By David Black, KB4KCH
When
members of North Alabama Skywarn put out the call for help, response came
quickly from the Birmingham area. The request for assistance started after
lightning damaged NAS' Eva Link system in Cullman county. An antenna and
feedline used to link NAS with members of ALERT at the National Weather Service
in Birmingham were destroyed. The Eva system is considered critical, since
it allows members of NAS to relay severe weather reports from across the
Tennessee Valley to hams at the NWS.Helping out with donations was ALERT member Mark Parmley, WA4UHC, who donated feedline and connectors, and Brian Peters, WD4EPR, with the NWS' Birmingham Office. Peters said NWS funds were used for the purchase of a new UHF antenna to go into service at Eva. Parmley(pictured on right) turned over the feedline and connectors to NAS member Ernie Blair, WA4BPS(left), during BirmingHAMFest 2002 May 4th.
NAS is getting more help from another group, too. In April, members of the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club's Board of Directors voted to donate $250 to NAS in support of the group's emergency communications activities.
As of mid May, NAS had collected $450, according to Rex Free, KN4CI. Arrangements were being made for a tower crew to handle installation of the antenna and feedline, Free said.
"Please express my thanks to all the amateur radio operators in the Birmingham area," Free said. "I am greatly humbled by their generosity and willingness to help out with this link system. I certainly hope we can return the favor your way one day! To me, this is one element that makes amateur radio so gratifying. Making friends and sharing common goals is a wonderful part of this."
"The NAS crew performs a critical function and they do it very well," said Chuck Arthur, KF4SSX, President of ALERT. "We're glad to see them on their way to getting the Eva Link back up and running. It's badly needed."
"All in all, I would say we are in great shape with the Eva link for some time," Free said.