Public Service

Amateur radio public service events

Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Does Virtual Meet & Greet with Massachusetts VOAD Via Zoom – Tuesday 11/3/20

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

On Tuesday Morning, 11/3/20, Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, KD1CY-Rob Macedo, did a virtual Meet & Greet with Massachusetts VOAD to explain ARES role and how ARES can support Non-Governmental Organizations. The 30 minute meeting was well received by the VOAD leadership that participated. ARES has been a member within the VOAD organization since 2012.

VOAD stands for Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster. The ARRL has a national level Memorandum of Understanding with VOAD and encourages section ARES programs to work with state VOADs. Examples of organizations that are part of VOAD include ARES traditional partners such as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army as well as Team Rubicon, various church groups that support disaster relief for individuals and families and many other organizations.

“We got to explain ARES role and what we can provide to Non-Government Organizations in both auxiliary communications, additional resources supporting communications and situational awareness information when normal communications means are up as well as what we can provide to them when other forms of communication fails. We also encouraged VOAD to look at ways we can help their organization based on their communications and technical needs after giving them some understanding of what we traditionally provide and explained to them all the MOUs ARES through the ARRL has with various organizations within VOAD and National VOAD” Macedo said.

Macedo reported that the members on the call understood how Amateur Radio plays a role and is often in the background performing important tasks that help their teams and other agencies. They were impressed with the presentation and look forward to future engagement both with Eastern Massachusetts ARES and Western Massachusetts ARES. “They asked for the Western Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator contact info which we provided to them along with a short presentation that we reviewed on the call and we look forward to a continued and stronger relationship with Massachusetts VOAD and the member agencies within VOAD going forward” Macedo said.

Emergency Communications / NTS / Public Service

SEMARA ARES Activates Net Sunday Morning 11/8/20 for Situational Awareness After Earthquake 3.6 on Richter Scale Occurs Southeast of the New Bedford Area

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

SEMARA ARES activated an ARES Net at 950 AM Sunday for a little over 2 hours on the 147.000-Dartmouth Repeater, approximately 40 minutes after an earthquake, originally registered 4.2 on the Richter scale and revised down to 3.6 on the Richter scale occurred several miles offshore of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The earthquake was felt as far north as Southern New Hampshire and through much of Rhode Island through parts of Western and Central Massachusetts and Connecticut and the Long Island New York area.

Rob Macedo-KD1CY felt the earthquake at his home in New Bedford while checked into the New England Phone Net on HF on 3945 KHz. “I was checked in and monitoring the New England Phone Net where I heard 2 loud bangs as if someone was in my garage and had opened the garage doors and then had rattling and shaking that was fairly violent from what I’m used to in quakes I’ve felt in the past. After about 15-20 seconds total, it was over and after checking with an Amateur Radio SKYWARN Coordinator and friend from Rhode Island, N1EGS-John Buco, it was clear that we had an earthquake with information posted on the USGS web site. I immediately informed the New England Phone Net of what I experienced and ask for reports on who felt the quake.”

Very quickly things ramped up for a time from a public safety response perspective. Fire departments in New Bedford, Westport, Dartmouth and Fairhaven responded to possible gas leak issues at numerous homes in these communities. Information on posting what you felt during the earthquake was posted on the WX1BOX Facebook and Twitter feeds.

“We informed the National Weather Service within about 5 minutes of the incident that an earthquake had occurred and we were checking on damage reports and sent a report to the USGS via their form for the quake in question” Macedo said. Numerous reports on feeling the quake were fielded from the WX1BOX social media feeds. The Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association has a USGS seismograph and it measured this quake as well – see Cape Ann ARA Seismograph Detected Sunday’s Earthquake

At the suggestion of Mike “Sparky’ Leger-N1YLQ ARES DEC and Region 2 RACES Radio Officer, it was agreed to put up a formal ARES Net on the 147.000-Dartmouth Repeater for situational awareness and in case any needs arrived from partner agencies. From Sparky’s logs, 11 stations checked into the net which ran for a little over 2 hours. The net report is listed below:

N1YLQ-Sparky-Acushnet, MA (NCO)
KA1RSY-Ed-New Bedford, MA
KD1CY-Rob-New Bedford, MA
KC0AEO-South Dartmouth, MA
KC1FOZ-Al-South Westport, MA
KC1ISZ-New Bedford, MA
KC1CBR-Berkley, MA
N1IXC-Joe-South Dartmouth, MA
W1AEC-SEMARA Clubhouse
W1EAV-Chris-Marion, MA
KB1UAM-Anthony-New Bedford, MA

Three confirmed damage reports were received on Crapo Street in the city of New Bedford as relayed by Acushnet Emergency Management Deputy Director, KA1RSY-Ed Caron and KD1CY-Rob Macedo. Three homes sustained damage to the chimney smokestack area near gas mains inside of the residences and were evacuated with 20 people being temporarily displaced. Red Cross was involved in caring for these residents. This information was relayed to the National Weather Service and the minor damage reports were include in the NWS Boston/Norton Earthquake Report. Joe Krisnosky-N1IXC, who is part of New Bedford EMA, forwarded pictures of the damage from New Bedford EMA Director, Brian Nobrega.

“This is an example of ARES in action to provide rapid and precise situational awareness for use by other agencies. In this case, it was the USGS and the National Weather Service” Macedo said.

Public Service

Algonquin ARC Members Conduct Halloween School Watch, October 31, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

AARC logoAlgonquin Amateur Radio Club members had a very successful Halloween School Watch on October 31. Over twenty club members came out to help the city of Marlboro with this event including first ­time participants. It was great to see the club back in action with a public service activity even if in a socially-distant way. It was a chilly evening in our cars under a full moon.

With a lot of radio activity on the school watch net, we even attracted the attention of some hams monitoring the repeater. Net control Eric, KV1J, responded with some great publicity for the club and the Emergency Operations Center. 

–Mike W1KU, AARC QRZ, November 2020

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday November 2nd, 2020 – 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The November Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday November 2nd, 2020 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:

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on participation in the Eastern Mass ARES SET for Saturday 11/14/20 timed with a national Red Cross exercise. We’ll also do a quick review of past events in the month of October and preview the 2020 SKYWARN Recognition Day event for Saturday December 5th, 2020 from 0000-2400 UTC.

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
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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 9/14/2020 at 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The September Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday September 14th, 2020 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:

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, the focus will be on several announcements on upcoming events and documentation forthcoming along with the posting of exercise reports via email and the Eastern Mass ARRL/ARES section web site which were delayed due to numerous ARES-SKYWARN activations during August. We will also give a brief COVID-19 update.

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
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Emergency Communications / Public Service

Eastern MA Hospital Net, August 1, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

John O’Neill, K1JRO, writes:

We would like to thank the group at Mansfield EMA for once again stepping up and offering to be Net Control for the Eastern MA Hospital Net. The August 1, 2020 Eastern MA Hospital Net will from the Mansfield EMA and the Net Control Operator will be Bob, WB1GON.

The Net will commence as usual at 10 AM.

He will use the following repeaters in the order listed, followed by a simplex test on 147.420, and then return to the Mansfield repeater for net closing:

Mansfield         147.015 / tone 67
Bridgewater     147.180 / tone 67
Attleboro          147.195 / tone 127.3

Regards, 

John O’ – K1JRO 

Public Service

2020 Head of the Charles Regatta Cancelled

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

This premiere rowing event, attracting competitors from all over the world, relies upon Amateur Radio communications for coordination and medical support of both land and boat-based services along the beautiful Charles River.

From Boston.com:

“Organizers of the Head of the Charles Regatta, a two-day [October 17-18, 2020] annual event drawing thousands of rowers from around the world, announced the cancellation of the 2020 event Wednesday, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“’As you know, our top priority has always been holding a regatta that is safe, competitive and fun,’ Head of the Charles executive director Fred Schoch wrote in a Facebook post announcing the cancellation. ‘While we are deeply disappointed that health and safety conditions throughout the world prohibit us from doing that this year, our team is hard at work developing a global remote event to be held this October.’”  [Full story]

Public Service

2020 Baystate Marathon Cancelled

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Terry Stader, KA8SCP, writes on the PART of Westford mailing list:

From the Lowell OEM folks:

After speaking with the Lowell Cultural Affairs Special Events office they confirmed that these events have been cancelled for this year. I just wanted to  send a courtesy update everyone involved each year.

