Hello to all,
This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that Monday evening, June 3rd, 2024 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. I would like to thank the stations that checked into our nets last month as well as those stations that participated in the section emergency exercise that occurred this past weekend. This month kicks off Hurricane Season and we should all be getting on the ball to be able to assist and respond to emergency communication needs in our communities. While the peak timeframe of concern for our part of the country tends to be on the later end of the season, forecasters seem quite concerned that this season may be much more… fruitful… than recent seasons and will bear close watching all season long.
Please note that the 80m HF Voice net will be cancelled this month as there is expected to be no NCO available for the net. More information should be coming out in the near future regarding trying to bolster the NCO capabilities of this important, statewide and region wide net. The 80m NBEMS net is expected to continue as scheduled in its normal monthly fashion.
As always, I am looking for Net Control stations to staff our sector nets for the evening. This month I expect to be able to run the Sector 2A net, however, if anyone would like to act as NCO, for the 2A net please let me know! I have NCS operators for the other remaining nets.
For any operators interested in performing the duties of Net Control Station (NCS), there are materials available to make the task fairly simple and straight forward. The net pre-amble and role call lists are available at http://wc1mab.org/RACES_R2_Interim_Preamble.pdf and http://wc1mab.org/Month.php with the role-call lists on the left column near the bottom. If anyone is worried that they may mess up running a net, please remember that, in many cases, a less than perfect net is WAY better than no net at all! At the conclusion of any net, any operator that acted as Net Control Operator is asked to please send a note to WC1MAB@gmail.com letting me know who ran the net and who checked in so that the proper numbers can be reported to our served agencies. We cannot always count on our normal net control operators to be available in the event of a large scale emergency, so every RACES operator should be prepared to act as NCO if needed when disaster and emergency strikes!
Winlink Net Instructions From Don Rolph:
*Winlink Net*
To participate:
– create a check-in form using the Winlink standard checkin form
– send via Winlink after 6 AM EST Mon. June 4th and before midnight EST June 8th (any mode, but include mode in check-in form) to KF1D
I continue to ask that any operators who have the time, please try to check into sector nets from near-by sections. This will allow our Net Control Operators to practice fielding nets with a strong check-in count and will also serve to help practice with relays or modified sector assignments in the event that a single repeater is out of service.
For those operators who serve as Net Control Operators, please try to remember to send me a list of the stations and communities that check into your nets. The numbers are reported to MEMA to show them our level of participation. I am continuing to work on a graphical map based report to show which parts of our section have strong coverage and which areas may need a more targeted recruitment campaign to improve our ability to provide back-up communications in an emergency.
The Region #2 and State Net Schedule for this evening is as follows:
| Net |
Frequency/Offset |
Time |
| Sector 2A |
147.00 /+0.60 PL |
19:30 Local |
| Sector 2B |
145.39/-0.60 PL 67.0 |
20:00 Local |
| Sector 2C |
Winlink Net Check-In |
6AM-Midnight Local Time |
| Sector 2D |
146.865/-0.60 PL 103.5 |
19:30 Local |
| 6-Meter State Net |
53.31 / -1.0 PL 71.9
Note: Net activity on this repeater has been hit and miss. Please report any activity. |
19:00 Local |
| MA RACES HF Net |
3930 KHz LSB moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency |
CANCELLED THIS MONTH |
| MA MEMA NBEMS Net |
Frequency: 3584.5 MHx, Center Frequency: 1500 Hz, Initial mode: THOR22 |
19:00 Local |
I appreciate you all answering the call to help our communities remain prepared. Thank you all for helping us keep things on track and prove that we remain a consistent source of communication capability to the Commonwealth. This net provides a monthly reminder to our communities and served agencies that we stand ready with a quiet professionalism prepared to serve as a voice to whomever needs one to get help and resources to where they need to be.
If you know someone who would benefit from being on this list, please have them contact me at WC1MAB@gmail.com and I will add them to this distribution. Thank you all!
If anyone has any questions or comments I can be reached by e-mail or cell phone. Thanks for being a part of our team and I look forward to hearing back on who can participate this month.
Sincerely,
Michael Leger (N1YLQ)
MEMA Region #2 RACES Officer
C: 508_995_0203
Bill McIninch, KA1MOM, writes: