Month: February 2003

This includes the communities of Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Fitchburg , Brockton, Taunton, Hartford and Woonsocket. Frigid temperatures tonight combined with northwest winds will yield dangerous wind chills of minus 15 to minus 20.If venturing outside tonight, make sure to dress in several warm dry layers. It is very important to keep your head, hands, and feet covered to avoid frostbite. With these wind chill values, frostbite may occur in 20 to 30 minutes on exposed skin.

A wind chill advisory is issued when prolonged cold temperatures, combined with sustained winds, are expected to produce bitter cold wind chill values of -15 to -24 degrees, for at least 3 hours.

NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 10, 2003–ARRL is the recipient of a new grant from its corporate partner, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), to expand Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) training from a state program to a national level. The grant of $150,000 over three years will reimburse course tuition to students who successfully complete emergency communication courses for ARECC Levels 1, 2, and 3.ARRL Emergency Communications Courses Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, is responsible for the execution of the grant-funded emergency communications courses. “This grant plays perfectly into the overall plans and scope of emergency communication for local communities and our nation, as a whole,” Miller said. “This will allow us to increase the number of seats offered each month [for reimbursable courses].” He praised UTC’s foresight and proactive approach to community involvement and noted UTC’s Connecticut grant program paved the way for national implementation of the ARECC program.

ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, said the Connecticut grant program–completed on December 31, 2002–was immensely successful. “Under that grant of $33,000, ARRL proposed to certify 250 radio amateurs in ARECC training from June to December 2002. The final results of that program exceeded the grant goal and certified 282 hams,” she said. “The successful completion of the UTC/CT program dramatically increased the number of certified hams in Connecticut from 12 when the program began to nearly 300 in just six months. They were thrilled with the results and clearly recognize the importance of emergency communication. With this new grant, UTC has taken a giant step andrenewed its commitment to Amateur Radio, emergency communication and Homeland Security.”

The implementation of the new national grant will be based on what the League learned from the UTC Connecticut grant and upon the first six months of the $181,900 Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) special volunteer program grant. Added together from all sources, ARRL has secured $723,000 for emergency communication training in a little more than a year, something Hobart said “will have an impact on every state in the Union.” Detailed plans for the deployment of the new UTC grant will be developed over the next couple of weeks.

This is a message from Tom Matisko, N1SKZ, SEC of the New Hampshire Section. It is interesting reading.
Subject: Fwd: Hams help with Columbia recovery: MSNBC
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 21:53:57 -0500

To all,

On Monday February 3rd, I attended an ARRL Emergency Communications Class that was being held in Londonderry by Gary Okula, N3CLZ. As part of the class, Gary asked the students; “what would hams in NH do if the shuttle accident happened over the Granite State”. As many of you probably know, this scenario is not entirely out of the realm of possibility, as the runway at the Pease Trade Port is classified as an emergency landing strip for all shuttle missions.

The scenario that was discussed in the class was the support of the Red Cross, and other relief organizations, who would be providing services for those engaged in the recovery effort. As you will see when you click on the link contained in the following email, hams are involved in much more. They are once again filling communications gaps for first responders. While we certainly pray this type of disaster never occurs again anywhere, let alone in NH, it does give us pause to think. We in NH live a relatively safe existence, but disasters do happen. And, they can happen in the ways we least expect.

While our hearts go out to the families of the Columbia crew, we should be proud of our fellow hams and ARES members who are providing critical assistance to find those items that will bring closure to the investigation and the families.

My thanks to Steve, KB1DIG, for bringing this article to my attention. Also my thanks to N3CLZ for setting up and teaching the communications class. Last but certainly not least, thanks to all those in NHARES who continually improve their skills to better serve the residence of New Hampshire. Please read on to the MSNBC story below.

