Eastern Massachusetts ARRL

Good Morning all…

It appears that the risk of significant damage has passed, and so I am withdrawing the notification for a possible standby activation today. Small pockets of problems are still a possibility, but we should be OK from this point on.

Thank you for your preparation and standing ready to help today. There are still reports of some slick secondary roads in our area.

Thanks again, and have a good weekend.

Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
EMa SEC
978.562.5662 Admin
978.389.0558 FAX/Secondary—– Original Message —–
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 1:48 PM
Subject: Fw: Possible Standby Activation for EMa ARES

***** Possible Standby Activation for EMa ARES *****
***** Minor/Moderate Infrastructure Damage May Occur *****

Hello to all…

I am writing this while I look at flowers in my garden…go figure, but yes, a significant freezing rain event may develop for parts of our section roughly north of the 42-00 latitude line (excluding Cape Cod). This includes all of Norfolk county and some the Bristol/South Shore (Plymouth) districts. In view of possible infrastructure damage that could result from this type of weather event, please be ready to mobilize in standby mode starting as early as 0600 EST tomorrow Sat 4/5. DEC’s please ensure that qualified NCS’s are ready to assume that role as needed tomorrow.

ARES Mobilization in standby mode may be needed where damage is expected or where minor damage has already occurred, AND RACES has not been mobilized. During standby mode, the net control station would announce his/her presence on the RACES repeater, while allowing QSO’s to continue as long as stations agree to: leave gaps between transmissions, yield to break traffic, and vacate the frequency when requested by the NCS. Additionally, similar to SKYWARN’s “self-activation” procedure, if the NCS feels that more formal action is warranted, they should proceed without prior request and then report that mobilization to EC/DEC who will in turn relay to the SEC. If events move severely and swiftly, then any ARES team member should assume NCS until relieved by a designated station.

Our initial role will be to provide fill in communications as necessary to support RACES operations (if they are mobilized), or to assume that role ourselves if they are not. Remember, that in accordance with our current doctrine, we will mobilize from home stations first, then respond to local needs as requested by Public Safety or EMa or Service Agencies (Red Cross, etc.) and approved by your EC/DEC. One important collateral role in these trying times will be to insure current/correct information is disseminated, and rumors about anything else not applicable to the storm (war, terrorism, SARS) event are controlled.

Please take time this evening to insure your home stations are ready to operate and that you have emergency power ready. If and when requests are received for any post disaster assistance during the day Saturday, Saturday night, or even Sunday, we will conduct a callout by email, phone, or radio to reach you. Remember, please guard your RACES repeater (or SKYWARN repeater if you can’t raise RACES), but remember to move off to other local frequencies to do follow up communications. Please contact your EC and/or DEC to obtain the latest frequency plan. A directory of RACES repeaters can be viewed by pressing the “Where Am I” button on our website, http://ares.ema.arrl.org .

Since bordering counties of NH will be significantly affected, we will set up the PART (146.955 PL 74.4) and Haverill (146.625 PL 156.8) repeaters for NH ARES to reach us if they need to. Move traffic off to one of their ARES repeaters, such as Manchester etc, and follow NCS instructions there.

Thank you in advance for your preparations and availability for tomorrow.

Think Spring!

s/Michael P. Neilsen
Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
EMa SEC
978.562.5662 Admin
978.389.0558 FAX/Secondary

—–Original Message—–
From: William D’Agostino

The K1ARC American Red Cross Emergency Training
Net was held this past Wednesday, April 2nd, at 8 PM (EST) on 3.915 MHz plus/minus 5 kHz LSB Voice. This net is open to everyone who has a sincere interest in Emergency Radio Communications.

In addition, two announcements follows:Announcement #1 — If you haven’t seen the new public safety brochure concerning emergency food and water developed jointly by the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), then I highly recommend that you download this document today from:

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rrr/fwe-all.pdf

This brochure offers clear guidance on how to prepare and store food and water for emergency use.

Announcement #2 — American Red Cross Emergency
Communications Training Day. The Red Cross is
offering a free Emergency Training Course to be held at the South Central Connecticut (New Haven) Red Cross Chapter on May 10 from 9 AM to 1 PM.

The topic will concern Emergency Communications with a focus on response to Terrorism and/or Weapons of Mass Destruction incidents.

Red Cross Emergency Communications Training Day
South Central Connecticut Red Cross Chapter
703 Whitney Avenue New Haven, CT

Simplex Frequency for those en-route: 147.42 MHz

Space is limited (Around 50 people will be accepted). Breakfast and refreshments will be provided. The Training will be free.

