Emergency Communications

Hello to all…

The October Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday October 3rd, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements on the net regarding Eastern Massachusetts ARES and fall public service events in the region. In addition, we want to include this special request from Air Force MARS from AJ1Y-Joe Rogers regarding Amateur Operators being able to hear ASOS/AWOS sites.

We in 1st AFMARS Comm Wing Information are trying to identify which airport weather broadcasts that amateur radio operators can receive over the air in New England. These broadcasts are transmitted on VHF AM. If you or your contacts visit Surface Weather Observation Stations – ASOS/AWOS (faa.gov) and put in your state, you will see the frequencies for the VHF airport weather broadcasts in your state. If you or they could check out which ones if any you/they can receive the weather information from and send a message to me at aj1y@arrl.net or aj1y@winlink.org identifying the station(s) that you/they can receive, it would be greatly appreciated. If they could include their email/Winlink address so that we reach out to you if necessary.

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
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box

AB1PH-Don Rolph – Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

The MEMA RACES nets are held on the first Monday of the month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, when it is delayed one week,

For Oct, the RACES nets will be held on Mon Oct 3..

The Races nets will be held on Mon Oct 3 at:

********************************************************************************
The HF net will start at 6:45 PM EDT: using the following frequency plan:
We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency,
Marc Stern WA1R will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Region 2D VHF net:
7:30 PM EDT VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.
Don Rolph using WA1PLE will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF NBEMS net:
7:00 PM EDT
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins, followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.
Don Rolph AB1PH will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:

To participate:
– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form
– send via winlink after 6 AM EDT Mon. July 11 and before 0000 EDT July 12 (any mode, but include mode in checkin form) to Bryan Marcotte KF1D
– Tues I will create the checkin report and send to all of you
*************************************************************************************

We look forward to you checking in to any or all nets!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph
_._,_._,_

Good evening,

On Saturday October 1, 2022, the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10AM.

We realize that the usual locations for some individuals and groups are still unavailable due to ongoing COVID restrictions.

We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net.

We will use the following repeaters and NEDECN DMR system in the order listed.

1. Plymouth Repeater 146.685 tone 131.8
2. Falmouth Repeater 147.375 tone 110.9
3. Sharon Repeater 146.865 tone 103.5
4. DMR – EMHN Talkgroup 8851 Time Slot 1 on select NEDECN repeaters:
Boston 449.175 CC1, Hingham 146.430 -1.5M CC1, Bourne 145.200 CC10, Dennis 146.470 -1.5M CC11, and Martha’s Vineyard145.180 CC10, Walpole 145.380 -0.600 CC12 repeaters
5. DMR Simplex 446.500 TG 99 both slots
6. DMR Simplex 145.790 TG 99 both slots
7. Return to Plymouth Repeater for 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.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.

We extend an invitation to any health care facility, EOC of any city or town as well as RACES or ARES members to check in during the NET.

We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested in trying your hand at Net Control please let us know. We can be reached by sending an email to ssharg@outlook.com or replying to this message. The goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many individuals and groups as possible.

We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct these monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event.

We hope to hear you Saturday.

Jeff N1SOM, Secretary, and the SSH group
N1SOM – W1SSH

KC1AEI-Matt Knowles writes:

Volunteers are needed for the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) from Friday 10/21/22-Sunday 10/23/22 from 0600-1800 daily.  The Head of the Charles Regatta is a rowing event taking place on the Charles River in Boston. We staff safety boats on the water and first aid stations on land to provide emergency communications to event organizers. The HOCR is sponsored by BNY Mellon, Vineyard Vines, etc. and is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization. For more information, see the event web site and volunteer registration web site links below:

Event Web Site: https://www.hocr.org

Volunteer Registration site (Select Emergency Services (HAM Radio – Land Station) or Emergency Services (Ham Radio – Safety Launch): https://volunteer.regattacentral.com/hocr/browse

Any skill level is accepted, please reach out with any questions. Thanks!

Regards,

KC1AEI-Matt Knowles

Email: matthewsknowles@gmail.com

Hello to all…

The September Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday September 12th, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system as the first Monday, 9/5/22, was the Labor Day holiday so the net is on the second Monday of the month.

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:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements on the net regarding Eastern Massachusetts ARES and fall public service events in the region.

