Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for Feburary 2010

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for February is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for February is Monday February 1st, 2010, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator  
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com

http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Now is the time to plan for Field Day

Now is the time to plan for Field Day !!!!

What did you say???? Field Day is not till June and that is five months away. Yup, now is the time to start your planning. Sure…you don’t have to fill in the sign up sheets for the 20 meter CW station at this time but there are many things that should be started now, in the dead of winter, rather than wait till June. The best Field Days are the ones that are planned far in advance so that when the time comes there will be no surprises.

This will not be the first year that most clubs will have Field Day. It is often assumed that since Field Day worked well last year that it will work well again this year. This may not be the case! Good advanced planning can assure a smooth running Field Day.

What should your club be doing in January or February to prepare for Field Day in June? Well the first thing is to secure a Field Day Chairman. This person has overall charge of Field Day……….but should not have all the responsibilities! He/she should be a volunteer from the club or someone who is appointed by the President. He/she should have the full support of the President and the executive board for this is a high responsibility position. The Field Day chairman should be able to appoint a staff of club members who each have an individual portion of the Field day responsibility. It has been my experience that there should be one person “The Station Chief” who is responsible for each station that is on the air. He/she should be responsible to see that all the components for a station….antennas, shelter, rigs etc. will be available when Field Day rolls around. The Station Chief should only be responsible for one station but he/she has the complete responsibility for that station. Station Chiefs should report directly to the Field Day Chairman. Additional “Chiefs” can be appointed for specific duties at Field Day……such as “Food Chief ” or a “Generator Chief” with similar responsibilities. This way the Field Day Chairman can retain overall responsibility of Field Day without being distracted by all the details.

The other important component of Field Day……that should be dealt with at this time of the year…….is the Field Day site. Often a Field Day site is on public property which is used by other organizations throughout the year. Securing a Field Day site now may well eliminate a lot of grief right before Field Day takes place.

A healthy club will appoint a Field Day Chairman long before Field Day. The executive committee of the club should have the Field Day Chairman sit in on each of their monthly meetings. This way the Chairman can present his/her progress on a monthly basis. It can also be a time where the Chairman can discuss difficulties in assembling all the components of Field Day and enlist the members of the executive committee in securing these components.

Bo Budinger

WA1QYM

EMA Affiliated Club Coordinator

CAARA to Participate in Winter Field Day on Satuday January 30th and 31st, 2010

As provided by Bill Poulin-WZ1L from the PRA Email List:

Anybody interested in participating in Winter Field Day?
 
The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association cordially invites you to participate in Winter Field Day 2010 sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio (S.P.A.R.)
 
You are cordially invited to to come down to the THIRD ANNUAL WINTER FIELD DAY at the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) Clubhouse, located at 6 Stanwood Street, Gloucester, MA and take a turn at the microphone, PSK-31 Terminal or “Bug”  (If you are a CW operator.)  We will also have a 6 Meter radio for non-HF operations.   The rules of Field Day apply and allow you to operate HF as an unlicensed or Techinican license while being supervised by a Control Operator.
 
So, come on down and share the excitement, the contest begins on Saturday, January 30th, at Noon.   The contest continues for a 24 hour period and ends on Sunday, January 31st at Noon.   So there is plenty of time for you to come and operate.   “The more, The Merrier”,  as they always say.

Get Your Technician Class License In a Day Class Sponsored by CAARA Saturday 1/30/2010

As provided by Bill Poulin-WZ1L from the PRA Email List with a few edits:

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) in Gloucester, MA is offering a “You Can Get Your Tech In a Day” Class on Saturday, January 30,2010. ((Introduction Beginning 8am) and Testing will probably start at 4pm.))
 
Seating is limited.
 
You spend 6 hours studying the questions and answers on the FCC element for Technician Class and at the end of study, you will be given the Element 2 examination.  The test is 35 questions and you only need 26 to pass the test.
 
Cost and Requirements:
 
Course Fee:  $5.00  (Includes materials and snacks)
Test Fee:    $15.00 (Required by FCC)
Bring Photo ID and Social Security Number

For more information, contact Stan Stone, W4HIX. His email address is stan at lanescove dot us
 
You must sign up ahead of time.
Sponsored by the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association, Gloucester, MA  01930.