Hopefully we will resume in 2021:

  • Asian Water Festival (August)
  • Kinetics Race (September)
  • Bay State Marathon (October)
  • River Regatta (October)
Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday July 6th 2020 at 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The July Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday July 6th, 2020 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:

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will do a brief review of severe weather events that have affected the section particularly in the last week and provide a brief COVID-19-Update as we continue to monitor this health emergency from a communications needs perspective and what you can do as ARES volunteers or general Amateur Radio Operators during this health emergency to prepare for any communications issues during this time. A link to a document that we had created for ARES awareness in April 2020 is available at the following link:

https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Eastern-Massachusetts-ARES-COVID-19-Update.pdf

A reminder that a report on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES exercise will be available by Monday July 13th 2020 and will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares. 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
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Emergency Communications / Operating / Public Service

July Eastern MA Hospital Net Cancelled Due to Independence Day Holiday

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

John O’Neill-K1JRO writes:

Good Evening Everyone,

My apologies for the very late note.

Where the first Saturday of July is holiday, we will not have a Net this month. We will have a Net in August. A notice will be sent out about the August Net well in advance.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th.

Regards,

John O’ – K1JRO

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

Field Day / Public Service

Scattered Strong to Severe Storms Possible on Field Day Weekend, June 27-28, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment
SKYWARN logoRob Macedo, KD1CY, writes:
 
Need to keep an eye on the severe weather potential for the entire timeframe of Field Day Weekend but especially the Saturday Afternoon/Evening timeframe and the Sunday Afternoon/evening timeframe. While we don’t have many “traditional” Field Day sites setup, there are a few and also those that have home station field setups that will want to monitor the severe weather potential. I’ll be updating the Amateur Radio Field Day/Severe Weather Coordination Message in the next couple of hours. I’ve elected to copy EMA ARRL Staff for their awareness as well.
 
Regards,
 
Rob M.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: BOX Operations – NOAA Service Account <box.operations@noaa.gov>
Date: Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 2:31 PM
Subject: [2020-06-26 PM] NWS Boston EM Briefing – Scattered Strong to Severe Storms Possible This Weekend
To:
Good afternoon everyone, 
 
Severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday and Sunday across parts of Southern New England. With the weekend ahead of us, we wanted to get this heads-up e-mail out early for your awareness.
 
Saturday
 
Rain during the first part of the day gives way to thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening.
 
Timing: Mid-afternoon to early Saturday evening.
Locations: Possible anywhere, but the best chance is near and south of the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90. 
Severe Thunderstorm Threats: Primarily damaging straight-line winds and hail up to 1″ in diameter. While the overall risk is very low, an isolated tornado is possible.
Confidence: Moderate. How much Southern New England can warm up will greatly impact the severe thunderstorm potential.
 
The severe thunderstorm outlook for Saturday from the Storm Prediction Center is highlighted below:
 
New England weather map prediction for June 27, 2020
 
 
Sunday
 
A few severe thunderstorms are possible later in the day Sunday ahead of a cold front.
 
Timing: Best chance is late-afternoon to mid-evening Sunday; isolated storms possible between early to mid-afternoon.
Locations: Possible anywhere, but the best chance is western and central Massachusetts, northern Rhode Island and much of northern Connecticut.
Severe Thunderstorm Threats: Damaging straight-line winds and hail up to 1″ in diameter.
Confidence: Moderate. Isolated strong/severe storms could be possible before late in the day but the best chance is with the cold front arriving later in the day into mid-evening.
 
The severe thunderstorm outlook for Sunday is highlighted below:
 
New England weather prediction map for June 28, 2020
 
Thank You!
 
