Hello to all…
Eastern Massachusetts ARES will participate in a National Red Cross exercise on Saturday May 30th, 2020 from 1000 AM-1200 PM (setup time starting as early as 900 AM). The exercise is split into two parts with Part A being the ARES component and Part B being handled by a small number of ARES members who are also part of Red Cross.
The exercise has been adapted to allow for a partial weather scenario to encourage Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters to participate and to allow participation in other modes used traditionally in the section including Echolink and IRLP. A high-level Eastern Massachusetts section plan has been generated and is available here:
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Exercise Plan for National Red Cross Exercise
Local frequency plans are not in the current section plan though we are building a list and will update the plan one last time on Friday 5/29/20. Section wide frequency and Echolink/IRLP plans are in the section plan. For local frequency information, please reach out to your ARES DEC/ADEC or EC for this info and their contact info is available at the following link:
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Page
As Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC, I can also be reached for questions as well as needed but we would like to drive interaction with other ARES leadership as part of exercise preparation.
We realize we have posted this exercise information on fairly short notice. Part of that is intentional to simulate a scenario where a potential ARES activation could occur with just a few days notice. We have also built the preparation process for the exercise in a way to push ARES member to ARES EC/ADEC/DEC leader interaction ahead of the exercise.
Also occurring on Saturday May 30th is the WX4NHC On-Air Communications Test done annually prior to each Atlantic hurricane season. We encourage all Amateurs to participate in this test as well and we may get WX4NHC operators to participate briefly in our exercise as well. Details on the WX4NHC On-Air Test can be seen at the following link:
WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020 9 AM-5 PM EDT Information
The Eastern Mass ARES section plan for the ARES/Red Cross national exercise will be updated again on Friday 5/29/20. Many thanks to folks that can participate and thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts 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
Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/wx1box