To sign-up for this class, please email or call
Jennifer Winslow at WinslowJ@usa.redcross.org or
860-678-2794

End of Announcements

The SEC’s Power Point presentation to the BostonARC (3/20) and FrARA (4/26) is available for viewing by pressing the button to the left. Please note that it will take about a minute to load with Broadband, and much longer with a dial up connection. To show the presentation properly, please press the scroll down arrow instead of the page arrow on the right side of the window.

Photos of today’s Framingham ARA flea market have been posted on-line.

The proposed Massachusetts law that would ban the use of hand-held cellular handsets while driving is back on Beacon Hill. It’s Senate Bill number 1390.

Watch the EMA SGL web site at http://sgl.ema.arrl.org for further developments.

The Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Staff meets at 6:30 pm in Burlington. The quarterly dinner-meeting is hosted by Section Manager Phil Temples, K9HI. Agenda items include ARRL section matters, staff reports and an occasional guest speaker.

N1VQY writes:

“[Mystic Valley Amateur Radio Group] has been contacted by the Boston Fire Department asking for our assistance in helping out with the MDA Bike Race again this year. They will need our help on Saturday. I believe it’s June 7th for the last leg of their bike race which is from Marlboro to Boston’s Fanuel Hall.

“Paul, N1OIL, Buddy, N1ZMB, and Terry, N1IWF have volunteered their services besides Greg and myself. If anyone else is interested please let me know.”

There is still time to sign up!

There will be an Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday March 29th, 2003 from 8:45 AM-3:00 PM at the Oak Ridge Elementary School in East Sandwich, Massachusetts. This session is being put on by the ARES Section Staff and Frank Laughlin, WQ1O, District Emergnecy Coordinator for Cape Cod ARES. Many thanks to W1RBF, for his assistance in securing the location.This Emergency Communications Workshop will provide the background and information to serve Amateur Radio Operators when they need to respond to a communications emergency. It will feature an Introduction and Conclusion to Emergency Communications, and five 1-hour training sessions ontopics including:

Overview of Eastern Massachusetts ARES-RACES-SKYWARN Programs
Net Operations
NTS Traffic Message Handling
Basic ICS
Go Kits
Interactive Exercises on Field Operations

This training will also feature a 1 hour lunch that will be provided at no coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session.

The presentations will be given by other Amateur Operators well versed in the topics listed above. The training will be a worthwhile endeavor not just for emergency communicators but for anyone who is an amateur radio operator, and wants to learn more about the hobby.

Preregistration is requested but is not required in case anyone would like to attend at the last minute. We will, however, accept any preregistrations after that day or any walk-ins as long as space permits.

Directions to the Oak Ridge Elementrary School:

Take Route 6 Eastbound and Get off at Exit 3. Go South on Quaker Meeting House Road. The school is less than a 1/2 mile on your left. Press the “Directions to Workshop” button to the left for a map to the location.

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop, please contact:

W1MPN, Mike Neilsen by email w1mpn@arrl.net
W3EVE, Steve Schwarm by email w3eve@amsat.org
WQ1O, Frank Laughlin by email wq1o@attbi.com
KD1CY, Rob Macedo by email rmacedo@rcn.com

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in general.

From Rob, KD1CY…

Many people are watching, listening and monitoring the Iraq War. Below are some additional freqeuncies thatpeople with Shortwave Radios can monitor. This includes military freqeuncies to monitor war operations and Arab Shortwave Radio Broadcasters. Also, I’ve found that the BBC World Service on 5975 KHz which is on during the evening hours from around 6 PM EST [2300Z] on is also an excellent source of information. Below is an email provided by Terry Stader, KA8SCP through the Popular Communications Email list. This email was resent over the Billerica Amateur Radio Society email list.Monitoring The Iraq War

As the world waits and watches Iraq, if you’ve got a shortwave receiver with sideband mode (USB and LSB) you can hear certain military communications related to the conflict including many long-distance GHFS (Global HF System) stations including Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) and Skyking messages which are high-priority messages for air and ground stations.

Frequencies to monitor (in the USB mode) include: 4709, 4724, 6712, 6739, 8992, 11175, 11271, 15038 (11175 is a very active frequency most of the time)

Shortwave broadcasts from the Middle East that you can hear with a reasonable antenna include the following. Note that UTC (Universal Time) is 5 hours ahead of EST [4 ahead of EDT effective Apr 6]. Note that because the changing situation in the area these times and frequencies are subject to change; of course checking the frequencies from time to time is your best bet of hearing a broadcast.

