2012.
In addition to the print copy of QST, all members will have access to an online, digital edition of QST at no extra cost. You will be able to access QST from anywhere--on nearly any computer, laptop, mobile device, smartphone and tablet (including Apple iPad, iPhone, and devices using the Android operating system).

Also in June, members will gain access to archived issues of QST from December 1915 to the present (previously, only issues through 2007 were available to members). If you are familiar with the current periodicals archive (which serves images of pages), that platform will be expanded to include all of QST from December 1915 through December 2011. A second, new archive will be introduced for issues beginning January 2012, featuring enhanced functionality including full-text search.

Be Prepared!
Members must have a valid ARRL website login to access the current digital edition of QST and archived editions.

Questions?Contact Member Services by email circulation@arrl.org or by telephone 860-594-0200 or 888-277-5289 (US only).

Iowa Hams Support Local Officials Before, After Tornado

On April 14, a string of tornados swept through the Central US and Great Lakes Region, including an EF2 tornado in Creston, Iowa, causing severe damage to the Greater Regional Medical Center and the Southwestern Community College campus. Prior to the tornado, radio amateurs in Creston reported storm observations directly to the National Weather Service. After the storm forced the evacuation of the hospital, hams provided communications support to local officials.

“Because most of the communication lines had been damaged in the storm, we were provided communication support to the local authorities,” ARRL Iowa Section Official Emergency Station and Des Moines SKYWARN Coordinator Tom Reis, N0VPR, told the ARRL. “The efforts of the Creston hams once again proved the value of Amateur Radio in critical situations.” Hams also were able to provide assistance in passing information back to the National Weather Service that they could not receive through their conventional methods. “The information provided about Creston was very valuable,” said NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jeff Johnson. “Thank you very much for your service”

The day following the storm, officials discovered that the local school district lost the 80 foot tower that is used for the school bus repeater. The Creston Amateur Radio Club offered up their antenna, coax and tower space to the school. On May 17, hams installed the school’s repeater at the club’s site and moved the Creston repeater to a temporary site. Creston is located in the Southwestern Iowa.

Posting from ARRL.ORG website

04/19/2012

Close up of the tornado path through northwest Creston on April 14. The light blue contour denotes EF0 damage, green denotes EF1 damage and yellow represents EF2 damage. This tornado formed about one and a half miles east of Cromwell at 6:55pm and quickly tracked into northwest Creston around 7 PM. EF2 damage occurred to the Greater Regional Medical Center and the Southwestern Community College campus. Surrounding apartments and homes also sustained severe damage and many cars were flipped or destroyed. The tornado continued tracking to the northeast and damaged several farmsteads northeast of Creston before dissipating about 10 miles northeast of town at approximately 7:15 PM. [Photo courtesy of the National Weather Service in Des Moines, Iowa]

Emergency Ham Radio Portable Go-Kit

Check out this Emergency Ham Radio Portable Go-Kit put
together by N5NTG

          Emergency Ham Radio Portable





I have also place a link to a YouTube video for another style...click on the menu item "Video Links" above to access it.