Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net Tonight on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all….

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for November is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for October is Monday November 7th, 2005, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

Make tonight, “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 this 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
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo 1

Eastern Massachusetts ARES SET Drill Update #2

Hello to all….

The following is a first draft of the Eastern Massachusetts ARES SET Drill documentation. An additional one to two updates will be posted over the next week and a half to update how the exercise will be controlled and defined and to add additional players as they commit to the drill. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Below is the drill documentation:

Date and Timeframe of Exercise

Saturday November 12th, 2005
Start Time 10 AM
End Time: 1 PM
Duration: 3 Hours

Please allow time for setup and take down of any equipment during this exercise.

Purpose and Scenario

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct the national ARRL SET or Simulated Emergency Test on Saturday November 12th, 2005 from 10 AM-1 PM. The scenario will be as follows:

A winter of weather extremes with several unusually strong nor’easters as caused significant issues to the power grid in the Northeast United States. These storms along with the fact that the grid has been damaged have led to roving power outages across the section that in this situation cascaded into widespread power outages across the region. Power may not be restored for a 24-48 hour period. The long period of time in restoring power is being caused by the extent of damage to the grid and the fact that a contagious illness has caused enough sickness within the region that utility companies do not have the resources to fix the issue in a more timely fashion and are unable to draw upon resources from other regions to fix the issues for fear of the contagious illness.

The purpose of this drill will be the following:

Local ARES team coordination and deployment as well as local NTS and tactical message handling.
Intra district and interdistrict tactical and formal message handling.
Utilization of HF, VHF, UHF, Packet, IRLP and EchoLink modes of communication. This includes utilization of SKYWARN frequencies as required to fill the gap of local ARES frequencies and SKYWARN frequencies.
Utilization of EOC or Simulated EOC’s at various points across the section and interfacing with other EOC’s, Simulated EOC’s in other sections where appropriate.
Utilization of the New England Network integrated conference server, which is the EchoLink *NEW-ENG* conference node and IRLP Reflector 9058 as a command net for communications within the section and outside the section.

For this exercise, it is expected that all ARES DEC’s/EC’s, or their designee will support this drill and what is to be exercised. Those SKYWARN liaisons that also perform ARES/RACES are also asked to participate. As always, at the local level, message handling and formation is critical and keeping Hams at the local level busy must occur. Be creative and at the same time be realistic. The Eastern Massachusetts ARES leadership will inject message traffic into the system in an attempt to get responses from those participating. This is in the hopes to generate more traffic and release the burden from the individual Amateur to have to create a message on their own. Instead, they will be expected to be able to respond to traffic that is sent to them. Net Controls are asked to use their discretion in doing call-ups and to be prepared for the ARES leadership to pass traffic of tactical and formal nature to each net. Amateurs are asked to then build tactical messages and formal messages in response to this traffic as required. For this drill, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC will be located at the Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association Club in South Dartmouth Massachusetts, performing his duties as ARES SEC and other duties to support operations as required.

Exercise Control Team

The exercise will be controlled and walked through the scenario by the SM, SEC, and DEC’s or the staff will assign a designee to walk through the scenario on the air. This will be done through a series of tactical message announcements. Also, as stated previously, the staff will be injecting NTS traffic messages along with tactical message announcements on the air in an attempt to get responses from people on the air. This will make it easier to have more message traffic during the course of the exercise and should allow for easier play by those participating.

Exercise Objectives

The objectives of this exercise are as follows:

· Have all teams have one liaison that monitors their local RACES Repeater in addition to their local operations.
· ARES teams willing to deploy away teams are asked to do so where possible provided benign weather conditions on the drill date.
· Establish district wide communication utilizing the following modes:
o IRLP and/or EchoLink nodes.
o Utilizing the integrated EchoLink *NEW-ENG* Conference Node (Node #9123) and IRLP reflector 9058 as a command net for contact with the Eastern Massachusetts section and surrounding areas.
o Utilizing Various 2 Meter Repeaters that the ARES teams will be utilizing in the area when necessary.
o Utilizing SKYWARN frequencies as an additional backbone as needed to ARES and RACES infrastructure.
o Utilize RACES frequencies where active for support in the drill along with local ARES and SKYWARN frequencies.
· Establish contact with other ARES districts and EOC’s/Simulated EOC via HF (3943 and/or 7245 KHz depending on band conditions).
· Test and evaluate the range of Home stations for relay operations.
· Amateurs are encouraged to test their backup power equipment wherever possible.
· Having mobile “roving” Amateurs wherever possible.
· Practice sending many test NTS messages.
· Practice sending many test tactical messages.
· Practice sending traffic between the ARES members within each ARES team.
· Practice sending traffic between EOC’s within the Eastern Massachusetts section.
· Practice sending traffic to the Western Massachusetts section ARES/RACES/SKYWARN personnel where appropriate.
· Assure MARS Liaisons have a way to gather ARES reports to formulate into EEI’s (Essential Elements of Information).

Operational Ground Rules

The following are some operational ground rules for this exercise:

All communications options should be utilized. EC’s may throw in “failures” to test out “failover” of communications wherever possible as long as they are properly communicated up and down the ARES leadership.
Many messages of both a tactical and NTS formal nature should be sent within the teams participating, between teams and between districts wherever possible.
Frequent usage of the phrase “This is a Drill” should be incorporated with any messages, traffic or announcements relating to the drill.

Operational Players

The following is a list of agencies and a general list of EOC’s that will be playing in the exercise.

Various EOC’s and Simulated EOC’s

There will be various city/town EOC’s, Red Cross Chapters and simulated EOC’s participating in the exercise. If enough of them become known, the document will be updated to provide a short listing.

SEMARA: Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (W1AEC)

The club station will be active for this exercise staffed by Amateurs from the Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association and the club’s ARES group known as SEMARA-ARES. This station will act as one of the key hubs for the region.

Town of Bridgewater EOC serving as the ARES Command Center:

The town of Bridgewater EOC will serve as an ARES Command Center as done in previous drills and exercises as well as real events. The EOC will monitor several 2 Meter frequencies, 6 Meter Mount Wachusett and possibly HF. They will act as a key control point in the drill.

Home Stations

We encourage home stations across the Eastern Massachusetts section to monitor and check into nets across Eastern Massachusetts district for ARES assistance. Some home stations can act as “simulated EOC’s” or net controls where appropriate. We encourage stations to generate tactical message traffic and formal message traffic for ARES where possible.

Mobile Stations

Mobile stations are encouraged to participate utilizing all modes at their disposal and can be utilized as roving stations and can report conditions that they might see if a real hurricane is occurring from their mobile station. We encourage stations to generate tactical message traffic for SKYWARN and formal message traffic for ARES where possible.

Other Drills Taking Place Saturday and Potential additional participants in our drill:

SET drills will be taking place in New Hampshire, Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Western Massachusetts may communicate information from a SKYWARN perspective in their drill scenario through EchoLink/IRLP and HF. Amateurs from Rhode Island may participate directly in our exercise as well and we will include them in the operation. Those wishing to attempt to make contact on the New Hampshire exercise can try 147.42 simplex as New Hampshire is conducting their drill entirely on simplex.

Amateur Radio Frequency Plan
The frequency plan will utilize existing SKYWARN and RACES repeaters that are well documented via the web. The following links detail these frequencies:

SKYWARN Frequencies:
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo/freq.htm

RACES/Simplex Frequencies:
http://ares.ema.arrl.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=1804&page_id=9
Please note that the SKYWARN Frequencies are more up to date on the first link.

It is noted that IRLP and EchoLink nodes maybe connected either to the *NEW-ENG* Conference node or IRLP Reflector 9058. This will again serve as a command net for communications within the Eastern Massachusetts ARES section and for stations outside the section that wish to participate. Individual Hams are welcome to listen and if they have no other means to pass their information, they can pass it over this system as needed.

