In 2025, Fujian Baofeng Electronics Co., Ltd. invited me to write a series of posts for the blog on the company’s website about how to program its DM-32UV handheld DMR radio. I wrote seven posts, links to which appear below.
Programming the Baofeng DM-32UV Part Six: Key Assignments. Note: This post was based on CPS version 1.41. In versions 1.45 and 1.60, Baofeng removed the ability to configure side key 2. Also, firmware version DM32.01.L01.048 has an issue that causes the radio to ignore programmable keys while it is receiving a signal.
This evening, I spoke to the Whitley County Amateur Radio Club about digital mobile radio (DMR). Here is a link to my presentation slides for reference:
Path of a tornado that touched down just west of the Eel River Golf Course south of Churubusco and tracked rapidly east southeast, crossing US 33 before dissipating in a corn field west of Chase Road. NWS image.
“But wait,” you might say, “I never heard about a tornado warning for Allen County that day!” That’s because IWX didn’t issue a tornado warning for this storm. At the time of the tornado, however, a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect that included the words, “tornado possible.”
Most severe thunderstorm warnings do not automatically create alerts on your cell phone.
It’s not unusual for the kind of storm we had Saturday morning (a bowing “squall line”) to spawn weak tornados that appear and disappear before the National Weather Service can issue a warning. That’s why, when they warn us of a severe thunderstorm that could contain such tornados, they mention that a tornado is possible.
Weather radar loop slowing the bowing squall line that moved across Indiana early July 29.
It’s also one reason that it’s so important to know about and react appropriately to severe thunderstorm warnings, including those the National Weather Service issues in the middle of the night, when you’re sleeping. But that requires extra effort on your part, because most severe thunderstorm warnings do not automatically create alerts on your cell phone.
If you’ve ever been someplace covered by a tornado warning, you probably received a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) on your phone, even if you never installed a weather app. That’s because all modern smartphones come with WEAs enabled and all tornado warnings prompt WEAs.
The only severe thunderstorm warnings that trigger WEAs, however, are those in which the National Weather Service includes a “destructive” damage threat “tag.” They do that for storms that have either hail that’s at least 2.75 inches in diameter (baseball-sized) and/or 80 mph straight-line thunderstorm winds. According to Saturday morning’s severe thunderstorm warning, meteorologists expected winds of up to 60 mph and no large hail. That warning therefore did not trigger a WEA.
So, how can you know if a storm like Saturday’s is headed toward your home in the middle of the night, while you’re asleep? I know of two really good ways:
Buy a weather alert radio and keep it near enough to your bedroom to wake you.
Install a weather alert app, like Storm Shield, and configure it to alert you to severe thunderstorm warnings.
When the NWS issues a severe thunderstorm warning for your location, the best way to be safe is to do the same thing you’d do in a tornado warning. Move to the most interior room on the lowest level of your house. This will provide the best protection from a brief tornado, like the one that touched down July 29 and from straight-line thunderstorm winds dropping a tree limb on your house, which is what killed a woman in Ohio City, Ohio July 20.
Today, I gave an introductory presentation about ham radio DMR, how to find information about DMR repeaters in Indiana and the steps involved in programming a DMR radio with a new “codeplug.” As promised, you may get a PDF copy of my presentation slides by following the link below.
I have created a guide to help users of the Anytone AT-D878UV handheld, DMR amateur radio create codeplugs for their radios.
The link below will provide the latest version of the document, which I have updated since publishing the original version. Version 2.65, uploaded January 29, 2023, adds advice on matching the CPS version to the firmware version.
Restrictions implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 will affect one of the ways SKYWARN® storm spotters send reports to local National Weather Service (NWS) offices. Many NWS weather forecast offices (WFOs) have amateur (ham) radio equipment permanently installed. During severe weather events, volunteer ham radio operators operate that equipment to receive reports of tornadoes and other dangerous weather from fellow hams who are storm spotters.
Now, however, the NWS is forbidding anyone not directly connected with the agency from entering WFOs, according to NWS Northern Indiana warning coordination meteorologist Michael Lewis. That means that ham radio stations at WFOs are less likely to be on the air during severe weather events. Some NWS meteorologists have ham radio licenses and some of those might be able to sporadically operate WFO ham stations. But Lewis told me that to reduce exposure to disease, the NWS is trying to operate WFOs with as few people in the office as possible. This might mean that NWS meteorologists who have ham licenses will have no time to operate the ham radio equipment.
Ham radio operators will still be able to use their radios to report severe weather, but they’ll need someone other hams to relay those reports to their local WFOs. That’s where an internal NWS text chat system will be essential, Lewis said. The system is called NWSChat and access is limited a select population. That groups includes ham radio operators who serve as net control station operators. Local ham radio SKYWARN groups can (and should) designate such leaders to serve as liaisons between the radio networks and NWSChat.
Whether or not spotters have ham radio licenses, other ways to communicate reports continue to be available, including telephone calls to WFOs and Twitter tweets that include the appropriate WFO’s Twitter handle.
The voice communication app Zello can also be helpful to SKYWARN storm spotters. Unfortunately, Zello’s terms and conditions do not comply with federal government requirements, so NWS WFOs are prohibited from installing Zello on any government-owned devices. A specific Zello channel exists (“IWX SKYWARN”) for reports from areas covered by the Northern Indiana office. Because WFO staff are prohibited from using Zello, ham radio net control station operators, who have NWSChat accounts, plan to monitor the Zello channel as much as possible, to relay reports from spotters to the WFO.
All this could be tested tomorrow, March 19, when severe weather is forecast in much of Indiana.