Algonquin ARC Flea Market Saturday Febuary 13, 2010

The Algonquin Amateur Radio Club is again holding its winter Ham Radio Flea Market at the Marlborough Intermediate Elementary School in Marlborough, MA. This year, the flea begins at 9:00 AM on Saturday, February 13 (6:30 AM for vendors). General admission is $5. Vendor
tables are $15 before Feb 5, or $20 at the door and each table includes one admission.  (details at www.n1em.org)

EMA Haitian Relief Efforts

Message sent to Eastern Massachusetts Section by Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN at Jan 14, 2010 14:49 ET:

Subject: Haitian Disaster Update

Hello all stations:

Summary:  The following message is my final update to all section members regarding the emergency in Haiti.  For future situation reports on what we, and the greater amateur radio community are doing on behalf of the Haiti relief effort, please visit our ARES website at http://ares.ema.arrl.org.  I’m sure you will share my pride and gratitude toward those of our own, and other section’s radio kindred, who are directly involved with the rescue effort.

If you can help with 20m communications, please check into the appropriate nets listed below.  Whether you are part of our ARES team or not, good NCS’s are always needed!  You can also monitor some of the 20m traffic on frequencies listed below, and on the Echolink receive only *WX_TALK* conference node.  If haven’t yet joined Echolink, you can do so at the www.echolink.org website.  Your callsign is all that is needed for free software and authorization to use the service.

No EMA ARESMAT operations are anticipated at this time.  However, if you would like to help more directly with the relief effort, please contact the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army directly.  Bi- and Multilingual skilled individuals are especially needed.  If you know of non-hams with these skills, especially in the Boston Haitian-American community who we may be able to pair with hams, please let me know. 

At a minimum, cash donations made directly to the above named organizations, are a powerful help to their relief efforts on the ground.  May I also remind you that phishing will be rampant in the coming days, so please be cautious before responding to email and telephone solicitations.

Here is the latest information:

=====  Begin quoted message  =====

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There was brief contact made on one of the HF Nets earlier today. This information is listed below as provided by ARRL and other groups along with a link to an ARRLWeb
Story:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/13/11288/?nc=1

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org. 

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :

14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7 for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room http://hflink. net and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)

3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink. net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Thursday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

=====  End of Quoted Message  =====

de W1MPN

——————————————————————–
ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
w1mpn@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #3

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Please note that the situation report was not updated on Friday Evening as there was little new information. Today, new information was received warranting a new situation report update.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There has been more steady contact with 2 Amateur Radio Operators via the HF Nets over the past 2 days however it is noted that HH2JR, Jean Richard is currently running with an Icom IC-706 HF Radio with a faulty display and is running out of fuel for his neighbor’s generator which he has been using to maintain power for his radio per family members who were in contact with several Amateurs who made first contact with HH2JR on January 13th. An Amateur Radio strike team from the Dominican Republic has arrived in Haiti on Friday January 15th. There has been word that HI8RCD/HH has attempted to contact the SATERN Net on 14.265 but has been unsucessful. This is per traffic monitored on the 7265 40 meter SATERN Net at approximately 430 PM ET/2130 UTC.

N1YLQ-Mike ‘Sparky’ Leger and I have been monitoring HF SATERN Nets on 14265 and 7265 starting at approximately 1230 PM ET/1730 UTC from the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Sub-Regional Command Center at the Acushnet Massachusetts Emergency Operations Center. Propagation has been poor to Haiti into New England. Some Haitian traffic could be heard on 14.265 at approximately 2 PM ET/1900 UTC but only the net control and relay stations could be heard at that time. The 40 Meter traffic was heard directly from the Acushnet EOC facility and was relayed by a station in the Bahamas. Operations will secure from the Acushnet EOC at approximately 1800/2300 UTC.

The following information was relayed by Public Relations Manager at ARRL HQ, Allen Pitts-W1AGP concerning operations and the public information aspect of the Amateur Radio response. Please also note the comments on deployment to the affected area concerning ARES which are inline with our standard operating procedures from an ARES perspective:

If you are aware of people considering volunteering for a deployment, please make sure they contact your SEC and the SEC is aware of that, the capabilities and experience.  I do not know just what will happen – no one does.  But anything we do with ARES deployments supporting our served agencies will go through the SECs.