Meteorologists Andrew Loconto and Rodney Chai


If you have any questions or would like more information, don’t hesitate to contact us via this email address, on NWSChat, or at the following:
 

National Weather Service Boston/Norton, MA
46 Commerce Way

Norton, MA 02766

508.622.3280
Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

June Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net Canceled

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

John O’Neill – K1JRO writes:

Good Evening Everyone,

My apologies for the late notice. I was hoping that one of the members from the SSHARG would be able to take the net this month. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Therefore, the June 6 EMHN is cancelled.

I believe that with the next phased re-opening on June 8th, Massachusetts health care facilities will be asking their locked-out volunteers to return. Once this happens, we can all get back into our shacks. If all goes well, SSHARG will be able to include Winlink and DMR testing in the monthly net soon.

73’s Stay Safe,
John O’Neill – K1JRO

South Shore Health Amateur Radio Group – W1SSH
55 Fogg Road, Box 42
South Weymouth, MA 02190

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 6/1/2020 at 830 PM EDT

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The June Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday June 1st, 2020 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:

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will discuss the start of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season and provide a brief COVID-19-Update as we continue to monitor this health emergency from a communications needs perspective and what you can do as ARES volunteers or general Amateur Radio Operators during this health emergency to prepare for any communications issues during this time. A link to a document that we had created for ARES awareness in April 2020 is available at the following link:

https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Eastern-Massachusetts-ARES-COVID-19-Update.pdf

We will also review the recent training and exercise activities during the month of May. Reports on those events will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares. 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
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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

UPDATED: Eastern Massachusetts ARES to Participate in National Red Cross Exercise and WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

**SECTION EXERCISE PLAN UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY INFORMATION – REMAINDER BELOW IS UNCHANGED**

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will participate in a National Red Cross exercise on Saturday May 30th, 2020 from 1000 AM-1200 PM (setup time starting as early as 900 AM). The exercise is split into two parts with Part A being the ARES component and Part B being handled by a small number of ARES members who are also part of Red Cross.

The exercise has been adapted to allow for a partial weather scenario to encourage Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters to participate and to allow participation in other modes used traditionally in the section including Echolink and IRLP. A high-level Eastern Massachusetts section plan has been generated and is available here:

RedCross-Eastern MA-ARES Exercise 1.7 05-28-20

Section wide frequency and Echolink/IRLP plans are in the section plan. For local frequency information, please reach out to your ARES DEC/ADEC or EC for this info and their contact info is available at the following link:

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Page

As Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC, I can also be reached for questions as well as needed but we would like to drive interaction with other ARES leadership as part of exercise preparation.

We realize we have posted this exercise information on fairly short notice. Part of that is intentional to simulate a scenario where a potential ARES activation could occur with just a few days notice. We have also built the preparation process for the exercise in a way to push ARES member to ARES EC/ADEC/DEC leader interaction ahead of the exercise.

Also occurring on Saturday May 30th is the WX4NHC On-Air Communications Test done annually prior to each Atlantic hurricane season. We encourage all Amateurs to participate in this test as well and we may get WX4NHC operators to participate briefly in our exercise as well. Details on the WX4NHC On-Air Test can be seen at the following link:

WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020 9 AM-5 PM EDT Information

Many thanks to folks that can participate and 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
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Public Service

Boston Marathon Cancelled

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

WBZ BOSTON (CBS): There will be no Boston Marathon this year. Initially the race was moved from Patriots’ Day to September 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but on Thursday the in-person event was canceled.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the city and Boston Athletic Association will work to hold the event virtually.

The race had never been canceled or rescheduled in its 124-year history until this year. The marathon brings in more than $200 million to Boston’s economy each year, according to Walsh, and raises $36 million for charities. About 30,000 people run the Boston Marathon each year with about a million spectators along the 26.2-mile course.”

—
The BAA (“Boston”) Marathon is one of the largest Amateur Radio public service events in the country. Approximately 350 hams, organized by the Boston Marathon Communications Committee, are positioned with buses, the starting line in Hopkinton, along the 26.2 mile course, at a remote Net Control location, and the finish line in downtown Boston. 