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
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box

AB1PH-Don Rolph – Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

Normally the MEMA nets are held on the first Monday of ther month. For Sep the first Monday of the Month was Sep 5 which was Labor Day, so the net is pushed out 1 week,

For Sep, the the RACES nets will be held on the second Monday of the month, which is is Sep 12..

The Races nets will be held on Mon Sep 12 at:

********************************************************************************
The HF net will start at 6:45 PM EDT: using the following frequency plan:
We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency,
Marc Stern WA1R will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Region 2D VHF net:
7:30 PM EDT VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.
Jeff Marden N1JCM will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF NBEMS net:
7:00 PM EDT
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins,followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.
Phil McLaughlin KB1CYO will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:

To participate:
– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form
– send via winlink after 6 AM EDT Mon. July 11 and before 0000 EDT July 12 (any mode, but include mode in checkin form) to Bryan Marcotte KF1D
– Tues I will create the checkin report and send to all of you
*************************************************************************************

We look forward to you checking in to any or all nets!

—
73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph
_._,_._,_

N1YLQ-Mike “Sparky” Leger – MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer and  Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator writes:

Hello to all,

      This email is a reminder that tomorrow evening, September 12^th, 2022 is the first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, is our RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. We will be holding our sector nets on the normally assigned frequencies.

      As always, I am looking for Net Control stations to staff our sector nets for the evening. This month I plan to be able to run the Sector 2A net, but if anyone is interested in trying it out, please let me know.  I am looking for NCS operators to lead the Sector 2B (Plymouth County) nets. Sector 2D has already arranged for an NCS operator for this month’s net and Sector 2C is now a Winlink only net on a monthly basis.

              For any operators interested in performing the duties of Net Control Station (NCS), there are materials available to make the task fairly simple and straight forward. The net pre-amble and role call lists are available at http://wc1mab.org/RACES_R2_Interim_Preamble.pdf and http://wc1mab.org/Month.php with the role call lists on the left column near the bottom. If anyone is worried that they mess up running a net, please remember that, in many cases, a less than perfect net is WAY better than no net at all! At the conclusion of any net, any operator that acted as Net Control Operator should send a note to WC1MAB@gmail.com letting me know who ran the net and who checked in so that the proper numbers can be reported to our served agencies. We can not always count on our normal net control operators to be available in the event of a large scale emergency, so every RACES operator should be prepared to act as NCO if needed when disaster and emergency strikes!

Winlink Net Instructions From Don Rolph: 

*Winlink Net*

To participate:

– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form

– send via winlink after 6 AM EST Mon. Sep 12^th  and before midnight EST Sep 13^th (any mode, but include mode in check-in form) to KF1D

   I continue to ask that any operators who have the time, please try to check into sector nets from near-by sections. This will allow our Net Control Operators to practice fielding nets with a strong check-in count and will also serve to help practice with relays or modified sector assignments in the event that a single repeater is out of service. 

   For those operators who serve as Net Control Operators, please try to remember to send me a list of the stations and communities that check into your nets. The numbers are reported to MEMA to show them our level of participation. I am continuing to work on a graphical map based report to show which parts of our section have strong coverage and which areas may need a more targeted recruitment campaign to improve our ability to provide back-up communications in an emergency.

The Region #2 and State Net Schedule for this evening is as follows:

    I appreciate you all answering the call to help our communities remain prepared. Thank you all for helping us keep things on track and prove that we remain a consistent source of communication capability to the Commonwealth. This net provides a monthly reminder to our communities and served agencies that we stand ready with a quiet professionalism prepared to serve as a voice to whomever needs one to get help and resources to where they need to be.

 If you know someone who would benefit from being on this list, please have them contact me at   WC1MAB@gmail.com and I will add them to this distribution. Thank you all!

      If anyone has any questions or comments I can be reached by e-mail or cell phone. Thanks for being a part of our team and I look forward to hearing back on who can participate this month.

Sincerely,

Michael Leger (N1YLQ)

MEMA Region #2 RACES Officer

C: 386-566-7666

Good evening,

On Saturday September 10, 2022, the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10AM.
We realize that the usual locations for some individuals and groups are still unavailable due to ongoing COVID restrictions.
We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net.

We will use the following repeaters and NEDECN DMR system in the order listed.

