The 537 System has integrated a National Weather Service (NWS) WRSAME receiver with Weather Announcing and Weather Paging on the repeater. This service provides SkyWarn members with up to the second information from NWS when they release severe weather information.

There are three parts to the system: 1) manual activation and deactivation, 2) automatic activation and deactivation and 3) automatic paging. The WRSAME system must be enabled before any of the three modes of operation are available. WRSAME Enable and WRSAME Disable are system manager commands.

Manual Activation and Deactivation. Playing the current WRSAME audio over the repeater can be done at any time. The user issues command 431 and the system begins repeating WRSAME audio. If the user does nothing else, the audio playback will end in 90 seconds. The timer will be reset every time the 537 plays the courtesy tone. The user can stop the audio by entering command 430.

Automatic activation and deactivation. The repeater will automatically play NWS Statements, Watches and Warnings if WRSAME Automatic mode is enable. This mode is enable with command 433. When NWS releases a message that triggers the WRSAME receiver, the 537 will automatically play the WRSAME audio and then silence the audio. The duration of the audio varies with the severity of the message. As the audio starts the 537 plays DTMF tones "666" to open up SkyWarn members radios that are squelched. The repeater courtesy tone is changed to the triple beep. And, the weather announcer is notified that a watch or warning is in progress. To disable automatic mode issue command 432. You might disable this mode if a net is up and running and a bunch of watches and warnings are being issued.

Automatic paging. The repeater can start the SkyWarn paging system after the audio information is relayed. This mode is enable with command 437. A paging sequence can be lengthy, and will occur each time a new watch or warning is release by NWS. SkyWarn net controllers may wish to disable this feature once the members are on the air. There is no way to stop a paging cycle once it starts and it does take in excess of 2 minutes. The command to disable paging is 436. But, even when disabled, manual paging can occur using the 101, 102 or 103 commands.

The normal mode for the WRSAME system is all three of the above modes enabled. If you have any questions about the 537 System please contact Steve (KF5VH).