As you may know (or surely guessed) , there is a LOT going on at ARRL HQ, IARU and in other Amateur Radio groups as we address the Haitian disaster.  This is truly an international response, and many countries are involved, not just the USA.  In these first days, there were very few Amateur Radio operators operating in Haiti.  In the coming week there will be more as international assessment teams are expected to arrive from several countries and will have embedded hams with them.  There will be even more in the weeks after that as recovery groups arrive.  This will not be a short campaign and it is still unclear what may be the situation outside of metropolitan areas in the hill and mountain country. 

While there is little coming out of Haiti so far, the country is ringed by many excellent AR stations of many nationalities who will hear anything that might come up on the air. I know that you are getting requests for information regarding relatives and friends in Haiti.  These can be heartbreaking…. I am getting them too and it can be really rough emotionally.  The best I have at this point is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Salvation Army’s websites.  H&W going OUT of Haiti can be channeled through several programs.  (Yes, I know from Katrina a lot of hams like to make THOSE calls themselves – that’s also emotional but on the good side – but do it right)

I note the posts on the reflector to be careful not to “oversell” things – they are correct.  This one is different from Katrina.  It will take more time, different problems (hard to believe things could be worse, but they are), and is international in scope.  I expect Amateur Radio related issues, activities and events to grow in the coming weeks and we’re working hard to get out the best, VERIFIED information on the main ARRL website.  We may not be the fastest ones with a headline, but we’re going to be sure of things to prevent rumor and speculation.  I have spoken to most of the other major Amateur Radio related publications people and we’re all in this together. 

Thanks for all you are doing.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency continues to monitor the situation to support the relief, information sharing and data intelligence activities. The MEMA State EOC is montioring the situation with some additional personnel from 9 AM-5 PM Sunday and Monday and did a similar activity Saturday for the Haiti Earthquake operations. ESF’s are no longer being utilized for this activity. There have been a number of questions on donations to the Haiti Relief Effort. The best donation is cash and information on donations to agencies can be seen via the following link:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=helpforhaiti

The remainder below is the same as Thursday Evening’s update:

Amateur Radio Operators in Eastern Massachusetts should closely monitor HF frequencies, the designated ones as listed in this situation report and sweep the HF bands for any contact with Haiti. HF bands to sweep are 20 Meters during the day and 40 and 75/80 Meters during the overnight. If any contact is made with the affected area and they are able to relay emergency/priority and health and welfare traffic, please notify SATERN, IRESC and the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL Section Staff. An updated ARRL Web Story is listed below:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11290/?nc=1

A recording of phone patches was provided by K1VR-Brian Crow of Boynton Beach Florida between HH2JR-Jean Robert Gaillard and W3UZ is widely available over the Internet and is 26 minutes long. You can hear his nervousness and tenseness as the phone patches are made and the audio is at the link below:

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12397727/1885578730/name/Haiti%2Emp3

The edit clips from Amateur Radio Newsline and the text transcript can be heard at the following link:

http://www.arnewsline.org

Some interesting information has been made available via the stormcarib.com storm blog concerning relief operations. This can be seen via the following link:

http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml

The following is from Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, who received data on a jump team heading into Haiti for Amateur Radio support per the data below:

Haiti Update
http://aren.ie/news/2010/01/14/haiti-update-2/
The following update was received from Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P. By Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator

RCD and URDA en route to Haiti

Victor Baez, HI8VB, Secretary of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) reports that the RCD with UDRA, Unión Dominicana de Radio Aficionados, are preparing to go to Port au Prince early morning of Friday January 15 to install an emergency radio Communications station, HI8RCD/HH, and a mobile station.

Victor has a blog which hopefully he will update with more news from Haiti: www.hi8vb.tk

From ARRL HQ, Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts-W1AGP had the following information today:

Many hams are reporting that they have been contacted by family members hoping to get H&W messages into Haiti.  This is not possible at this time.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has established protocols.  Point folks there – and yes, some of these calls have been heartbreakers.  But let’s do what we can to help. The document on the ICRC info is listed below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/lost_family.doc

Meanwhile, I am getting the first of the “I want to go to Haiti” calls and emails here.  At this time we are in contact with a LOT of agencies and much is going on behind the scenes.  For now there are NO calls for hams from responding agencies.  This may change quickly – nothing is assured at all in the developing story.  If there are to be any assignments, the vetting will go through the section SECs.  So point anyone that is anxious to go to talk to their section’s SEC.

All data below is the same from the Wednesday Evening situation report and remains valid with one correction to the SATERN frequencies where there was a typo. Remainder below is unchanged:

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink. net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink. net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.265 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Monday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #2

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There has been more steady contact with 2 Amateur Radio Operators via the HF Nets today and an Amateur Radio strike team from the Dominican Republic will be in Haiti Friday January 15th.

