Public Service – Page 6 – Eastern Massachusetts ARRL

Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct a section exercise and Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday 11/9/24 from 10 AM-12 PM dubbed “November Gale”. The exercise will practice similar skills as previous exercises conducted over the course of 2024 and will serve as a means of practice heading into the 2024-2025 winter season.

The detailed drill document can be seen at the following link: https://ema.arrl.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/EasternMA-ARES-Fall-Exercise-2024-V2.0-11-03-24.pdf This document will likely be final but will be updated if necessary by Friday 11/8/24 for any last minute changes.

While we encourage participation by Eastern Massachusetts ARES members, RACES/AUXCOMM/USCG Auxiliary Operators and Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters, all are welcome to participate including those outside of the Eastern Massachusetts section. We will also discuss the SET on the November Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net.

Thanks in advance for your support of this SET and 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)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box
Subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@wx1box-nwsboston-amateur-radio

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

USCG Auxiliary Division 5 / 12 Radio Net 20 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM

October 22, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:

The USCG Auxiliary Combined Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was held on Sunday 20 OCT 2024 at 1015 hrs.

Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Radio Roslindale

Net Control: Radio Waltham NCS

Traffic: Facility radio tests were made. The repeater located in Falmouth MA. was shut down and
removed. We are looking for another location in Falmouth. This location would service a
number of stations operating on Cape Cod. Hopefully LCDR Wilcox may have a spot on
his tower to support the repeater.

Traffic included several announcements including the Division 5 meeting is Thursday and
it will be online. ID cards for D1 are on hold as the ID machine is undergoing technical
upgrades. The D1 Conference will be held on APR 2025 25, 26 and 27. The Boat Show in
Boston is coming soon and very early. The dates are JAN 9, 10, 11, and 12. If you wish to
participate please contact your FC or await further info to come out.

Auxiliarist Jim Healy is still on the mend and recuperating.

The Auxiliary Net held on the MMRA network is now averaging 20 participants weekly. The
MMRA has extended our net time until 1230 hrs to accommodate our check ins. We asked
that the Barnstable VHF repeater located in Hyannis be tied into the Auxiliary Net to allow
Hams and Auxiliarists on Cape Cod to be able to participate. This request is going through
the process.

Non Ham members can listen to the Auxiliary Net on their police scanner radio. The frequency
is 146.820 or 146.670. You can tune in and listen or become a Ham by taking a very easy
entrance level exam and getting your callsign. Amateur Radio or Ham Radio exams are given
at numerous locations and times during the month. You can even make arrangements to take
exams online in the comfort of your home. Hams can use the Echo-Link system to check into
the Auxiliary Net on the MMRA network.

Several stations mentioned that they are working on antennas today. Being a very nice WX
day it is perfect for antenna repairs. Now is the time to do those repairs. Don’t wait for the
cold and snow.

Stations are reminded to monitor the 5 Mhz 60 Meter channels during emergency conditions.
The 5 Mhz channels are the best frequencies for Ham radio operators to contact federal stations.
On the Auxiliary Net today we explained the SHARES Net. SHAred RESources Net. The net
was established right after the Cuban missile crisis by President Kennedy. The USCG had a
major role in getting the SHARES net off the ground and operational. If you Google Shared
Resources SHARES National Communications System you will find an old video that shows
the SHARES network in operation.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

AREDN Comes to Dartmouth

October 16, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

N1WBV-Ben Jackson on the Southeast Mass Amateur Radio Association Email list writes:

Hi Everyone:

If you have ever thought about becoming involved with AREDN (https://www.arednmesh.org/) but also wondered “Well it sounds interesting, but who would I communicate with around the South Coastal MA Area?” I am happy to report that I have established an outdoor node just a touch NNE of UMass in FN41lp.

What is AREDN? AREDN is the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network which provides a way for Amateur Radio operators to create high-speed ad-hoc data networks for use in emergency and service-oriented communications. This is often done via consumer or “pro-sumer” 802.11 wireless networking gear running custom software. Currently, there are mesh networks in Rhode Island and they
reach as far as Tiverton, and there is an emerging effort on Cape Cod.

