As winter’s chill reaches its peak at DX Engineering headquarters near Akron, Ohio, the inclement weather is very much on our minds at OnAllBands. While we chip ice off our cars’ windshields like cold-hearted Jerry Lundegaard from Fargo, our daydreams turn to warmer days and ways we can protect our stations from nature’s wrath.
Nothing Stops Ham Radio
Our favorite cold-weather celebration of ham radio will be taking place February 17-19 at Ice Station W0JH, where hams will be operating from a frozen lake in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
From the W0JH QRZ page: “Having strong Scandinavian heritage, Minnesotans have been known to do odd, crazy things to break the monotony of the long winter. Members of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association will operate a portable special event from a frozen lake in east-central Minnesota. If the ice is thick enough, we will be operating from Lake Elmo, which is a little lake that covers about 281 acres, has a maximum depth of nearly 140 feet, and is located at grid square EN34 in Washington County, MN.”
Find more details about Ice Station W0JH here.
Don’t Be Left Out in the Cold
If you haven’t done so yet, it’s not too late to spend some time in the backyard weatherproofing your outdoor connections. DX Engineering makes it simple with two types of kits:
Coaxial Connection Weatherproofing Kits
Kits with Self-Adhesive Weatherproofing Material
Take a moment to read this OnAllBands article featuring a how-to video on weatherproofing your station connections.
Lightning Protection
Spring storms aren’t far away. Now’s a good time to start thinking about better ways to protect the investment you’ve made in your station. Lightning strikes can cause irreparable damage to expensive and vulnerable amateur radio equipment. DX Engineering carries a great selection of devices that provide some peace of mind and can help spare your station from costly problems when bad weather strikes. Here are just a few:
- DX Engineering Rotator Control Line Protector
- Alpha Delta UHF Connector Coaxial Cable Surge Protectors
- Polyphaser Broadband Coaxial Lightning Protectors
- Diamond Antenna SP-Series Lightning Arresters/Surge Protectors
- NexTek DC Block and DC Pass Coaxial Lightning and Surge Protectors
- DX Engineering 75-ohm Receive Feedline Surge Protector
Find many more essentials for grounding and bonding at DXEngineering.com.
Davis Instruments Weather Forecasting Quick Reference Cards
These handy cards illustrate the interpretation of wind direction, barometric pressure, and cloud type in predicting the weather. As an ideal reference for boaters and sailors, they include a full list of radio weather stations for official broadcasts, key information on storm warnings, hurricane avoidance, navigating in fog and other conditions, hazardous wave and surf situations, and more. These time-proven reference cards are made of weatherproof high-strength heavy plastic and feature full-color information on both sides. They come pre-punched for binder or bulkhead mounting.
ARRL Storm Spotting and Amateur Radio, 3rd Edition
This reference book offers 160 pages of information on what you need to know about providing real-time information to emergency management agencies and forecasters at the National Weather Service during severe storms.
Featured topics include:
- Safety
- Equipment and resources
- Training
- Meteorology
- Hurricanes
- Storm spotter activation
The book’s third edition includes lessons learned and response reports from past hurricane seasons; apps and social media resources; new SKYWARN training requirements; and expanded information on digital voice modes such as DMR, D-STAR, and Yaesu Fusion.
Weather Radios
DX Engineering is proud to carry a range of rugged and reliable emergency weather radios from Eton, including the Eton Sidekick AM/FM/NOAA Portable Weather Radio, which features Bluetooth connectivity; bright LED flashlight; charging by USB or hand crank; 2600 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery; and S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology that will send weather alerts for your specific location.
From Sangean comes the MMR-99 AM/FM-RDS/Weather/Bluetooth Emergency Radio, which covers seven NOAA weather channels and can be charged by hand-cranking, DX-In power by USB Type-C, or by included solar panel.
Find many more emergency weather radios from Eton and Sangean at DXEngineering.com.
Wireless Vantage Pro2 Plus Weather Station
Providing accurate weather monitoring with real-time data updates every 2.5 seconds, this station from Davis Instruments includes a WeatherLink console with vibrant, HD color touchscreen. The console allows you to easily navigate and analyze hyper-local weather data or view the latest conditions from anywhere in the room. Users can set alarms to get notified when conditions change, such as when temperatures begin approaching a critical point for outdoor work or when wind speeds reach a certain level. It features a transmission range of up to 1,000 feet from the sensor suite to the console, and sensors for outside temperatures and humidity in passive radiation field, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and UV and solar radiation. The solar-powered sensor suite comes with a battery backup; the WeatherLink console is AC-powered with battery backup. Compatible with many smart-home systems.
La Crosse Technology S81120 Wireless Weather Station
The S81120 Wireless Weather Station with temperature, wind and humidity lets you plan your day with confidence. It’s like having a personal meteorologist right in your home.
Features include:
- Indoor/outdoor readings (toggle between readings with auto scroll)
- “Feels like” temperature and dew point
- HI/LO records with time/date stamp
- Indoor/outdoor temp/humidity alerts
- Current and top wind speed
- Wind speed history view: 24 hours, 7 days, month, year
- Monthly wind speed history record for past 12 months
- Wind speed alert
- Wind direction
