for the next couple of days. We "allegedly" had our first tornado here in the city. The majority of the norther city is ok with a few tree limbs here and there, but the southside really got hammered.

Cell service is spotty and I'm surprised my internet is back on. But my in-laws house is on the southside without power. So I may end up going over tomorrow morning and trying to figure out a way to hook my generator up to a few necessity items... like the COFFEE maker, fridge etc.

And wouldn't you know it, I was driving the *-10 that I had JUST purchased through the darn storm!!

For those interested, here is the link to my local newspaper...

www.stargazette.com

Hope everyone is ok over there, Mike. I was at work when all those storms blew up. Just barely missed us to the south. We dodged a bullet, but I was out storm spotting for NWS to see if there was anything in Otsego county. Had the weather radio on all the time, and heard the warnings go off. Looks like Binghamton and NE PA got hit pretty hard. I 'almost' drove south to try and spot for them down toward SW Delaware County, but decided against it.

Watch the load on the genny. Fridge takes a lot to start up. Hope they get power back up soon. I filled up the truck on the way to work this morning, as well as 2 5 gallon cans, just in case we got hit.

Good luck over there. I saw that crap come through on radar, and knew you were out that way.

You do know Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the county, no travel except emergency vehicles? WBNG reports Weis Markets as the EmOps Center. Supposedly 20,000 without power right now.

Yea, NY did declare a state of emergency in my county. From the looks of the news here, there were no injuries thankfully.

You wouldn't happen to be a StormSpotter for NOAA would you? I was certified a few years ago.

Mike, I'm a Skywarn spotter. I just have the basic certification, wasn't able to get an advanced course in my area.

Atta boy!!

I'm Red Cross First Aid/CPR trained, too. I always carry a pretty extensive kit with me, in the truck and take it into work, just in case. If anything did go crazy, I can at least be some help on scene after something like that.

Hey me too!! I was certified through my job. (we had to).

Are you also a amateur radio op?

I wasn't certified through work. I wanted to to learn it, so I ponied up the $100 to take the course myself. No one at work has any idea what they're doing, and after a few incidents with some elderly customers last winter, I figured someone needed to step up and do it.

I don't have my license yet, but I'm studying through a book to get my technician'* class FCC license. I already have plans to mount a 2 Meter rig in the truck, with a firestick hood mount and 5/8 wave antenna up front. I've done a few practice exams online, and passed, but I'm only about 40% through the book.

You have yours? I figure another couple weeks, then I'll find a test site and go for it.

Yup, I got mine back in 2001ish. Upgraded to General around 2006ish.

Haven't really been in the hobby lately. Sold off most of my good gear a few years ago. My Icom 706 MKIIG that I miss soooo much. When I was stationed at Ft Drum, I had a 3 band 6mtr, 2mtr, 440 beam on a 30ft tower. When 2 meters opened up from Florida that summer day, I couldn't contain myself. And when Florida heard my callsign, it was absolute pandamonium. And this was just using 50 watts.

If you can, UPGRADE your rig as soon as possible. Most new people lose interest with VHF repeaters after about 6 months or so. If need be, find a used mult-mode/multi-band rig like on QRZ.com.

On 14.230 MHZ, I was swapping pictures with people in Russia using only a dipole and 100watts using SSTV. All very fun modes!!

Great, now you got me looking for gear again.