Amateur Radio Operators in Eastern Massachusetts should closely monitor HF frequencies, the designated ones as listed in this situation report and sweep the HF bands for any contact with Haiti. HF bands to sweep are 20 Meters during the day and 40 and 75/80 Meters during the overnight. If any contact is made with the affected area and they are able to relay emergency/priority and health and welfare traffic, please notify SATERN, IRESC and the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL Section Staff. An updated ARRL Web Story is listed below:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11290/?nc=1

A recording of phone patches was provided by K1VR-Brian Crow of Boynton Beach Florida between HH2JR-Jean Robert Gaillard and W3UZ is widely available over the Internet and is 26 minutes long. You can hear his nervousness and tenseness as the phone patches are made and the audio is at the link below:

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12397727/1885578730/name/Haiti%2Emp3

The edit clips from Amateur Radio Newsline and the text transcript can be heard at the following link:

http://www.arnewsline.org

Some interesting information has been made available via the stormcarib.com storm blog concerning relief operations. This can be seen via the following link:

http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml

The following is from Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, who received data on a jump team heading into Haiti for Amateur Radio support per the data below:

Haiti Update
http://aren.ie/news/2010/01/14/haiti-update-2/
The following update was received from Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P. By Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator

RCD and URDA en route to Haiti

Victor Baez, HI8VB, Secretary of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) reports that the RCD with UDRA, Unión Dominicana de Radio Aficionados, are preparing to go to Port au Prince early morning of Friday January 15 to install an emergency radio Communications station, HI8RCD/HH, and a mobile station.

Victor has a blog which hopefully he will update with more news from Haiti: www.hi8vb.tk

From ARRL HQ, Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts-W1AGP had the following information today:

Many hams are reporting that they have been contacted by family members hoping to get H&W messages into Haiti.  This is not possible at this time.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has established protocols.  Point folks there – and yes, some of these calls have been heartbreakers.  But let’s do what we can to help. The document on the ICRC info is listed below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/lost_family.doc

Meanwhile, I am getting the first of the “I want to go to Haiti” calls and emails here.  At this time we are in contact with a LOT of agencies and much is going on behind the scenes.  For now there are NO calls for hams from responding agencies.  This may change quickly – nothing is assured at all in the developing story.  If there are to be any assignments, the vetting will go through the section SECs.  So point anyone that is anxious to go to talk to their section’s SEC.

The Massachusetts State Emergency Operations Center was operational Thursday for several hours through 5 PM ET Thursday for intelligence and information sharing on the Haiti Earthquake and operations will be active again on Friday starting at 9 AM with the same Emergency Support Functions (ESF). Below is the data from Associate Director of Operations, Mike Raskin:

Governor Patrick has asked Mr. Richard Chacon, Executive Director of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) to take the lead on coordinating the state’s response to the Earthquake in Haiti.  The SEOC is being used as an intelligence and information sharing center to support ORI’s efforts.  Mr. Chacon and a member of his staff are in the SEOC, along with several staff members from MEMA HQ and representatives of the following Emergency Support Functions:

ESF-2:     Communications
ESF-5:     Information and Planning
ESF-6:     Mass Care
ESF-8:     Health and Medical Services
ESF-14:   Public Information
ESF-15:   Volunteers and Donations     

In addition, MEMA has begun using Social Media resources to better inform and protect the public before, during and after emergencies in the Commonwealth. The addition of Facebook and Twitter will not be replacing the more traditional avenues that MEMA continues to utilize to contact and inform Media and Public Safety partners but enable MEMA to reach new and greater audiences in a timely manner.

MEMA can be followed on Facebook by searching ‘Massachusetts Emergency Management’ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MassEMA.

During a natural or technological emergency MEMA will provide important messages to the public on these sites. Between disasters, MEMA’s messages will continue to focus on individual preparedness and responsibility.

All data below is the same from the previous situation report and remains valid with one correction to the SATERN frequencies where there was a typo. Remainder below is unchanged:

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink.net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink.net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.265 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Friday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #1

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There was brief contact made on one of the HF Nets earlier today. This information is listed below as provided by ARRL and other groups along with a link to an ARRLWeb Story:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/13/11288/?nc=1

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink.net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink.net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Thursday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

IRESC and SATERN Active for Haiti Earthquake Operations

Hello to all..

