ARES Team Mobilization – Important Update

North Shore ARES Notification #1 – Red Cross, Newburyport Request for Support

OVERVIEW – Updated
 
North Shore ARES moved to full activation status by KB1KQW and KA1NCF effective Friday afternoon at 13:00 due to request for help by Red Cross Newburyport.  Numerous power outages remain and shelters operation are being planned as well as some Disaster Assessment teams being deployed.  Shelters are for displaced residents and this is expected to continue through at least Sunday night.

TIMEFRAME OF ACTIVATION / FREQUENCIES – Updated

North Shore ARES remains active is fully active at this time and lasting through Sunday evening – subject to change. 
At this Time we are looking for people who can be available between now until Sunday Night as needed as the information comes into us we will provide instruction.
Deployment instructions will only be provided by e-mail if additional deployment becomes necessary.

Please continue provide pictures of storm damage and recovery operations through email at pics@nsradio.org.

AGENCY SUPPORT – Updated
 
ARES-MAT support has been requested into portions of Northern Essex County, in the Newbury area for communications between shelters and their Red Cross office.  As well as a few to be deployed with Desater asesment teams for local Communications.

Support is expected to start Late Today or Tomorrow and continue through Sunday night and does have the potential to last through Monday if conditions do not improve in the affected areas. 
Please continue to monitor your email and the Danvers Repeater for further updates as they become available.

Deployment instructions will only be provided by e-mail if additional deployment becomes necessary.
 
 
REQUEST FOR AVAILABILITY – Updated
 
We seek available stations to assist with various recovery operations currently being planned.  Some of these operations may include mobile operations, base operations, net control stations, and field ARES opportunities, which will be refined in the near future. 
 
Note:  Please let us know if you are available FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY, along with specific times and means to contact you.  Remember, please DO NOT SELF DEPLOY!  It is just as high an honor to submit your readiness as it is to work in the field. 
 
If deployed, you will need a mobile radio, power supply, antenna, coax, microphone, and an HT for backup communications.   Please also have backup and emergency power considerations, as there may or may not be power where deployment takes place. As always, please make sure your personal needs are taken care of as well.
 
Please send your availability to ares@nsradio.org at this TIME WE ARE ONLY TAKING EMAILS!!! and we will add you to the list.  I would like to have everyone’s availability coordinated ASAP, since we are currently in an activated mode.
 
 
CALL TO ACTION
 
As the recovery operation continues to take place, we remain in need of the following:

ARES-MAT Assistance
Shelter operations
Net Control Volunteers
Pictures of storm damage as requested by FEMA (VERY important – send to pics @ nsradio.org)
Other emergency communications duties as requested
 
Please continue to send your availability to ares@nsradio.org
SUMMARY
 
*  North Shore ARES is currently in FULL ACTIVATION mode for ARES-MAT support to affected areas.
*  Pictures of damage or coastal flooding are requested by FEMA from this event, please send to pics@nsradio.org
*  The next update to this message will be Friday late afternoon as information becomes available, time and information permitting.
 
 
JRP/ENH
Eric Horwitz – KA1NCF
North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stand-by Activation for February 25-26 Wind Storm

Hello to all…

***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR ESSEX / MIDDLESEX / SUFFOLK COUNTIES FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 12 AM ET FRIDAY LASTING THROUGH AT LEAST 10PM FRIDAY EVENING DUE TO MAJOR STORM WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE AFFECTING PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***

***OTHER AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION FOR ANY SIGNIFCANT CHANGES***

***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON CONTINUES UNTIL 2AM MONITORING FOR WIND DAMAGE AND COASTAL FLOODING REPORTS***

A significant coastal storm continues to affect portions of Eastern Massachusetts with most of the significant damage confined to Northeast Massachusetts.  Due to the significant damage that has been reported, we are placing portions of Eastern Massachusetts ARES including ESSEX, MIDDLESEX, and SUFFOLK counties in stand-by mode from 12 AM ET Friday through at least 10pm Friday Evening in the event that support is requested by our served agencies.  BRISTOL, PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK, BARNSTABLE, and the ISLANDS should closely monitor this situation in the event of a rapid change to the situation.  There have been numerous reports of downed trees and power lines, power outages, and significant damage across Northeast Massachusetts into New Hampshire.  A complete listing of storm damage reports from NWS-Taunton can be found at:

Local Storm Report:  http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nwus51.KBOX.html

Public Information Statement:  http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nous41.KBOX.html

Coastal Flood Warning:  http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.whus41.KBOX.html

Flood Warning:  http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus41.KBOX.html

Winter Storm Warning:  http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus41.KBOX.html

Due to the damage caused in our neighboring New Hampshire section, including reports of several towns losing police and fire dispatch communications as well as 9-1-1 services, NHARES has activated in a Level-3 status with support to the New Hampshire State EOC.  For damage reports and warning information for Rockingham County NH and points north, please visit www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx.

