The WIRES 147.135 repeater in West Lafayette will be off the air for a few days starting Tuesday, May 28. A new antenna and feedline for the repeater will be installed. Other work (cellular) is also being done on the tower during this period.

Plans are to have the new antenna positioned to provide better repeater coverage to the west and southwest, an area influenced by the current tower shadow. Relocating the antenna to a different tower leg will, in effect, "move" the tower shadow to the north-northwest. This area is served very well by the WI9RES 443.500+ repeater at Rossville, so coverage along I-65 north of Lafayette and nearby should not suffer.

ARES and SKYWARN will use the WI9RES 443.500+ (88.5 Hz tone) repeater as our primary repeater while the 147.135 repeater is out of service.

Version 2.12 of GRLevel3 is now available. This version introduces a new UI for the program and has several significant changes in the functionality. An online webinar will be scheduled soon to demonstrate the basics of using GRLevel3 and the features of this new version.

GRLevel3 is a Windows viewer for live and archive NEXRAD Level III data. It displays high resolution base products, dual polarization products, and derived products along with Local Storm Reports and severe weather warnings.


If you are a current user of GRLevel3 version 2, this update is free. To see more details about this significant update and to download the new version, click the title of this article. For the updated user guide, click here.

Accurate and timely spotter reports are critical to our local community and to the National Weather Service.  However, your first priority as a storm spotter is to STAY SAFE!  Severe storms present a number of hazards, any of which could lead to injury or death if you’re not extremely careful.  A spotter safety page is in the "Weather" section of this web site.  It also contains the TCARES storm spotting policy: www.w9tca.com/spotter-safety 

Another feature, the "SKYWARN Spotter Situational Awareness Portal", is designed to offer quick and convenient access to NWS resources that many of us check on a daily basis.  While not suitable for local threat assessment, the links to the SPC products give SKYWARN spotters an idea of the potential for severe weather at the national and regional levels in the next day or two.  The "Weather Data" page is in the "Weather" section, and can be accessed directly at:  www.w9tca.com/weather-data

The scripts used by Tippecanoe County ARES Net Controls have been updated and are now available for download.

As part of our official SOPs, the updated NET 1-4 (Net Formats) document should be downloaded and printed out by all designated ARES net controls. Please start using the updated scripts immediately.

The format used for the monthly warning siren test net has been added to the document, and minor tweaks have been made to all other scripts. Though never perfect for every situation, they serve us very well in their present form. Thank you for all of the suggestions and comments that have helped shape and rewrite these documents over time.

All TCARES members are encouraged to download the SOPs and become familiar with them. Check out the Plans section (www.w9tca.com/plans), or download just the NET 1-4 document by clicking here.