As I am always over engineering things I have also opted to make my node 100% solar powered and I’ve also put it up at 20ft AGL. Right now, I am putting it in “open Beta” and I want to let people know about it, however, I will expect it to randomly go down for testing as I am still hammering out bugs.

So if you have a 5GHz directional WiFi Access Point, please point it my way on Channel 149 of your 5GHz dial; and if you WANT to grab a 5GHz directional access WiFi Access Point, (especially if you have a tower!) please just let me know and I would be happy to point you in the right direction. I am also working out a full Bill of Materials (BOM) for what I assembled my node for.

Ben, N1WBV

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service / Technical

FLDIGI/NBEMS Training On-Air and via Zoom

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 - by Jon McCombie - Leave a Comment

Jon N1ILZ writes

We will be holding two Zoom sessions to help people get familiar with FLDIGI using NBEMS to pass formatted messages (Radiograms, ICS-213s, etc.); and net operations, specifically how to check-in to and interact with the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Digital (NTS) Net (MARIDN).

Thursday October 17, focused on the NBEMS programs FLMSG, FLAMP for message passing, and

Thursday October 24, focused on how to interact with a digital NTS Traffic Net, specifically, the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Digital Net (MARIDN).

Both sessions are 7:00 PM – ~8:30 PM or until finished. Zoom coordinates (below) are the same for both sessions.

A PREREQUSIITE for these courses is to have the FLDIGI suite configured and operational at your station (computer and radio). If you successfully completed the FLDIGI session with Don AB1PH on October 10, you have met the prerequisite.

You will be attending a Zoom session from the PC controlling your station. The training host will transmit several messages over the air in different formats. We will work with you to ensure that you successfully copy the messages. If there are failures, we will work to debug them via screen sharing during the Zoom session. In some cases, issues will be resistant to debugging during the session and we will deal with these individuals in one-on-one sessions later.

To participate effectively in the Zoom session, your Zoom session and FLDIGI connected to your radio should be running on the same computer.

The Zoom invitation follows:

—

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89342243637?pwd=RfasbGHaXGLU2xdhUDXQfIVBkBpPGx.1

Meeting ID: 893 4224 3637
Passcode: 013058

—

Please contact Jon N1ILZ (n1ilz@arrl.org) with questions.

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

USCG Auxiliary Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net – Sunday 13 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM

October 13, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:

The USCG Auxiliary combine Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was held on Sunday 13 OCT 2024 at 1015 AM.

Check Ins: Wilmington Radio
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G

Net Control: Waltham Radio NCS

Traffic: Radio tests were made of all radio facilities. It was announced that Flotilla elections are
forthcoming. January 10th is the Boat Show. Discussions of the Hurricane Milton and
Hurricane Helene events. Amateur Radio did a great job helping with communications.

Our Auxiliary Net held on the MMRA amteur radio network is going strong. This morning
we had 17 check ins. K1UVH Mike from Holbrook, a retired firefighter gave an account of
his assistance with Hurricane milton. Mike was on scene in the area at a IAFF convention
and volunteered his time working with their fire departments. He worked there for a week.
In addition to rescues they had several large working building fires to deal with.

Florida has a very progressive state and local government system and they did a great
job. It seems they were on top of everything and the fatality count was low. I saw a news
clip of the USCG Helo working a rescue. A gentleman’s boat went down during the storm
and the survivor was able to cling to a large ice cooler. He stayed afloat all night through
the storm until spotted by the USCG and rescued the following morning.

The D7 USCG Auxiliary COMMS. Team assisted the USCG and State government with
radio communications assistance throughout the storm. Hopefully we will continue on
through the month of November with NO more storm activity. I think it will show that the
tornados did more destruction and caused more loss of life than the hurricanes.

Emergency Ham radio communications for the hurricane are still on Broadcastify APP.
Use the N2GE repeater network on the APP.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

CAARA ARES/ARRL Emergency Communications Planning Meeting – Saturday 11/2/24 – 12 PM at CAARA Clubhouse

October 8, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

KB1PGH-Dean Burgess, Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA) ARRL/ARES Emergency Coordinator writes:

There will be an ARRL/ARES Emergency communications planning meeting for the Cape Ann area at the CAARA clubhouse at 6 Stanwood street in Gloucester on Saturday November 2nd at noontime. This meeting is open for all those who are interested in attending. This will be a first in a series of informal meetings as we start to plan out a ARRL emergency communications group on Cape Ann. The meeting will be run by ARRL/ARES emergency coordinator Dean Burgess KB1PGH and ARRL/ARES assistant emergency coordinator Bill Morris W1WMM.

