Mike “Sparky” Leger, N1YLQ, ARES DEC – MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer writes:
Hello to all,
This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that
Monday evening, October 7th, 2024 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month
and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night.
Due to the news reports and reports from operators out of the North Carolina area and other
Areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, I would like to highlight our WinLink net and I would
Like to encourage operators to learn about and try to check in via this net even if it is only
The internet side of it and not via an RF link. Familiarity with this Amateur Radio tool seems to be
Paying serious dividends in areas hit hard by Hurricane Helene and I think we should make a strong
Effort to make sure this tool is one we all have in our toolboxes moving forward.
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/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
<mailto: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. October 7th and before midnight EST October 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 sectors. 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.
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 <mailto:WC1MAB@gmail.com> 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