Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday March 1st, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater Network

Hello to all…

The March Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday March 1st, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For this month’s ARES Net, we have a high wind event expected for the area Monday Night into Tuesday Morning so any reports of wind damage or wind gusts of 40 MPH or greater would be helpful to the National Weather Service. We will have comments regarding upcoming ARES training and an exercise coincident with a National Red Cross exercise on Saturday May 8th, 2021.

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
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Eastern MA Hospital Nets

Hello,

Covid-19 restrictions are still in place for EOCs, and Amateur Radio Volunteers at Healthcare facilities are still locked out. Although some home stations have been participating in the Nets most home stations are unable to reach multiple repeaters unlike the Hospital Stations. Because of the diminished numbers and results, I am suspending the Eastern MA Hospital Nets until further notice.

We are nearing the point in time where a large majority of Hospital HAM Volunteers will be eligible to be vaccinated. Hopefully, once this is completed we will once again be able to man our hospital stations and resume the NETS.

Stay safe, 73s
John O’
K1JRO

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for February – Monday February 1st, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all…

The February Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday February 1st, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For this month’s ARES Net, given the major winter storm affecting the region, we’d like to ask all stations to provide a measured snowfall total, whether precipitation is occurring and their current temperature if they have thermometer. We will also have comments on the Eastern Mass ARES Section Exercise for Saturday February 6th, 2021 from 1000 AM-1200 PM.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Exercise – “Operation Frozen Days” – Saturday 2/6/21 – 1000 AM-1200 PM EDT

The Eastern MA Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) will conduct an exercise in conjunction with the Cape Cod ARES exercise Operation “Frozen Days” on February 6, 2021 from 10 AM to 12 Noon (setup to start at 830-9 AM where needed) to test its capability in establishing communications with stations inside and outside of the section. Operation “Frozen Days” will attempt to build upon the lessons learned from past operational exercises.

The exercise scenario involves a series of coastal storms battering Cape Cod and the Islands with winds over 90 MPH over several storms. Eventually, hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Massachusetts are left without power due to this series of coastal storms.

“This exercise guideline is deliberately broad and generic in nature like the fall exercise. ARES groups are free to adapt this scenario and conduct their exercise as needed for their group,” writes District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O.

“This is another great opportunity, similar to the Fall exercise, for new Amateur Radio Operators, whether they are involved in ARES or not, to check into nets, provide simulated information and exercise traffic, or just check in and learn how nets work and what ARES can do during an actual event. This includes the National Weather Service SKYWARN component of ARES” writes Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator.

With the ongoing COVID-19 situation in MA, it will be unlikely that groups will be able to operate at EOCs and other municipal locations. Therefore any activation of shelters will be simulated by role play. It is likely that most of the operations involved in this exercise will utilize home stations along with field sites on Cape Cod and at other local ARES groups and those local groups’ discretion.

Some exercise objectives include:
• Simulate the activation of shelters in your area;
• Simulate the activation of EOC stations in your area;
• Establish and conduct a tactical net on simplex 2m FM/ repeater for your group;
• Simulate contact with any Town EOC RACES stations;
• Establish contact with other ARES districts where possible;
• Establish an HF 75 meter voice net for all of MA (and potentially other areas);
• Pass an NTS type message on 2 meters VHF and/or 440 MHz;
• Pass a SKYWARN and/or tactical message on voice 2 meters and on the HF net;
• Optional components of the exercise to pass information digitally via Winlink and NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System)

For full details, see the “Eastern MA Exercise Scenario and Guidelines” document at Eastern Massachusetts ARES Winter Exericse – Saturday February 6th, 2021

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for January – Monday January 4th, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all…

Happy New Year to all! The January Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday January 4th, 2021 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For this month’s ARES Net, we will review events of the past month and talk a bit on ARES plans for 2021.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net – Saturday 1/2/2021 at 1000 AM EST

Good afternoon Everyone,

On behalf of the entire South Shore Health Radio Group we wish you all a Happy New Year.

We would like to thank all those that participated in the monthly nets last year. It put us all to the test and I’m sure 2020 will not soon be forgotten.