Back home, Massachusetts RACES has not been formally activated to support the Massachusetts State EOC.  At this time, there have been no formal requests for assistance from our served agencies in Eastern MA and our Eastern Massachusetts ARES leadership continues to closely monitor this changing situation.

We’d like to have ARES personnel continue to assist with SKYWARN reporting of any wind damage and power outages, along with reports of coastal flooding.   Keep your situational awareness level high for any updates from ARES leadership by checking your email for updates and our ARES web site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org, monitoring local SKYWARN/ARES/RACES frequencies and reporting into the nets and monitor local media on this potentially significant storm.

What is ARES Stand-By mode?

ARES stand-by mode is to alert Amateurs within ARES that a mobilization is possible on a wide-scale and that some localized mobilizations are or could be taking place in isolated areas. It means to take a look at your Go-Kit and have batteries and equipment ready to go and charged up and take care of any requirements at home in case a mobilization is required and you can participate. Do NOT self-deploy. Wait for guidance from leadership for any deployment. It is an honor to be ready even if you don’t deploy for the event. Hopefully, this is just another exercise of our preparedness and capabilities. If not, the ARES leadership looks forward to working with you if any wide scale mobilization is required after the impact of this major storm to the region.

Thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jim Palmer – KB1KQW
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
North-side Operations

Carl Aveni – N1FY
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
South-side Operations

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stand-by Activation for 2/10-2/11/2010 Major Winter Storm

Hello to all..

***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES TO BE PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION
STARTING AT 10 AM ET WEDNESDAY LASTING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR MAJOR
NOR’EASTER TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***

***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON WILL COMMENCE AT 10 AM ET WEDNESDAY
THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING***

***RACES ACTIVATION AT THE STATE EOC WILL COMMENCE AT 10 AM WEDNESDAY
MORNING LASTING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING***

A major nor’easter will affect the region Wednesday Morning through early
Thursday Morning bringing with it heavy snow accumulations, some of it will be
of the heavy and wet snow variety that clings on trees and power lines and
strong to damaging winds are also possible. The worst of the storm will be
in areas of the Eastern Massachusetts section along and south of the Mass
Pike. A period of near blizzard conditions are likely in coastal areas of
Eastern Massachusetts particularly in Southeast Massachusetts. The storm
could cause tree and power line damage and power outages in the area along
and south of the Mass Pike and in particular in coastal areas of Southeast
Massachusetts. SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton will start at 10
AM Wednesday Morning. In addition, RACES we will be activating the State
EOC starting at 10 AM Wednesday Morning.

Due to the threat of this storm and RACES State EOC activation, we are
placing Eastern Massachusetts ARES in stand-by mode from 10 AM ET Wednesday
through Thursday Morning for the impact of this major winter storm to
affect portions of the Eastern Massachusetts section. Winter Storm
and High Wind Warnings are in effect for portions the Eastern Massachusetts
section. Please see the Storm Coordination Message posted at the link below:

http://www.wx1box.org/node/133

We will place the town of Bridgewater EOC as the Eastern Massachusetts ARES
Incident Command Post on stand-by as well as the Acushnet EOC on stand-by
for potential activation. The Acushnet EOC will likely be activated later
today has the area of greatest impact from this major winter storm will
be Southeast Massachusetts.

We’d like to have ARES personnel assist with SKYWARN reporting of snowfall,
whiteout conditions, thunderstorms with heavy snow as well as any wind damage
and power outages. Keep your situational awareness level high for any updates
from ARES leadership by checking your email for updates and our ares web site at
http://ares.ema.arrl.org, monitoring local SKYWARN/ARES/RACES frequencies and
reporting into the nets and monitor local media on this potentially significant
storm.

What is ARES Stand-By mode?

ARES stand-by mode is to alert Amateurs within ARES that a mobilization is
possible on a wide-scale and that some localized mobilizations are or could be
taking place in isolated areas. It means to take a look at your Go-Kit and have
batteries and equipment ready to go and charged up and take care of any
requirements at home in case a mobilization is required and you can participate.
Do NOT self-deploy. Wait for guidance from leadership for any deployment. It is
an honor to be ready even if you don’t deploy for the event. Hopefully, this is
just another exercise of our preparedness and capabilities. If not, the ARES
leadership looks forward to working with you if any wide scale mobilization is
required after the impact of this major storm to the region.