1. Bridgewater Repeater 147.180 tone 67.0
2. Attleboro Repeater 147.195 tone 127.3
3. Falmouth Repeater 147.375 tone 110.9
4. Dartmouth Repeater 147.000 tone 67.0
5. DMR – EMHN Talkgroup 8851 Time Slot 1 on select NEDECN repeaters:
Boston 449.175 CC1, Hingham 146.430 -1.5M CC1, Bourne 145.200 CC10, Dennis 146.470 -1.5M CC11, and Martha’s Vineyard145.180 CC10, Walpole 145.380 -0.600 CC12 repeaters
6. DMR Simplex 446.500 TG 99 both slots
7. DMR Simplex 145.790 TG 99 both slots
8. Return to Bridgewater Repeater for 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.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.

We extend an invitation to any health care facility, EOC of any city or town as well as RACES or ARES members to check in during the NET.
We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested in trying your hand at Net Control please let us know. We can be reached by sending an email to ssharg@outlook.com or replying to this message. The goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many individuals and groups as possible.
We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct these monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event.

We hope to hear you Saturday.

Jeff N1SOM, Secretary, and the SSH group

N1SOM – W1SSH

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group
55 Fogg Rd. Mail-Stop 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190
_._,_._,_

K1JRO-John O’Neill ARES DEC for Hospitals liaison writes:

Just a reminder as mentioned last month during the EMHN, because the first Saturday in September is a holiday (Labor Day Weekend) we will hold the net next Saturday September 10.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Talk to you next Saturday at the usual time of 10:AM.

Regards,
John O’Neill

Good evening,

On Saturday August 6, 2022, the South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10AM. We realize that the usual locations for some individuals and groups are still unavailable due to ongoing COVID restrictions. We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net.

We will use the following repeaters and NEDECN DMR system in the order listed.

1. Sharon Repeater 146.865 tone 103.5
2. W. Bridgewater Repeater 146.775 DCS 224
3. DMR – EMHN Talkgroup 8851 Time Slot 1 on select NEDECN repeaters:
Boston 449.175 CC1, Hingham 146.430 -1.5M CC1, Bourne 145.200 CC10, Dennis 146.470 -1.5M CC11, and Martha’s Vineyard145.180 CC10 repeaters
4. Return to Sharon Repeater for 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.., un-key, wait 3 seconds to check for doubling, then give your or your facilities call sign, your first name, and your facility’s name.

We extend an invitation to any health care facility, EOC of any city or town as well as RACES or ARES members to check in during the NET.

We are always looking for groups or organizations to try their hand at Net Control duties. If you are interested in trying your hand at Net Control please let us know. We can be reached by sending an email to ssharg@outlook.com or replying to this message. The goal is to rotate Net Control practice and the experience among as many individuals and groups as possible.

We thank the repeater trustees for their generosity in allowing us to conduct these monthly nets and the use of their systems in an actual event. We hope to hear you Saturday.

Jeff N1SOM, Secretary, and the SSH group
N1SOM – W1SSH

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group
55 Fogg Rd. Mail-Stop 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

Hello to all…

The August Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday August 1st, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site detailing the repeaters that will be linked in through Hub 1:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. Our main announcements will be regarding the Saturday August 6th, 2022 Eastern Massachusetts ARES exercise and upcoming plans for Northeast HamXposition – Friday August 26th-28th, 2022. The information on the 8/6/22 Eastern Massachusetts ARES exercise can be seen here:

Eastern_Mass_ARES_Operation_Whirlwind_Drill_with_CCARES

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
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box

Michael “Sparky” Leger-N1YLQ-MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer and ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator writes:

Hello to all,

      This email is a reminder that this evening, Augist 1^st, 2022 is the first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, is our RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. We will be holding our sector nets on the normally assigned frequencies.

      As always, I am looking for Net Control stations to staff our sector nets for the evening. This month I will be able to run the Sector 2A net, but if anyone is interested in trying it out, please let me know.  I am looking for NCS operators to lead the Sector 2B (Plymouth County) nets. Sector 2D has already arranged for an NCS operator for this month’s net and Sector 2C is now a Winlink only net on a monthly basis.

              For any operators interested in performing the duties of Net Control Station (NCS), there are materials available to make the task fairly simple and straight forward. The net pre-amble and role call lists are available at http://wc1mab.org/RACES_R2_Interim_Preamble.pdf and http://wc1mab.org/Month.php with the role call lists on the left column near the bottom. If anyone is worried that they mess up running a net, please remember that, in many cases, a less than perfect net is WAY better than no net at all! At the conclusion of any net, any operator that acted as Net Control Operator should send a note to WC1MAB@gmail.com letting me know who ran the net and who checked in so that the proper numbers can be reported to our served agencies. We can not always count on our normal net control operators to be available in the event of a large scale emergency, so every RACES operator should be prepared to act as NCO if needed when disaster and emergency strikes!