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Reminder: October 7th, 2024 MEMA RACES/ACS Communications Test Net

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Mike “Sparky” Leger, N1YLQ, ARES DEC – MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer writes:

Hello to all,

This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that

Monday evening, October 7th, 2024 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month

and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night.

Due to the news reports and reports from operators out of the North Carolina area and other

Areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, I would like to highlight our WinLink net and I would

Like to encourage operators to learn about and try to check in via this net even if it is only

The internet side of it and not via an RF link. Familiarity with this Amateur Radio tool seems to be

Paying serious dividends in areas hit hard by Hurricane Helene and I think we should make a strong

Effort to make sure this tool is one we all have in our toolboxes moving forward.

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 may 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 is asked to please send a note to WC1MAB@gmail.com

<mailto: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

cannot 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. October 7th and before midnight EST October 8th

(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 sectors. 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.

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 <mailto:WC1MAB@gmail.com> 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

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

USCG Auxiliary Division 5 / 12 Radio Nets – Sunday 6 OCT 24 & Sunday 29 SEP 2024

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:

The combined Divisions 5 / 12 Radio Net was called on the Roslindale repeater 6 OCT 24 at 1015 hrs.

Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Radio Roslindale
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G

Net Control: Radio Waltham NCS

Traffic: Stations were able to radio check their equipment. I spoke to the Comms people in D7.
D7 Florida area will be implementing their Emergency Communications Nets starting on
this Tuesday. Another hurricane will be hitting Florida on Wednesday. They have noticed
how we have had good luck using Ham radio assets in D1N. They will in addition to USCG
Auxiliary channels be using the Florida SARNET a robust Amateur Radio Network that
covers their whole state. The D7 area Auxiliary has one high site Auxiliary repeater in
Stuart Florida. This is a wide area coverage repeater.

In addition D7 will be utilizing the SHARES network. DHS has not activated the SHARES
net for Hurricane helene. D1N HF stations will be able to assist D7 on their 14 meg nets.
Any SHARES station is authorized to activate a SHARES net when needed. The SHARES
ALE network will also be in play on Tuesday.

D1N stations are reminded to continue to monitor the 5 Mhz 60 meter channels for any
distress calls. 5 Mhz is clearly heard in New England during the evenings.

The Auxiliary net is going strong on the MMRA network. We had 17 stations checked in today.
Anyone using a police scanner radio can tune us in on 146.82 or 146.69 Mhz to hear the net.
Again we are asking all members to consider getting their Amateur Radio License to be able
to participate.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

The Sunday morning Divisions 5 / 12 Combined Radio net was held on Roslindale repeater – 29 SEP 2024 at 1015 hrs.

Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Radio Roslindale
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Radio Harvard

Net control: Radio Waltham NCS

Traffic: Radio tests were conducted. Flotilla elections are coming up. Hurricane
Helena is threatening the Southeast coast of the country. The Florida
Governor has reported that up to 1.2 million homes and businesses are
without power.

The Hurricane Net on 7.268Mhz was very busy handling emergency
requests and health and welfare radio traffic. HF assets are reminded
If the USCG is quiet and the Auxiliary is not needed please join in on
the Hurricane Net, Salvation Army Net (SATERN) or the Red Cross
activated nets.

Even though you reside in New England, HF covers the world and you
will be appreciated for helping these nets handle and move traffic. As a
reminder during Hurricane Katrina the SATERN radio Hams handled
over 50,000 Health and Welfare messages. A number of these messages
were for people in need of emergency rescues. I counted over 100 calls
for rescue that came to the SHARES HF network.

We operate a valuable resource that can be of real assistance in times of
emergency. At the least perform increased monitoring of the 5 Mhz 60M
channels for emergency calls.