We also wish to thank our repeater owners and trustees. Without your continued support none of this would be possible.

With the vaccine being distributed to our front line workers and I’m sure to the rest of the population shortly, 2021 will be brighter. I can’t wait to get back into our radio shack at SSH and some normalcy.

Once again the group at Mansfield EMA has stepped up to the plate and will be running the January Net. I ask that if at all possible you join us tomorrow morning at 10am to show your support and appreciation.

The following repeaters will be used in the order listed.
1. Bridgewater 147.180 tone 67.0
2. Norwood 147.210 tone 100
3. Falmouth 147.375 tone 110.9
Return to the Bridgewater for any final comments and Net closing.

Regards,
John O’Neill
K1JRO

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday December 7th, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The December Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday December 7th, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will review events of the past month and talk a bit on ARES plans for 2021.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Does Virtual Meet & Greet with Massachusetts VOAD Via Zoom – Tuesday 11/3/20

On Tuesday Morning, 11/3/20, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, KD1CY-Rob Macedo, did a virtual Meet & Greet with Massachusetts VOAD to explain ARES role and how ARES can support Non-Governmental Organizations. The 30 minute meeting was well received by the VOAD leadership that participated. ARES has been a member within the VOAD organization since 2012.

VOAD stands for Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster. The ARRL has a national level Memorandum of Understanding with VOAD and encourages section ARES programs to work with state VOADs. Examples of organizations that are part of VOAD include ARES traditional partners such as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army as well as Team Rubicon, various church groups that support disaster relief for individuals and families and many other organizations.

“We got to explain ARES role and what we can provide to Non-Government Organizations in both auxiliary communications, additional resources supporting communications and situational awareness information when normal communications means are up as well as what we can provide to them when other forms of communication fails. We also encouraged VOAD to look at ways we can help their organization based on their communications and technical needs after giving them some understanding of what we traditionally provide and explained to them all the MOUs ARES through the ARRL has with various organizations within VOAD and National VOAD” Macedo said.

Macedo reported that the members on the call understood how Amateur Radio plays a role and is often in the background performing important tasks that help their teams and other agencies. They were impressed with the presentation and look forward to future engagement both with Eastern Massachusetts ARES and Western Massachusetts ARES. “They asked for the Western Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator contact info which we provided to them along with a short presentation that we reviewed on the call and we look forward to a continued and stronger relationship with Massachusetts VOAD and the member agencies within VOAD going forward” Macedo said.

SEMARA ARES Activates Net Sunday Morning 11/8/20 for Situational Awareness After Earthquake 3.6 on Richter Scale Occurs Southeast of the New Bedford Area

SEMARA ARES activated an ARES Net at 950 AM Sunday for a little over 2 hours on the 147.000-Dartmouth Repeater, approximately 40 minutes after an earthquake, originally registered 4.2 on the Richter scale and revised down to 3.6 on the Richter scale occurred several miles offshore of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The earthquake was felt as far north as Southern New Hampshire and through much of Rhode Island through parts of Western and Central Massachusetts and Connecticut and the Long Island New York area.

Rob Macedo-KD1CY felt the earthquake at his home in New Bedford while checked into the New England Phone Net on HF on 3945 KHz. “I was checked in and monitoring the New England Phone Net where I heard 2 loud bangs as if someone was in my garage and had opened the garage doors and then had rattling and shaking that was fairly violent from what I’m used to in quakes I’ve felt in the past. After about 15-20 seconds total, it was over and after checking with an Amateur Radio SKYWARN Coordinator and friend from Rhode Island, N1EGS-John Buco, it was clear that we had an earthquake with information posted on the USGS web site. I immediately informed the New England Phone Net of what I experienced and ask for reports on who felt the quake.”

Very quickly things ramped up for a time from a public safety response perspective. Fire departments in New Bedford, Westport, Dartmouth and Fairhaven responded to possible gas leak issues at numerous homes in these communities. Information on posting what you felt during the earthquake was posted on the WX1BOX Facebook and Twitter feeds.

