All

Hello to all…

The November Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday November 6th, 2023 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 a number of announcements and items for this month’s net including our announcement on the Eastern Massachsusetts ARES SET Drill set for Saturday 11/6/23 from 1000 AM-1200 PM EST.

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
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Hello to all,

      We are finally exiting hurricane season and now we move toward the winter weather season! This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that Monday evening, November 6^th, 2023 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night. This month also will play host to a winter Simulated Emergency Test by Eastern MA ARES. This test is currently scheduled to occur on November 11^th, 2023 and has been designed by Frank, WQ1O. More information should be forthcoming on the Eastern MA Section ARRL web page: https://ema.arrl.org/category/emcomm/ please check with your EC or DEC for more information. I do recommend any RACES members that are able to participate please do! Exercises planned by Frank (WQ1O) are usually VERY robust and do a great job of testing participants skills and equipment very well.

      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 due to a possible conflict with town meeting, I may be left to run the net from my vehicle in the parking lot of our meeting place which may make the simplex test less than awesome. I am looking for someone to take over the Sector 2A NCO duties if anyone is available and interested. I am also looking for NCS operators to lead the Sector 2B (Plymouth County) net. Sector 2D has already arranged for an NCS operator for this month’s net and Sector 2C is 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 check-in form using the Winlink standard checkin form

– send via Winlink after 6 AM EST Mon. November 6^th  and before midnight EST November 7^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: 508_995_0203 

Don Rolph, AB1PH, 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, The RACES nets for Nov will be held on Mon Nov 6 at:

********************************************************************************
The HF net will start at 6:45 PM ET: 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 ET 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 call sign WA1PLE will be net control.
********************************************************************************
HF 80 meters NBEMS net:
7:00 PM ET
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:
Bryan Marcotte KF1D will be. net control.
Send a winlink checkin form to KF1D, copy AB1PH, between 0600 Monday Nov 6 and 2400 Monday Nov 6.

We look forward to you checking in!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

N1SOM-Jeff – Secretary of the South Shore Hospital (SSH) group writes:

Good Evening,

On Saturday November 4, 2023, the South Shore Hospital Amateur Radio Group will hold an Eastern MA Hospital Net commencing at 10:00AM.

We realize that some locations, individuals, and groups may be subject to COVID restrictions. We encourage everyone who is affected by these restrictions to utilize their home or mobile stations to check into the net if possible. Even if you cannot reach all the systems being used, please check-in on those you can.

We will use the following repeaters in the order listed.

1. Attleboro Repeater 147.195 tone 127.3
2. West Bridgewater 146.775 dcs 244​
3. DMR -Talkgroup 8851 Time Slot :1 on the following NEDECN repeaters: Boston 449.175 -5.M CC:1, Hingham 146.430 -1.5M CC:1, Sagamore 145.200 – 0.6M CC;10, Dennis 146.470 -1.5M CC:11, East. Falmouth 145.210 -0.600 CC:9, Martha’s Vineyard145.180 -0.600 CC:10, and Walpole 145.380 -0.600 CC:12.
4. Sharon 146.865 tone 103.5​

Return to the Attleboro 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.

73,

Jeff N1SOM and the South Shore Hospital Group W1SSH

Hello to all…

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct a Simulated Emergency Test, Section Exercise: “Regional Prep” on Saturday November 11th, 2023 from 1000 AM-1200 PM EDT. The exercise will test the ability of several home stations, EOCs, possible field sites and other stations to communicate. The exercise will attempt to build upon the lessons learned from our past operational exercises. This exercise will be held on the same day as the National Winlink ETO (EmComm Training Organization) exercise.

A document on the exercise including frequencies for nets and activities that will be completed on the exercise will be posted by Monday 10/30/23. It could be updated one more time to include final updates during the week of 11/6/23.

The exercise is for all Eastern Massachusetts ARES members but is also open to participation of any kind to the entire Amateur Radio community including anyone outside of the Eastern Massachusetts section. More to follow on the ARES exercise details in the next 1-2 weeks. 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
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
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Allen Phillips – MEMA East Regional Manager writes:

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is excited to host a Bunker Birthday celebration on November 4, 2023, marking 60 years since former President Kennedy dedicated the facility in 1963. We’ll be opening our headquarters to the public for tours and to learn about how emergency management has evolved over time.

We hope you can join us to celebrate MEMA’s history. The event will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Allen Phillips, MSDM
Regional Manager, MEMA East