[See also: https://wma.arrl.org/boston-marathon-amateur-radio-effort-cancelled.html]
Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES to Participate in National Red Cross Exercise and WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will participate in a National Red Cross exercise on Saturday May 30th, 2020 from 1000 AM-1200 PM (setup time starting as early as 900 AM). The exercise is split into two parts with Part A being the ARES component and Part B being handled by a small number of ARES members who are also part of Red Cross.

The exercise has been adapted to allow for a partial weather scenario to encourage Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters to participate and to allow participation in other modes used traditionally in the section including Echolink and IRLP. A high-level Eastern Massachusetts section plan has been generated and is available here:

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Exercise Plan for National Red Cross Exercise

Local frequency plans are not in the current section plan though we are building a list and will update the plan one last time on Friday 5/29/20. Section wide frequency and Echolink/IRLP plans are in the section plan. For local frequency information, please reach out to your ARES DEC/ADEC or EC for this info and their contact info is available at the following link:

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Page

As Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC, I can also be reached for questions as well as needed but we would like to drive interaction with other ARES leadership as part of exercise preparation.

We realize we have posted this exercise information on fairly short notice. Part of that is intentional to simulate a scenario where a potential ARES activation could occur with just a few days notice. We have also built the preparation process for the exercise in a way to push ARES member to ARES EC/ADEC/DEC leader interaction ahead of the exercise.

Also occurring on Saturday May 30th is the WX4NHC On-Air Communications Test done annually prior to each Atlantic hurricane season. We encourage all Amateurs to participate in this test as well and we may get WX4NHC operators to participate briefly in our exercise as well. Details on the WX4NHC On-Air Test can be seen at the following link:

WX4NHC On-Air Test – Saturday May 30th 2020 9 AM-5 PM EDT Information

The Eastern Mass ARES section plan for the ARES/Red Cross national exercise will be updated again on Friday 5/29/20. Many thanks to folks that can participate and 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org
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Emergency Communications / Public Service

KD1CY Featured on Ham Radio Live! May 7, 2020

- by k9hi - Leave a Comment

Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Eastern Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, and Lloyd Colston, KC5FM from the Hurricane Watch Net and the VoIP Hurricane Net were guests on Ham Radio Live! to discuss Hurricane Preparedness Week, Weather Observers Day, the 55th anniversary of the Hurricane Watch Net, and the 40th anniversary of the amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC.

The nationwide podcast and live call-in talk radio show is hosted by Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. The weekly show is also simulcast on shortwave station WTWW on 5.830 MHz. If you missed tuning in the episode, you can hear a recording by visiting https://www.spreaker.com/show/ham-talk-live and clicking on Episode #211.

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net Reports for April and May 2020

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

Here are net reports for the monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Nets for April and May 2020:

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for April 6th, 2020:

KD1CY-Rob-New Bedford, MA (Net Control Station)
WA1OEZ-Bob-Taunton, MA- Army MARS Liaison
W1SHS-Stu-Franklin, MA
KB1OQA-Tom-Wayland, MA
K1LXV-John-Mendon, MA
KA1NMA-Bob-Plymouth, MA
W1HAI-Joe-Natick, MA
W1RVY-Eric-Southbridge, MA
WB1EMS-Joe-Milton, MA
N8TFD-Steve-Cincinnati, OH, ARES DEC For District 4 Ohio
KC1FUH-Patrick-Arlington, MA
KI4SZF-Chris-Sarasota FL
N1YLQ-Sparky-Burlington, MA
KB1NZZ-Chet-Quincy, MA
N1JCM-Jeff-Walpole, MA
N1UMJ-John-Taunton, MA
W1HFP-Jason-Hudson, MA
KC1MCW-Wayne-Milford, MA
AE1EI-Kevin-Bellingham, MA
W3EVE-Steve-Wrentham, MA
KC1FUN-Joe-Arlington, MA
KC1MSN-Bernie-Milton, MA

Including NCS 22 stations in 46 minutes.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net May 4th, 2020 Net Report