“We informed the National Weather Service within about 5 minutes of the incident that an earthquake had occurred and we were checking on damage reports and sent a report to the USGS via their form for the quake in question” Macedo said. Numerous reports on feeling the quake were fielded from the WX1BOX social media feeds. The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association has a USGS seismograph and it measured this quake as well – see Cape Ann ARA Seismograph Detected Sunday’s Earthquake

At the suggestion of Mike “Sparky’ Leger-N1YLQ ARES DEC and Region 2 RACES Radio Officer, it was agreed to put up a formal ARES Net on the 147.000-Dartmouth Repeater for situational awareness and in case any needs arrived from partner agencies. From Sparky’s logs, 11 stations checked into the net which ran for a little over 2 hours. The net report is listed below:

N1YLQ-Sparky-Acushnet, MA (NCO)
KA1RSY-Ed-New Bedford, MA
KD1CY-Rob-New Bedford, MA
KC0AEO-South Dartmouth, MA
KC1FOZ-Al-South Westport, MA
KC1ISZ-New Bedford, MA
KC1CBR-Berkley, MA
N1IXC-Joe-South Dartmouth, MA
W1AEC-SEMARA Clubhouse
W1EAV-Chris-Marion, MA
KB1UAM-Anthony-New Bedford, MA

Three confirmed damage reports were received on Crapo Street in the city of New Bedford as relayed by Acushnet Emergency Management Deputy Director, KA1RSY-Ed Caron and KD1CY-Rob Macedo. Three homes sustained damage to the chimney smokestack area near gas mains inside of the residences and were evacuated with 20 people being temporarily displaced. Red Cross was involved in caring for these residents. This information was relayed to the National Weather Service and the minor damage reports were include in the NWS Boston/Norton Earthquake Report. Joe Krisnosky-N1IXC, who is part of New Bedford EMA, forwarded pictures of the damage from New Bedford EMA Director, Brian Nobrega.

“This is an example of ARES in action to provide rapid and precise situational awareness for use by other agencies. In this case, it was the USGS and the National Weather Service” Macedo said.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET) – Saturday 11/14/20 1000 AM-1200 PM

The Eastern MA Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) will conduct a Simulated Emergency Test on November 14, 2020 from 10 AM to 12 Noon (setup to start at 9 AM where needed) to test its capability in establishing communications with stations inside and outside of the section. Operation “Fall Fury” will attempt to build upon the lessons learned from past operational exercises. This SET is being done in coordination with a Red Cross national exercise also being held on Saturday 11/14/20.

The exercise scenario involves a fictional Category 1 hurricane which strikes MA/CT/RI as a hybrid coastal storm, battering Cape Cod and the Islands with winds ranging from 90-100 MPH. Eventually, hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Massachusetts are left without power as the rain rapidly changes to heavy, wet snow.

“This exercise guideline is deliberately broad and generic in nature. ARES groups are free to adapt this scenario and conduct their exercise as needed for their group,” writes District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O.

“This is also a great opportunity for new Amateur Radio Operators, whether they are involved in ARES or not, to check into nets, provide simulated information and exercise traffic, or just check in and learn how nets work and what ARES can do during an actual event. This includes the National Weather Service SKYWARN component of ARES” writes Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator.

With the ongoing COVID-19 situation in MA, it will be unlikely that groups will be able to operate at EOCs and other municipal locations. Therefore any activation of shelters will be simulated by role play. It is likely that most of the operations involved in this exercise will utilize home stations.