The following additional frequencies will be utilized during the drill in the Southeast Massachusetts district:

SEMARA ARES Response Team Frequency:
147.000-Dartmouth Repeater

Fall River (BCRA) ARES/RACES Team Frequency:
145.15-Fall River Repeater PL: 123.0 Hz.

The MMRA Repeater System will potentially be linked up as needed during portions of or during the entire drill time period and we will attempt to have a Net Control monitoring the system full-time and facilitate traffic at a section level for Eastern Massachusetts. Below is the link for the frequencies that can be linked up utilizing the MMRA System:

http://www.mmra.org

The following are important regional frequencies via HF for this drill:

Regional ARES/RACES Net Primary for this drill:
3943 KHz LSB

Regional ARES/RACES Net Secondary for this drill:
7245 KHz LSB

There are additional local frequencies that maybe utilized in this drill at your local town/city level or at a regional level. Please contact your ARES DEC or EC for further information on additional frequencies that maybe utilized in your specific area during the drill.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Whittenton Pond Dam On the Mill River In Taunton ARES/RACES SitRep #5

Hello to all….

….Whittenton Pond Dam Amateur Radio Shelter and EOC Operations Suspended at approximately 2 PM Friday Afternoon. Operations on the dam continues….
….Taunton Emergency Management Continues to Monitor the Situation and pumping and stabilizing operations on the dam continue….
….More rain is forecast for the Taunton area and its unclear if this will severely impact dam stablization operations….

At 2 PM Friday afternoon, the Whittenton Pond Dam Amateur Radio Shelter and EOC operations were suspended. Pumping and stablization operations on the dam continues and Taunton Emergency Management is monitoring those operations. At this time, more rain of 1-2″ with isolated 3″ amounts are forecasted for the Taunton area. Its not clear what these rains will do to operations on the dam and Taunton Emergency Management is monitoring the situation.

At this time, no further assistance is required for this event. A HUGE thank you goes out to Eastern Masaschusetts ARES operators, Brad Anselmo-N1VUF from SEMARA ARES, Steve Schwarm-W3EVE from Norfolk County ARES and Dan Howard-Cape Cod ARES for participating in operations with the Taunton Emergency Management Amateur Radio team of 12 Amateurs. Also, special thanks to Joe Serrilla-W1JOE from the Bridgewater ARES/RACES team, who provided a mattress to a needed evacuee in the shelter on Monday Evening. Also, special thanks to Taunton Emergency Management for their recognition of the importance in Amateur Radio in this operation and their coordination with Eastern Massachusetts ARES during this event.

Carl Aveni-N1FY, South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Bob Mims-WA1OEZ, Region II RACES Radio Officer and I will continue to monitor the incoming rain and any impact on the dam and the city of Taunton EOC and shelter operations.Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Whittenton Pond Dam On the Mill River In Taunton ARES/RACES SitRep #4

Hello to all….

….Situation on the Whittenton Pond Dam Improving As Large Pumps from Hurricane Katrina are installed and running and pumping water out from the Mill River, relieving pressure on the Dam to allow for critical repairs before the next significant rain event….
….Amateurs Continue to be involved in shelter and EOC Operations in the city of Taunton with two relief operators sent from ARES this morning. The shelter maybe closed in the midday to early afternoon timeframe thus ending ARES/RACES Operations in the city of Taunton….
….ARES Operators and ARES SKYWARN Spotters Urged to Monitor Future Forecasts for significant rainfall late Saturday through Monday and possibly more rainfall in the Tuesday to Wednesday timeframe with moisture associated with Hurricane Wilma or its remnants….

The situation on the Whittenton Pond Dam is improving as large amounts of water are being pumped out of the Mill River with pumps used to pump out New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Some areas, specifically the downtown area of Taunton have been reopened, however, there are still about 18 streets closed in the city of Taunton. It is hoped that the remaining streets will be opened around the midday timeframe after coordination last night with Peter Ferreira-KB1LXG, Assistant Emergency Management Director for the city of Taunton.