Egypt, Radio Cairo on 9900 at 2315 UTC

Iran, Voice of the Islamic Republic, Tehran on 9022 at 1030 UTC (also on 9835 and 11970) Iran also on 13730 and 13745 at 1330 UTC.

Iraq, Radio Baghdad on 11787 (varies slightly to 11785) at 2000 UTC. Also check 15265, 15375, 15385, 21470 at 1100 UTC.

Israel, Kol Israel on 6280, 7475, 9435 at 0500 (also on 11605). Israel also on 15640, 17535 and 6220 at 2000 UTC. Also check 1700 UTC on 17545. At 1900 UTC on 11605, 15615 and 17545.

Kuwait (Radio Kuwait) on 11990 kHz at 1800 UTC. Also check 15110 kHz.

Syria, Radio Damascus on 12085 (and 13610 frequently) at 0500 and 2000 UTC

Turkey, Voice of Turkey, Ankara on 11960 and 12000 at 2100 UTC; on 6020 at 0400 and 2300 UTC

United Arab Emirates Radio, Dubai on 13675, 15395 at 0020, 1330 UTC; 15395 at 0030; 0200 on 15395 and 15370.

From: “Ralph R. Swick”
To: All 2002 Groton Road Race Amateur Radio Volunteers
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 8:09 PM
Subject: Radio Volunteers needed for GRR 2003

The 2003 Groton Road Race date is approaching. This year’s race is scheduled for Sunday, April 27. The Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club has once again been asked to coordinate logistics, health, and safety radio communications for this event.

You helped us last year and the road race committee remains greatly indebted to you for volunteering your time.

If you are available on April 27 for at least the afternoon, and are willing to help us this year please contact me at kd1sm@arrl.net or 978.582.7351 (between 7pm and 10pm).

I plan to have a pre-race briefing meeting on Saturday, April 19. At this meeting we will briefly discuss changes from prior years, make assignments, and hand out instruction packets and T-shirts. This pre-race meeting will be 0930 to 1030 at the Pepperell Community Center at the Pepperell Rotary (intersections of Routes 111 and 113). If you are not able to make this meeting on the 19th, please do not let that dissuade you from volunteering to help us on the 27th.

Thanks once again for helping to demonstrate why Amateur Radio is an important resource to our communities.

I attach below a more lengthy description that you might want to share with other Ham Radio operators to explain why this is an important event for us and to encourage them to consider helping.

73,
Ralph Swick KD1SM

Groton Road Race Depends on Amateur Radio

Since its start in 1990, the Groton Road Race has depended on Amateur Radio to provide logistics support and course safety communication. The Groton Road Race pulls in Police Officers from a wide area to manage traffic on the major roads over which the course runs. Hams provide the only radio communications that all these Officers from multiple towns have in common. This is a premier opportunity for Amateur Radio to “strut its stuff” — to demonstrate that we are professional in what we do and that we provide a service with skills that cannot be obtained anywhere else.

In addition to the health and safety communication during the actual race, Amateur Radio Operators assist the pre-race parking teams get a thousand vehicles safely into and out of the parking area and their occupants into shuttle busses to the race grounds. Radio Operators also shadow the Race Directors and their staff during course setup and provide the critical coordination link between the Race Director and the Groton Police Department to confirm road closings and permit the starting musket to be fired.

This year, the 12th Groton Road Race will be held on Sunday, April 27. There are four separate races scheduled during the day; a Tot’s Trot, a 2k Fun Run, a 5k road race, and a 10k road race. Approximately 40 Radio Operators are needed to fill the necessary roles during the day. This has always been a fun and rewarding experience for the radio volunteers. There is even one operator who runs the 5k race then grabs his HT to man a station along the 10k course. 2-Meter handhelds are sufficient for most of the locations, though a few stations with higher ERP (mobile magmount and higher power) will be needed.

If you are able to assist, please contact Ralph Swick KD1SM at kd1sm@arrl.net or telephone 978.582.7351 evenings. Some tasks will start as early as 0900 while the major 10k race requires operators to be on station at 1230. A pre-race-day briefing meeting is planned for Saturday, April 19 in Groton, location TBD. At the briefing meeting station assigments will be made and T-shirts and instruction packets will be distributed. If you are not able to attend the briefing meeting but have participated in the Groton Road Race or similar event before and are available on the 27th, please do still contact Ralph.

For further details about the race itself, go to http://www.grotonroadrace.com/

ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator Frank Murphy, N1DHW announces the North Shore Radio Association and the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association wil jointly host the next CEMARC meeting on April 19, 2003 at 9:00 am at the CAARA club house in Gloucester. All Eastern Massachusetts clubs are urged to send a representative to this meeting.

