A couple days ago we posted about potentially shutting down the repeaters if the storms got too bad. Well as you probably noticed, there were no storms at all.  The same holds true anytime there are storms.  It is really nice when you own the tower because you have access to the repeaters at any time.  When you rent space or loan space on someone else’s tower, you are at the mercy of a third party to get permission to go up on the tower.  In our case, it is as simple as disconnecting a few cables and enjoying the storm.

In times that we do turn off the repeater, you can still get some pretty good storm coverage from WX5OUN on the WX5OKC repeater on 145.41 MHz.  It is usually a controlled net so it is not recommended to just go over there and start talking when you hear the CW letter “W” (dit dah day) on their courtesy tone. Another good source that I’ve found is the W5NOR, 147.06 MHz or the K5EOK repeater 147.315 MHz.

There are infinite weather sources in the area so there is no need to leave our repeater on the air when lightning is close by.  Usually, we either get on simplex, 147.48 MHz or we’ll browse around and listen to other repeaters during severe weather.  We hope you all stay safe and for those other storm enthusiasts like me, enjoy them all you can.

Paul, K5GLH