73,
Tom Matisko, N1SKZ
Section Emergency Coordinator
New Hampshire AReS [ARES]

**********

Story line: Hams help with Columbia recovery
FBI, local police turn to amateur radio operators
By Gary Krakow MSNBC

Feb. 9 — The Columbia space shuttle breaks up upon re-entry. Debris lands over hundreds of square miles — often rugged and rural territory where cell phones are out of the question and even police radios are often out-of-range and useless. In this case, as during weather disasters and other calamities year in and year out — officials turned to ham radio operators for help

For the complete story:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/869906.asp#BODY

Many thanks again to all who participated on Saturday in a successful exercise! Please jot down your thoughts and suggestions while you have them fresh in your mind, and forward to your DEC and/or me (where there isn’t a DEC present). We’ll post the consolidated comments here shortly. W1MPN

1245 PM EST FRI FEB 7 2003

..WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE NW RHODE ISLAND…NORTHERN CONNECTICUT…AND CENTRAL & EAST COASTAL MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH THIS EVENING.THE LATEST RADAR…SATELLITE AND SPOTTER REPORTS HAS INDICATED THAT THE HEAVIER SNOWFALL HAS MOVED FURTHER INLAND. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON… TAPERING OFF TO SNOW SHOWERS BEFORE ENDING EARLY TONIGHT.

THE WARNING NOW INCLUDES THE CITIES OF HARTFORD…WILLIMANTIC…WOONSOCKET…WORCESTER…BOSTON…QUINCY & GLOUCESTER.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOW EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 4 TO 8 INCH RANGE BEFORE ENDING EARLY TONIGHT ACROSS THIS AREA.

THE CAUSE OF OUR LATEST BOUT OF WINTER WEATHER IS QUICKLY DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE WELL SOUTH OF THE S. NEW ENGLAND COAST. BECAUSE OF COLD AIR ACROSS THE REGION…THE SNOW WILL BE POWDERY. AT TIMES…VISIBILITY WILL BE REDUCED TO A HALF MILE OR LESS.

MOTORISTS WILL NEED TO USE CARE WHEN DRIVING…AS MANY ROADWAYS ARE SNOW COVERED & ICY. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS ON ANY UNTREATED SECONDARY ROADS.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED TO BE GREATER THAN 6 INCHES.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO…OR YOUR FAVORITE RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION…FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS WEATHER WEATHER SITUATION.

Hello to all…

The Department of Homeland Security Raises Threat Level to Orange (High Threat). This is a general warning designed to trigger certain pre-planned and predetermined activities in public safety organizations’ contingency plans. No specific threat has been cited as the reason for raising the level, but rather concern about unusual activity of surveilled terrorist entities. You may recall that the last time the level was raised was last September during the week of remembrance of the Sep 11, 2001 disaster.Several actions are requested of all ARES members and leaders of emergency communications teams. First, participate in the exercise tomorrow. There is no better way to prepare for an actual exigency than to practice our procedures and skills.

Secondly, (as we requested last September) please raise your individual readiness by checking your “go kits”, battery supplies, and radio/antenna systems as soon as you can. Exercise participants have already been doing this, and it is much appreciated. Additionally, please carry a hand-held radio with you at all times when it is practicable, and recheck your mobile system’s ability to conduct simplex operations. Please remember to secure your home and family’s ability to react to any contingency, so that you can help your community in time of crisis. You can get more information on this at http://www.mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=agcc&agid=mema&agca=preparedness&agcc=dizkit&s=0&= . A complete reference page containing many specific topic pamphlets is located on the FEMA website at http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/ .

You can also find out more about the security code system by pressing the “Homeland Security Codes” button to the left

Thank you for your assistance. We will keep you advised of any changes, either by email or on our website, http://ares.ema.arrl.org

s/Michael P. Neilsen
Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
Section Emergency Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts Section
Pager: 1-800-759-8888 PIN 1155084
Admin: w1mpn (symbol for at) arrl.net
978-562-5662 Primary/Voice Mail
978-389-0558 FAX/ EFax Voice Mail

Exercise Envelopes are being distributed this afternoon to team leaders under separate cover. Please contact your DEC or me with any questions you may have. W1MPN

