What is Northern Illinois Skywarn? NILSW hosts nets on the repeaters when severe weather is expected. There is no official membership, but if you’re interested in being one who runs nets, contact someone found on the ‘home’ page and we’ll get you started! We are a service TO spotters, not the other way around. Meaning, we will provide radar updates and take their reports.
We are the primary SKYWARN provider for the Winnebago/Boone County areas. All nets primarily take place on 147.255 “NIRA 1.” When NILSW is operating a severe weather net, there are three modes you may hear the repeater in. They are:
Skywarn Informational Mode: This mode means severe weather may occur within the next 0 to 6 hours. This can be determined by the repeater courtesy beep, which will sound like a dial tone and include the voice ID: “Severe Weather Forecast Today.” The repeater is open for use during this status unless otherwise noted.
Skywarn Stand By/Ready Mode: This indicates spotters will likely be needed and should be ready for a rapid call-out. Often times, this mode will be initiated because of a weather watch, but does not necessarily mean a watch is issued or not. For example, a near by county could be warned and the control operator on duty has confidence that it will enter our area, and will activate this mode regardless if a watch is issued or not. Normal traffic is sometimes allowed and not allowed during this repeater state. The control operator will make that clear. The repeater changes to a high pitched double beep (CW: I) for a courtesy tone and has the voice ID “Weather Watch.”
Skywarn Active Mode: This means a full net is in progress and all available spotters should report on the net, per the control operator. This will be indicated on the repeater by an “unusual” courtesy tone that sounds like no others on the repeater and the voice ID “Skywarn.” The control operator will give frequent weather updates/radar updates to spotters. This mode will almost always be activated during warnings, but may also be activated during times when there is no warning but we are getting reports of severe criteria from a trained spotter on the net or it “looks bad” on radar. Pager tones will be auto-sent.**
The 444.725 “NIRA 2” repeater is used by the surrounding counties to submit reports to the ham team at the NWS in Chicago (KLOT) via the liaison network.
**See the “Alerting” page for information on pager tones!
NIRA Repeater Systems 