Hendricks County RACES

Activating a Hendricks County Skywarn Net

1. A Hendricks County Skywarn Net will be activated if _any_ of the
following conditions exist:

a. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Warning is issued for
Hendricks County.
b. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Warning is issued for
Boone, Montgomery, Putnam, Owen, Morgan, or Marion Counties and the
severe weather appears to be tracking towards Hendricks County.
c. The National Weather Service, either directly or through the
Central Indiana Skywarn Net, asks Hendricks County to activate a net.
This request should be accompanied by a clear description of the
NWS's area of interest.
d. The Hendricks County EMA Director or his Deputy requests that a
net be activated.

2. If any of the above conditions is met, _any_ licensed amateur
radio operator may call up the Hendricks County Skywarn Net and begin
asking for check-ins or reports. If a designated Skywarn Net Control
Operator is available to take the net, he or she should identify
themselves as such and ask that they be allowed to take control of the net.

3. Immediately upon activating a net, the Net Control Operator should
request that another amateur radio operator serve as Liaison between
the Hendricks County Skywarn Net and the Central Indiana Skywarn Net.
It is important that this liaison station be able to monitor both
nets simultaneously and proactively pass information between the two nets.

4. If the Central Indiana Skywarn Net is active, reports from
Hendricks County are to be passed to the NWS through the Central
Indiana Skywarn Net. If the Central Indiana Skywarn Net is not
active, reports may be provided to the NWS using the telephone or the
NWS's eSpotter system. Note: in rare circumstances, NWS employees who
are licensed amateur radio operators may ask for reports over the air.

Deactivating a Hendricks County Skywarn Net

1. A Hendricks County Skywarn Net will be deactivated if _all_ of the
following conditions are met:

a. The Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Warning that was issued
for Hendricks County has expired.
b. The severe weather threat approaching from other counties has dissipated.
c. The National Weather Service, either directly or through the
Central Indiana Skywarn Net, releases Hendricks County.
d. If the net was activated at the request of EMA, the EMA Director
or his Deputy will be consulted before we deactivate the net.

2. Upon deactivation, the Hendricks County Skywarn Net Control or
Liaison will report the elapsed time of the net and the number of
base and mobile check-ins to the Central Indiana Skywarn Net.

3. The Hendricks County Skywarn Net Control will contact the county
ARES Emergency Coordinator or RACES Radio Officer by radio,
telephone, or email to report the activation of the net, the elapsed
time, and number of check-ins.

David Warren Hendricks Co. EMA Director
Ben Oliphant Deputy Hendricks Co. EMA Director
David Leimenstoll Hendricks Co. RACES Radio Officer
Ron Burke Hendricks Co. ARES E.C.
Author: Bob Burns
Effective: 15 April, 2011