Where ya’ from?

After a radiogram’s check, we transmit the place of origin, without introduction. This is almost always a city or town name, followed by a state or province. Immediately after the check we say the city name, and then say “I spell,” and then spell the city name phonetically (spelling can be omitted only if the city is well known and understood). Then we say the state name in full, even if it appears in the message as a two-letter abbreviation. For example, we say, “one five, Claypool, I spell, Charlie, Lima, alpha, Yankee, papa, Oscar, Oscar, Lima, Indiana.” We don’t say, “Place of origin, Claypool, I-N.” Next week: Time and date.

(This is the seventh in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)

Tornado Look-Alike Appears over Fort Wayne


Here’s a good training aid for SKYWARN spotters. What does this look like to you?

No, it’s not a tornado or even a funnel cloud. It’s a funnel-shaped rain shaft. You might call it, “virga,” but the technical definition of virga is rain shaft that evaporates before it reaches the ground and the bottom of this rain shaft (the illuminated part) appears to be reaching the ground. I took this photo in the early evening of March 31, 2013 in northeastern Fort Wayne, Indiana.

During SKYWARN training, instructors warn spotters not to confuse rain shafts with funnel clouds. But never before have I seen a rain shaft that so closely mimics the appearance of a funnel cloud.

How did I know it wasn’t a tornadic funnel?

  • It wasn’t spinning (sorry, I didn’t think to shoot video).
  • The weather conditions weren’t right for tornadoes.
  • I could see the rain in the illuminated part at the bottom.

I forwarded this photo to my local NWS weather forecast office to use as a training aid. If you ever see something like this, I encourage you to photograph it and do the same.

Leave a comment below if you’ve ever seen something that looks like funnel cloud or a tornado but wasn’t.

Send a check

Every radiogram preamble has a “check.” The check is the number of word “groups” in the text of the message. We send the check one digit at a time, without introduction. For example, if the message text has 15 word groups, we say, “alpha bravo nine Zulu alpha, one five,” not “alpha bravo nine Zulu alpha, check one five,” and not “alpha bravo nine Zulu alpha, check fifteen.” Some messages contain ARRL numbered radiograms (an explanation of which is beyond the scope of this article). In that case, the letters “ARL” precede the check, like this: “A-R-L one five.” Note that this is one of those rare times when we do not use phonetics. Next week: Every message comes from somewhere.

(This is the sixth in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)