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The following Spotter Policies and Procedures info sheet
was distributed by the Midland NWS last year for use in
West Texas.  Frequencies for the West Texas Connection
are included.

WHAT TO REPORT

-Tornado, Funnel, rotating wall cloud
-Hail (3/4" or greater)
-Damaging Winds (50 mph or greater)
-Flash Flooding
-Rain (1" per hour or more)

Please remember to keep your reports brief and concise.

-CALL SIGN (if net control is having difficulty
understanding your call - use phonetics)
-LOCATION
-WHAT you have observed (describe the storm's
direction and speed of travel, size and intensity)
-WHERE: direction and distance from known location
-WHEN/Time (an event occurred)

SKYWARN STATUS

CONDITION GREEN: Casual reports and contacts may be
exchanged, provided that ample time is allowed between
transmissions to allow break-ins for additional and
possibly serious reports.

CONDITION YELLOW: Reports of damaging winds, 3/4"
hail or larger, flash flooding, rainfall at 1" an hour or
more, etc.

CONDITION RED: Emergency Traffic ONLY!  Reports of
tornado, funnel, wall cloud. No other reports should be
made until the status is downgraded or other priority
information is requested by Net Control.

SPOTTER TIPS:
Remember to always practice safety first.  Maintain a
safe distance between you and hazardous conditions.

If you are not sure of what you are observing, then
please say so!

If you are going mobile, check your equipment.  If you
are using a Handi-Talkie and you are mobile, it would be
wise to have it connected to an alternate power source
(e.g. your car's 12 Volt d.c. supply via the cigarette lighter
plug) and an external antenna.  (This is important
because you may be out for some time and would not
want your batteries to run down at a critical moment --
as for the antenna, you want to make a readable contact
to Net Control.  It is not wise to call Net Control from the
inside of your vehicle on a handie-talkie and outside of
the repeater range using a rubber duck antenna only!)

You should be aware of your location. It is a good idea to
have an area map and a list of the West Texas Connection
and Southwest Lynx frequencies.

Remember that SKYWARN is an official emergency net. It
is monitored by many area Public Safety Agencies, Media,
and the general public.  Accuracy and Professionalism is a
must!

When reporting the location and direction of a storm
remember K.I.S.S. (Keep it Short Stupid!) -- Do Not give
angles, degrees and vectors.  Advise Net Control of a basic
heading (North, South, East, West).

Listen closely: 1) try listening before breaking in; 2)
knowing the movement and status of a storm is
important -- it is critical to be safe and out of its way.

If the Net is under condition RED status -- DO NOT report
unless you have been called upon by the Net Control or
you have information relating to the current situation!

Note:
Our information, coupled with other data and reports will
enable the National Weather Service to issue more timely
and accurate bulletins for our area communities.  We are
also very fortunate to have the capability to use linked
repeater systems during SKYWARN activations.  Our
communities depend on us as qualified weather spotters.
Cooperation between the Net Control and spotters
benefits all!

The West Texas Connection

145.410-    Odessa
444.100+    Odessa (North)
147.040+    Big Spring
442.100+    Big Spring
442.500+    Notrees
145.430-    Kent/Balmorhea
146.680-    Fort Stockton
146.800-    Crane
147.220+    Midland
146.540S    Hobbs
146.640-    Sterling City
147.460S    Dark Canyon
147.120+    Sweetwater
146.480S    Andrews
444.200+    El Paso (100 Hz sub-audible tone)
147.500S    Monahans
146.560S    Rankin
442.600+    King Mountain
147.580S    Sheffield (Proposed)
147.080+    Mount Livermore

All above are your receive frequencies and are in
megaHertz.  Transmit offset is indicated by + or -.  S
indicates simplex.  All VHF (2 meter) inputs require 88.5
Hz tone.  All UHF inputs require 162.2 Hz tone.  (Except El
Paso - 100 Hz)  Allow time when keying-up for repeaters
down the system to react.  WTC is a privately owned
system.  Send system upkeep contributions to West Texas
Connection via N5SOR.

For copies (including a map with repeater locations,
send an SASE plus three first class postage
stamps or $1.00 (to offset copying cost) to:

N5SOR
301 S. Veronica
Monahans, Texas  79756

revised March 15, 1995

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