🚀 go-pugleaf

Once upon a time, Kevin Heyboer wrote 83 lines on the subject:
Spotter training and reports; here's some of it:

By the way, that concept of a separate chatter channel for informal
discussions of the weather while the net frequency stays clean is
terrific!  I'm going to push that idea around here.

>
>Along these same lines, the biggest problem I have now is the apparent
>inability for reporting stations to be concise and accurate in their
>reports.  We received training which includes what information needs to
>passed along to the NWS, ie...describe WHAT you saw, WHERE you saw it,
>WHEN you saw it, and WHICH way was it moving.
>
>Therefore, the report I want to hear is...."This is KB4XYZ, Spotter #11,
>at Main Street and First Avenue.  I am receiving hail one inch in diamter
>with winds gusting to 40 miles per hour for the past five minutes."
>
>Instead, what I get is the following conversation:
>
>        This is KB4XYZ, its hailing here
>        KB4XYZ from net control, what is your location?
>        KB4XYZ, I am on Main Street.
>        KB4XYZ, roger, where on Main Street?
>        KB4XYZ on First Avenue
>        Roger KB4XYZ, how large is the hail?
>        I don't know, I can hear it but I can't see it, and
>                its real windy too.
>        KB4XYZ, net control roger, what is the estimated wind speed?
>        I can't be sure, the tree tops are bending horizontal
>        Roger KB4XYZ, please look outside and advise size of hail.
>        Net Control from KB4XYZ, nevermind, the hail has stopped.
>

One of the NCO Academy sessions I recall from my glorious youth with
the US Army had to do with how to train.  That session taught us to
think and work in groups of three.  Beginning, middle, end.  

After I learned that, it seemed like every recommendation for nearly
anything I saw also went in threes, as in "Soldier's military
demeanor, mental acuity, and demonstrated ability to perform in the
next higher pay grade make her an obvious candidate..." or
"Soldier's action reflects the high standards of Headquarters
Company, of the Communications Command and of the United States
Army."    It was everywhere I looked.  One, two, three.  

Once you've been made aware of it, you can see it coming.  Thing is,
it's not a particularly bad system to adopt.  Not brilliant, but it
works.

Here's how it works in training.  It's really the same Rule of
Threes. 

Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em.  
	Tell 'em.  
		Then tell 'em what ya told 'em.

You have to grind it in.  Tell 'em what you're looking for, tell
'em, and tell 'em again.  Then do the same thing next week...and the
week after that.  

You can take heart that eventually your net will become so crisply
run that any listener would be impressed to hear the professionals
on it, and there will be an obviousness to the reports that new
arrivals will notice straightaway.  But we hams will Always much
rather tell you All About what we see, feel, smell and touch, much
the same as I am doing myself right here.  It's something in the
solder resin, I think.

One of the reasons I like being NCS is that I get to make the rules.
You do too, if you're NCS.  Tell your net what you want at the
beginning of your net, and tell 'em every chance you get while
things are still running, and make it plain as day. "I want to know
WHAT you saw, WHERE you saw it, WHEN you saw it, and WHICH way was
it moving.  No more than that.  Don't give reports which do not
specify these details.  Do not tell me it's raining awfully hard, I
cannot use that information."  You don't have to be mean about it,
you know, just be firm and consistent.

One of our Skywarn NCSs routinely asks for reports of "severe rain,
high wind, and hail of any size"  and gets reports like "It's really
raining Hard here" and "the wind is Awfully Strong"  which, of
course, do no one any good at all except those listening on the
scanner: "Yeah, here, too!"  

I have yet to find where "Awfully strong" fits on the Beaufort
scale.

I don't mean to sound brusque about all this; you as NCS simply must
take command of the net.  If you're getting reports you can't use,
no one but you can change that.  I know *we* will try to be engaging
in our reports.  Tell us we must be brief.  Give us regular examples
of the kind of report you want to hear.  Tell us, tell us, tell us.
You're under pressure to perform, and so are we out here in the
field, and remember, it's raining awfully hard out here, too :)  We
forget.  Remind us. 

As you call the net, tell us what format our reports should take.
Just before you ask for our reports, tell us again how you want to
hear the report.  As you excuse stations and finally close the net
remind us how easy it makes your job if we follow the format you
need.  Tell us, tell us, tell us.

Last thing.  Keep smiling.  And tell us that, too.