Two relief operators have been sent in to the city of Taunton to assist with operations. Dan Howard-K1DYO from Cape Cod ARES and W3EVE-Steve Schwarm, Norfolk County ARES District Emergency Coordinator are deploying for 7 AM this morning. They understand the scope of the mission may change and that operations maybe shut down early or they could go through the afternoon. They are prepared to be flexible and adapt to the changing situation. They will be relieving Amateurs from the city of Taunton Emergency Management team who have been active for much of the week. Brad Anselmo-N1VUF from SEMARA (Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association) ARES provided relief operations during the midnight shift for both Wednesday and Thursday Mornings. The Taunton Emergency Management team has had 12 Hams active from their team and Amateurs from the Mansfield EOC/Sturdy Memorial team have been active as well as reported by Allan Cox-K1VQ through Carl Aveni-N1FY, South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator.

ARES Operators and ARES SKYWARN Spotters are preparing for another round of heavy rainfall late Saturday into Monday. Another 1-3″ of rain is possible in the region. If amounts do not get to the 4″ area, extensive renewed flooding is not expected but if rainfall reaches or exceeds 4″ of rain, more flooding problems will develop. We are also keeping an eye on Hurricane Wilma as remnants or moisture from Wilma could affect the region Tuesday into Wednesday and if it is significant, it could result in significant renewed flooding and that threat is being monitored as well.

The situation in Taunton continues to be monitored by Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, Carl Aveni, South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, and Bob Mims, WA1OEZ, MEMA Region II RACES Radio Officer. Further updates will be posted as needed and as time allows.Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Whittenton Pond Dam On the Mill River In Taunton ARES/RACES SitRep #3

Hello to all….

….Amateur Radio Operators Continue to be Active in the city of Taunton due to the potential collapse of Whittenton Pond Dam on the Mill River in Taunton Massachusetts….
….SEMARA ARES To Send One Amateur To Support Overnight Operations. There is Potential for Further Requests for ARES/RACES Amateurs within the Eastern Massachusetts Section to Deploy in small numbers….
….Deployment is solely dependent on the Taunton Emergency Management and Taunton ARES/RACES leadership. Do NOT Self-Deploy. Await instructions from your ARES DEC, EC, or myself for any deployments that may be needed….

During the day today, the dam situation has stabilized to some extent but there remains a significant threat for the dam to breach and flood portions of the city of Taunton. After conditions on the dam got worse overnight, there has been no further degradation of the dam but there remains significant vibration of the dam and damage to wooden stanchion at the bottom is suspected with the wood structure totally rotted away providing a lack of support for the dam to hold up. It remains unclear whether the dam will collapse but a significant risk of the dam collapsing remains.

Amateur Radio Operators continue to support operations at the city of Taunton EOC and at the Taunton High School shelter. There are approximately 90-95 evacuees in the shelter. There are a total of 12 Amateurs assisting in the operation including the EMA Director and Assistant EMA Director who are both Amateurs. This was reported by Bruce Hayden, NI1X, Taunton RACES Radio Officer through Carl Aveni, N1FY, ARES District Emergency Coordinator for South Shore ARES. In addition, 5 Amateurs from the Bridgewater ARES Team have been monitoring the situation. As reported earlier, W1JOE-Joe Serilla donated a mattress to the effort on Monday Night and offered his skills as a communicator as well as a certified cook for the operation. SEMARA ARES monitored through the club station at W1AEC through the efforts of Chris Washburn-W1EAV who was requested to go to the club and monitor the situation for as long as possible.

Taunton Emergency Management requested a relief Ham to man the Taunton EOC for the Midnight shift. That request was funneled by Bruce Hayden-NI1X to Carl Aveni-N1FY. After conferring with Carl, Brad Anselmo-N1VUF from SEMARA ARES will be manning the EOC during the 3rd shift timeframe. This also means that there maybe a need for additional deployment of Hams from the various ARES teams in Eastern Massachusetts in small numbers. Remember the rules that Eastern Massachusetts ARES has regarding deployments, do NOT self-deploy and wait for instructions from your ARES, EC, DEC or myself for any deployments. Checks on availability may get sent to various ARES teams by ARES leadership over the next day or so pending the threat from the dam and future operations in the city of Taunton.