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) are both active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Any net controls and individuals that either have direct contact with Haiti or have relays into Haiti are strongly encouraged to support SATERN and IRESC with their operations. This would benefit those with Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Framingham ARA Spring Flea Market April 11 2010

The Framingham ARA Spring Flea Market will take place on April 11, 2010 at the Keefe Technical School, 750 Winter St. in Framingham.  Admission for buyers is $5, and under 12 is free.  Tables are $20 in advance and $25 at the door if available.

There will be refreshments, a VE session and door prizes.  The grand prize is a two meter HT. 

For more info, or to reserve tables, go to www.fara.org/flea or contact Bev, N1LOO at 508-626-2012 before 9 PM.

CAARA to present AF1T Antenna Demo

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association would like to invite all hams in the eastern Mass area to Dale and Mickie Clements, “AF1T Antenna Demo and Transmission line presentation” Dales demo is not to be missed as it is entertaining and informative. The demo will be held on wednesday,February 3rd at 7 Pm at the Lanesville Community Center located at 8 Vulcan Street in Gloucester Mass. If you are coming please e-mail CAARA member Briggs Longbothum AB2NJ at ab2nj@verizon.net . For more information please visit our club website at www.caara.net and click on the events link.
 

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Workshop Saturday 1/23/10 in Middleboro Massachusetts

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Workshop Saturday 1/23/10 in Middleboro, Massachusetts..

There will be an Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday January 23rd,
2010 from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM at the Eastern Bank Building (3rd Floor) on 1
South Main Street in Middleboro Massachusetts. This session is being put on by the
ARES Section Staff through the efforts of South Shore Massachusetts ARES
District Emergency Coordinator Phil McNamara, N1XTB, and Eastern
Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, Carl Aveni, N1FY.
This Emergency Communications Workshop will provide the background and
information to serve Amateur Radio Operators when they need to respond to a
communications emergency or when supplemental communications via Amateur
Radio is required. It will feature an Introduction and Conclusion to
Emergency Communications, and five 1-hour training sessions on topics
including:

Overview of Eastern Massachusetts ARES-RACES-SKYWARN Programs
Net Operations
NTS Traffic Message Handling
Basic Overview of ICS
Go Kits

This training will also feature a 1-hour lunch that will be provided at no
coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session. The presentations will
be given by other Amateur Operators well versed in the topics listed above.
The training will be a worthwhile endeavor not just for emergency
communicators but for anyone who is an Amateur Radio Operator, and wants to
learn more about the hobby.  Preregistration is required as the location
has limited seating of up to approximately 30 people. Please try
to preregister by Monday January 18th, 2010 to assure the meeting place
is setup properly and we have enough refreshments for breaks between
lectures and for the lunch break. We will, however, accept any last minute
preregistrations after that day or any walk-ins as long as space permits.

Directions to Eastern Bank in Middleoro Massachusetts:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=eastern+bank+middleboro,+mass&fb=1&gl=us&hq=eastern+bank&hnear=middleboro,+mass&ei=klVAS8bbFM-plAfitrnXBQ&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQtgMwAA

Talk-In will be on the 147.180-Bridgewater Repeater PL: 67.0 Hz.

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop, please
contact:

N1XTB-Phil McNamara N1XTB at powersrvcs.com
N1FY-Carl Aveni caave at peoplepc.com
KD1CY-Rob Macedo rmacedo at rcn.com

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in
learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in general.
Please forward this on to anyone you feel may benefit from this workshop.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Reminder: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for January 2010

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for January is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for January is Monday January, 4th 2010, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org.   

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator  
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Tech in Day Course at the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association

The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association will be sponsoring a Tech in a day course for those who are interested in obtaining their entry level Technician class amateur radio license.This course will be led by CAARA member Stanly Stone W4HIX. This course we be held on Saturday, January 30, 2010 and will start at 8:30 AM and will go to 4 pm. The course will be held at the Lanesville Community Center on 8 Vulcan Street in Gloucester,Mass. If you are intersted on taking the course for sign up please contact course leader Stan Stone at 1-978-281-2015 or at stan@lanescove.us . On course day please bring $20.00 to cover the cost of course materials and the testing fee. In order to process the test we will need two forms of ID which must be at least photo ID and must include a Social Security number. For more detailed course information please visit or club website at www.caara.net .