Some exercise objectives include:
• Simulate the activation of shelters in your area;
• Simulate the activation of EOC stations in your area;
• Establish and conduct a tactical net on simplex 2m FM/ repeater for your group;
• Simulate contact with any Town EOC RACES stations;
• Establish contact with other ARES districts where possible;
• Establish an HF 75 meter voice net for all of MA (and potentially other areas);
• Pass an NTS type message on 2 meters VHF and/or 440 MHz;
• Pass a SKYWARN and/or tactical message on voice 2 meters and on the HF net;
• Optional components of the exercise to pass information digitally via Winlink and NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System)

For full details, see the “Eastern MA Simulated Emergency Test 2020 Scenario and Guidelines” document at https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/EasternMA-ARES-SET-11-14-20.pdf.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday November 2nd, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The November Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday November 2nd, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on participation in the Eastern Mass ARES SET for Saturday 11/14/20 timed with a national Red Cross exercise. We’ll also do a quick review of past events in the month of October and preview the 2020 SKYWARN Recognition Day event for Saturday December 5th, 2020 from 0000-2400 UTC.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday October 5th, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The October Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday October 5th, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on participation in a MARS exercise taking place through October 24th, the Eastern Mass ARES SET for Saturday 11/14/20 timed with a national Red Cross exercise, the New England ARES Academy scheduled throughout the month of October and the release of the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Plan as of last week.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 9/14/2020 at 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The September Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday September 14th, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on several announcements on upcoming events and documentation forthcoming along with the posting of exercise reports via email and the Eastern Mass ARRL/ARES section web site which were delayed due to numerous ARES-SKYWARN activations during August. We will also give a brief COVID-19 update.

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 8/3/2020 at 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The August Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday August 3rd, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on the ARES-SKYWARN response to Tropical Storm Isaias with Tropical Storm Warnings up for all of Southern New England. We will also discuss the Cape Cod ARES District Exercise for Saturday August 8th from 1000 AM-1200 PM if it is not cancelled due to impacts from Isaias and give a brief COVID-19 update.

Due to numerous SKYWARN Activations in the month of July, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/National Red Cross Exercise report is delayed and will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares by Monday 8/10/20. 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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday July 6th 2020 at 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The July Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday July 6th, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will do a brief review of severe weather events that have affected the section particularly in the last week and provide a brief COVID-19-Update as we continue to monitor this health emergency from a communications needs perspective and what you can do as ARES volunteers or general Amateur Radio Operators during this health emergency to prepare for any communications issues during this time. A link to a document that we had created for ARES awareness in April 2020 is available at the following link:

https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Eastern-Massachusetts-ARES-COVID-19-Update.pdf

A reminder that a report on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES exercise will be available by Monday July 13th 2020 and will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares. 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
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July Eastern MA Hospital Net Cancelled Due to Independence Day Holiday

John O’Neill-K1JRO writes:

Good Evening Everyone,

My apologies for the very late note.

Where the first Saturday of July is holiday, we will not have a Net this month. We will have a Net in August. A notice will be sent out about the August Net well in advance.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th.

Regards,

John O’ – K1JRO

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

June Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net Canceled

John O’Neill – K1JRO writes:

Good Evening Everyone,

My apologies for the late notice. I was hoping that one of the members from the SSHARG would be able to take the net this month. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Therefore, the June 6 EMHN is cancelled.

I believe that with the next phased re-opening on June 8th, Massachusetts health care facilities will be asking their locked-out volunteers to return. Once this happens, we can all get back into our shacks. If all goes well, SSHARG will be able to include Winlink and DMR testing in the monthly net soon.

73’s Stay Safe,
John O’Neill – K1JRO

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 6/1/2020 at 830 PM EDT

Hello to all…

The June Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday June 1st, 2020 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will discuss the start of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season and provide a brief COVID-19-Update as we continue to monitor this health emergency from a communications needs perspective and what you can do as ARES volunteers or general Amateur Radio Operators during this health emergency to prepare for any communications issues during this time. A link to a document that we had created for ARES awareness in April 2020 is available at the following link:

https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Eastern-Massachusetts-ARES-COVID-19-Update.pdf

We will also review the recent training and exercise activities during the month of May. Reports on those events will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares. 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
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UPDATED: Eastern Massachusetts ARES to Participate in National Red Cross Exercise and WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020

Hello to all…

**SECTION EXERCISE PLAN UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY INFORMATION – REMAINDER BELOW IS UNCHANGED**

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:

RedCross-Eastern MA-ARES Exercise 1.7 05-28-20

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

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
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Eastern Massachusetts ARES to Participate in National Red Cross Exercise and WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020

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