ARES and RACES leadership continue to monitor the situation through the efforts of Bob Mims-WA1OEZ, MEMA Region II RACES Radio Officer, Carl Aveni-N1FY, South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator and myself. Continued updates through these sitreps will be posted to keep everyone informed with ongoing operations as changes develop and time allows.
Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1 1

Whittenton Pond Dam On the Mill River In Taunton ARES/RACES SitRep #2

Hello to all….

….Amateur Radio Operators Continue to be Active in the city of Taunton due to the potential collapse of Whittenton Pond Dam on the Mill River in Taunton Massachusetts….
….Eastern Massachusetts ARES and Region II RACES Continues to monitor the situation….

The city of Taunton EOC and the Taunton High School shelter continue to be active in support of evacuees who have left their homes in the area near the Mill River in Taunton, Massachusetts. Amateur Radio Operators at the Taunton High School shelter and the Taunton EOC continued to be active throughout the night supporting shelter needs. The dam has continued to show signs of deterioration but has not failed as of yet. School has been cancelled in the city of Taunton and businesses in the downtown district have been closed. Road closures in Downtown Taunton have also occurred. A breach of the dam has not occurred as of yet. Operations continue on the 147.135-Taunton Repeater. N1UMJ-John, Bruce-NI1X, Carlos-WP4US, Don-KB1LXI along with other Amateurs of the city of Taunton continue to support operations. A complete list of Amateurs supporting the operation will be listed when a list is available. W1JOE-Joe from the Bridgewater ARES/RACES team left a mattress for an evacuee who needed it at the Taunton High School Shelter. Joe is also a certified cook and offered his services for the shelter in that capacity. The Bridgewater ARES/RACES team is preparing to back up the Taunton team as needed.

The latest information on this dam is contained in the NWS Taunton Massachusetts Flash Flood Warning statement. See the link below for the latest information:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus51.KBOX.html

Region II RACES Radio Officer, Bob Mims, WA1OEZ, South Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Carl Aveni, N1FY, and Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, Rob Macedo, KD1CY are closely monitoring the situation in case additional support is needed. At this time, the Amateur Radio resources of the city of Taunton continue to handle the situation within their own resources. The situation will continue to be monitored and updates will be posted as needed.
Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Whittenton Pond Dam On the Mill River In Taunton ARES/RACES SitRep #1

Hello to all…

….Amateur Radio Operators have been activated in the City of Taunton due to the potential collapse of the Whittenton Pond Dam on the Mill River in Taunton Massachusetts….
….Eastern Massachusetts ARES and Region II RACES is monitoring the situation….

The city of Taunton EOC is activated along with one shelter to support evacuees who are being asked to leave an area that would be susceptible to flooding in the event of a potential collapse of the Whittenton Pond Dam on the Mill River in the city of Taunton. Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, Rob Macedo, KD1CY and Region II RACES Radio Offier, Bob Mims, WA1OEZ are monitoring the 147.135-Taunton Repeater. A Status Report has been sent by NI1X-Bruce Hayden to ARES District Emergency Coordinator, Carl Aveni-N1FY, who is also monitoring the situation.

Local officials have stated that the dam could potentially fail at anytime. For further information, please see the NWS Taunton Flash Flood Warning Statement at this link:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus51.KBOX.html

Right now, the local Amateur Radio resources in the city of Taunton have the situation under control. We will continue to monitor the situation in case further Amateur Radio resources are required.

Updates will be posted as required. Please monitor the web site and various email lists for these updates.
Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Eastern Massachusetts ARES SET Drill Saturday November 12th 10 AM-1 PM

Hello to all….

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct the section wide ARES SET on Saturday November 12th from 10 AM-1 PM. By coincidence, this ARES Drill will take place on the same day as the New Hampshire and Vermont ARES SET’s so we may get some participation from neighboring sections.

