Stormwarning's New Site

[kc0vgj]

http://www.stormwarning.site50.net/
This site has no adds. And yes I did use Spell Check...lol
This is better than the old site.

[NeFire242]

Looks as if its going to be just a little while longer before they really open the doors...

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[kc0vgj]

its fixed. the web server did some spell checking.

[kc0vgj]

So how do you all like my new site.

[ScanManQSL]

Something to consider.... I would add some local and regional SKYWARN Net frequencies to your website. Overall, I think your website is great and offers alot of great information regarding about the SKYWARN program.

[tyytor]

Originally Posted by kc0vgj

http://www.stormwarning.site50.net/
This is better than the old site.

POR) No members will have no more than five antennas on there car
(HF -1ant. / VHF-UHF -1ant. / 220ant. – 1ant. / 900 MHz – 1ant. / Scanner – 1ant.)
In other words No Antennas Farms on your cars keep it professional.

so that meads i can't put a DOW antenna too,no fun:-)

""" looks like a great site though"""" good job

[W9RXR]

Proper spelling and grammar has just as much impact on your perceived professionalism as the number of antennas or flashing lights on your cars.

For example, the word "there" is an adverb meaning "in the specified place" while the word "their" is a possessive pronoun. To understand what I'm talking about, your item 5 on the Storm Warning POR page should read:

No members will have no more than five antennas on their car.

Good luck with your organization!

[K8TEK]

Why would anybody join a skywarn organization and put up with your BS rules? They can do it on their own and report directly to the NWS.

Also, exactly does POR stand for? Pastrami on Rye

[trace1]

Originally Posted by kc0vgj

So how do you all like my new site.

Well since you asked and I do hope that you'll take this as constructive criticism, but you may wish to go back and re-check and correct your many grammatical errors.

Here is a little friendly advice...

Spelling Errors:

Example - Common spelling errors are too numerous to list here.

False Assumption - Spelling doesn’t count.

The Truth In this day and age, errors in spelling are perceived as laziness or carelessness on the part of the writer.

The Correction - Use a spell-checker, proofread your text, and then have someone else proofread it. This may seem like overkill, but spell-checkers won't catch certain spelling and grammatical errors, so it's important to proofread as well.

Using proper grammar in formal text will earn you the respect of the reader. It will make your writing clearer, and it will also make you stand out as a proficient and intelligent.

And disregarding those many grammatical errors the site, itself, in my opinion seemed to lack pertinent information regarding storm spotting and wasn't very welcoming and seemed to be something that was just quickly thrown together without much thought or planning.

[NeFire242]

Yeah site needs to be re-done. Lot of spelling errors. Like in the bylaws you have "witch" instead of "which".

[kc0vgj]

I thank you all for looking at my site and giving me your input. To answer some of your question on the POR's, The rules were made by the committee and voted in by the committee. At one point there was a REACT team here that did do skywarn but the way some of there members vehicle were they were giving the city a bad image. Our job is to watch and report to the independence EOC. Thats it. no chasing just wait at our post and look. On the antennas issue most of our members don't have more then 3 Annetta's on there vehicle any ways. We have five GMRS operators and three ham operators and the rest use there cell phones or buddy up with the radio operators. On the lights issue the city does not want lights on our vehicles. We are not classified as emergency vehicles nor do we want to. They did say a tear drop light or a small strobe would be ok and advised if your parked on a side of the road. The color they want are yellow or clear. On the spelling on my we site I will have it re-checked. Its people like you all and our members that put there input on a web site to make it better. I thank you all for helping.

[firetaz834]

I was looking over your website and wanted to offer a couple of suggestions. While reading your rules in the "POR" section. Rule #4 mentions "wig-wag" flasher. Those are another way of discribing hazard flasher which every vehicle is equiped with as standard equipment. Unless you were referring to another type of signalling device. That rule needs to be be defined a little better.

Also, I would assume that in your area you don't have volunteer firefighters that also may want to do skywarn spotting. I know in my area, I work with the local EOC as a storm spotter and the vehicle I use, is the vehicle I use for reponding to fire calls (hence, I have a lightbar equiped on it). So, you might want to consider if that situation arises and what you would do if someone wanted to be involved in your group that may also be a skywarn spotter.

Just a couple observations that you may need to address or edit those rules completely

[kc0vgj]

we do have two small inner towns with vol fire fighter, I was one of them. there allowed to have them. I will bring this up in our meeting. Thank you for asking. WIG-WAGs are when your head lights flash right to left like the fire trucks do as well as the police cars. having this on in the city limits will get you a ticket. I have been a firefighter for 12 years. so I know were your coming from. again thank you.

[kd5vou]

I look at your website and read the posts and I have to respond. I apologize now as I am about to offend.