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://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for Feburary 2010

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for February is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for February is Monday February 1st, 2010, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org

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

EMA Haitian Relief Efforts

Message sent to Eastern Massachusetts Section by Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN at Jan 14, 2010 14:49 ET:

Subject: Haitian Disaster Update

Hello all stations:

Summary:  The following message is my final update to all section members regarding the emergency in Haiti.  For future situation reports on what we, and the greater amateur radio community are doing on behalf of the Haiti relief effort, please visit our ARES website at http://ares.ema.arrl.org.  I’m sure you will share my pride and gratitude toward those of our own, and other section’s radio kindred, who are directly involved with the rescue effort.

If you can help with 20m communications, please check into the appropriate nets listed below.  Whether you are part of our ARES team or not, good NCS’s are always needed!  You can also monitor some of the 20m traffic on frequencies listed below, and on the Echolink receive only *WX_TALK* conference node.  If haven’t yet joined Echolink, you can do so at the www.echolink.org website.  Your callsign is all that is needed for free software and authorization to use the service.

No EMA ARESMAT operations are anticipated at this time.  However, if you would like to help more directly with the relief effort, please contact the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army directly.  Bi- and Multilingual skilled individuals are especially needed.  If you know of non-hams with these skills, especially in the Boston Haitian-American community who we may be able to pair with hams, please let me know. 

At a minimum, cash donations made directly to the above named organizations, are a powerful help to their relief efforts on the ground.  May I also remind you that phishing will be rampant in the coming days, so please be cautious before responding to email and telephone solicitations.

Here is the latest information:

=====  Begin quoted message  =====

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There was brief contact made on one of the HF Nets earlier today. This information is listed below as provided by ARRL and other groups along with a link to an ARRLWeb
Story:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/13/11288/?nc=1

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org. 

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :

14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7 for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room http://hflink. net and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)

3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink. net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Thursday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

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

=====  End of Quoted Message  =====

de W1MPN

——————————————————————–
ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
w1mpn@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #3

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Please note that the situation report was not updated on Friday Evening as there was little new information. Today, new information was received warranting a new situation report update.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There has been more steady contact with 2 Amateur Radio Operators via the HF Nets over the past 2 days however it is noted that HH2JR, Jean Richard is currently running with an Icom IC-706 HF Radio with a faulty display and is running out of fuel for his neighbor’s generator which he has been using to maintain power for his radio per family members who were in contact with several Amateurs who made first contact with HH2JR on January 13th. An Amateur Radio strike team from the Dominican Republic has arrived in Haiti on Friday January 15th. There has been word that HI8RCD/HH has attempted to contact the SATERN Net on 14.265 but has been unsucessful. This is per traffic monitored on the 7265 40 meter SATERN Net at approximately 430 PM ET/2130 UTC.

N1YLQ-Mike ‘Sparky’ Leger and I have been monitoring HF SATERN Nets on 14265 and 7265 starting at approximately 1230 PM ET/1730 UTC from the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Sub-Regional Command Center at the Acushnet Massachusetts Emergency Operations Center. Propagation has been poor to Haiti into New England. Some Haitian traffic could be heard on 14.265 at approximately 2 PM ET/1900 UTC but only the net control and relay stations could be heard at that time. The 40 Meter traffic was heard directly from the Acushnet EOC facility and was relayed by a station in the Bahamas. Operations will secure from the Acushnet EOC at approximately 1800/2300 UTC.

The following information was relayed by Public Relations Manager at ARRL HQ, Allen Pitts-W1AGP concerning operations and the public information aspect of the Amateur Radio response. Please also note the comments on deployment to the affected area concerning ARES which are inline with our standard operating procedures from an ARES perspective:

If you are aware of people considering volunteering for a deployment, please make sure they contact your SEC and the SEC is aware of that, the capabilities and experience.  I do not know just what will happen – no one does.  But anything we do with ARES deployments supporting our served agencies will go through the SECs.

As you may know (or surely guessed) , there is a LOT going on at ARRL HQ, IARU and in other Amateur Radio groups as we address the Haitian disaster.  This is truly an international response, and many countries are involved, not just the USA.  In these first days, there were very few Amateur Radio operators operating in Haiti.  In the coming week there will be more as international assessment teams are expected to arrive from several countries and will have embedded hams with them.  There will be even more in the weeks after that as recovery groups arrive.  This will not be a short campaign and it is still unclear what may be the situation outside of metropolitan areas in the hill and mountain country. 