Details on the drill scenario will follow in later updates but the scenario will be non-weather related and be based on an event that would have little or no advanced warning. Goals and objectives of the drill will be outlined in a subsequent update to be posted either this weekend or next weekend.

All ARES groups are requested to participate in the exercise. Amateurs involved in RACES are asked to participate as well.

We have not had an exercise since early June. This exercise will keep all emergency communicators in the section fresh and their protocols in communication current. I look forward to working with all of you on this exercise.Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net Tonight at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

Hello to all….

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for October is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for October is Monday October 3rd, 2005, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

Make tonight, “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. Thanks to all for your continued participation!

We will have several interesting announcements for the net this 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
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo 1 1 1

Hurricane Katrina ARES/RACES Disaster Relief Coordination Message

Hello to all….

With the impact of Hurricane Katrina becoming one of the most horrific natural disaster’s in United States history, it is evident that the recovery effort will become one of potentially national significance lasting months and not weeks. Given that is the case, I will begin posting coordination messages similar to ones that I post for SKYWARN but detailing the disaster relief effort and what Eastern Massachusetts ARES is doing to be prepared to support the affected area if called upon by the appropriate leadership in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and now South Texas given that thousands of people are now being sheltered in Texas.

Contact was made with Louisiana ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Gary Stratton-K5GLS this morning via email. At this time, they are in a “hold mode” concerning any outside support. They are awaiting word from Louisiana Homeland Security on when they can begin their deployments. Until that time, we have been asked to stand-by and await any further instructions. In that same note, I offered a “remote support” component from our ARES organization to support their operations. This support included net controls on HF, net controls utilizing VoIP and any relay stations to take traffic that is out of the affected area and destined for our region in the form of health and welfare traffic. At this time, they are so busy with emergency and priority traffic, that they are focused on that piece of their work at this time. Health and Welfare traffic has been halted into the region at this time. It is not yet known when Health & Welfare traffic will be facilitated from the affected area to the areas where loved ones are located across the United States.

As we watch the visions of despair, violence and in parallel the hope the disaster relief efforts provide, I’d like to remind all in the ARES community of the following:

1.) Please do not self-deploy to this area. It is a significantly dangerous and life-threatening situation. As much as we all want to help, the best thing to do right now is to wait until the situation stabilizes enough so that help can be properly provided. We all want to be heroes as we as Amateur Radio Operators have a knack for wanting to help our communities. The best help we can provide right now is to remain calm and patient. When the section’s affected is ready for our support, whether it be remote support or the support of a team to deploy to the area, they responsible leaders of the affected ARRL sections will call for us.

2.) Some Amateurs may have seen the database for Hams to sign up for message handling and deployment. Please do not sign up through that database. If you are interested in supporting the operation whether it be through remote message handling or deployment to the affected area, please let your DEC or myself know and we will be prepared to utilize you in the event of remote support or actual deployment.

3.) We must be careful not to overextend ourselves to support these ARRL sections affected by Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Season continues and the peak is not till mid-September. It is still conceivable that we could be affected by a hurricane in our section and we will need to be ready to protect and support our communities. Also, let us not forget the continuous threat that Al Qaeda imposes on our homeland as well. There remains threats to our area so we need to balance supporting this horrific disaster with making sure our region is properly covered if a weather related, terrorist related or other such incident occurs in our region.

The President of the ARRL, Jim Haynie, W5JBP, sent out a powerful and excellent message to the Amateur Radio Community concerning being ready to help the region. A link to this article is provided below:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/09/01/2/?nc=1

There are several frequencies active handling emergency and priority traffic. Those that would like to monitor the nets are welcome to do so but please do not interrupt traffic on the nets. Stand-by and monitor the nets and you will get a sense of what our Amateurs in the affected area are going through. The HF frequencies are listed below and were mentioned in the ARRL article on the web site:

West Gulf ARES Emergency Net:
7.285 MHz Days and 3.873 MHz nights LSB on
both frequencies.