1. I am a volunteer fire fighter, EMC volunteer, MAF skywarn volunteer and ham radio operator for the regional responce area of 18 counties in West Texas (aprox. the size of Kansas). How are you going to limit me on the amount of equipment I can have in my truck. I need to have no less than 6 radios (8 antennas) on my truck to acomplish my regular duties.

I do have a lightbar, lots of radios, lots of antennas but it sure does not look like the pics you have posted.

2. As the former regional co-coordinator for the West Texas MAF (Midland) Skywarn group (we cover 21 counties in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico), I know that there is always going to be a problem with a few renigades that give Skywarn a bad name. You deal with them and go on with life. You do not start up a "warning group" and create rules that are thought up by a few people that "want to make a difference". All you are doing is creating more problems that you will have to fix later. If it is "because of a few REACT people" then deal with it and quit giving Skywarn a bad image by the web site you put up.

3. Last I knew Skywarn was VOLUNTEER activity. Maybe we have it all wrong down here. Maybe you have to make all kinds of silly rules so you can sleep beter at night. Maybe you have to go somewhere and sit on the side of the road and wait on the storm. (guess that would save gas) Maybe your 4 member board and all the non-voting members that you have are happy. Down here we report back into the net control station at MAF. The station is conviently located within the forcasters. 95%+ of our VOLUNTEERS are ham radio operators that report real-time information directly to the forcasters. Why would you want to tie up phone lines???

4. Down here in West Texas we have a large area to cover and actually have 6 sub-areas with in our region. Each sub-area has a coordinator and the region has a coordinator. If there is a problem somewhere in the region it will be delt with and everyone goes home at the end of the day knowing that when you have over 150 VOLUNTEERS someone is bound to do something wrong sooner or later. We just put on our "shame on you" face, deal with the situation, put out an email or two reminding everyone that it would not be a good idea to do the same thing again. We are all adults. We don't need a website, club and rule to try to keep a few bad eggs out.


5. As for the web site.... I am not the best speller. I wish I could find a spell checker button for this post. But I would be really embarresed to know that I put a website up and the whole world could see spelling and grammer mistakes. Use a spell checker and grammer checker. Hell if nothing else use your "phone a friend" option and get someone else to proof read it for you.

***stepping down from soapbox***

Dwayne
KD5VOU

[kc0vgj]

you did not offend me at all. I know were your coming from. I was raised in Winnie Texas. My father was the fire chief and my mom was the chief of the ems. Chambers county was our dispatcher. Like I said before these rules were made up by the members and the committee. If a new member did have more antennas on his vehicle and it was as you all call it a good clean install we would change the rules. No rule is permitted. As you can see on the pitchers what we are trying not to look like. We are a small group of spotters. We report to our net control over ham radio or GMRS radio, then he reports to the NWS in Kansas city or the City of Independence. Every group from coast to coast have there own rules and regs. Ours may seem odd and confusion but it work for now. The city we live in are tuff on storm chaser, they think chasers are speed demons and dum a$$es. But us we do not chase for two reasons. One reason is that chasing a tornado can kill you if your not careful or you can get Bear caged in. Second is that from a good hight point you can see the whole city and know were the storm is going. And yes it does save gas. No group is going to have what every one is looking for. Were a small group not wanting to look bad and to be called wannabee emergency responders like REACT did when they had this responsibility. All you guys response here today are being recorded so that we can better our group. thats why I posted our site. to get advise from you all. Please hight light stuff from my site and post them here if you know it has a grammar or spelling error. I did run spell check and it came back clean. but even computers don't get it all. Again thank for your help.

[kc0vgj]

And to stress this witch I will discuss to the members to add to the rules so that others won't get confused that all public safety members whether there Firefighter,Police,EMS, EOC Managers,Sheriff officers, Texas DPS, and other DPS are exempt from the rules. These rules were designed for normal non public safety officers.

[kc0vgj]

I'm not here to make any one mad. I'm here to get input on the web site. I know Skywarn is a volunteer non-group. But we are a group of people who do almost the same thing but different. Were just like most ham clubs out there who do skywan. they have there rules too. These rules are design to keep us safe. A dead man can't report information. Safety comes first.

[DaveNF2G]

which or witch
there or their
etc.

These are some of the most common spelling traps. You need to have your website (and your postings) proofed by someone who not only knows how to spell, but who is also familiar with proper grammar and word usage. As I keep telling my students, a spell-checker will not catch a correctly spelled wrong word.

[PVPD730]

kc0vgj-
No offense-your organization's website has a lot of potential, but yeah, like everyone else has stated-it might be a good idea to hit those pages with the spell checker again. If you need someone to proof read it for you, I would be more than willing to lend a hand. Shoot me a private message if you would like some assistance.

73's
Luke