While there is little coming out of Haiti so far, the country is ringed by many excellent AR stations of many nationalities who will hear anything that might come up on the air. I know that you are getting requests for information regarding relatives and friends in Haiti.  These can be heartbreaking…. I am getting them too and it can be really rough emotionally.  The best I have at this point is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Salvation Army’s websites.  H&W going OUT of Haiti can be channeled through several programs.  (Yes, I know from Katrina a lot of hams like to make THOSE calls themselves – that’s also emotional but on the good side – but do it right)

I note the posts on the reflector to be careful not to “oversell” things – they are correct.  This one is different from Katrina.  It will take more time, different problems (hard to believe things could be worse, but they are), and is international in scope.  I expect Amateur Radio related issues, activities and events to grow in the coming weeks and we’re working hard to get out the best, VERIFIED information on the main ARRL website.  We may not be the fastest ones with a headline, but we’re going to be sure of things to prevent rumor and speculation.  I have spoken to most of the other major Amateur Radio related publications people and we’re all in this together. 

Thanks for all you are doing.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency continues to monitor the situation to support the relief, information sharing and data intelligence activities. The MEMA State EOC is montioring the situation with some additional personnel from 9 AM-5 PM Sunday and Monday and did a similar activity Saturday for the Haiti Earthquake operations. ESF’s are no longer being utilized for this activity. There have been a number of questions on donations to the Haiti Relief Effort. The best donation is cash and information on donations to agencies can be seen via the following link:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=helpforhaiti

The remainder below is the same as Thursday Evening’s update:

Amateur Radio Operators in Eastern Massachusetts should closely monitor HF frequencies, the designated ones as listed in this situation report and sweep the HF bands for any contact with Haiti. HF bands to sweep are 20 Meters during the day and 40 and 75/80 Meters during the overnight. If any contact is made with the affected area and they are able to relay emergency/priority and health and welfare traffic, please notify SATERN, IRESC and the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL Section Staff. An updated ARRL Web Story is listed below:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11290/?nc=1

A recording of phone patches was provided by K1VR-Brian Crow of Boynton Beach Florida between HH2JR-Jean Robert Gaillard and W3UZ is widely available over the Internet and is 26 minutes long. You can hear his nervousness and tenseness as the phone patches are made and the audio is at the link below:

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12397727/1885578730/name/Haiti%2Emp3

The edit clips from Amateur Radio Newsline and the text transcript can be heard at the following link:

http://www.arnewsline.org

Some interesting information has been made available via the stormcarib.com storm blog concerning relief operations. This can be seen via the following link:

http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml

The following is from Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, who received data on a jump team heading into Haiti for Amateur Radio support per the data below:

Haiti Update
http://aren.ie/news/2010/01/14/haiti-update-2/
The following update was received from Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P. By Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator

RCD and URDA en route to Haiti

Victor Baez, HI8VB, Secretary of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) reports that the RCD with UDRA, Unión Dominicana de Radio Aficionados, are preparing to go to Port au Prince early morning of Friday January 15 to install an emergency radio Communications station, HI8RCD/HH, and a mobile station.

Victor has a blog which hopefully he will update with more news from Haiti: www.hi8vb.tk

From ARRL HQ, Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts-W1AGP had the following information today:

Many hams are reporting that they have been contacted by family members hoping to get H&W messages into Haiti.  This is not possible at this time.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has established protocols.  Point folks there – and yes, some of these calls have been heartbreakers.  But let’s do what we can to help. The document on the ICRC info is listed below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/lost_family.doc

Meanwhile, I am getting the first of the “I want to go to Haiti” calls and emails here.  At this time we are in contact with a LOT of agencies and much is going on behind the scenes.  For now there are NO calls for hams from responding agencies.  This may change quickly – nothing is assured at all in the developing story.  If there are to be any assignments, the vetting will go through the section SECs.  So point anyone that is anxious to go to talk to their section’s SEC.

All data below is the same from the Wednesday Evening situation report and remains valid with one correction to the SATERN frequencies where there was a typo. Remainder below is unchanged:

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink. net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink. net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.265 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Monday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

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

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #2

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There has been more steady contact with 2 Amateur Radio Operators via the HF Nets today and an Amateur Radio strike team from the Dominican Republic will be in Haiti Friday January 15th.

Amateur Radio Operators in Eastern Massachusetts should closely monitor HF frequencies, the designated ones as listed in this situation report and sweep the HF bands for any contact with Haiti. HF bands to sweep are 20 Meters during the day and 40 and 75/80 Meters during the overnight. If any contact is made with the affected area and they are able to relay emergency/priority and health and welfare traffic, please notify SATERN, IRESC and the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL Section Staff. An updated ARRL Web Story is listed below:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11290/?nc=1

A recording of phone patches was provided by K1VR-Brian Crow of Boynton Beach Florida between HH2JR-Jean Robert Gaillard and W3UZ is widely available over the Internet and is 26 minutes long. You can hear his nervousness and tenseness as the phone patches are made and the audio is at the link below:

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/12397727/1885578730/name/Haiti%2Emp3

The edit clips from Amateur Radio Newsline and the text transcript can be heard at the following link:

http://www.arnewsline.org

Some interesting information has been made available via the stormcarib.com storm blog concerning relief operations. This can be seen via the following link:

http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/haiti.shtml

The following is from Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, who received data on a jump team heading into Haiti for Amateur Radio support per the data below:

Haiti Update
http://aren.ie/news/2010/01/14/haiti-update-2/
The following update was received from Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P. By Greg Mossop, IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator

RCD and URDA en route to Haiti

Victor Baez, HI8VB, Secretary of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) reports that the RCD with UDRA, Unión Dominicana de Radio Aficionados, are preparing to go to Port au Prince early morning of Friday January 15 to install an emergency radio Communications station, HI8RCD/HH, and a mobile station.

Victor has a blog which hopefully he will update with more news from Haiti: www.hi8vb.tk

From ARRL HQ, Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts-W1AGP had the following information today:

Many hams are reporting that they have been contacted by family members hoping to get H&W messages into Haiti.  This is not possible at this time.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has established protocols.  Point folks there – and yes, some of these calls have been heartbreakers.  But let’s do what we can to help. The document on the ICRC info is listed below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/lost_family.doc

Meanwhile, I am getting the first of the “I want to go to Haiti” calls and emails here.  At this time we are in contact with a LOT of agencies and much is going on behind the scenes.  For now there are NO calls for hams from responding agencies.  This may change quickly – nothing is assured at all in the developing story.  If there are to be any assignments, the vetting will go through the section SECs.  So point anyone that is anxious to go to talk to their section’s SEC.

The Massachusetts State Emergency Operations Center was operational Thursday for several hours through 5 PM ET Thursday for intelligence and information sharing on the Haiti Earthquake and operations will be active again on Friday starting at 9 AM with the same Emergency Support Functions (ESF). Below is the data from Associate Director of Operations, Mike Raskin:

Governor Patrick has asked Mr. Richard Chacon, Executive Director of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) to take the lead on coordinating the state’s response to the Earthquake in Haiti.  The SEOC is being used as an intelligence and information sharing center to support ORI’s efforts.  Mr. Chacon and a member of his staff are in the SEOC, along with several staff members from MEMA HQ and representatives of the following Emergency Support Functions:

ESF-2:     Communications
ESF-5:     Information and Planning
ESF-6:     Mass Care
ESF-8:     Health and Medical Services
ESF-14:   Public Information
ESF-15:   Volunteers and Donations     

In addition, MEMA has begun using Social Media resources to better inform and protect the public before, during and after emergencies in the Commonwealth. The addition of Facebook and Twitter will not be replacing the more traditional avenues that MEMA continues to utilize to contact and inform Media and Public Safety partners but enable MEMA to reach new and greater audiences in a timely manner.

MEMA can be followed on Facebook by searching ‘Massachusetts Emergency Management’ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MassEMA.

During a natural or technological emergency MEMA will provide important messages to the public on these sites. Between disasters, MEMA’s messages will continue to focus on individual preparedness and responsibility.

All data below is the same from the previous situation report and remains valid with one correction to the SATERN frequencies where there was a typo. Remainder below is unchanged:

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink.net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink.net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.265 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Friday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

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

Haiti Earthquake Situation Report #1

Hello to all..

The following is a situation report on the Amateur Radio response to the Haiti Earthquake. Eastern Massachusetts ARES has received a number of Health and Welfare requests to Haiti. We have also received requests from the media on whether we have made contact with the affected area of Haiti but we are not aware of any Amateur Radio Operators in our section who have made contact with Haiti. There was brief contact made on one of the HF Nets earlier today. This information is listed below as provided by ARRL and other groups along with a link to an ARRLWeb Story:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/13/11288/?nc=1

On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks.  Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted.  No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators.  The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams.  There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic.  Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :
14300
14265
7045
7265
3977
3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

The situation is still chaotic and more information will be posted as soon as possible.  Information is being validated and shared between many amateur groups and news sources as it unfolds.

Global ALE High Frequency Network (HFN) is now
on ALERT for Haiti earthquake Emergency / Disaster
Relief Communications (EMCOMM)

====HFLINK SPECIAL BULLETIN==== 13 JAN 2010
Alert: Haiti Earthquake EMCOMM

HFN Pilot Stations are active and ready 24/7
for ALE calling, relay, and internet messages.