W1AI writes:

“The K1USN radio club is doing a great thing! Each year we introduce amateur radio to approximately 4,000 scouts as part of their Overnight Adventure on the USS Salem museum ship in Quincy, MA! The scout groups each receive a 30-minute presentation introducing them to amateur radio and Morse code, followed by a 30-minute hands-on radio demonstration, allowing them to talk on-the-air to hams via HF and/or 2M/IRLP. In the typical weekend (about 40 weekends per year), we do this for 6 different groups of scouts, typically reaching a total of 100 or more scouts. Who knows how many of the seeds we sew will eventually sprout into the next generation of hams?
“Unfortunately — as is too often the case — the bulk of the work tends
to fall on the shoulders of a handful of individuals. While the work is
enjoyable and gives us a tremendous sense of accomplishment, the
unrelenting requirement to give up every single Saturday leads to stress
and burnout. We need to spread the load!

“I ask for your help to change this situation.

“First, I ask that the various clubs in the area make a commitment to
help us out. Clubs on the South Shore might commit to providing us with
2-3 volunteers, one weekend each month. Clubs further away might commit
to sending us 2-3 volunteers, one weekend out of every 2 months. (They
could carpool, reducing the cost and boredom of travel.) The scout
groups come from a wide area, from New York to Maine. It’s not
unreasonable to ask a volunteer to travel an hour or more once every
couple of months.

“Second, I send messages requesting volunteers each week to a list of 85
area hams. I would like to expand this list to include more people who
may be interested in volunteering to help on occasion. Please forward
this message to hams in your local area. Anyone interested volunteering
for this valuable project should send a message to
W1AI@hamtestonline.com requesting to be added to the USS Salem list.

“Third, talk us up. If this sounds like a valuable project, then tell
your ham friends about it. Come out and visit us some Saturday, and
find out first-hand what all the fuss is about, and then take the
message back personally to your clubs! I don’t have any statistics, but
it’s possible that we may be spreading the word about amateur radio to
more kids than any other single organization in the world!

“I’m not asking you to do more than I am willing to do myself. Each
week I spend 2-3 hours on emails and phone calls to coordinate the next
weekend’s events, 1 hour driving, and 4 hours on board. If one person
from each area club did as much in each month as I do every week, my
life would be much easier!

“No special skills are required. If you want to do the ‘Intro to
Amateur Radio & Morse code’ presentations, it helps if you have at least
a little experience doing presentations. We have a script that you can
follow, but you are free to do it your own way. You do not have to be a
Morse code whiz. You can watch one of the “pros” give the course 1-2
times to see how it flows, and take over doing the presentations
yourself when you feel ready.

“To demonstrate the VHF equipment, you need a Technician license and at
least a bit of operating experience. To demonstrate the HF equipment,
you need at least a Tech w/HF license and a bit of operating experience.
We will show you everything else you need to know!

“Many people have read articles speculating about the future disposition
of the USS Salem. People often ask me what’s going to happen. The
answer is that I don’t know, and neither does anyone else at this point.
We’re all hoping that the USS Salem will continue to provide this
excellent learning opportunity for many years to come.

“However, what might happen some number of months or years from now is
not important to this project in the near-term. Right now we need to
take advantage of the opportunity we currently have, and that’s why I
need your help today!

“I’m always sad when I’m forced to cancel the amateur radio activities
on board the USS Salem due to a lack of volunteers. I need a larger
number of people to participate in this activity so cancellations won’t
have to happen!”

Thanks & 73,
John, W1AI
www.hamtestonline.com
W1AI@hamtestonline.com

[I encourage all ARRL affiliated clubs to respond to John’s challenge
and solicit 2-3 volunteers to assist in this worthy cause. -K9HI]

KD1CY writes:

There will be an Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday, March 29th, 2003 from 8:45 AM-3:00 PM at the Oak Ridge Elementary School in East Sandwich, Massachusetts. This session is being conducted by the ARES Section Staff and Frank Laughlin, WQ1O, District Emergnecy Coordinator for Cape Cod ARES.

This Emergency Communications Workshop will provide the background and
information to serve Amateur Radio Operators when they need to respond
to a communications emergency. It will feature an Introduction and
Conclusion to Emergency Communications, and five 1-hour training
sessions on topics including:

Overview of Eastern Massachusetts ARES-RACES-SKYWARN Programs
Net Operations
NTS Traffic Message Handling
Basic ICS
Go Kits
Interactive Exercises on Field Operations

This training will also feature a 1 hour lunch that will be provided at
no coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session.

