Category: Events, News || By Submitted Reports

Amateur radio operators from Westmoreland County are being credited with providing timely, accurate information when tornadoes swept through the area last week.

The kudos were delivered yesterday by the nation's largest organization of radio hobbyists. They came on the eve of a big fundraiser and educational event sponsored by a McKeesport-based ham radio club.

According to the American Radio Relay League, information provided on March 23 by ham radio operators near Irwin and Greensburg provided essential information to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Ham operators relayed information about funnel clouds, damaging wind and golf-ball-sized hail more than 15 minutes before TV stations issued their own reports, says Chuck Mills, the ARRL's Westmoreland County emergency coordinator.

Radio amateurs, many of them trained to spot dangerous weather through the National Weather Service's "Skywarn" program, began connecting electronically through a two-way radio relay, or "repeater," in Derry before the NWS issued a tornado warning for Westmoreland County.

Walter Bashaw, a radio operator from Donegal, Westmoreland County, began collecting the reports and forwarding them to the NWS' Pittsburgh office, according to the ARRL.

After the first storm passed, hams opened a "public service network" to forward information to the county's Emergency Operations Center in Greensburg, and one radio operator was deployed to an emergency shelter in Hempfield Township to communicate with victims of the tornado.

The tornado destroyed at least 30 homes and damaged at least 90 during its seven-mile trek through Westmoreland County.

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Locally, McKeesport's Two Rivers Amateur Radio Club will hold its hamfest and swap meet from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Boston Spectrum, 6001 Smithfield St., Elizabeth Township.

Admission for visitors is $5 and for vendors is $10. Children under 12 are admitted free. In addition to items for sale and information booths, people who have pre-registered can also take the official exam for an amateur radio license or to upgrade an existing license.

Refreshments and raffle tickets also will be on sale. For more information, call (412) 751-1937 or visit the club's website.

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