W1HAI-Joe-Natick, MA -Net Control Statation
KD1CY-Rob-New Bedford, MA
KB1OQA-Tom-Wayland, MA
N1OSG-Andy-Quincy, MA
AC2IR-Ted-Lincoln, MA
KC1BOO-Ernie-Norton, MA
W1SHS-Stuart-Franklin, MA
W3EVE-Steve-Wrentham, MA
KV1J-Eric-Marlboro, MA
KB1OKU-Gabriel-Haverhill, MA
N1XTB-Phil-Middleboro, MA
KC1MSN-Bernie-Milton, MA
KC1GFY-Garrett-Andover, MA
N1WEN-Bill-Natick, MA
KI4SZF-Chris-Sarasota FL
KC1FTJ-John North Chelmsford, MA
KC1FUT-Jessie-Blackstone, MA
KA1RSY-Ed-New Bedford, MA
KB1QAT-Gary-Concord, MA
KB1NZZ-Chet-Quincy, MA

Including NCS – 20 stations in 44 minutes.

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
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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday 5/4/20 at 830 PM ET

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The May Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday May 4, at 8:30 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:

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. For tonight’s ARES Net, we will be providing another update on COVID-19, what we are doing to monitor this health emergency from a communications needs perspective and what you can do as ARES volunteers or general Amateur Radio Operators during this health emergency to prepare for any communications issues during this time. A link to a document that we had created for ARES awareness last month is available at the following link:
https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Eastern-Massachusetts-ARES-COVID-19-Update.pdf

We will also have some announcements on training and exercise opportunities in the month of May. Updates on those events will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at https://ema.arrl.org/ares. 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
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Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

May 04 2020 – MEMA RACES / ACS / Emergency Communications Net

- by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Mike “Sparky” Leger-N1YLQ, MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer writes:

Hello to all,

I hope that everyone and your families and friends are continuing to stay healthy! Trying to remember what day it is has been a challenge as the normal workweek and routines have long since gone out the window as we distance socially from others… and temporally from our daily routines to make things work as best we can.

Tomorrow, May 4th 2020 is the first non-holiday Monday of the month and, as such, is our RACES/ACS/Preparedness night. We will be holding our sector nets on the normally assigned frequencies. As with last month, many EOCs and Community operating points are not accessible by our operators, so I continue to ask those who cant get to their EOC or normal RACES operating post to please check in from home or a mobile rig if possible.

As always, I am looking for Net Control stations to staff two of the four sector nets for the evening. Sector 2D is already covered as it always is. I can run the Sector 2A net from my home QTH in Acushnet (though if someone else wants to act as NCS for 2A for some practice, I am more than happy to let them have at it.) I am looking for NCS operators for Sector 2B (Plymouth County) and 2C (Cape and Islands.) Please let me know if you are interested,

For the net we will once again be working with the form AR-2 AR2 SHORT FORM INSTRUCTIONS and collecting information from our RACES operators. I have attached the AR 2 Short Form for reference. I will be looking for the following data items from the Form AR-2 during what would normally be our simplex test…

Items 1, 2 (If still activated), 3 (If still activated), 4, 5, 6, and 17.

Any requests or updates that do not fall within the AR-2 parameters can be sent using NTS formatted messages.

I am asking that all Net Control Stations please record the information from the AR-2 in a spreadsheet that you can e-mail or on a piece of notebook paper that you can scan or send to me as a photo.

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 any 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:

Sector 2A
147.00 /+0.60 PL
19:30 Local

Sector 2B
145.39/-0.60 PL 67.0
20:00 Local

Sector 2C
146.955/-0.60 PL 88.5
20:00 Local

Sector 2D
146.865/-0.60 PL 103.2
19:30 Local

6-Meter State Net
53.31 / – 1.0 PL 71.9

Note: 53.31 has been reported to be having difficulties lately.
The appropriate people are aware and working to remedy any issues.
19:00 Local

MA RACES HF Net
3930 KHz LSB moving up to 3955 KHz until there is a clear frequency
18:45 Local

I appreciate you all answering the call to serve even when things are uncertain and tough to manage as they can be right now. Thank you all for helping us keep things on track and prove that we remain consistent. This net provides a monthly reminder that we stand ready with a quiet professionalism prepared to serve as a voice to whomever needs one to get help and resources where they should 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