All operators are encouraged to participate in
the ALE Comm Centre live operator chat room
http://hflink.net
and activate ALE radios on the ALE channels:

HFN net (text/internet/ sounding/ calling)
3596.0 USB
7102.0 USB
10145.5 USB
14109.0 USB
18106.0 USB
21096.0 USB
24926.0 USB
28146.0 USB

HFL net (emcomm/voice/ calling)
3791.0 USB
7185.5 USB
14346.0 USB
18117.5 USB
21437.5 USB
24932.0 USB
28312.5 USB

============ ========= ======
END OF BULLETIN
============ ========= ======
Bonnie Crystal, KQ6XA
International Emcomm Coordinator
Global ALE High Frequency Network
http://hflink.net

The following is an update as provided by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Traffic manager, Jim Ward-N1LKJ, concerning all the health and welfare traffic received to date from all across the country and internationally:

On Wednesday’s 2:30PM Eastern Area Traffic Net, Earl WX4J from Florida checked in and told all Hams to hold all Health & Welfare Traffic for now. There are just no outlets for it at this time. They will keep us advised.

Traffic can be listed on the Satern web page. www.satern.org On the Satern Net on 14.265 they gave out the information, that the State Department is giving out the phone number 888-407-4747 for all people inquiring about loved ones.

73,
Jim Ward N1LKJ STM

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) remain active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Once again, any stations that have HF capability or get any sort of contact with Haiti and those people can assist with emergency/priority traffic or health & welfare traffic are asked to make this known to the Eastern Massachusetts ARES/ARRL staff, IRESC and SATERN to setup direct contact and communications flow with the disaster zone. This would benefit those with Emergency/Priority and Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti. Another situation Report will be posted Thursday evening or sooner if a significant development involving direct contact with Haiti occurs.

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

IRESC and SATERN Active for Haiti Earthquake Operations

Hello to all..

The International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) are both active supporting Haiti Earthquake Operations. Indirect contact has been established via email and second hand reporting and info as relayed by SATERN to IRESC and by IRESC operators. Direct contact to the affected area is being attempted by both groups.

The *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system has been connected directly to the *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173 for listen only purposes. It will remain connected for as long as IRESC is active. Anyone with emergency/priority traffic or health and welfare traffic should connect directly to *IRESC* echolink conference node: 278173. Information on IRESC can be seen via the following link:

http://www.iresc.org/

SATERN is active on HF and has performed liasion with IRESC. Per the SATERN web site, SATERN activities are active on 14.235 MHz Primary for daytime operations and 7265 and 3977.7 Khz for evening and night time operations. Information on SATERN can be seen via the following link:

http://www.satern.org/

Any net controls and individuals that either have direct contact with Haiti or have relays into Haiti are strongly encouraged to support SATERN and IRESC with their operations. This would benefit those with Health and Welfare traffic into Haiti. Stations that have Health and Welfare traffic to Haiti can provide the info to these groups but it may be several days before the messages will be delivered and relayed back so those that can help with direct contact with Haiti or contact through relays could help speed up the Health and welfare traffic flow.

We wish the best for the victims of this serious earthquake that has affected Haiti.

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

Reminder: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for January 2010

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for January is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for January is Monday January, 4th 2010, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org.   

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

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stand-By Secure Message for Blizzard of 2009

Hello to all…

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will secure its stand-by operation as of 20:00 EST.  The Blizzard of 2009 has departed the region leaving in its wake a widespread 1-2 foot snowfall across portions of Rhode Island, the South Coast, Cape and Islands. 

While wind gusts of over 60mph were reported in some instances, the amount of damage from this storm was minimal with the primary impact resulting from heavy snow accumulation.  With the storm moving away from the region, the threat for additional damage has passed thus allowing Eastern MA ARES to secure its operation.  A summary of wind and snowfall reports can be found below within this notice. 

We offer a special thanks to each and every Amateur Radio Operator that offered their assistance to this storm in some way, from EOC/Shelter operations to relaying critical weather information to the NWS.  Without all of us working together as a team this tremendous effort would not have taken place.  It should be noted that we received a tremendous amount of gratitude from local Boston Meteorologist Matt Noyes from NECN who was receiving our reports in real-time and promoting Amateur Radio SKYWARN during his live coverage of the storm. 

Please forward to us any storm photos you may have from this past event.  These photos are used frequently in video slide shows that promote ARES and SKYWARN across the region.  To view previous videos, please visit http://video.nsradio.org/.

Here are the snowfall, wind and damage reports that many Amateur Radio Operators across 4 states provided to the National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts:

NWS Taunton Public Information Statement on Snowfall and Wind Reports:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nous41.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton Local Storm Report:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nwus51.KBOX.html

Thanks again to all for their continued help and 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://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org

 

Eastern Massachusetts ARES on Stand-By for Major Nor'easter/Blizzard – Saturday 12/19 8 PM Through Sunday Evening 12/20

Hello to all..