 Winlink Net Instructions From Don Rolph: 

*Winlink Net*

To participate:

– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form

– send via winlink after 6 AM EST Mon. Aug 1^st  and before midnight EST Aug 2^nd (any mode, but include mode in check-in form) to AB1PH and KF1D

    I continue to ask that any operators who have the time, please try to check into sector nets from near-by sections. This will allow our Net Control Operators to practice fielding nets with a strong check-in count and will also serve to help practice with relays or modified sector assignments in the event that a single repeater is out of service. 

   For those operators who serve as Net Control Operators, please try to remember to send me a list of the stations and communities that check into your nets. The numbers are reported to MEMA to show them our level of participation. I am continuing to work on a graphical map based report to show which parts of our section have strong coverage and which areas may need a more targeted recruitment campaign to improve our ability to provide back-up communications in an emergency.

The Region #2 and State Net Schedule for this evening is as follows:

    I appreciate you all answering the call to help our communities remain prepared. Thank you all for helping us keep things on track and prove that we remain a consistent source of communication capability to the Commonwealth. This net provides a monthly reminder to our communities and served agencies that we stand ready with a quiet professionalism prepared to serve as a voice to whomever needs one to get help and resources to where they need to be.

 If you know someone who would benefit from being on this list, please have them contact me at   WC1MAB@gmail.com and I will add them to this distribution. Thank you all!

      If anyone has any questions or comments I can be reached by e-mail or cell phone. Thanks for being a part of our team and I look forward to hearing back on who can participate this month.

Sincerely,

Michael Leger (N1YLQ)

MEMA Region #2 RACES Officer

C: 386-566-7666

Don Rolph-AB1PH-Walpole area ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

The first Monday of the month, unless the first Monday is a holiday, is the date for the MEMA nets. If the first Monday is a holiday then the nets are delayed for one week.
For Aug, the first Monday of the month is Aug 1 and this will be the date for the MEMA RACES nets.

The Races nets will be held on Mon Aug 1 at:
********************************************************************************
The HF net will start at 6:45 PM EDT: using the following frequency plan:
We will start at 3930 KHz moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency,

Marc Stern WA1R will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Region 2D VHF net:
7:30 PM EDT VHF net on 146.865 MHz PL 103.5 (Sharon Repeater)
We will have a general call up of any RACES, ARES, or other interested stations. If there is time, we will have a simplex test.

Jeff Marden N1JCM will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF NBEMS net:
7:00 PM EDT
Dial Frequency: 3584.5 MHx
Center Frequency: 1500 Hz
Initial mode: THOR22
We will have checkins,followed by an ICS-213 format message using FLMSG.

Alan Richard WA1AR will be net control.
*********************************************************************************
Winlink Net:

To participate:

– create a checkin form using the Winlink standard checkin form

– send via winlink after 6 AM EDT Mon. Aug 1 and before 0000 EDT Aug 2 (any mode, but include mode in checkin form) to Bryan Marcotte KF1D
*************************************************************************************

We look forward to you checking in to any or all nets!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Hello to all…

In collaboration with the Cape Cod ARES group, Eastern Massachusetts ARES will have an exercise “Operation Whirlwind” on Saturday 8/6/22 from 1000 AM-1200 PM. Details on frequencies and modes and start and end times for the various ARES teams (some groups will start a little later and end a bit earlier) can be seen in the Eastern Massachusetts ARES exercise document at the following link:

Eastern_Mass_ARES_Operation_Whirlwind_Drill_with_CCARES

This exercise document may be updated once more by Thursday Evening 8/4/22. If no update is given, this document can be treated as the final document. Only minor changes are expected (there may be an update on additional VHF/UHF frequencies used for the exercise in the section and a couple updates specific to the Cape Cod district).

We appreciate everyone’s support of this exercise as we use it as practice for any potential issues as we approach the main portion of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season from later August through October. Thanks to all for their 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
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all…

The July Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday July 11th, 2022 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. It is on the second Monday for this month due to US Independence Day last Monday, 7/4/22.

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:
https://mmra.org/repeaters/repeater_linking.html (Click the ARES box to see the repeaters and other systems linked)

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements on upcoming events.

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
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box