The Auxiliary Net is held on the MMRA Minuteman Repeater Association
and is going well. We had 17 check ins this morning. The Auxiliary Net
starts at 1100 hrs every Sunday morning. Scanner radios can receive the
Net on 146.82 or 146.67 Mhz. Tune in or get your Ham Radio Technician
license and join us. A question came up on the Net as to joining RACES,
the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. RACES is a federally spon-
sored and authorized Ham radio Network. RACES is locally managed by
Emergency Management Director of a city or town.

When and if the president of the United States were to impose the War
Powers Act, Amateur Radio or Ham radio as we know it would be shut
down. The only Ham radio stations allowed to operate and transmit would
be RACES stations. RACES stations have to be designated and authorized
by EM Agencies for Official Business Only. Federal stations such as the
Auxiliary would continue to operate as usual for official business.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net – Monday October 7th, 2024 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater System

October 6, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Hello to all…

The October Eastern Massachusetts ARES section net will be Monday October 7th, 2024 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system.

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

We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net. We will have several announcements for the net including training announcements in the areas of NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System), NTS training and the date for the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET).

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wx1box
Subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@wx1box-nwsboston-amateur-radio

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Massachusetts RACES Nets – Monday 10/7/24 for HF, Region 2D VHF, NBEMS & Winlink – Times and Details Below

October 6, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

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, For Oct 2024, the MEMA RACES nets will be held on Mon Oct 7 at:

********************************************************************************
80 meter Voice net
No 80 meter voice net this month: No NCS.

*********************************************************************************
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.

Jim WJ1R will be net control.

********************************************************************************
HF 80 meters NBEMS net:
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 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 Oct 7 and 2400 Monday Oct 7.

We look forward to you checking in!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Baystate Marathon and Half-Marathon ham volunteers needed Sunday October 20, 2024

September 24, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Terry Stader-KA8SCP – Region 1 RACES Radio Officer & ARES District Emergency Coordinator for Region 1 RACES writes:

We are still looking for volunteers….

This year’s Baystate Marathon and Half Marathon race is scheduled for Sunday October 20, 2024.

Amateur Radio operators have been asked once again to support the Baystate Marathon and Half Marathon. This year the event is on Sunday, October 20th.

Our operational time period is from approximately 0700 until event completion (estimated 1400). Our assistance has been requested by Lowell Office of Emergency Management and Lowell Fire Department. The communications team will be employing Amateur Radio to provide this communications asset.

Amateur Radio will be used for:
* Accountability Net: the purpose of this net is to coordinate with a race public information booth the status of runners who are unable to complete the race for any issue to any one is seeking this information.

Race info may be found at http://baystatemarathon.com.
Course map is found at
https://www.baystatemarathon.com/course-map-description

Please contact me if you can assist or would like more information.

Please share with others that may be interested. This is a pretty laid back event and suitable for first time public event participation.

Terry

Terry M. Stader – KA8SCP
MEMA Region 1 RACES Officer
ARRL ARES Eastern MA District Emergency Coordinator for Region 1 RACES

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

USCG Auxiliary Div. 5 / 12 Radio Net 22 SEP 2024

September 22, 2024September 22, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:

Check Ins: Radio Wilmington
Radio Roslindale
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G

Net Control: Radio Waltham NCS

Traffic: Radio tests were conducted. Signals were fair / readable. Still unable to receive
Amesbury and Event repeaters at this station.

Our ADSO-CM PTT Ben Wechsler passed his General Class Amateur Radio
license and is now studying to pass the Extra exam. Our congratulations for a
job well done.

The Auxiliary Net on the MMRA Minuteman Repeater Association Amateur radio
is going strong. We had 11 check ins this morning and discussed radio mainten-
ance.

The winter months are coming quickly. This is a good time to get those radio repairs
done before the cold weather. Antennas, connections and wiring need constant
attention. Microphones needs to be checked out and coiled cords replaced if it is
necessary. Clean all contacts as needed.

