Month: June 2017

Emergency Communications

July 1,2017 Eastern MA Hospital Net

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Good Afternoon Everyone,

 

Net Control for the July 1, 2017 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH, The South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Club. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:AM using the following repeaters in the order listed.

 

1. Plymouth 146.685 tone 82.5

2. Salem 146.88 tone 118.8        
3. Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5

 

Simplex 147.42

 

The Net will than return to the Plymouth Repeater for final comments and Net closing.

 

NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check in procedure which is:   Here is.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.

We extend an invitation to the EOC of any city or town that is served by one of the participating hospitals to join the Net. We also extend an invitation to any RACES or ARES member to check in during the NET.

Any hospital wishing to join the net that needs assistance with equipment or personnel should contact us at ssharc@gmail.com. We can assist you with getting your location on the air.

We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested please let us know. Our goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many groups as possible.

We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct the monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. The following list of repeaters are available for our use. Only a few systems are used each month with the selection of those used made by Net Control for that month.  More systems are being added to the list on a regular basis.

Attleboro 147.195 tone 127.3 (Sturdy Memorial Hospital)
Belmont 145.430 tone 146.2

Boston 145.230 tone encode 88.5 tone decode 100.0

Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
Danvers 145.47 tone 136.5
Dartmouth 147.000 tone 67.0  
Fairhaven 145.490 tone 67.0    
Fall River 146.805. tone 67.0
Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9

Mansfield EMA  446.925 tone 100.0

Mansfield 147.015 tone 67.0

Marshfield 145.390 tone 67.0      
Norwood 147.210 tone 100.00
Plymouth 146.685 tone 82.5
Salem 146.88 tone 118.8        
Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5    
Weymouth 147.345 tone 110.9 (South Shore Hospital)

W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244 
Wrentham 147.09 tone 146.2

We look forward to hearing you all on the Net.

Respectfully,
John O’
K1JRO

Public Service

“Finish At The Fifty” Amateur Radio Help, July 3

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The Finish at the Fifty is a unique event on the public service calendar. It’s a combined 5K and 10K on the evening of July 3. The finish line for both races is the 50-yard line of Gillette Stadium, and there’s a free fireworks show after. It’s got a lot of energy, and particular challenges for runner safety (they go up and down the ramps of the stadium!). Given the size of the course, the medical team relies on amateur radio volunteers for communications support and to keep extra eyes on runners.

Recruiting for this event is always a challenge because of the date. A lot of people have travel plans, which I understand. Because of that, please join our team if you’re able. Chris Troyanos is the medical coordinator for this event. He would always like to have more coverage, and he would love to have our support especially.

To sign up, just write me back with your call sign, cell phone number, and t-shirt size. Plan to be there from around 4:30 to 8:30 PM. All you need is a dual band handheld and any accessories that will keep you comfortable. Further instructions will follow.

If you have questions about the event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by e-mail or phone (859) 466 5915.

Thank you, and 73,

Brett Smith, AB1RL
Public Service Coordinator, Boston Amateur Radio Club

All

Boxboro 2017 Tickets Now On Sale

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Boxboro/New England Division Convention logoBob Di Mattia, K1IW writes:

Hello All,

Just a quick note that we have opened ticketing on the Boxboro website. Boxboro! The ARRL New England Convention is held annually at the Boxboro Regency, just of I-495, in Boxborough, Mass.

This year, the convention is on September 8, 9, and 10. Friday the 8th is special forum day with emergency management, SKYWARN, and other special-topic forums. Friday wraps up with the DXCC/Contesting dinner where this year our speaker is Jeff Briggs, K1ZM. He will be telling us all about the 7O6T DXpedition to Yemen.

The convention gets into full swing on Saturday and Sunday when the exhibit hall and flea is open, along with an excellent set of forums, VE exams, License-is-a-Day, and other goodies.

Our Saturday Grand Banquet features Paul Stoerzer, N8HM, of AMSAT. He has racked up all sorts of awards based on a small apartment-based station and will be letting on about his tricks or the trade.

Learn more about the convention, and purchase general admission, flea spaces and banquet tickets at http://www.boxboro.org.

General admission tickets (only) are also available at Ham Radio Outlet in Salem, NH, and at Electronics Plus! in Littleton, MA.

73,
Bob – K1IW
Boxboro 2017! Publicity Chair

Public Information / Regulation & Advocacy

MA Governor, Senate & House Issue Amateur Radio Proclamations

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Proclamations have been sent to ARRL Eastern and Western MA Section Managers from the Massachusetts Governor’s Office, the State House of Representatives, and the MA Senate, respectively. These proclamations coincide with the annual ARRL Field Day event on June 24-25, 2017.

The proclamation from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts declares June 24th, 2017 to be Amateur Radio Day:

“WHERE AS, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has approximately 14,000 amateur radio operators, who continually demonstrate their value in public assistance;”

“Therefore, I, Charles D. Baker, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim June 24th, 2017 to be, Amateur Radio Day , and urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance”

A Resolution of the Massachusetts Senate states in part:

Senate Resolution Title: “Celebrating the National Amateur Radio Field Day of the American Radio Relay League”

Excerpt from the resolution: “WHEREAS, The American Radio Relay League Serves more than 725,000 Licensed Radio Amateurs in the United States and will hold its Annual Field Day on June 24 and June 25, 2017;”

“WHEREAS The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has approximately 13,000 Amateur Radio operators that dedicate their, time, equipment and knowledge to assist their communities and the American Radio Relay league has provided a free public communications service to the communities during disaster for more than 100 years;”

“RESOLVED, That the Massachusetts Senate hereby commends the American Radio Relay League’s National Amateur Radio Field Day;”

MA Governor proclamation 2017MA House proclamation 2017MA Senate proclamation 2017

Emergency Communications

Reminder: Monthly EMA ARES Net 6/5 8:30pm

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Hello to all…
We will be continuing our monthly ARES Net in June. The monthly ARES Net for June is Monday the 5th, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the MEMA 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 detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:

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


Make this 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.

As part of our relationship with MARS and our own situational awareness gathering we will be asking for any known infrastructure issues that you are aware of. The information must either be personally observed, or obtained “over the air” via amateur radio. Items considered to be infrastructure include but are not limited to: electrical power, water, medical facilities, sanitation, communications, and transportation. Examples of failure would be: small or large area power failure, water main breaks, hospitals’ ER closed, sewage issues, TV/radio station off the air (including public safety),  interstate highway or major road closed. No known issues are just as important as reporting failures.

Additionally we are interested in relay of any weather information from airport ATIS/ASOS stations that you can directly receive via radio. These stations broadcast continuously in the 120.000 – 138.000 MHz frequency range using amplitude modulation. Information from the ATIS should include airport, temperature, altimeter (barometer), wind, precipitation, and visibility.

A list of stations with their frequencies and a map can be found at: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/weather/asos/?state=MA

A brief introduction to ATIS can be found at: https://www.ivao.aero/training/documentation/books/PP_ADC_ATIS.pdf
A more detailed introduction to ATIS/ASOS can be found at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/ASOS-book.pdf

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!

Marek Kozubal, KB1NCG
EMA Section Emergency Coordinator