SATERN Net: 14.265 USB

The next step from an Eastern Massachusetts ARES perspective will be to offer support to Mass. Bay Red Cross and Salvation Army to see if there is anything that can be done from a communications perspective working through our local relief agencies. As things develop, I will pass the information along to everyone.

Donations for people in the affected area can be made through the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Various work places may have also set up fundraising finds through their companies.

Please contact me or your ARES DEC with any questions or if you want to volunteer for any type of remote support or actual deployment if actual deployment becomes necessary in the coming weeks. Thanks to all of you for your continued support of ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
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Long Island ARES Requests Contact with Eastern Mass ARES on HF For Drill

My apologies for the late notice but this information just came in over the last couple of days.

Long Island New York ARES/RACES has requested support on HF for stations to contact them during their ARES/RACES drill which will take place Saturday
August 13th from 10 AM-4 PM. After talking with their Emergency Coordinator, John Allocca, WB2LUA, ARES Emergency Coordinator/RACES Radio Officer for the
town of Huntington, NY, I told them for this drill, they could utilize 7245 KHz for 40 Meter comms. and they have designated 3993.5 for comms. later in
the day. Their request is for any ARES operators who are available tomorrow at 11 AM to check in with them on 7245 KHz. At that time, they will let everyone know when they will attempt to utilize 3993.5 Khz.

Details on their drill are at the following link:
http://www.hudson.arrl.org/nli/events.htm

If you are around Saturday Morning, please try to check into the drill and thanks to all for their continued support of ARES/RACES and SKYWARN.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1 1

Reminder: Monthly Eastern Mass. ARES Net Today at 8:30 PM

Hello to all…

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for August is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for August is today, Monday August 1st, 2005, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening.

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. Thanks to all for your continued participation!

We will have several interesting announcements for the net this evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation.

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo

Eastern Mass. ARES/CEMARC Chicken BBQ at SEMARA Saturday August 20th!!

Eastern Massachusetts ARES and CEMARC, the Council of Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Clubs is pleased to announce that the Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association will be hosting a Chicken BBQ on behalf of the two organizations. This BBQ is largely a social event for ARES members and CEMARC representatives and to express thanks to all those who have assisted Eastern Massachusetts ARES and CEMARC over the last several years. The BBQ will be Saturday August 20th, 2005 and begin at 11 AM with a 60-90 minute presentation on ARES and CEMARC accomplishments with video and audio clips from recent events. Food will be served between 12:15 and 12:30 PM. Scott Szala-W1EV, who runs activities for the SEMARA Club, will be putting together his Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section famous Chicken BBQ, which has been the staple for lunch at past Emergency Communications Workshops done at the SEMARA Club and is the best Chicken BBQ you will ever have in the section!

Directions to the SEMARA facility can be seen at the following link:
http://www.semara.org/direct.htm

Pre-registration is required for this event and it will be limited to roughly 50 people due to the capacity of the SEMARA facility. To pre-register, please contact the following:

Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Manager:
W1MPN-Mike Neilsen Email: w1mpn@ema.arrl.org

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator:
KD1CY-Rob Macedo Email: kd1cy@ema.arrl.org

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the SEMARA Club Saturday August 20th, 2005!
Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
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://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

Massachusetts RACES Net/Eastern Mass. ARES Net Moved to 2nd Monday in July

Due to the 4th of July holiday falling on a Monday this year, the Massachusetts RACES Nets will take place at their regular times but on the 2nd Monday of July or Monday July 11th, 2005. Therefore, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net will also move to Monday July 11th, 2005 at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater System. Don’t miss a night to take care of participating in your Emergency Communications duties by checking into the RACES and ARES Nets. Once again, the Massachusetts RACES Nets has been moved to Monday July 11th, 2005 and the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net has been moved to Monday July 11th, 2005 at 8:30 PM due to the 4th of July falling on a Monday this year. Thanks to all and hope to hear everyone on the nets!Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
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://users.rcn.com/rmacedo
1

EMA ARES Provides Support For “Operation Atlas”

Op Atlas participant badgeEastern Massachusetts ARES participated on June 4 in “Operation Atlas”, a federally sponsored anti-hijacking exercise held at Boston’s Logan International Airport. This was its second federal exercise this spring.