***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES TO BE PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 8 PM ET SATURDAY LASTING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR MAJOR NOR’EASTER/BLIZZARD TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***

***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON WILL COMMENCE AT 6 PM ET THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY AFTERNOON***

With the impacts of a major nor’easter/blizzard clearly defined, we will be placing Eastern Massachusetts ARES in stand-by mode from 6 PM ET Saturday through Sunday Evening for the impact of this major nor’easter/blizzard to affect portions of the Eastern Massachusetts section. Blizzard and Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for the Eastern Massachusetts section. Please see the Blizzard Coordination Message posted at the link below:

http://www.wx1box.org/node/117

The Massachusetts State Emergency Operation Center Headquarters in Framingham along with the Region 1 MEMA Tewksbury office will be in partial activation starting at 9 PM. Region Two MEMA office in Bridgewater will be active between  7-9 PM to monitor this major coastal storm. A Public Advisory on State EOC activation can be seen at the following link:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/MEMA_SEOC_Activation.doc

We will place the town of Bridgewater EOC as the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Incident Command Post on stand-by. We will, however, activate the Acushnet EOC sub-regional ARES command center due to the most significant impact of the storm being over South Coastal Massachusetts and Cape Cod and the Islands.

We’d like to have ARES personnel assist with SKYWARN reporting of snowfall, whiteout conditions, thunderstorms with heavy snow as well as any wind damage and power outages. Keep your situational awareness level high for any updates from ARES leadership by checking your email for updates and our ares web site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org, monitoring local SKYWARN/ARES/RACES frequencies and reporting into the nets and monitor local media on this potentially significant storm.

What is ARES Stand-By mode?

ARES stand-by mode is to alert Amateurs within ARES that a mobilization is possible on a wide-scale and that some localized mobilizations are or could be taking place in isolated areas. It means to take a look at your Go-Kit and have batteries and equipment ready to go and charged up and take care of any requirements at home in case a mobilization is required and you can participate. Do NOT self-deploy. Wait for guidance from leadership for any deployment. It is an honor to be ready even if you don’t deploy for the event.  Hopefully, this is just another exercise of our preparedness and capabilities. If not, the ARES leadership looks forward to working with you if any wide scale mobilization is required after the impact of this major storm to the region.

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://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org

 

 

 

Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for December 2009

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for December is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for December is Monday December 7th, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org     

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

MEMA Recommendations on Recent FCC Notice

The following is a memo from Massachusetts State RACES Radio Officer Tom Kinahan-N1CPE and MEMA Operations Manager Jon Dillon on the recent FCC Notice on paid employees and drills/exercises.

To All Massachusetts Amateur Radio Operators and Emergency Management Directors

As you may know, the FCC recently clarified it’s position on the operation of amateur radio stations
by licensed operators acting on behalf of an employer, including those who are employees of a
government agency, during drills and actual emergencies. Below is a link to this FCC notice.

Paid employees, of any organization, including government employees may not operate an amateur radio
station for their employer during a drill, unless a waiver is requested by and granted to the
government agency who is conducting the drill.

We reaffirm the importance of including Amateur Radio in emergency drills and exercises and we
encourage Emergency Management Directors to continue to take advantage of the skills and training
available in the licensed Amateur Radio community.

We recommend that amateurs follow all FCC rules, and not jeopardize their license and risk fines.
We also suggest that only volunteer amateur radio operators operate Amateur Radio communication
systems while participating in drill operations. It will be necessary for your local government to
request a waiver of the rules for specific drills, according to the procedure indicated in the
public notice, if paid employees will be expected to operate Amateur Radio Transmitters.  We request
that when and if your local government does request a waiver of the rules in this situation, that
you send a courtesy copy of your request to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency –
Communications Division, by mail or fax, or through the Massachusetts State RACES Officer who will
be able to forward your information to MEMA.

We anticipate that MEMA will request waivers for a limited number of upcoming exercises involving
MEMA and power plant staff. 

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2259A1.pdf

Thank you,

    Jonathan Dillon
    Operations Manager
    Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency

    Tom Kinahan N1CPE
    Massachusetts State RACES Radio Officer

————————————

 

 

Eastern Massachusetts ARES "Mini-Exercise" to Support Cape Cod Regional Sheltering Exercise

Hello to all..

The following is an announcement on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES ‘mini-exercise’ for Saturday November 14th, 2009 from 10 AM-1130 AM. See announcement below:

Date: 14 November 2009

Time: 1000-1130 EST

This basic/low level ‘mini-exercise’ is sponsored by Eastern Massachusetts ARES. The short notice of the exercise is part of the exercise design. It is being conducted to simulate a disaster situation on Cape Cod that will require relief operators from our adjoining districts and coincides with the Cape Cod Regional Sheltering Exercise. 