The presentations will be given by other Amateur Operators well versed
in the topics listed above. The training will be a worthwhile endeavor
not just for emergency communicators but for anyone who is an amateur
radio operator, and wants to learn more about the hobby.

Directions to the Oak Ridge Elementrary School:

Take Route 6 Eastbound and Get off at Exit 3. Go South on Quaker
Meeting House Road. The school is less than a 1/2 mile on your
left.

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop,
please contact:

W1MPN, Mike Nielsen by email w1mpn@arrl.org
W3EVE, Steve Schwarm by email w3eve@amsat.org
WQ1O, Frank Laughlin by email wq1o@attbi.com
KD1CY, Rob Macedo by email rmacedo@rcn.com

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in
learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in
general.

N1XRS writes:

Amateur Radio Volunteers Needed
Medical Trained Personnel also helpful

SEMCARES & CMPSA are requesting volunteers for the Multiple Sclerosis Walk in Westport, MA

Date: Sunday, 4/6
Time: 9:30AM
Location: Westport Elementary School
380 Old County Road
Radio System: 70cm Repeater 443.450MHz PL88.5Hz

If you like to help out please email us at hr@cmpsa.org with your name, call sign (if you have one), home town, and shirt size.

For more info
http://www.cmpsa.org/cmpsa/events.htm

P.S. Sorry to the people who will get this 2 or 3 times.

Antone D Duarte Jr N1XRS
Deputy Director
Central MA Public Safety
Phone: 508-278-3477
Fax: 508-278-3401
Email Fax 720-559-7267

www.cmpsa.org

Members of the YCCC, members of CEMARC affiliated clubs, and friends of PDXA are invited to attend Patriot DX Association MEETING MONDAY, 24 March at 7 PM at the First Baptist Church (downstairs), 221 Cabot Street Beverly, MA.

Join us for dinner beforehand at 6 PM at “China Buffet”, 314 Cabot Street, a few doors north of the Cabot Theater.

Feature Presentation:

EYE WITNESS Report “WRTC 2002” by AL ROUSSEAU, W1FJ. He will show and comment on his 60 min. video, “WRTC 2002 at Helsinki Finland, produced by 9V1YC”. Eric Scace, K3NA who refereed the WRTC-2002 Belgian team will attend.

PLUS: Fellowship — Coffee and Munchkins — conversation

—Thanks, CEMARC mailing list

Amateur Radio received some great national publicity on the syndicated Paul Harvey radio show on Wedneday, March 19.

You can hear the broadcast at http://www.paulharvey.com/

and clicking on the Wednesday Noon link under Listen Now. The Amateur Radio portion runs for about 1 minute beginning at 13:38. Total broadcast duration is 15:10.

Mike Goldbert, K1LJN caught in an expressive moment while presenting on the OO/Amateur Auxiliary Program at last night’s Massassoit Amateur Radio Association meeting in Bridgewater, MA.

Additional photos of the evening can be found here.

The Framingham Amateur Radio Association will hold its spring flea market and VE session on Sunday March 30, 2003 at the Walsh Middle School. Doors open at 9:00 am.

The flea offers the public the chance to buy, swell and swap Amateur radio equipment, electronics and computer hardware and software.

Admission for buyers is $5 (under-12 free with adult). Door prizes will be drawn; the grand prize is a new 2-meter HT.

Sellers may purchase tables (6 foot), paid in advance, $10 or $15 at the door. Seller setup starts at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Free coffee and donuts! Assistance in loading and unloading will be available.

FARA will also conduct Volunteer exams.

For information on tables, contact Bev N1LOO 508-626-2012 or visit http://www.fara.org

The Sturdy Memorial Hospital received a plaque from ARRL commemorating 25 years of ARRL affiliation this week.

Presenting on behalf of the ARRL was Eastern Massachusetts Affiliated Club Coordinator Frank Murphy, N1DHW. John Benson, N1FLO, SMHARC President, accepted the award.

The Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC also celebrates its 25th anniversity as a radio club this year. It was formed in the aftermath of the devastating “Blizzard of ’78.”

“Clubs play in integral role in the health and vibrancy of our hobby,” said Phil Temples, K9HI, Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Manager.

Temples added, “The Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC has distinguished itself time and time again as one of the premiere clubs in this section through its public service, its outstanding publicity of our hobby-service to the community, and its continuing affiliation with our national Amateur Radio organization.”