The following is an ARES Drill Report from Saturday October 30th, 2004. The purpose of the drill was to be able to relay messages and make contact into and out of the main affected area for this drill, which was Cape Cod as Cape Cod ARES had devised a specific scenario for the drill. The main bands utilized in the drill were 6 Meters, 40 Meters HF and Packet, though local 2 Meter informal nets were held outside of the district with full formal nets run on the 146.955-Barnstable Repeater on Cape Cod.Along with our drill, New Hampshire ARES was also having their statewide SET drill on the same day. They used some voice but concentrated on a special blend of PSK technology that they’ve adapted for emergency traffic. Attempts were made by Carl-K1KID, who is a PSK guru, to contact New Hampshire via PSK but the attempt failed. Numerous NH ARES and SKYWARN Contacts made contact with Eastern Massachusetts via the 146.64-Waltham Repeater and via HF. Out of state contacts between Eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire went very well.
In addition to the drills, the city of Boston had a parade for the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series with around 3 Million people in attendance. Metro Boston ARES utilized the drill to monitor events with the parade in case there were any issues and remained on stand-by 90 minutes after the drill ended until 1:30 PM to monitor the parade until its conclusion. Having an exercise on the day we selected helped to enhance the New Hampshire drill and to have Hams ready in case issues occurred in Boston due to the parade.
Several traffic messages were passed via the HF Net and on the Barnstable Repeater on Cape Cod. Contact was made with stations within the section over HF, 2 Meters and 6 Meters where appropriate. Contact was made with all stations by several means and the purpose of the drill was executed with few issues. Message traffic was also handled on a tactical and NTS basis between Eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire and was deemed successful.
The following is the list of check-ins via HF and on 2-Meter Nets where we have received reports. This portion of the report maybe updated if more net reports are received:
The following is the net report from the 147.000-Dartmouth Repeater Informal ARES Net:
1. W1AEI-Arthur-Swansea
2. WA1ESO-John-Tiverton, RI
3. N1YCQ-Wheat-Swansea, Massachusetts
4. K1KVV-Bob-South Dartmouth at W1AEC assisting with NCO duties on this net and on HF.
The HF Net Operations were run on 40 Meters HF out of the Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (SEMARA) building under call sign W1AEC. The following Hams checked in and passed traffic via this net.
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1. KA1TUZ-Dick-Newton, Massachusetts
2. WC1MA-MEMA Framingham HQ
3. N1XTB-Phil-Middleboro, Massachusetts
4. W1MSA-Frank-Salvation Army HQ-Boston, Mass.
5. K1NGJ-Nick-Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
6. N1HY-Richard-Bedford, Massachusetts
7. KB1JJE-Ben-Mansfield, Massachusetts
8. K1PBO-Red Cross Hyannis, Massachusetts
9. N2JWW-Mike-Marstons, Mills, Massachusetts
10. N1FY-Carl-Bridgewater, Mass. EOC (Town EOC)
11. K1UI-Rob-Cape Cod ARES Field Site
12. KD4CLJ-David-Attleboro, Massachusetts
13. N1BDA-Steve-Concord, Massachusetts
14. K1EJ-Darrel-Chelmsford, Massachusetts
15. N1UMJ-John-Taunton, Massachusetts
16. WA1JSE-Paul-Osterville, Massachusetts
17. WA1WOK-Cal-New Hampshire State EOC, Concord, NH
18. K1KID-Carl-Wareham, Massachusetts
19. KB1EKN-Mark-Hingham, Massachusetts
20. AA2T-Jerry-Leominster, Massachusetts
21. KB1IZU-Bob-Western Coos County, New Hampshire
The Drill ran from 10 AM-Noon with all objectives met. A reminder was given to all Amateurs to closely monitor the situation and events in the run-up to the November election and to have a HT with them in case it’s needed due to a possible terrorist incident. Luckily, no issues were reported on Election Day.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
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