EC’s and RACES officers can also gather the information from their group and pass it along with a single checkin. For this exercise, look at your schedule for the next week and provide a date and shift(s) you could be available to deploy to Cape Cod. If you would be unavailable, that is fine too. Just check in or let your ARES EC/RACES officer know. Please plan a 12 hour window. Two hours to travel and brief, 8 hours on shift, and 2 hours to debrief and travel home. For the exercise we are assuming 0800-1600, 1600-2400, and 2400-0800 shifts. No deployments will actually occur.

A brief checkin with this information is all that is requested. The information can be relayed via the following means:

Bridgewater 147.18 repeater

Fairhaven 145.49 repeater

Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123

MMRA Repeater System (Linked up for the exercise like it is linked up for the Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net)

HF 3943 KHz (may move up or down in frequency depending on HF usage due to other exercises/SETs going on in the area)

Winlink to N1XTB@winlink.org or kd1cy@winlink.org (Those that cannot participate between 10 AM-1130 AM Saturday 11/14 can send an email to either of these addresses anytime between the time of receipt of this announcement and 1130 AM Saturday. – Also, please put //WL2K in the subject of the message so Winlink spam filters do not block or delay the message.)

Local ARES/RACES/SKYWARN frequency as determined by your local ARES EC/DEC/RACES Radio Officer.

Liaison to the Cape Cod repeaters/simplex as well as winlink liaison will be performed by the regional and sub-regional ARES net control centers that are co-loated at the town of Bridgewater and Acushnet EOCs.

It is noted that portions of Southern New England will be impacted by the coastal storm that has impacted the Mid-Atlantic states for several days. The storm will bring heavy rain and strong winds to the region. The worst impacts will be felt over Cape Cod and the Islands. We have determined that we will proceed with the drill as planned and anyone with SKYWARN reportable criteria or a real emergency should preface their message with ‘This is NOT a drill’. Any drill traffic, tactical or formal should be addressed as ‘This is a drill’. We appreciate everyone’s attentiveness and ability to multitask the mini-exercise with the coastal storm.

Exercise objectives

-Validate contact information and communicate with Emcomm operators

-Exercise the leadership to assemble communication resource information

-Net Control/liason to communicate the relief information to the Cape Cod ARES DEC

-Information will be relayed via voice/Winlink email on available relief head count and shifts to the CC ARES DEC.

Thank you for your interest in public service.

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

South Shore ARES Reports Successful First Ham Radio Licensing Class

Hello to all..

The South Shore ARES group reports that it had its first successful Ham Radio licensing class. The class, which had 15 students, had all students pass the test and earning their Amateur Radio Licenses.

South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Phil McNamara-N1XTB, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator and Assistant Section Manager, Carl Aveni-N1FY, and NWS Taunton ARES-SKYWARN Operator, Phil McLaughlin-KB1CYO were the teachers of the class in Middleboro which was conducted over weekly sessions spanning approximately 1 month. “I’m really tickled.  The class taught by Carl, Phil McLaughlin and myself made a clean sweep at the VE session last night.  The Norwood VE team came down for the session.  We have 15 new hams.  One existing tech got his General.  One woman also took and passed the General after passing the tech” said Phil-N1XTB.

“The class was a mix of MRC, CERT, Fire Department, Police and others. It was a good group” Phil added. Efforts are now underway to schedule a Basic Emergency Communications Workshop for the group.

Congratulations to the students and teachers of this first Ham Radio licensing class for South Shore 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

Reminder: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for November 2009

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for November is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for November is Monday November 2nd, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org     

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

Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for October 2009

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for October is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for October is Monday October 5th, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org     

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

Cape Cod ARES Reports Successful 4th Amateur Radio Licensing Class

Hello to all..

The following is a report from Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Frank O’Laughlin-WQ1O on the continued efforts to grow ARES on Cape Cod and increase the number of Amateur Radio Operators on Cape Cod. This is the fourth in a series of Ham Radio Licensing classes being run by Cape Cod ARES over the past 18-24 months. See Frank’s update below:

Licensing class number 4 continues to go well. This Tuesday will be the last review session before the VE test session to be held on September 29th. We expect a total of 22 new licensees. We continue to license new CERT operators, many of which become ARES members. We also continue to attract public safety and NGO personnel. This class breakdown is as follows.

1 Police Officer

1 Police dispatcher

1 Harbor Master

2 Disaster animal rescue team volunteers

3 Red Cross personnel

2 unaffiliated candidates

12 CERT volunteers

A final report on class #4 will be issued after the VE test session. ARES six week training begins the very next week on Tuesday October 6th.

73 Frank WQ1O