Emergency Communications

Emergency communications and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®)

Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

Eastern MA Hospital Net – July 6, 2019

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone, Net Control for the July 6, 2019 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SSH, The South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:00 AM using the following repeaters in the order listed. 1. Plymouth 146.685 tone 131.8 2. W. Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244 3. Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5 4. Simplex 147.42 MHz The Net will then return to the Plymouth Repeater for final comments and Net closing. NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check-in procedure …

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Affiliated Clubs / Emergency Communications / Public Service

Falmouth ARA Emergency Communications Trailer Project

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association has embarked upon an ambitious project to raise $14,000 by September 1, 2019 for the purchase a 16-foot utility trailer and to “assemble a professional, self-contained, mobile communications platform that would be utilized for emergency and non-emergency, public safety and public service events.” FARA intends to outfit the trailer with a number of operator positions that would “allow operation on a multitude of communications networks and frequencies … including local amateur radio repeaters that link local and regional communications for storm shelters, hospitals and aid stations.” The trailer would also be utilized for non-emergency events …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for Monday June 3 at 8:30pm

- by kc1cic - Leave a Comment

Hello to all… The June ARES Net is Monday June 3, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. The July ARES net will be Monday July 1, at 8:30 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. As part of our relationship with MARS and …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

Emergency Messaging Demonstration for Red Cross, FEMA is a Success

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Courtesy ARRLWeb: With Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials monitoring, dozens of radio amateurs along the US east coast on May 23 demonstrated Amateur Radio’s ability to deliver messages without commercial power, infrastructure, or permanently established stations. The event took place in coordination with ARRL. The demonstration was a mock response to a simulated disaster scenario — a major hurricane with mass casualties. During the event, radio amateurs at portable stations from New England to the Carolinas delivered message traffic to W1AW, which coordinated and delivered the information to officials attending a joint Red Cross-FEMA meeting in …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

WX4NHC Annual On-The Air Station Test – Saturday June 1st, 2019 – 900 AM-500 PM EDT (1300-2100z)

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all… Please see the following information from WD4R-Julio Ripoll, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator on the 2019 WX4NHC On-Air Communications Test which will be held this Saturday June 1st, 2019 from 9 AM-5 PM EDT (1300-2100 UTC) across various bands and modes on Amateur Radio. We encourage Amateur Radio Operators in our region to participate. See link below: Special Announcement: WX4NHC Annual On-The Air Station Test – Saturday June 1st, 2019 – 900 AM-500 PM EDT (1300-2100z) Respectfully Submitted, Robert Macedo (KD1CY) ARES SKYWARN Coordinator Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM) Home/Data …

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Emergency Communications / Public Service

Eastern MA Hospital Net, June 1, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

John O’Neill, K1JRO writes: Net Control for the June 1, 2019 Eastern MA Hospital Net will be W1SMH Sturdy Memorial Hospital. The net will commence at the usual time of 10:AM using the following repeaters in the order listed.  Fall River 146.805 tone 67.0 Norwood 147.210 tone 100.0 Boston 145.230 Tone Encode 88.5 Decode 100.0 Simplex 147.42 mhz The Net will then return to the Fall River Repeater for final comments and Net closing. NET Protocol: Please wait for Net Control to ask for Check-ins. When asked to check in please use the standard net check in procedure which is:   Here is.., …

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

Local Amateurs Participate in Joint American Red Cross, FEMA Exercise

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Amateurs in Eastern Massachusetts along with dozens of hams along the US East Coast demonstrated Amateur Radio’s ability to deliver messages without commercial power, infrastructure, or permanently established stations for officials of the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. [Story, courtesy KC1CIC]

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Emergency Communications

KD1CY on ARRL Public Service Communications Panel Discussion, Hamvention®, May 17, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Eastern Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, will participate in an ARRL Public Service Communications panel discussion at the Dayton Hamvention® on Friday, May 17 from  2:25 to 3:40 PM in Room 3. Those attending the panel discussion will hear from representatives from Amateur Radio’s largest organizations active during times of disaster and emergency. According to the ARES E-Letter, “An update will also be given on the new ARES Plan and changes that were asked for by volunteers and partner agencies on training, reporting, identification, leadership development, and more. Sponsored by ARRL, this forum will feature Rob Macedo, KD1CY, …

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Emergency Communications / Public Service

Littleton Volunteer Corps

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Terry Stader, KA8SCP, writes on the PART-List: Last night, Wed. May 8th, I had the privilege to speak to the Littleton Volunteer Corps at the Littleton Fire station to about 20 participants. This group will be serving as a team to work as CERT and MRC combined to support their community in various roles. Last night I spoke to them about the resource of Amateur Radio. Some of the attendees were hams, but most were not. Those not initially familiar became very interested and asked about what it takes to become a ham (Question: What does “ham” mean? was asked). …