Operation Atlas is the Department of Homeland Security’s code name for the Boston Logan Airport Drill where a United Airlines plane was hijacked and brought down to Logan Airport by military fighter aircraft. Various federal agencies, especially the Department of Homeland Security agencies practiced the skills required of them by the DHS mandate. The American Red Cross provided Mass Care and Disaster Mental Health Services per their charter through FEMA and DHS mandate. EMA ARES provided direct communications support to the Red Cross at their Waltham and Boston chapters, with net control support being provided away from the incident at the EMA ARES Incident Command Post in the town of Bridgewater, MA. In addition, Amateurs from Western Massachusetts ARES lent support operations to the Northeast Service Area Headquarters, which is co-located with the Central Massachusetts Red Cross Chapter in Worcester, Massachusetts.“Operation Atlas gives Eastern Massachusetts ARES its first agency tied exercise within its home section since the Democratic National Convention mobilization of July 2004,” stated EMA SEC Robert “Rob” Macedo, KD1CY. He continued stating that “The eyes of many agencies will be on how ARES supports the Red Cross so it will be important to execute our role as well as possible and learn from an experience that we may not have again for several years. Eastern Massachusetts ARES earned high marks for the support given to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, the city of Boston EOC, and the National Weather Service for the DNC mobilization.”

EMA SM Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN, stated that 14 EMA amateurs responded to the scene, donating 140 person-hours of effort including driving time. Using the National Association of Amateur Radio guideline of $10/hour equivalency that translates to over $1400. Add $280 of out-of-pocket privately owned vehicle expenses represented by an average of 50 miles traveled per volunteer to their mobilization sites, for a total of $1680.

Neilsen, himself a participant, stated that “the ARES mobilization was professionally planned and executed. We continue to demonstrate a high state of readiness for an actual disaster response.”

Satisfaction on the part of the Red Cross could be summed up by comments made by David Belsky, Gov’t liaison lead. “I’d like to take a moment to extend my thanks to you and the ARES team for the excellent work done before and during Operation Atlas. I know that the Red Cross RAT [Rapid Action Team] appreciates your efforts towards making this exercise a success. I received many compliments on the team’s performance during the course of the day!”

City Of Brockton Seeks Volunteer “Victims” June 9, 2005

Red Cross logoMichael J. McMahon writes on northeastmassredcross.org:

On June 9th, the City of Brockton is holding its annual Hazardous Material Drill (please see the attached announcement). Brockton is looking for 70+ volunteers to participate in this drill at the Brockton Post Office Distribution Site on Liberty Street in Brockton. Volunteers should plan on being on scene no later than 9:00am. It will end around 1:00pm.

This is a great opportunity to see emergency responders in action… and to be right in the middle of it yourself!!!

To sign up as a volunteer – please contact Mike Chaplain 508-586-4790 x 101 or email chaplainm@usa.redcross.org

If you have any questions about the drill, you can contact Dawn Snow 617-375-0700 x 408 or email snowd@usa.redcross.org.

Eastern MA ARES Members Assist At TOPOFF 3

TOPOFF 3 Exercise w/ K1EIC & W1MPNAmateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in Connecticut in this week’s massive TOPOFF 3 exercise drew high praise from the American Red Cross, as reported on the ARRL Web’s on-line article, High Praise for Amateur Radio Follows ARES’ TOPOFF 3 Performance. Augmenting the Connecticut ARES volunteers were several ARES members from Eastern MA, including Section Manager Mike Neilsen, W1MPN.

Connecticut Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC, paid Neilsen “and his dedicated, professional team” high complements for their participation in TOPOFF 3. “This was a great example of how two ARRL sections can work together,” Doane said. “It was a real pleasure having them on board.”

ARRL Connecticut SM Betsey Doane, K1EIC (left), and Eastern Massachusetts SM Mike Neilsen, W1MPN, interviewed by a newspaper reporter from Norwich.