Emergency Communications

Hello to all… The monthly ARES Net is Monday April 1, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. We had an issue with last months net but that has been resolved. 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. As part of our relationship with MARS and our own situational awareness …

The ARRL Board of Directors at their last board meeting approved the new ARES Strategic Plan and on Tuesday 2/19/19 put out a press release on the strategic plan and a link to the finalized ARES plan. Details can be found at the following links: New Plan Aligns ARES with the needs of served agencies ARES Strategic Plan Eastern Massachusetts ARES will be following these plans and will make adjustments to the ARES workshop materials to reflect the new ARES structure and strategic plan.

The Massachusetts Governor’s office announced on Wednesday 2/20 that Samantha Phillips will be the new state director of the agency replacing Kurt Schwartz after 30 years of public service in various roles in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Details on the new state director and the changes in MEMA leadership can be seen in the following state press release: Baker-Polito Administration Names Samantha Phillips as MEMA Director

A few months ago, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency conducted a survey for all local community emergency management directors across the Commonwealth. The survey was specifically about the use of amateur radio and RACES locally within their community, whether each emergency manager has an appointed RACES Officer, and if not, if they would like to find one.   The Radio Amateurs Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a radio service using amateur stations for emergency management communications during periods of local, regional or national emergencies. RACES is defined in law in Part 97.407 of the FCC rules. In the event the …

The first Monday of every month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, is a test of the Massachusetts RACES and ARES communication capabilities. If the first Monday of the month is a holiday, then the test is delayed one week and will be held the following Monday. For February, the first Monday of the month is Monday Feb. 4. ******************************************************************************** 6:45 PM EST HF net: using the following frequency plan: We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency, Marc Stern WA1R will be net control. ********************************************************************************* Region 2D VHF net …