NWS is expecting a significant snowfall for the southern portions of EMa. We are evaluating the forecast now, and I will issue a special statement this afternoon (Thurs). Please listen for any last minute postponement messages on Saturday morning from your nearest SKYWARN repeater about 0800 Saturday morning. W1MPN

An exercise update #2 is available to the left by clicking on the button. – W1MPN

K1ARC American Red Cross 3.915 MHz Net

Wednesday, February 5, is the next American Red Cross
K1ARC Emergency Training Net. The K1ARC net meets at 8:00 P.M. (local) on 3.915 MHz (LSB-Voice), plus or minus 5 kHz, on the FIRST Wednesday of each month.This net is open to all amateur radio operators who are interested in HF emergency communications. The purpose of this regional Red Cross Net is to discuss emergency communication topics and to act as a liaison net between Red Cross Chapters and volunteers.

Plus, feel free to visit our K1ARC Red Cross web page
at: http://www.qsl.net/k1arc/

Based on a salient comment by Bob N1BE, we will use the following frequencies for 6m liaison within Region 1.

52.53 Calling. Move down to 52.51 and 52.49 to pass traffic

Region 2 (Bristol/Plymouth) will use different 6m frequencies. Cape Cod ARES will use 52.54.

Please click on the “List of Players” button to the left for the list of players as of this moment. Finalized frequency plans have also been posted individually under each team’s name.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT…PACK MONADNOCK NOAA WEATHER RADIO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
350 PM EST FRI JAN 31 2003

…NEW NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER SERVING SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NORTHERN MASSACHUSETTS NOW ON THE AIR…A BRAND NEW NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER IS NOW ON THE AIR. IT IS LOCATED ATOP PACK MONADNOCK IN PETERBOROUGH NEW HAMPSHIRE AND IS BROADCASTING AT A FREQUENCY OF 162.525 MEGAHERTZ. IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE SIGNAL YOU NEED A 7-CHANNEL WEATHER RADIO OR A SCANNER. THE BROADCASTS ORIGINATE AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS.

THE SIGNAL IS QUITE STRONG AND HAS BEEN HEARD CLEARLY THROUGHOUT MUCH OF CHESHIRE AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTIES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE…AND IN MUCH OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS. THIS WILL IMPROVE THE SERVICE IN AREAS THAT HAVE HAD RECEPTION DIFFICULTIES IN THE PAST…SUCH AS IN PORTIONS OF NORTHERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND MUCH OFSOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE.

COMPLETE HOURLY OBSERVATIONS ARE GIVEN FOR BOTH MANCHESTER AND JAFFREY…WITH SKY AND TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS FOR MANY SURROUNDING SITES. LOCAL FORECASTS FOR SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE…THE MERRIMACK VALLEY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE…AND THE MERRIMACK VALLEY OF NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS ARE BROADCAST. SHORT FUSED WARNINGS…SUCH AS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS…TORNADOES…AND FLASH FLOODS…WILL BE BROADCAST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES…

IN VERMONT…
WINDHAM

IN NEW HAMPSHIRE…
SULLIVAN
MERRIMACK
CHESHIRE
HILLSBOROUGH
ROCKINGHAM

IN MASSACHUSETTS…
FRANKLIN
WORCESTER
MIDDLESEX
ESSEX

Two EMA nominations have been received for the League’s Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year award from the Billerica Amateur Radio Society and the Framingham Amateur Radio Association, respectively. The national award is presented by the Board of Directors in recognition “of the very best in volunteer Amateur Radio instruction.”

The two nominations were received by EMA Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI prior to the January 31, 2003 deadline, and have been forwarded to ARRL Headquarters. A panel of Educational Advisors will recommend its selection of the recipient to the Volunteer Resources Committee by June 15, with the recommendation to be circulated to the ARRL Board of Directors by June 30. The Board will then make a final determination at its second annual meeting.

The national winner will receive an engraved plaque, along with ARRL publications of a value up to $100.00.