Eastern Massachusetts ARES Exercise – “Operation Frozen Days” – Saturday 2/6/21 – 1000 AM-1200 PM EDT
The Eastern MA Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) will conduct an exercise in conjunction with the Cape Cod ARES exercise Operation “Frozen Days” on February 6, 2021 from 10 AM to 12 Noon (setup to start at 830-9 AM where needed) to test its capability in establishing communications with stations inside and outside of the section. Operation “Frozen Days” will attempt to build upon the lessons learned from past operational exercises.
The exercise scenario involves a series of coastal storms battering Cape Cod and the Islands with winds over 90 MPH over several storms. Eventually, hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Massachusetts are left without power due to this series of coastal storms.
“This exercise guideline is deliberately broad and generic in nature like the fall exercise. ARES groups are free to adapt this scenario and conduct their exercise as needed for their group,” writes District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O.
“This is another great opportunity, similar to the Fall exercise, for new Amateur Radio Operators, whether they are involved in ARES or not, to check into nets, provide simulated information and exercise traffic, or just check in and learn how nets work and what ARES can do during an actual event. This includes the National Weather Service SKYWARN component of ARES” writes Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator.
With the ongoing COVID-19 situation in MA, it will be unlikely that groups will be able to operate at EOCs and other municipal locations. Therefore any activation of shelters will be simulated by role play. It is likely that most of the operations involved in this exercise will utilize home stations along with field sites on Cape Cod and at other local ARES groups and those local groups’ discretion.
Some exercise objectives include:
• Simulate the activation of shelters in your area;
• Simulate the activation of EOC stations in your area;
• Establish and conduct a tactical net on simplex 2m FM/ repeater for your group;
• Simulate contact with any Town EOC RACES stations;
• Establish contact with other ARES districts where possible;
• Establish an HF 75 meter voice net for all of MA (and potentially other areas);
• Pass an NTS type message on 2 meters VHF and/or 440 MHz;
• Pass a SKYWARN and/or tactical message on voice 2 meters and on the HF net;
• Optional components of the exercise to pass information digitally via Winlink and NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System)
For full details, see the “Eastern MA Exercise Scenario and Guidelines” document at Eastern Massachusetts ARES Winter Exericse – Saturday February 6th, 2021
The 
Dec. 12: Unfortunately I had to cancel this event – a very unusual occurrence for me. Looks like the weather is a bit uncooperative too. -KM1NDY
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Wednesday, November 11, 2020, is Veterans Day and once again 
There is QRP, even “QRPP.” Aficionados get on the air, battery and spare battery in hand and see how many contacts—or how much DX—they can log. But have you ever considered how many QSOs are actually held in a single battery pack?
Contest Objective: To support amateur self-training in radiocommunications, including improving amateur operating skills, conducting technical investigations, and intercommunicating with other amateurs. Stations in the United States and Canada (including territories and possessions) exchange information with as many other US and Canadian stations as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.