We discussed cable ties this morning. Black cable ties should always be used outside
instead of white or translucent cable ties. The Black ties hold up better with the UV
Rays shining on them. Clear and white ties disintegrate very readily from UV Rays.
Be neat and always trim cable ties down to the locking mechanism to prevent some-
one from getting cut and injured from sharp edges.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

USCG Auxiliary Sunday Combined 5 / 12 Radio Net Report – 15 SEP 2024

September 15, 2024September 16, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Joseph Fratto-K1UN – FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License writes:

The USCG Auxiliary combined Divisions 5 / 12 radio nets were held this Sunday 15 SEP 2024.

Check Ins: Annisquam Radio
Vessel 323088
Mobile 5F
Mobile 5G
Roslindale Radio
Vessel 213226
Mobile 5W

Net Control: Waltham Radio NCS

Traffic: Radio tests were made. Discussion from DSO-CM on the recent call with National Leadership. There was talk of interfacing a device to make access to the repeater from the internet. Raytheon makes such a device. It is tied into a remote radio and receives internet access from anywhere. Charlie Rosseau, who is CC on this report from USAF MARS RADIO owns such a unit. These units are old technology and there is probably a new and inexpensive remote device available today.

Today on the MMRA “Auxiliary Net” at 1100 hrs we had a total of16 stations check into the net. A number of topics were discussed. The Auxiliary Net seems to be growing weekly.

Members who listen on their scanner radios can tune to 146.820 or 146.670 MHz to pick up the Auxiliary Net. The trend of auxiliarists becoming licensed Amateur radio operators or Hams are happening across the country. This is just another tool in the toolbox for us to work with.

Submitted: Joseph Fratto
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Walpole EMA/CERT Amateur Radio Field Exercise on Sat. Sep. 21, 2024 – 9 AM-2 PM Published in Hometown Weekly Paper

September 15, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

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

Our article in Home Town Weekly got printed! The article can be seen here: Adams Farm Exercise Sep 21!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Amateur Radio Field Exercise sponsored by Walpole EMA/CERT on Sat. Sep. 21, 2024 – 9 AM-2 PM

September 12, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

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

On Saturday, September 21st from 9 AM to 2 PM at Adam’s Farm at 999 North St, Walpole, MA, Walpole Emergency Management Agency and Community Emergency Response Team will be sponsoring an exercise by amateur radio operators to deploy and test their communications capabilities in the field. A variety of antennas, radio transceivers and power systems will be tested to understand the functionality and behaviors of the various options. These include sending test messages across Eastern Massachusetts and, if the equipment is successfully deployed, across the continental US.

We would love more participants (contact don.rolph@gmail.com to participate), visitors, and also amateur operators willing to work the event from their home stations.

The operating schedule will be

9 AM arrive and begin setup
9:30 Walpole EMA on air with monitoring/net on Walpole Repeater: 146.895, pl 123.0
11:00 80 meter voice on 3930 KHz moving up to first free frequency
11:30 80 meter NBEMS on 3582.5 KHz MARIDN net: pass NTS traffic
12:00 60 meter voice on channel 1 dial 5330.5 KHz
12:30 20 meter NBEMS with Transcontinental NBEMS net: 14,068 KHz
1:00 40 meter voice on 7200 KHz

We would love to have you join us!

—

73,
AB1PH
Don Rolph

Emergency Communications / NTS / Operating / Public Service

Reminder: September 9th, 2024 MEMA RACES/ACS Communications Test Net

September 9, 2024 - by kd1cy - Leave a Comment

Mike “Sparky” Leger, N1YLQ, ARES DEC – MEMA Region 2 RACES Radio Officer writes:

Hello to all,

This email is the typical monthly message to let everyone know that

Monday evening, September 9th, 2024 is our first non-holiday Monday of the month

and, as such, will be the next RACES/ACS/Preparedness Net night.

An item of note for this month is an upcoming exercise by members in conjunction with the Walpole EMA/CERT team. Walpole EMA and CERT are sponsoring an amateur radio field exercise on Sat Sep 21 from 9 AM – 2 PM at Adam’s Farm in Walpole. This exercise will be utilizing 2-Meter frequencies as well as multiple HF bands and will be testing and demonstrating various off-grid power systems for emergency communications. As I get more information on the planned frequencies, modes and times, I will be passing them along to the group.