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Emergency Communications

NBEMS Demo at South Shore Hospital

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Cape Cod and Islands District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O, presented on VHF/UHF Narrow-Band Emergency Message System (“NBEMS”) at an Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net meeting at the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth on April 6, 2019. According to O’Laughlin, the meeting was “well attended by many, including Assistant DEC Henry Brown, K1WCC, and Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY. “

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Emergency Communications / Public Service

HF Operations on Marathon Monday

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Marc Stern, WA1R, writes:   The Massachusetts HF Net will open sign-on Monday morning at 6 a.m. in standby mode in support of Marathon operations and will remain in this mode until at least 1800 hours local time. Eastern Mass. ARES leadership has asked all amateurs not involved directly to also standby.   This year, like last year, there will likely be rain starting about the time runners gather for the morning’s run. Unlike last year, which was complicated by energy-sapping cold and rain, this year’s rain is supposed to be warm and there is a chance of thunderstorms and …

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Emergency Communications / Public Service

Storm & Boston Marathon Weather Coordination Message #2 – Monday April 15th, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes on wx1box.org: .Strong Storm System will bring mild temperatures through Southern New England including along the Boston Marathon route along with the potential for rain and heavier downpours and potentially isolated thunderstorms with attendant lightning risk. There is also the potential for strong winds during Marathon Monday under any heavier rain showers and thunderstorms and then as a cold front pass through the area late Monday Afternoon as the marathon ends, through Monday Night and into early Tuesday Morning.. ..Boston Marathon volunteers and runners should prepare for the rain and changeable temperatures with largely mild conditions …

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Affiliated Clubs / Emergency Communications

KA8SCP to Present on Emergency Communications, Nashoba Valley ARC, April 18, 2019

- by k9hi - 1 Comment

Terry Stader, KA8SCP, will be the featured speaker at the Nashoba Valley ARC‘s April 18 meeting in Pepperell. A member of PART of Westford, Stader is involved in Massachusetts RACES. He’s a D-STAR coordinator for numerous repeaters, an ARRL District Emergency Coordinator, and the MEMA Region One Communications/RACES Officer. NVARC meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7:30 PM in the Pepperell Community Center, 4 Hollis Street, Pepperell, MA.

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Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for Monday April 1 at 8:30pm

- by kc1cic - Leave a Comment

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 …

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Emergency Communications / Licensing Education & Training / Public Service

2019 SKYWARN Training Schedule Posted

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes on WX1BOX.org: The 2019 NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Training Class Schedule for the spring season [has been posted]. Please distribute widely to anyone interested in becoming a SKYWARN Spotter! Additional SKYWARN Training classes are in planning. This includes a class in the Rowe/Charlemont, Mass area, Granby/Hartland, CT area, Western Hampshire County Massachusetts, Eastern Franklin County Massachusetts and potentially other locations in Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts. Another update will be posted to the schedule in one to two weeks. There will also be a slate of SKYWARN classes in the Fall of this year. [Full story]

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Emergency Communications / Public Service

“Ham Operators Train for the Worst”

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The Maynard Wicked Local online newspaper featured a story with numerous photos on March 18, 2019 entitled, “Ham Operators Train for the Worst.” “Ham Radio operators from around the area held a drill Monday morning, March 18, 2019, to coordinate coverage in a simulated case of a tornado strike in Hudson, Maynard, Stow and Acton. With the Amature (sic) Radio Emergency Service base in the Stow Fire Department, participants logged in from towns around the area, thereby confirming the coverage available in times of emergency. “

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Emergency Communications / Licensing Education & Training / Public Service

SKYWARN Training, Natick, May 4, 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Boston/Norton Massachusetts will be sponsoring a severe weather spotter training session, part of its SKYWARN program. The session is open to the public at no charge. Amateur Radio operators, emergency managers, police, fire, and other first responders are encouraged to attend. Everyone age 16 and older who stays to complete the training will be able to become trained NWS weather spotters. The training session includes a two-hour thirty-minute computer-based presentation, which discusses the development of thunderstorms, the criteria for “severe” thunderstorms, as well as the cloud features associated with severe thunderstorms and tornados. Additional …

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Emergency Communications / Licensing Education & Training

ARRL Launches Intro to Emergency Communications Courses for 2019

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

ARRL’s Lifelong Learning Department is excited to announce the launch of the recently revised Introduction to Emergency Communications (EC-001) course. As part of this new initiative, the course has been updated, beta-tested by a group of course mentors, and transferred into a new online learning platform. With the closing of the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) in mid- 2018, EC-001 lost its virtual home and was taken offline. At that point ARRL’s Emergency Preparedness staff started working with the new Lifelong Learning team to explore short and long-term alternatives for offering the course. After a period of careful evaluation and …

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Emergency Communications

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for Monday March 4 at 8:30pm

- by kc1cic - Leave a Comment

Hello to all… The monthly ARES Net for March is Monday the 4th, at 8:30 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. As part of our relationship with MARS and our own situational awareness gathering we will be asking for any known infrastructure issues that …

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