W8XT Xenia Tornado 25th Anniversary

Special Event Station

(a special thanks to Chuck Bair W8XT for the use of his call sign during the event)

 

Members of the Miami Valley FM Association (MVFMA), the Xenia Weather Amateur Radio Net (XWARN), and the Greene County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (GCARES) co-sponsored the event on Saturday, April 3rd. Assisting them were members of the Civil Air Patrol Squad 707 from Xenia.

The SET, set up on the lawn of the Greene County Courthouse, was intended to commemorate Amateur Radio's public service communications support within minutes after the tornado struck Xenia in 1974 and continuing for approximately two weeks.

Communications were made on the following frequencies.

20m SSB Station (14.280)
2m FM Station (147.165 repeater)
2m PACKET Station (145.070)
HF Special Event Stations on 10-15-40-75 meters were operated from various home stations. All special event stations used the same call sign, W8XT.

 

The XWARN sign, John N8ACU and Chad KE9GGA with the amateur radio, CAP and weather spotting literature.

 

Martin KB8UAY mans the 2 meter station. Jon KB8SRQ makes a 20 meter contact as cadet Dana Kilner logs in for him.

 

Tracking the birds, the MVFMA display and monitoring packet radio.

 
Sid NH7C talks about APRS and GPS. KB1SF and others make a contact via an Oscar satellite.

 

Cadet Chris Hess with CAP equipment, radios they use in their mobile communications van and the CAP display.

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